A rainy day in Beauneville. Roderick and Molly drove home last night in Megan's bright red 1965 Mustang convertible. Molly slept over.
Today for breakfast: scrapple and applesauce. At Roderick's suggestion, Molly dresses for breakfast. "My parents aren't used to dining with nude girls", he explains.
"So what classes are you taking?" asks Mr. Smith, slurping his coffee.
Roderick has a mouthful of scrapple and applesauce. "Mmmmpf mmpf mmmmmmmmmpff", he says, gesturing. He swallows. "My classes aren't completely settled. I'm definitely taking Mr. Spinoza's Logic class and Mr. McLuhan's Rhetoric class and Mr. Heytesbury's Mathematics class, but I haven't been able to speak yet with Mr. Strnk or Mr. Rothschild".
Mr. and Mrs. Smith nod. Mrs. Smith turns to Molly. "What about you, Molly?" she asks.
"I'm taking Logic, Rhetoric and Mathematics with Roderick, and studying piano with Mr. Clementi, but I still have to work out my electives".
Knuckles, who sleeps in a little bed in the corner of the kitchen, awakes.
Later in the morning, Molly walks over to the Church of Nothing. There is a big pipe organ left from the days when people used to be devout -- nowadays, it's mostly used to accompany Tibetan throat singing during the weekly Taize service. Opening the main door of the sanctuary, Molly bumps into Mary Bloom in her long white dress. Mary is on her way home from a meeting of the Young Virgins youth group.
Mary grabs Molly by the arm. "You should join our group! You really are a virgin aren't you?"
Molly wriggles free and steps up to the organ. Switching it on, she hears a great sigh as the bellows fills with air. Releasing one of the flute stops, she plays a chorale without the pedals, just to hear the sound. It's nice.
She pulls out all the stops and ramps up the volume. It's truly grand.
Kicking off her shoes, she tries the pedals. Just a scale at first -- she's seen a video of a professional organist play the pedals, which she tries to emulate -- heel and toe, heel and toe, heel and toe. Not smooth. Again. Heel and toe, heel and toe, heel and toe. Sloppy, very sloppy. She's determined to get it right.
Meanwhile, Megan visits Roderick. They sit on the porch for awhile, but since the rain has stopped she suggests they put the top down on the Mustang and go for a ride. Roderick thinks that's a great idea -- and so they drive off, Megan behind the wheel, speeding along the back roads through the apple orchards. Out on Eastmeadow Road, Megan pulls over to the side of the road and stops in a quiet place underneath a huge old oak tree.
From the driver's seat, Megan looks at Roderick inquisitively. "Is Molly your girlfiend?" she asks. "Because I want to be your girlfiend."
Roderick isn't quite sure how to answer. His relationship to Molly is difficult to categorize and explain to others. Also, he's concerned about Megan's feelings and very aware that Megan is batshit crazy and carries a Glock, which is at present strapped to her hip. He scans the horizon.
"OK, then", says Megan, starting the car. "It's settled, then. I'm your girlfiend."
They drive off at high speed. Roderick sees considerable advantages to having two girlfriends, though the benefit is somewhat less when one is armed and batshit crazy.
