Variation on a Theme, Book 6
Copyright© 2024 by Grey Wolf
Chapter 132: We Are The Others
Wednesday, April 30, 1986
Mark Blodgett left another message, this one confirming that he’d talked to Marco and Anne. Both of them were officially ‘in.’ The way the segments played out was anyone’s guess right now, but I imagined we would mostly be in the same section of the show, which didn’t leave much time for any one person.
It was going to be quite the experience, and likely good practice for the future. This was a bonus. We could get a bit more used to the fishbowl now, before it came for us whether we wanted it or not.
He also said they would send us each a fairly extensive list of questions. We might go back and forth on them a few times. That didn’t surprise me. Their lead interviewers weren’t going to want to go at this cold. This wasn’t an ‘investigative journalism’ story with them confronting us with things we thought were hidden to get a reaction. It was more of a feel-good news story than anything else, about a topic most people wouldn’t be that familiar with.
Or, maybe, a feel-bad story, if you happened to be Phyllis Schlafly. Or someone who agreed with her.
Which made me wonder: did the Clarkes watch ‘60 Minutes’? If so, what would they think about their daughter’s close friends being celebrated on national TV?
I called Mark back and left a message giving him our fax number. That might be much better than mailing questions back and forth.
American Express also left a message. The best itinerary took us to Omaha on Sunday, the 18th, and back on Wednesday, the 21st. We could save a few bucks on a Thursday flight, but hotel costs would easily exceed that.
That was popular with Angie and Paige, who would have Thursday and Friday to catch up with Mom and Dad (and, probably, Camille and Francis, too) before leaving town for a week or so.
We hadn’t told the parents about ‘60 Minutes’, and we weren’t sure when we would at this point. It was possible that Angie and Paige would have to tape whatever they were saying in Houston on that Thursday or Friday. It was also possible that they would have to interrupt their trip.
Hopefully, though, we could tape things in New York. I hoped that would work, given how well it worked with our trip to the Amnesty International concert. It all depended on the production schedule CBS wanted. Angie and Paige were available as early as June 1st. They would be back in Houston on the 31st, since Tony and Jean wanted the weekend to recover from the trip.
If CBS would accept a New York taping session in early June (presumably for airing in late June), we could easily put together a two-week trip to the Northeast. It wouldn’t be just New York and New Jersey. We could visit nearly anything from Virginia to Maine, given that much time and my willingness to drive fairly long distances. That might let us visit the Boston-based contingent as well as Connie and Jimmy. All of them were planning to be up there over the summer.
That was home for them now, not Houston or New Orleans. We didn’t exactly consider Houston to be ‘home,’ either, but we were still much more tied to it than they were, albeit much less than I had been in my first life (and, obviously, far less than Angie had).
Dad was absolutely going to flip about us being on ‘60 Minutes’. Tony, too, probably. Oh, all of the parents would, but they were more ‘news junkies’ than the other parents.
A night of Looney Tunes cartoons was, perhaps, just the ticket for an exam week. The Grove was packed, and we all had a great time.
It was funny watching Darla and Amy. For one thing, they showed some of the Big Bad Wolf cartoons. Darla found that very funny, for obvious reasons. Amy seemed to know what those reasons were, judging from the smirk she had. She was hardly the only one, but it pointed out how much she was ‘in the loop’ now.
It got me some very nice kisses from Darla, too. No complaints there!
And, like most good cartoons, there were some darker moments amongst even the most inspired madcap humor. Consent issues (Pepe le Pew, for one, had no understanding of what ‘no means no’ is all about), violence, self-harm, depression — all of those and more turned up in various places. They didn’t even show the most controversial ones, but these hit a few of the biggies. That was perfect for Amy, naturally.
At bedtime, Jas said, “I think I’m going to let you and Amy have your date tomorrow by yourselves.”
“Okay, honey,” I said. “Any reason?”
“Darla,” she said, giggling a bit. “We’re going to double-team her on Friday, or at least I think we are.”
I nodded at that.
“So ... if we are, and Darla finds out we also double-teamed Amy the night before — and she’ll find it out, no question about it — maybe that makes it a bit less special. I think we need to reserve this week’s threesome fun for Darla.”
“That works for me, as long as it’s good for you.”
“I can pounce on Amy some other time. For the moment, though, I think I might butt in on Angie and Paige. It’s been a while, and they could use that.”
“That ... is also good,” I said, chuckling.
“Good naughty fun, definitely!”
I shifted and said, “You don’t think Darla would be jealous of Amy, do you?”
“Nah. It’s not that. It’s more ... this specific set of things matters. Darla should feel like it’s all about her, right now, not just ‘Jas is horny.’ Although ... Jas is horny,” she said, giggling, “but it really isn’t that, it’s ... Amy is special. But Amy will be special next week, and next month. That’s why she’s special, partly. Darla will, too, but Darla is more ... experimenting with girls. Amy already knows she can love a girl that way. Very different things.”
“Darla?”
“I think ... Darla could love a girl that way, but only in a carefully defined relationship. Amy loves you, and Amy loves me. There’s no ranking there. She just does. Darla could be the number one girl for a guy. She can be the number two girl for a guy. After all, she’s doing that now. But that ranking has to be part of it. If her Mister Right wanted a threesome with a random girl, that girl is number two. It’s fine. If he wants another girl to be number one, and that’s established first, it might be fine. Or, if Darla’s number one, and some other girl gets involved, probably also fine. She just wants to know the pecking order and who’s loyal to whom and when,” she said.
“That’s totally fair. We have a very strict pecking order, after all.”
She giggled and nodded quickly.
“We do, and I need that. And you need that.”
“But that also means Amy is number two, and knows it.”
“Well ... yes,” she said, considering it. “I think it’s more ... Maybe I actually made that too complicated. For Amy, she loves me, and she loves you, and we’re separate and don’t need to be ranked. Darla will always love the guy more. She needs a guy in her life, and at the center of it. Not meaning she can’t also be independent. But, if there’s a guy, that guy is at the center of things.”
“I totally see that. A girl is optional, but she can have one in her life.”
“Or not. It’s not totally a given. I just think she can. Friday will maybe help her decide. If she has no issues doing stuff to me, then...”
“Then she can probably handle it later,” I said.
“Yup.”
“Sleep?”
She giggled and nodded.
“We might both need our energy for tomorrow. Well, we do. Exams! But maybe for more than that.”
“Maybe,” I said, grinning.
“Love you, husband-to-be!”
“Love you, wife-to-be!”
We kissed a bit more, then went to sleep, all snuggled up.
Thursday, May 1, 1986
Today had been a crappy day weather-wise, but it cleared up in the afternoon, so we were able to have a nice pleasant date without worries about being soaked. Thank goodness for that!
I met Amy at her dorm room at six-thirty. We had decided to just have dinner at the MSC cafeteria.
Meg gave me a little wave as Amy came out, dressed in her usual look. Once the door was closed, she hugged and kissed me.
Once we broke the hug, her hand found mine and we headed for the stairs together.
“Meg will be downstairs tonight from about ten to midnight,” she said, grinning.
“Nice of her.”
“I agree! It is.”
“How was your day?” I said.
“Very good! The project is fully turned in. I always feel a sense of relief when something is completely done and cannot fail at the last minute.”
“I know that feeling,” I said. “It fits with the saying, ‘Count no man happy until he is dead.’”
She gave me an odd look, then said, “I have missed that saying, and it sounds like one I should know.”
“It’s from the ancient Greeks. Solon, I think. The idea is that happiness can be transitory. Someone may be happy today, but tomorrow their life may come crashing down around them. Perhaps even for reasons that have been inevitable all along. Until the story is completely told, you can’t be sure how it will end.”
“Depressing,” she said. “Honest, though, and wise. Clearly, it is also wise to enjoy the happiness along the way, though. But ... yes. Things can change abruptly and take happiness away.”
“My dad is an interesting example. He went to college at Michigan and completed two years. He was very happy there. His goal was to complete a degree in Political Science — or whatever they called it then — and then try to get a job with the State Department as a diplomat. I think he would have been very good at it.”
“And? Obviously, something happened.”
“Yes, and it’s a sad something. His father abruptly died of a heart attack. It runs in the family. Heart disease killed Angie’s father, too. Dad is very careful to see a cardiologist regularly. Anyway, when his father died, it was a double blow. The money was gone, and he had to leave college and get a job,” I said.
“Thus, his happiness came crashing down, fitting the saying.”
“It does, but that’s not the end of the story. Because he took the job he took, he had occasion to visit paper mills in Wisconsin. My mother worked in the front office at one of those mills.”
She smiled widely and said, “So, the tragedy that stole his happiness rewarded him with another happiness.”
“Absolutely. It took him a long time to see that. He often lamented the loss of his college chance. It was a loss, too. It’s fair to lament it. But, without it, he wouldn’t have married the woman he married. He wouldn’t have known me, and would barely have known Angie.”
She nodded, then said, “That would also apply to Angie. And to you.”
“Oh, we agree. If Frank hadn’t died, Angie wouldn’t be here. She can hardly be happy that Frank died, certainly. But, without Frank’s death, the two of us would barely know each other, and she wouldn’t know Paige at all, nor any of the rest of us. And, for me, if my birth parents had had things together better, my whole life would be different.”
“We are all a product of our misfortunes just as much as our successes,” she said. “And sometimes the misfortunes are also successes. If I had not had such a hard time dating in high school, perhaps things would have gone very differently with the two of us. That would be a shame.”
“Or if you’d let Tiffany dictate your dating life,” I said, grinning.
She snorted at that and said, “She did point out how important ‘more’ is. I greatly value that lesson.”
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