'she trusts me'

Marigold - normal

Kit - bold

Friday

7:33 PM

"Hello?"

"How've you been, ma belle?"

[ SOUNDS OF ADJUSTMENT ]

"... Kit? This is a surprise... What's up?"

"I need to talk to you, but I'm not sure if it's better in person or on the phone."

"... That sounds vague and serious."

[ LAUGHS LIGHTLY ]

"A premise isn't good if it isn't intriguing. But I need to be honest here. Hold on.

[ SOUNDS OF ADJUSTMENT; FABRIC MOVEMENT, CRUNCHY, PACING FOOTSTEPS. THEN NOTHING ]

I'm being serious about this. I know something that you don't want anyone to know, and if you want to keep it that way, which I know you do, you'll be honest with me. You won't play any kind of tricks. Let's call what I know a hunch that has serious backing, how about that?"

[ STIFF SILENCE ]

"Silence isn't going to get you anywhere with me either, Marigold. And if you hang up on me, I'm going to visit you. And I know your mom's still awake. She'd get suspicious and you don't want anyone to get suspicious, less her. You don't want questions, looks, or even mentions of what happened. Anyone faking amnesia must've really wanted to bury what they know, that they'd do anything if they could actually achieve memory loss.

[ KIT BREATHES DEEP ]

I'm not doing any of this to hurt you. I just want to know so I could help someone potentially in danger."

"... I'd say you're persuasive but you're literally threatening me to get what you want. How does Sunny feel about this? This method of.... collecting evidence?"

"She doesn't know anything about this."

"Hard to digest that she doesn't."

"She trusts me."

"Well that makes more sense, doesn't it? That girl is naive when it comes to you. Almost blind."

[ SILENCE ]

"Well, this is new. You're not noisily protesting her side. By her and for her, like you always do. You're like a bubble wrap around her. Remember sophomore year?"

"Don't."

"Oh, well now there's the Kit that I know!

[ LAUGHS SHARPLY, ALMOST PAINFUL ]

That low-toned, icy voice that's always half-threatening. The one that warned Warren Pressman that if he used that word again, you'd break his bones. That was a Kit I'd never seen before. He was monstrous. What was it again?"

"Shut up, Marigold."

"Retarded. He called her retarded."

[ KIT BREATHES THROUGH HIS NOSE THICKLY, SHARPLY ]

"... She never knew did she? That that happened?"

"... Do you think I'd tell her some asshole called her something like that?"

"Not that, Kit. You know I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about what you did afterwards."

[ SILENCE ]

"This is a phone conversation, Kit. I expect a reply and if you come to my house, I'll punch you in the fucking face."

"... No."

"... So she doesn't know you were the one that put him in the hospital that day? You can't expect me to believe that, Kit. She might have been safely secured in that bubble wrap you call your 'normal' facade, but she must've heard about it. Everyone was talking about it. He was black and blue, Kit. Barely breathing when they finally got you off of him."

[ SILENCE ]

"He was in a coma, Kit. For three days. You almost went to juvie but Sunny's uncle, which one was it? The blondish one. The tall one with those mean, judgy eyes. He brought that cousin of theirs from New York. The lawyer. In exchange for going scot-free, you'd only get community service. There's no way Sunny didn't know."

"She doesn't. She didn't make the connection."

"What the hell did she think you almost went to fucking juvie for?"

"Watch it.

[ KIT EXHALES ]

She thought it was something low, and she didn't know Warren was in a coma until he came back to school a month later."

[ A SHARP, BARK OF A LAUGH ]

"So... you and her family kept the entire shit from her? And they still let you be around her? That sounds healthy. Really. But then again, you're so different when you're around her, aren't you? Now that I think about it, after that incident, you never hung out with anyone else besides her, right? When you were migrating away from her in middle school, we all thought you'd finally had enough of her. And then I started seeing that Kit again. The actual Kit. The one who's too cool for shit. The one who lies as much as he smiles. The one who threatens people like it's nothing."

[ SILENCE ]

[ SMALLER VOICE, ALMOST A WHISPER ]

"You're not a saint, Kit Pouliot. You've never been. When you're around her, you're not only lying to yourself, you're lying to her too. And you don't want that do you? But you have no choice. The real you would terrify her. Has she ever seen you lie so easily, you could've been a fucking prophet? Lie so brilliantly, you could convince anyone to do anything? What about when you were high? Has she ever seen you so high you kept throwing up in the backseat of my car at four in the fucking morning? Has she ever drove you in that Vespa of hers, laughing and barely lucid, sick to your stomach? Has she ever seen you like that, Kit? Huh?"

"- Marigold."

"- or when you're angry, Kit, has she ever seen you angry? Like really angry? Not just the Warren incident, now that was feral. That was... that was something else. What I'm talking about is that icy cold stare that you do, with that voice made of fucking glaciers when you warn people. When you put people in their place from that high, high pedestal you see yourself. You make glimmer just underneath that sharp smile and gaze?"

"Marigold."

"- No, you don't understand, Kit. You used me as a human shield when you went away from Sunny to explore your demonic side. You didn't want to ruin her, so you used me to make friends with all those fuckups in Central. You used me as an excuse. You got me into drugs, Kit. Drugs."

"If I recall, you needed them. I offered you weed."

"What the fuck will weed do to my grades, dumbass?"

"Exactly. You're the one who needed the coke, Mari. I warned you not to."

"Leave me alone, Pouliot. Leave me alone."

"My original threat still stands, Duplin. I don't want to do this, but if you hung up on me, I'll meet you myself. Face to face."

"I'm not telling you anything because you don't know anything. Not anymore."

"Now, you and I both know that's a bold face lie, Duplin. And I know what you're hiding."

"You know nothing."

"I knew you were pregnant, Marigold."

[ SILENCE ]

"... What?"

"You heard me. Now, I'm glad you got all of that out of your system. Makes meeting you easier. I'm two blocks outside of your house. Go out and let's talk about this because I need to see your face when you lie, and don't even think about leaving me here. You can tell everyone what I did to Warren, everything you think I did to you back then, human shield and all, but you're more afraid of what I have than you have on me. Because I've never hid who I am. Have I protected Sunny? Yes. Have I tried to become a better person when I'm around? Definitely. Am I a good person? No, not really.

[ INHALES QUIETLY ]

But she knows about me, Mari. She's not as naive as you think. Her head maybe in the clouds, but she notices more than anyone I know. More than me. Things I could never and reacts in a way that's more empathic than humanly possible. That's why I like being around her. Why I try to be better.

Because she's kind in ways than I know I can't ever be and protecting that is more important to me than my own damnation."

[ WEAKLY ]

"Then is she just stupid? Knowing the kind of person you are?"

"Were you? I don't know if faking amnesia has gotten you all muddled up, but I never approached you, Mari. You came to me. Every time. You were fascinated. You wanted to see how far I would go. I could go. You wanted to see the monster up close."

"... Where are you?"

"By that big tree outside Mr. Lee's house. Bring a jacket. It's cold."

"You're a bastard, Pouliot, I hope you know that."

"I do, Duplin, don't think I don't."

[SHIFTS]

"...But Marigold. The next time you call Sunny stupid, God can't forgive the anger that comes out of my mouth."

8:12 PM

She said she'll update in a couple of hours that turned out to be a couple of days, lol sorry guys, but here it is!

So.

How's that?

Really hard chapter to write, but I like it. I like this. Where would you put Kit now?

Also, Folklore and the soundtrack for The Old Guard are the ones that really pushed through this chapter. Exile + Baby Outlaw + Silence is a good combination to get me in the mood for writing, I'd just like to shower my gratitude.