Chapter 11: Far From Home

September 1981, Chicago, Illinois, and Milford, Ohio

When Elyse arrived home she found me sitting in a beanbag chair drinking some of the bourbon that I’d had Joyce get for me. The wine was stashed in my room, though I left two bottles on the kitchen counter.

“Uh oh! What’s wrong?” Elyse asked.

“Just thinking,” I answered.

“About Bethany?”

“Yeah. It’s good, but it’s sad. She’s always depended a bit too much on me and now she’s moving on. We didn’t break up, per se, but she’s going to start dating for real. Not like when I was in Sweden when she was just kind of passing time until I arrived home, but for real. We’ve been through a lot together and she’s been my best friend for a long time, but I think she’s finally decided that she can’t play second fiddle to Kara. I know it’s a good thing, but I’m still a bit sad about it.”

Elyse went to put her bag in her room, then came back after peeking into mine.

“I see that your bed is messed up,” she observed. “I take it you two made love?”

“We did,” I replied. “It felt like it was her way of saying goodbye. Not like we’d never see each other again, but as if a phase of her life had ended. When she got in her car, she gave me the briefest of hugs and a quick kiss rather than her usual mashing of bodies together and a deep French kiss.”

“You knew that had to happen someday. And I’m pretty sure you were encouraging it.”

“Oh, I did. And I was. I’ll be fine. She’ll always be special, even if we don’t end up together the way she’d hoped.”

“It’s probably better this way. She knows what you plan with Kara. If she has a steady boyfriend, that’ll make things easier for her. It’ll hurt if you do get engaged, but not as much as if she were still devoted only to you. And, it does simplify your life a bit. She’ll have someone else to take care of her. And if he doesn’t? Well, then you’ll have a nice simple life at Marion after you kill him,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, and you’ve given me all the practice I need for being in a prison with a bunch of guys!” I teased.

“See? It was good for you after all!” she giggled. “But seriously, are you really OK with everything we did?”

“I was totally freaked out by what you did with the dildo, making me suck it. Don’t get me wrong, whatever two people want to do is cool with me, but I have zero, and I mean zero, inclinations that way. It just doesn’t turn me on to think of a guy in that way. And that’s what it made me think of.”

“Which is exactly how I feel about being with another girl. Good. I’ve taught you something.”

“Interesting. I hadn’t thought of it that way. A few girls I’ve been with have been pretty into that, even though they liked guys. I guess it just never dawned on me to put myself in their shoes, so to speak. I’ll remember that in the future.”

“I knew you would probably be uncomfortable with that, but I was surprised you weren’t grossed out when I stuck my pussy in your face after you came in it.”

I chuckled, “Sorry, nothing new.”

“What? Oh come on! Really?” she said, almost whining.

“Really. I’ve had that done to me. I’ve also had a girl French kiss me with a mouthful of my cum. No big deal. Your Aunt Jennie kissed me after she let me cum in her mouth. So, sorry, you weren’t first on that, either.”

She giggled, “Aunt Jennie? Shit. Four fucking years ago! Jesus. I thought I had you on that one.”

“Keep trying, Elyse,” I chuckled. “You still haven’t run out of stuff that I’ve done! Anyway, let’s go grab some dinner. I don’t feel like cooking. The Italian place or the Chinese place?”

“Chinese!”

We ate and came back to the apartment. When it was time for bed, Elyse followed me into my room and I realized the sheets were still on the bed from when I was with Bethany. I went to change them but Elyse stopped me. She wanted to sleep in the bed that smelled like me and Bethany, which seemed a bit odd to me, but then again, Elyse did have some odd sexual desires, at least from my perspective. We made love and fell asleep.

The next two weeks flew by. Schoolwork picked up and I was spending even more time doing homework or working on projects. I did carve out the time for my karate lessons and for seeing Kathy both weekends, but otherwise, there really wasn’t a lot of time for anything else. I was glad that I hadn’t had to do anything for my friends in Cicero, given I had so little time.

I talked to Bethany and she had gone on a few dates, but they hadn’t moved past the kissing stage. I told her she didn’t have to tell me, but she wanted to be able to discuss things with me as her best friend. Joyce confirmed her visit for the weekend of October 9th. I also heard from Katt who asked if it was OK to give Laura my phone number and I told her that it was.

I got a postcard and letter from Tatyana, saying that she was back in Leningrad and that her father was waiting to hear about his next assignment. She said she was likely to know before Christmas. I also heard from Tina Hoff and Pia, but there wasn’t much news in their letters.

The last full week of September was anything but normal. On Monday evening I received a call from Frank saying that they wanted to set up two more systems. We agreed that I’d do the set up on Saturday afternoon. I called Kathy and let her know that I’d be out for a few hours on Saturday, so if she didn’t want to come that was OK. She said she did, because she got more homework done in our quiet apartment than she could in her dorm or the library. She planned to come Friday night because she wanted the extra quiet study time.

On Tuesday, after working in the computer lab, I walked Papiya and Jackie back to their dorm and they invited me in. I begged off because I had to get home to eat and go to my martial arts class. They seemed disappointed, and I wondered what was up. There hadn’t been any overt or, as far as I could tell, any subtle hints of attraction. I wondered if it was just being friendly. I asked for a rain-check and headed home.

On Thursday when I walked Stephie back to her dorm, instead of kissing me on the cheek like she had the previous few times, she hugged me and gave me a peck on the lips. She winked and said goodbye and headed inside. After Tuesday’s invitation and Stephie’s kiss, I wondered if I was sending off some kind of signal or flirting without knowing it. Back home, I’d always chalked this kind of thing up to my reputation, but there was no reputation here. I was just another nerd at an engineering school. Once again, I decided to worry about it in the future.

When I arrived home on Friday, Kathy was there, having arrived just a few minutes before I did. I made dinner and the three of us agreed that our evening activity would be limited to going out for ice cream as we all had so much homework to do. I laughed when I thought about some of the comments that my younger friends back home had made about partying all the time. I guess that if I’d gone to a less academically rigorous school, that might have happened, or if I blew off classwork. I was hoping that things would calm down a bit, but it sure didn’t seem as if they would.

On Saturday, right after my karate class I headed to the computer store to pick up the equipment I’d reserved, took it to Cicero and turned everything over to Richie. I was glad that I didn’t have to set up and test the systems given he was capable to do that when he installed it. I also gave him an updated disk for the first system we’d installed and explained how to run the program to update the database to a new format.

I headed home and was surprised to see Elyse sitting on the front steps of the apartment building.

“What’s up?” I asked, seeing a pained look on her face.

“Take a walk with me,” she said as she stood up.

“Elyse, what the hell is going on?”

“You have a big problem,” she said, walking me away from the doors.

“Me? What?”

“Kara is here.”

I stopped in my tracks and stared at Elyse.

“Kara? What? Why? And why am I out here with you?”

“She’s really, really upset. Something happened with her dad. She ran away from home and took the bus to Chicago. She called when you were out and I went and got her at the Greyhound station downtown. When we got back, Kathy was napping in your bed and Kara completely freaked out. I thought you told her about Kathy!”

“I did! She knew! Where’s Kathy?”

“She decided to go back to school. I think that probably was wise.”

“And you left Kara alone?”

“She was napping on the couch. I guess she didn’t sleep on the bus at all. But I wanted you to know what happened before you walked in and got a shock.”

“I have to take her home,” I said. “As in right now. Her parents are going to freak out and her dad will absolutely call the cops!”

“He already called here while I was out getting her. Kathy didn’t answer the phone and he left a message on your machine for you to call him.”

“Oh, shit,” I moaned. “This is bad news. If he called the police or FBI, they’ll come looking for her. If that happens, I’m totally screwed.”

“As I said, I wanted to talk to you before you saw her so you could figure out what to do.”

“Let’s go back. I have to call Mr. Blanchard and promise to bring her home; maybe even tonight. Otherwise very early in the morning so I can get back at a reasonable time. Shit!”

“Yeah. OK. Let’s go see your girlfriend. I think Kathy is fine. She just felt it better if she left rather than upset Kara more.”

“That was probably wise. Thanks.”

We walked back to the building and went upstairs. Kara was sleeping on the couch so I walked over and touched her shoulder gently.

“Honey, wake up.”

She opened her eyes and leapt off the couch into my arms. She kissed me hard.

“I’ll make some tea and then go in my room,” Elyse said.

I sat down and Kara cuddled next to me. I’d wait until Elyse was done before talking to Kara. Ten minutes later we had our tea and Elyse went off to her room and shut the door. I turned on the stereo to cover our talking, though I would probably share most of what was said with Elyse afterwards because I would probably need to talk to somebody.

“What are you doing here, Honey?” I said as gently as possible.

“I had to leave. I couldn’t stay at home!” she sobbed.

“What happened?”

“Dad kept pushing me to see Lucas. When I kept saying ‘no’, he invited Lucas to come to dinner tonight. I told dad not to do it but he wouldn’t listen. Mom tried, too. Last night, after I said I was going to bed I snuck out and Susie drove me to the bus station. I got on a bus for Chicago and got here late this morning. I called and nobody answered, just your machine. So I called back in a bit and got Elyse, but she said you were out for the afternoon. She came and got me.”

“Your parents have to be totally freaked out, Kara! Elyse said your dad called while she was out getting you and left a message. I have to call him back. You know he’s going to have called the police and maybe even the FBI! They’ll come here looking for you sooner rather than later. You’re going to have to go home.”

“I don’t want to!” she sobbed. “I want to stay with you!”

“Kara, you can’t. You’re seventeen. That makes you a minor. You have to go back to your parents. And we have to call them, soon. Do you want me to go to jail? Your dad would like nothing better!”

“He wouldn’t do that!”

“Kara, if he called the police, it’s already happening. The only way is for us to call him and tell him I’m bringing you home. Even that might not help.”

“No!” she sobbed.

“Honey, I’m going to call him now. The last thing we need is a Chicago Police officer here taking you away and handcuffing me!”

She collapsed back onto the couch, sobbing. Her dad really had gone too far, and maybe, just maybe, this result would make him think twice. I doubted it, but I was going to do my best. I picked up the phone and called Kara’s house.

I decided to get what I wanted to say out quickly.

“Mr. Blanchard, it’s Steve Adams. I’m returning your call. I just arrived home and found Kara here and she’s safe. I’ll bring her home. I didn’t know she was coming. I was totally surprised.”

“I’ve called the police and reported that she’s run away.”

“Yes, Sir, I was sure that you had done that. If you call them and tell them that you found her and that she’s on her way home, I’ll bring her home to you. I’ve told her she shouldn’t have run away and that she belongs at home.”

“When?”

“I could bring her tonight, if you insist. We’d get there after midnight. I’ve had a really long week and I was working today. I really need some time to rest. My preference would be to leave here tomorrow at 5:00am, which would get her to you about noon and I could be home by 8:00pm. That way I don’t have to drive late at night when I’m dog-tired.”

He was quiet for a moment, then I heard him tell his wife that Kara was with me and that I had promised to bring her home. I heard her say he needed to call the police back right away. She asked for the phone and I was surprised when he let her have the receiver.

“She’s OK? There’s nothing wrong with her?” Mrs. Blanchard asked.

“Nothing some food and sleep won’t fix,” I answered. “Well, that and a more understanding father.”

“May I speak with her?”

“Of course!”

I covered the mouthpiece on the receiver and told Kara her mom wanted to talk to her. She shook her head no but I gave her an icy stare that made her get up and come to me. I handed her the phone. I only heard her side of the conversation.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I know. I’m sorry mom. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow. Please. Talk to Dad.”

“OK.”

Kara handed me the phone back.

“Steve, we’re going to call the police now and let them know she’s safe,” Mrs. Blanchard said. “We’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

I said ‘OK’ and we hung up.

“What did your mom say?” I asked.

“She wanted to make sure I was OK and told me that I scared her to death. Then she asked when you could bring me home and I said tomorrow.”

“We’ll see what your dad says. And what he actually tells the police. If he tells them that you’re here and he wants them to come get you, we’re screwed. I hope your mom can keep him from going off the reservation.”

“I think she can.”

We sat quietly for a couple of minutes until the phone rang. Even though I was expecting it, I jumped when the bell sounded. I got up and answered it.

“Steve, this is Nancy Blanchard. I spoke with the police and told them that we’d found Kara and that she was safe and on her way home. I talked to Alan and he’s obviously not happy about this, but please bring her home tomorrow. We’ll have lunch ready for you at noon. You can eat and then head back to Chicago. We’re really grateful that you’re taking care of her.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” I said with relief. “We’ll leave here around 6:00am your time which will get us there between 11:30am and noon. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I hope you’ll explain to your husband that he caused this.”

“I know. And I also told him that you acted properly by calling us right away and offering to bring her right home. She must be quite upset with you for that.”

“She is. But I can handle it. We’ll see you by noon tomorrow. Do you want me to call when we leave here?”

“Yes please. And if you don’t mind, at least once along the way to let us know if you’re on time.”

“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Steve. Thank you for loving her and caring enough for her to do the right thing.”

We hung up and I went back to the couch.

“Tomorrow,” I said.

Kara threw her arms around me and kissed me, “So I can stay the night?”

She could. But I wondered about that. She was a minor and had come across state lines. I remembered reading about Chuck Berry spending over a year in prison for violating something called the Mann Act, which had to do with taking an underage girl across state lines for sex. I wouldn’t put it past Alan Blanchard to use something like that against me. On the other hand, she was here and was going to spend the night. Even if nothing happened, the claim itself might be enough to wreck my life.

“Yes,” I said, sighing deeply. “Your mom seems to have convinced your dad that it would be better for me to drive during the day than rush out now and drive until after midnight to get you home. I almost don’t believe it, but maybe your mom pointed out that he caused it, like I said.”

“He did! I can’t believe he would do that!”

“Kara, even if he did, running away isn’t the right answer. You could have just had dinner and let it be. Let your dad play his silly games and make it clear to Lucas that you have no interest of any kind. If he’s not interested, then that’s the end of it.”

“You think so? I don’t. He’ll do whatever his dad tells him. He’s been after me for years and years — since we were twelve. Just like Sandy was after Josh for the last few years. If his dad tells him that I’ll eventually come around, or that it’s God’s will or some such thing, what I say won’t matter.”