Shulman and he doesn't care.
«So what are you doing here? You want to do fucking business with me and ruin my people? Fuck you, Ahmet! I've known you since you were a child, you scoundrel!»
«No, Tom. I apologized.» Ahmet tossed him an envelope containing money.
Shulman didn't even touch it.
«How highly do you rate my people?» he asked, without looking up from the envelope.
«Exactly fifteen thousand. Is that enough to bury the hatchet?»
Part VIII
Wednesday is an unhappy day in itself, which became even more unfortunate when Thomas Schulman did not see his name on the list of examiners. If Lily hadn't been in her senior year, he would have been minding his own business in the pub right now, and would have made a large and short sum for all this nonsense. Meanwhile, Thomas was walking down the empty corridor to the Director, who sometimes seemed completely broken. One of her pink styles spoke of a brain malfunction. The woman stormed out of the office, nearly knocking Tom off his feet.
«Oh!» she exclaimed in a raspy and unpleasant voice, as if she had been given a job in an operetta, looking up at Thomas, «Mr. Shulman, welcome!»
As if in a fit, she insisted on the absence of a «teacher supervisor» in the fourth year, who would make sure that very cunning and quirky girls, including Lily, took the exam conscientiously. Shulman smiled with satisfaction, glad that the day had started in his favour.
Ten minutes later, Thomas reached the right floor and noticed Lily sitting on her bag, her eyes darting nervously over her notebook, repeating the material. Thin legs, high white socks, and a black skirt. Tom didn't like the way she sat there, flashing her charms. This is inappropriate behaviour for a decent, even newly minted Jew. There were fourteen of them, talking and shuffling their notebooks. Klutz-Lily didn't even look up, trying to memorize the information, but you can't get enough air before you die. It was Shulman's fault that she didn't have time to prepare, because he took her to Jerusalem and arranged a mind-vacation .They didn't return until Monday night, tired, but Thomas thought they were happy. Everything would be fine if it weren't for one small «but».
«Tommy, can you give me back the cross and chain?»
The Jew was not going to give her the goods, so he pointedly rummaged in his pockets, spread his hands, and lowered his head guiltily, expressing maximum regret.
«I'm very sorry, I think I lost it… So sorry. How much does it cost?»
Lily sighed.
«Yes, I don't need money.»
Tom gave her ten pounds. Too much for such a thin and flimsy weave, the cross darkened with salt and sweat, slightly bent and scratched. Soon the ladies were in the study, standing at the entrance, which met them with pale turquoise walls, gleaming Board, open Windows, and a warm summer wind that fluttered the snow-white curtains. Lily walked over to the teacher's Desk and smiled when she saw Tom, and he winked at her, jokingly threatening her with a metal ruler. Tom took two steps, pulled the girl to him by the cardigan, and came close to her ear:
«This ruler will kick your ass if you fail the exam, okay?»
Lily blushed, turned pale, and giggled nervously as she pulled out her ticket and took her seat. Five teachers, three specialized and two General-it is simply impossible to write off. Besides, getting a metal ruler on your fingers isn't that much fun. Shulman walked around the office, occasionally glancing at Lily, who was scribbling on a large sheet of paper without much effort. Midwifery is really her calling, but she's stuck in chemistry, nervously glancing at her watch. Tom stood over her, looking down. A thin finger pointed at an equation she couldn't solve. Shulman memorized these substances and sat down, rummaging in his pockets and finding a piece of paper with a number on it. He turned the piece of paper over and smoothed it out, then began writing an answer, blowing it off the answer book. Lily tapped her fingers on the table. The Jew came up to her and slid the answers under her elbow, tapping the ruler lightly on her bare thigh. The girl almost laughed when she finished her work. Soon she was defending her answers, making excuses and proving them, getting a well-deserved rating.
«Great as always, Lily!» said the teacher of the midwifery cycle, smiling at the groin.
Tom went out into the corridor with the girl, feeling her warm and happy hands on his neck.
«Without you, I would not have passed the exam,» she whispered, her plump lips gently touching his plump lips, leaving a tremulous and uncertain kiss that tingled his trimmed beard.
«Do you want to thank me?» Shulman flashed lustful eyes, lighting up the girl with a roguish and slightly crooked smile.
Lily licked her lips, then bit her lower lip, playfully replacing the positive response.
«In order…» he grabbed her hand, quickly climbed to the second floor, ran down a narrow corridor, and finally unlocked the door to his office.
Tom glanced at the girl's face from time to time, still resolute and smug. They entered the classroom by the hand, squeezed between the desks, and went to the teacher's Desk. The man was sitting in a chair with his legs wide apart, and he slapped his thighs several times, beckoning to Lily.
«Sit on me.»
The girl took everything absolutely literally, sat down on the edge of his knee, straightened her skirt, looking questioningly into his clear blue-green eyes, into his haggard and tired face. Impatiently, Thomas lifted her by the elbow and turned her so that her legs began to part.
«Yes, that's it, spread your legs and sit down, huh?»
Lily sat on his strong, firm thighs, smoothing the edges of the skirt, carefully and slowly straightening the crumpled fabric, timidly looking into his eyes. Tom lowered his skilled hands to her legs, quickly brought them to her buttocks, where he pulled her closer to him, lowering the scabbard to his groin. She flinched, feeling a steady male impulse, and made a sharp attempt to pull away, but Shulman wouldn't let her, pulling her even harder.
«Don't be afraid of me, sun. I'm in control, okay?»
And now she was hot even through the fabric of her underwear, burning him, arousing him, and driving him mad at the same time. He looked into her brown eyes, half-closed and relaxed, reading her lust, seeing his own reflection. Thomas knew she wanted him, but if he hadn't been wearing trousers, she would have straddled him. But, alas, so far they only «play». How long will these games last, and what happens when Shulman gets tired of waiting? His hands still rested on her buttocks, which he moved smoothly but rhythmically and sensuously. Finally, her apparent indifference was betrayed by a moan that Tom covered with his lips, stretching out the pleasure and the kiss. He watched her parched lips, with their little cracks and hollows, as his deft fingers reached for the neck of her light shirt, undoing the buttons one by one, as if casually touching the soft skin. These moments seemed interminable because of the trepidation and excitement. After the fourth button, a woman's hand stopped his fingers.
«Let me see.» the Jew's voice became very low and hoarse, even more strained: «I won't eat you with my eyes, will I?»
It was hard not to argue with Shulman here, because his gaze had been eating into her soul from the moment she first met him in class. The girl hesitated, weighing all the pros and cons, seeing the complete calm of the Jew sprawled on a chair. His even, measured breathing also relaxed her, and she opened the edges of her shirt to look at him. Tom watched her in silence, his eyes fixed on her, feeling a new surge of arousal that pushed at his hands, but he tried to keep them, like his penis, in check, expectantly Sizzling the young and tender roundness of her breasts. Lily wanted more, swallowing the bittersweet taste of the first conscious, or maybe not, desire that flowed through her body, gathering in the pit of her stomach.
«Do you want me to show you something?» she asked in a low, almost soundless whisper, to which Shulman nodded approvingly, watching as she pushed her shirt aside, half exposing her left breast, giving him a glimpse of the scar. It was small, but deep, and looked more like a cigarette butt that had been smothered on the skin. «No one else saw it.»
Tom wondered how it had come to be there, and