Marigold

by Heather Mitchell Manheim

  Reading the letter several times over made her feel like she was sort of in a daze. Davis did not feel as if she was processing the words correctly. She read it so many times but was not even sure of what it really said. Finally, Davis realized to make any kind of real decision; she had to process the information correctly. Her brain hurt, she was tired and overwhelmed, but she had to find a way to reset herself.

  Davis went to the restroom and took a quick shower to try and feel at least a little physically better. Then, she brushed her teeth and went by the kitchen to get water before returning to her room. When she got back to her room, she took a few sips of water, then lay down on the cool bed, trying to focus her mind on the warm, cozy covers and the soft pillow her head was on. She didn’t think sleep would come, but pure exhaustion took over, and she did sleep a while, although anxiety eating away at her stomach soon woke her up. The words of the letter turned over and over in her mind.

  Marigold.

  Marigold.

  You are my Little Marigold.

  The words rolled around in her mouth, starting like a stone that was rough and bumpy and ended up polished and smooth.

  Finally, when Davis could not push the thoughts from her mind any longer, no matter what she tried, she sat up in bed and turned on the light next to her. She then took the letter out of the drawer she had previously stuck it in and took a deep breath before rereading it. She took her time, reading it slowly, and focusing on each word. She did not know what it was, but some unknown force told her this was from her mother. Comfort gradually replaced unease and anxiety. But Davis still didn’t know what to do about any of it.

  Davis took periodic breaks of trying to take short naps, but mostly she lay in bed and alternated between trying to clear her mind, rest a little, and rereading the letter. Nothing felt secure to her, her mind feeling calm one moment and then a jumbled mess the next. And while she was able to get a few moments of sleep occasionally, it was broken and didn’t feel like a respite.

  Since she was not paying attention to the time, she wasn’t even aware of the knocking on the door until Ringo had been at it a full five minutes. He finally broke her out of her reverie when he slightly opened the door and peeked in. “Davis, are you okay? It’s past seven. If we’re going to take you into the city, we need to go now.”

  A momentary pause stopped her as she walked toward the door. It was that pause that seemed to clear the fog from her mind. She said it before she could regret it. “Ringo, oh, I’m sorry for the trouble. Change of plans. I’ll be helping you, after all.”

  September 18, 2056 – Some Explanations

  Ringo nodded and closed the door. Then he thought better of it and lightly rapped on the door again, once more opening it slightly ajar and putting only his head inside. “Sorry to bother you. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

  “No, I’m okay. Can you give me a few hours? I haven’t slept at all. I need to rest a little. Then, if possible, I’d like to talk to Duffy. Is she around today?”

  “Yes, she is—”

  “Actually,” interjected Davis, “Can I talk to Duffy now? Then I’ll rest. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep without talking to her. It’s nothing bad, just need to resolve some things.”

  A few minutes later, Duffy was in her room, greeting her and asking Davis how she was doing. Then Duffy asked why Davis wanted to speak to her. Duffy said her words in a very calm and collected voice, tinged with kindness and compassion, making Davis feel at ease. “Thanks for coming in, Duffy. Can you please explain to me a little bit about how you knew my mom and what happened that caused her to write the letter and give it to you?”

  “Yes. I was a young doctor specializing in obstetrics. I worked at a center with several doctors and OB/GYNs tasked with safely delivering and administering care to pregnant Lombardi Plague patients. To be honest, I had already delivered four babies and successfully administered the Everett Cure, as it was known then. That’s not what they told people, though. You’re recognized as the first, as you know. President Everett wasn’t willing to risk your health, though, so there were tests before you were born.”

  “Why was I so important to President Everett?” asked Davis in confusion.

  “No offense, but it wasn’t you, specifically. It was your mom. He was quite infatuated with her; I think in love with her. Or more accurately, he confused his obsession with love. She was a medical assistant—and newly married to your father—when he met her. Your mom made friends with him, but there was nothing more than that for her. He wouldn’t stop until he got her, though.”

  “Are you saying this whole plague, all these people gone, murdered and manipulated was because President Everett loved my mom?”

  “I believe so. Well, not completely, only partly. Everett also wanted power and influence too. He wanted to be president and be respected by all. So, Everett hatched a plan. He needed one plan that all at once would eliminate your father, save you and your mom, and make him a hero to the world. Some of this is just speculation based on things I saw and heard over time. That’s part of the problem, though. Everett is so dangerous because nothing seems crazy at the time that he’s doing it. It’s just this buildup over time, and finally, you look back, and you realize the whole thing it’s all shams, deceptions, and sleight of hand trickery.”

  “Yes, I know he’s evil. I got it. What I really want to know about is my mom.”

  Duffy looked startled at being snapped at, and Davis quickly remembered her manners. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m exhausted and overwhelmed. And anxious to know more about my mom.”

  Softening her look, Duffy said she understood. She then continued with her story. “It’s okay. As I mentioned, I think a lot of the plan was to get your mom as well as have ultimate control and power. I made friends with your mom when I became her doctor at the birthing center when she was getting ready to go into labor with you. I suppose she trusted me, and we had many conversations. She never told me she didn’t trust Everett straight out but one day mentioned a conversation she overheard outside her room. That’s what prompted her to write the letter, but your mom never shared with me the details of what she heard. She only made me promise to hold it for you in case something happened. Naturally, she could not foresee all that would unfold, but I guess she saw enough to write the letter as a precaution. After they took you away and your mom and I were told you had died, she never mentioned the letter again.”

  Davis got a puzzled look on her face. “You know, just a question. If Everett was so smitten with my mom, but she still got extremely sick with the Lombardi Plague, right? Why didn’t he save her from that?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know exactly. But I assume Everett couldn’t control the virus as well as he thought he could. There are some theories that he had some control at first, targeting not only more men than women but also targeting women he found less attractive. But, as it is with viruses, they are not easily controlled. A lot of our people think Everett had the cure, all ready to go. That is why he never got it. Once he got the plague under control, he started working on the brain control element. Maybe he was just waiting for your mom to get it to start trials. That way, he could ‘save’ her. Her being pregnant wasn’t likely a part of his original plan, but it made his savior story all the better.” After a moment of thought, she added, “This is all just speculation. But, I do know for a fact that after your mom got pregnant and, then a few months later, got the Lombardi Plague, they admitted her to the top hospital, and she was taken care of when a lot of people could not get any help at all for their illness, pregnant or not. Then the trials started and, well, it was quick to the cure after they admitted her.”

  “Okay, you said you read the letter. So, you know, my mom called me her ‘Little Marigold.’ And the vaccination is called the Marigold Inoculation. I can’t believe that is just a coincidence, right?”

  “W
ell, no, probably not. More speculation, but we think that President Everett also saw that part of the letter; there were probably surveillance cameras in the hospital room. Or, it’s possible he got her to confess after they were married and she was fully under the brain control drugs. He must have decided to use the word ‘marigold’ for the injection to make it more commonly used, less unique. That if, for some reason, you found out everything, ‘marigold’ wouldn’t be as much of a password as it would be a very commonly used word by many, many people.”

  Davis didn’t answer; she just slowly nodded her head in agreement and thanked Duffy for coming by. Her eyes were drooping and felt heavy. She almost felt as if she could fall asleep standing up. Davis asked Duffy to please let Ringo know she would be out later to discuss plans after she got some rest.

  As Duffy was about to leave, she turned back around and faced Davis, walking up to her. She lightly placed her hand on her shoulder. “I want you to know the most important thing. Your mom is a good person. She is funny, smart, and she loved you more than words can tell you. And now, she is under the brain controlling drugs. It’ll be okay, somehow, but it may not be easy.”

  “That’s okay, Duffy. I’m finally learning that courage isn’t doing the easy thing; it’s just trying to do the right thing. And the right thing is to help you guys, and help and meet my mom, of course.”

  Duffy got a funny look on her face. “You sounded like her right now, when you just said that, about courage not doing the easy thing.” Duffy then departed, leaving Davis with a warm feeling, as if healing was physically moving throughout her body. Davis lay down as soon as Duffy left. Finally feeling a little reassured and settled, she didn’t even bother to get under the covers, just lay on top of the bed and, instead of drifting off to sleep, plummeted heavily.

  Her sleep became restless after the first few hours. She tossed and turned and would occasionally grab the letter and clutch it to her chest in the still darkness of her room. It was almost as if she had to convince herself it was real and not a dream. Not only that the letter existed, but that it was in her hands. She didn’t know if everything might be accurate. Davis assumed Ringo and his crew were also capable of lying to further their agenda. But, she realized, in a deep place in her heart, that this letter was from her mother. Davis couldn’t explain it to herself better than that; she just knew she had a deep need to find and meet her mother.

  September 18, 2056 – Palace Expectations

  The next few days flew by for Davis. It all felt like a whirlwind. She had many conversations with Quinn, Ringo, Namaguchi, and Brookshire about how everything would go down. They had decided they would stick to the original story they would have used if Davis simply went back. That she was kidnapped, but finding she was not very useful to the rebels’ cause, they let her go. A new twist was that they decided Brookshire would go with her and “find” her after they dropped her off so that he could back up her story and support her. Brookshire would say that he found her wandering around outside the city center and bring her in. She would smuggle the bee venom in a secret compartment sewed into her knapsack. It was a given she’d be put in quarantine for fourteen days—more as a show than for any real reason, according to Ringo. As Duffy would be her doctor, Davis would be monitored by her. Fake reports for the Marigold Injection and a clean bill of health would be no problem.

  Namaguchi started telling Davis about the harems at the Palace. He explained that President Everett had forty-six wives, from all different races and age groups. All the harems’ rooms had a large living space with a living room, which included a large selection of lavish floor cushions, fine Persian rugs on expensive Italian marble floors. There were plenty of plush couches and chairs as well as a full book and movie libraries. Puzzles, games, cards, and a computer stereo with a complete “jukebox” program that had almost every song you could imagine on a karaoke system. The rooms had dining areas for the wives to eat together, and on a rotating basis, with their husband. They had unlimited access to filtered cold water and occasionally—very occasionally—some fruit. As the wives were expected to keep their weight under 145 pounds and weighed weekly to confirm they were, it was rare to get any food besides the nutrition biscuits. A combined sleeping chamber had between eight and ten beds, depending on the number of wives in that room. President Everett would choose a certain wife to sleep with him on occasion as he most certainly would do on Davis’s wedding night. When that happened, President Everett escorted that wife to his private chamber.

  Namaguchi also told her that Everett would give her a new name when she becomes engaged to him. It was unlikely Davis would have any influence over what that name would be. However, being called “Everett” was pointless because of the number of wives President Everett had, so the wives got first names to differentiate themselves. He then mentioned her mom Ruby had kept her name since, in the beginning, the threat of Davis ever finding out who she was, was negligible.

  Here Ringo broke in and told Davis that it might not be as easy to meet her mother as she thought. He explained it was so because Everett kept the individual harems separate, beyond his reason wanting to keep Ruby and Davis separate. For instance, Caucasian women had a different room than Hispanic and South American women. The Asian women—be they Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or Thai, or anything in between—were all kept together, as were Black wives. Everyone was New American, so Everett based it on visible heritage, even if that heritage went back several generations. The only time the races were combined was when the wives reached over the age of fifty-five, which would be where Davis’s mother was. Those wives, regardless of ancestry, made up the senior wife harem. He started to tell her about the zoo at the Palace and that President Everett assigned a different animal to each group of wives. President Everett thought it would give the women a sense of purpose and solidarity among themselves. The White women were in charge of the capuchin monkeys, and the primates would often have a free run in the harem room since they were relatively tame. The South American wives were in charge of the macaws, so they often had them in their room with them too. Asian wives handled dolphins, so obviously, they had an aquarium in part of the zoo. The Black wives took care of the koala bears, who had a eucalyptus patch made especially for them. And finally, the older wives took care of the tigers. The tigers had cages that had vast grasslands with sleeping caves and pools for them to swim in. He mentioned that Everett had an “animal,” too, although he never paid attention to his crash of rhinoceroses; he used handlers.

  “Oh,” Namaguchi added, “there are so-called ‘Den Moms.’ Not wives, so they just have the customary last names; yours will be Cox. Be careful of her. Supportive of President Everett and the government, very much under brain control. You can’t trust her nor count on her for any help.” He continued to tell her that the Den Moms had a separate bedroom and a small bathroom within the harem room. Their apartment was not as nicely appointed as the area for the wives, and Den Moms were in charge of logging weight and ensuring each girl got enough water and food per day, was not complaining or starting fights, or spreading rumors. They kept calendars for medical appointments, public appearances, and dinners with President Everett. “Dillion is the Den Mom in the older wives’ room. She may be more helpful; she’s more sympathetic than Cox. However, she’s still loyal to President Everett and under the brain control.”

  “There is one room where the wives might meet and run into each other—the gymnasium with every workout machine you could fathom. There are treadmills, weight balls, even a swimming pool, and an area to do dance and aerial arts, where instructors come in to give classes to the ladies.” However, Namaguchi did not think that Ruby went there often. “Besides, President Everett will do whatever he can to keep you two apart. He doesn’t want you to find Ruby or knowing the story of you two. Everett had only planned on marrying you after your mom passed, after all. That would have been the ultimate way to keep his secret. The circumstance we are cr
eating will force it on him, but he’s not going to hand it all to you on a silver platter.”

  Davis was focusing on meeting her mom and all that Ringo and Namaguchi told her. It was such a whirlwind, though. They inundated her with information, and they had given her so much data on varying topics so fast. As if they needed to shove the last twenty-nine years of information into Davis as quickly as possible. Therefore, she wasn’t listening to Ringo or Namaguchi as closely as she should be. She hadn’t meant to be rude, but this was a lot they were giving her. So, Davis didn’t quite hear everything Namaguchi told her about the outfits that the wives wore. Something about them being more elaborate than Davis typically wore. She knew that the wives wore a dark cream tunic and jodhpurs in public and, in the back of her head, figured that was maybe what Namaguchi meant.

  Ringo seemed to pick up that Davis was overwhelmed by the amount of information delivered so quickly. “Look, we don’t expect you to remember this all. It’s just to give you a reference point of where you’re going and what to expect. You can’t be upset there. Because when you get there, it will behoove us all that Everett gets poisoned quickly. Hopefully, before your wedding, even. He’ll likely have dinner with you the night before; if you can slip it into his food or wine then, that will be perfect. Then you don’t have to go through the process of marrying him, either.”

  “I understand. I just don’t want to let anyone down. And I do want to meet my mom. That is important to me.” Davis seemed close to tears.

  “Absolutely,” said Namaguchi. “I think that the best way to get to your mom will be to sneak out at night. I can draw you a map of how to get to the older wives’ room. You’ll have to figure out a way to wake up your mom without her screaming; that’ll be the trick. But we can noodle that out together.”