Chapter 18: Dazed and Confused

December 1977

I saw Jennifer at school, and she seemed much happier. Others noticed as well. Only she and I, and Melanie, who was at the High School, knew why. Jennifer and I had agreed before I left her house that there would be no outward signs of affection in public. As far as anyone knew, nothing had changed. I hoped I could keep my end of that bargain. But if I could get a repeat of Sunday, I’d pretty much agree to anything. I had pulled it off with Melanie, and nobody except Larry and Jennifer had any idea.

After school on Monday, I made my final walk of the year up to the High School to meet Melanie. I saw her standing talking to a sandy-haired guy about an inch taller than me, medium build, and good looking, at least in my opinion. She kissed him, they hugged, and she turned to meet me. That had to be Pete. I walked up to her and said “Hi” as usual and we started walking to her house.

“I assume that was Pete,” I said as neutrally as possible,

“Yeah. Jealous?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Even after yesterday?”

“Good point,” I conceded.

It appeared that Jennifer had been on the phone with Melanie last night. Or maybe it was just based on the plot they had hatched.

“NINE orgasms? 30 minutes of screwing?”

It was clear that they had talked.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

She shook her head and said, “I’ve created a monster!” and we both laughed.

“It was really that good?”

“Yes, it was.”

“Better than me?” she said petulantly.

“different from you,” I said diplomatically.

“Good answer, Steve. Good answer.”

I was slowly getting the hang of things. Our study session was all business. We finished up and went to wait for my mom to pick me up.

“Well, my Sunday wasn’t nearly as wild,” Melanie said. “I only had one.”

“You and Pete?”

“He just needs a bit of training.”

“Don’t look at me!”

“Not from you silly. He needs training the same way you did.”

“Oh!”

“You’ve had lessons from Jennie and me. He’s done his own experimenting. Trust me; you were lucky to have Jennie and then me. He’ll be fine!”

When my mom arrived, Melanie gave me a major hug, told me to do well on my Spanish test, and walked me to the car. Mom thanked her as well. I was going to get a B but I had even scored an A on the last quiz. But the real test Melanie had prepared me for had been on Sunday, and I passed that one with an A+. And my mom could never know.

On Tuesday evening, Larry called while I was making plans for the party with the chess team. He invited me to visit his grandfather’s house on Sunday. I checked with Mom and could go. After all, Don Joseph was technically my employer. Larry told me the girls would be there as usual. I thought of Joyce. Hmm. I had forgotten about her when I talked to Melanie. Well, we’d see what happened there. She might have a boyfriend; I might have misread her, who knew?

The rest of the week was quiet. A long, steamy letter from Birgit arrived. She wrote about how beautiful our lovemaking had been, how she longed to be naked in my arms, how much she loved me. This letter went into the locked box I had purchased for the pictures of Melanie and Birgit. It dawned on me that I might want to return the ones of Melanie. I’d ask her. I wanted to keep them, but now that our relationship had changed, maybe she’d want them back.

I owed Birgit a letter from the previous week. I hope she didn’t notice it was late. I wrote her about the chess tournament, the upcoming party, my New Year’s Eve date, and gave her an edited version of the Jennifer situation. I was sure she’d get a full report from Melanie. I’d have to ask Melanie about that, too. I finished the letter, sealed it, and would put it in the box in the morning.

I picked up the phone and dialed Melanie’s number. She answered, and I got straight to the point. I told her about the letter and how it jogged my memory of the pictures. Did she want them back?

“No, Silly, keep them. Somehow, I don’t think we’re done yet. And besides, would you really give me the ones of Birgit and me?”

“If you asked.”

Then I switched subjects to my situation with Jennifer. Melanie said that yes, she’d give Birgit a report, but she’d leave the part about the nine orgasms out.

“I don’t want to make her jealous,” she giggled.

Melanie was always up for teasing.

“Thanks, Melanie. You’re a pal,” I said dripping with sarcasm.

“Hey, when the time comes, I want TEN orgasms. And I won’t let you go until I get them. Do you hear me, Mister?”

“Yes, Melanie,” I said, dripping sarcasm again.

“I need to call Pete. Love you.”

“Love you too, Melanie.”

We were both laughing when we hung up.

I was wondering which monster was created and by whom. I was developing a reputation that I might not be able to live up to. Fortunately, it was limited to Melanie and Jennifer, and to some extent, Birgit. While being considered a sex god might have girls beating down my door, it also might lead to disaster if I didn’t live up to the billing. That reputation would go down the drain so fast I wouldn’t know what had happened. If a girl was expecting an ‘out of this world’ experience and didn’t get it, well, that would put an end to things pretty quickly.

Friday’s chess practice with Mary went along as usual right up to the very end. We were playing a game and she casually said “I hear you play chess for interesting stakes.”

Holy shit! That was a word I had started using in my head. I didn’t utter it, for fear of the wrath of my mom.

“Now where did you hear that?”

“Oh, there’s a rumor about the Indian Hill chess meet that’s going around.”

Jennifer. It had to be. She’d probably told it to Mary for a good laugh at some point.

“And when did you hear this rumor?”

“About a week after that meet. Supposedly that’s how you beat that chick from Indian Hill - by making her lose her concentration. The only thing I can’t figure out is who you would have played ‘strip chess’ with? I mean, I heard the story from Jennifer about the meet, but she’s like your best friend and everyone knows you guys aren’t like that.”

Yeah, everyone. Except me, Melanie, Jennifer, Jennifer’s mom, and Birgit. Sigh.

“Well, I don’t really talk about stuff like that. As far as the public is concerned, if they haven’t actually seen me kiss someone, then I’ve never kissed them. Let alone anything else.”

“Oh poo!”

I laughed. “What’s the big deal?”

“Is it true? That’s all I want to know.”

“Yes. It happened. But that’s all I’m saying.”

“Would you do it again?”

“Under the right circumstance and with the right person.”

“Me?”

Oh, shit! That was her point. I considered. Mary was an inch or two shorter than me, and pretty nerdy looking. She wore those librarian glasses and dressed in loose-fitting clothes. I knew that there was a female body under there, but I had no idea what she looked like. She wore her brown hair short, framing her face. All in all, I was ambivalent.

I was pretty picky, and felt I could afford to be. I had Jennifer. I also had possibilities with Kellie. Then there was the whole complex thing with Becky. Michelle was a remote possibility and Joyce, well, I’d find out. I didn’t need to do this. But my curiosity was piqued. Was she asking out of curiosity (like Jennifer had the first time) or out of desire (like Jennifer the second time, which we kind of skipped over)? If she could handle casual sex, I’d probably go for it. But for now, I didn’t know. But I sure was curious to see what she hid under the baggy clothes.

“If you can find the right time and the right place, sure, if you want.”

“Goody!”

I let it drop. I figured she would arrange it if she really wanted to do it and wasn’t just teasing me. We finished practice without further incident.

I went home and called Jennifer. I told her what had happened and she laughed. Great. I had thought she wasn’t going to procure girls for me.

“I told her that like the week after the tournament. I was bragging about how we messed with Becky and it kinda slipped that you had actually done that once. I think she suspects it was with me, but she doesn’t know.”

“Actually, she is sure it WASN’T you. She thinks we’re friends but absolutely nothing more. I thought about telling her about the nine orgasms, but reconsidered since I didn’t want to brag.”

“You! You wouldn’t!”

“Of course I wouldn’t. Jennifer Block, mild-mannered intellectual chess player during the week, wild woman in bed Sunday afternoons.”

She laughed. “Are you going to do it?”

“What’s your advice?”

“If she wants to, go for it. Show her that body of yours.”

“What if she wants more?”

“You don’t need my permission, but you have it.”

Echoes of Birgit. “Thanks.”

Saturday was a repeat of the last several, though this time Andreas was gone all afternoon. Jennifer ate lunch with me as usual. I confided in her what I thought was going on with the deli and with Larry’s grandpa.

“Whoa! Are you sure you want to be involved with that?”

“Afraid I’ll take advantage of the brothel?”

“Why would you ever pay for it? You can get as much as you want for free.”

“Good point. Maybe I’ll get free visits as part of my pay.”

“What?”

“Kidding, kidding!” I quickly replied. “The money is good. All I am doing is making deliveries. I’m fourteen. What are they going to do? And it’s not like anybody is going to come after a kid.”

“Probably not.”

“Keep this to yourself, of course.”

“Sure”.

She let me know that she wanted to be with me, but couldn’t arrange it yet. Her dad was home and she had to be careful. She promised me it would be soon. I told her I was anticipating it and she should just let me know. I’d do whatever I could to make it happen. She left and I went home.

I talked to Larry, Melanie, and Susan that night, trying to keep up the contacts. I’d called Becky every night so far. Tonight’s call was different. She told me she broke up with her boyfriend. When I asked why, she hesitated. She seemed in good spirits, so I let it drop.

Sunday we went to see Don Joseph. He told me again how happy they were with me. He asked if I knew what they were about. I said yes, and that I had asked Larry about it. He was pleased with that, and with the fact that I still was working for him. He asked me to keep doing what I was doing. When I could drive, he’d have more things I could help with. Andreas would instruct me. He knew my driving license was still a year away, but I shouldn’t worry.

I spent a lot of time flirting with Joyce. She didn’t have a steady boyfriend at that point, but it was pretty clear she was interested in me, and horny. We exchanged phone numbers and I told her that I’d try to have her over for swimming, if she could get someone to bring her. She thought she could. Loveland was only 20 minutes or so away.

She kissed me briefly when we left. I saw Don Joseph watching with a smile. He shook his head gently and raised his eyebrows. I knew what he meant. I also knew that if I did anything with Joyce that she didn’t like, I would answer to her grandfather. That was a sobering thought.

The rest of December flew by. I got a solid B on my Spanish final and even with the downright evil grading for participation, still got a B. I had A’s in everything else. That meant the party was on. But first was the conference chess meet; eight schools, all big football rivals. A three-day, six-round Swiss tournament. They would name individual champions in each class and team champions overall. I liked our chances of getting a trophy because we had really improved.

In the first round, I was playing a kid from Goshen. Our USCF ratings were identical, so in theory, we were evenly matched. We were at a board next to Mary and her opponent, amazingly enough, a cute girl from Turpin. There were so few girls besides Mary and Jennifer that them facing off was unlikely, but it had happened.

Mary showed she was just a devious as Jennifer.

Just before the game started she said, just loud enough for both our tables to hear, “When did you want to play our strip chess match?”

I was no dummy.

“That’s up to you Mary, tell me the time and place. I’ll be happy to get you naked. I really do want to see that body of yours you’ve been hiding. And I want the prize when I win!”

My opponent’s eyes got as big as saucers.

I just said, “Yeah, she’s hot for me,” and Mary giggled.

Her opponent said, “You really do that?”

Mary answered, “Well, I haven’t yet but he has, a couple of times. Rumor is he’s got a great body.”

We both won. Easily. That was just too funny. It wasn’t mean-spirited like the move Jennifer had made on Becky had been, but it worked nonetheless. I doubted we’d manage to pull that off again.

I had won first and the kid I was playing, Tom, said “Dude, you get girls to get naked playing chess? Really? How do you do that?”

It was clear he was looking for advice. I figured I owed him for the little trick.

“You ask them. But when you do, you make it a suggestion. And make it sound like a joke. Don’t push it. Just plant the idea and let it grow. Joke about it occasionally. It’s worked twice. And Mary asked ME, so I guess three times, though it hasn’t happened yet.”

“What prize?”

“Loser gives oral sex to the winner.”

“Whoa!”

“Yeah, but be careful with that. Make sure you know the girl well enough before you ask her that!”

“Thanks, man. Wow.”

And then he walked away. I doubt anybody in the history of chess was happy to lose a game to an opponent as he was to me.

Mary won a few minutes later and came up to me.

“Anna was really affected by that. I bet you anything she’s going to ask you. Just remember, I asked first!”

She walked away. Sure enough, here came Anna, the girl from Turpin. She shyly said hello. I greeted her back. She made small talk for a minute. I knew she was working up to something. My only worry was how old she was. I drew the line at fourteen. Younger than that was too young. Listen to me, Mr. Worldly. Not! But it made sense to me.

“I’m Anna.”

“I’m Steve.”

“Have you really done that before? Strip chess? And are you going to do it with Mary?”

“Yes to both.”

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I don’t know if I could do that,” she said.

“Well, you only do what you are comfortable doing. Just make sure you both know what the rules are and want to do it. And make sure you agree on the prize.”

“Yeah, you mentioned the prize but Mary wouldn’t tell me.”

I laughed.

“Well, I’m going to win so I suspect she was a little embarrassed to tell the world that meant I get a blowjob.”

Anna recoiled in shock.

“Of course,” I added with a smirk, “if they start playing ice hockey in hell and she wins, then I lick her pussy.”

More shock. “She would do that? You would do that?”

“That’s our bet. Of course, you can make any bet you want. Or not bet.”

“And you’re not boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“No. Just friends from the chess team.”

It was time to find out if she was serious.

“So many questions!” I said. “Are you looking to play?”

No answer, but she turned red as a beet. That meant yes. I grabbed a piece of paper, wrote down my name and number, and handed it to her.

“Pick a time and place and call me.”

She gasped. But she shoved the paper in her pocket.

I went and found Jennifer. She and Mary were laughing so hard they were in tears. Mary had told her about what we had done. Jennifer gave me a look that said everything - an ‘I would hug you and give you a huge kiss if I could’ look. I returned a look which she fully understood as well. It dawned on me that this connection we had was deeper than just the act of sex. There was something going on here. It scared me a bit by its intensity. And worried me a bit - did I have a connection like this to Birgit?

I finally saw Becky. She hugged me, which was a good sign, and we chatted. She told me she had big plans for New Year’s Eve and I should come ‘ready to party’ whatever that meant. She had just turned fifteen and I was fourteen, how much partying could you really do, especially with her parents hovering, along with all the other adults?

I was pretty sure there was no sex involved because of what happened at her house. But really, that wasn’t a driving consideration. All the talking we had done had convinced me of one thing - I really liked her. So I said I would and she gave me another big hug.

Suffice it to say, our good start paid off. By the third day, we were firmly in second place, Larry had 4 points with one game to go, having won three and drawn two. There was one other guy with 4, he had won four and lost one. They would play. I was up against a guy I knew from the Mariemont team. Mary was playing a guy from Anderson Township; Jennifer, a guy from Batavia.