Chapter 22: North and South, Part IV

November, 1981, Chicago, Illinois

Elyse wasn’t home when Stephie and I arrived, but she walked in about fifteen minutes later. She was about to give me her usual greeting when she saw Stephie.

“Hi, Steve! Who’s your friend?”

“Elyse, this is Stephie Grant from my chemistry class. Stephie, this is Elyse Clarke, my roommate I’ve told you about. Stephie’s staying for dinner.”

They greeted each other and sat on the couch to chat while I put dinner together. I made pork chops in a white wine and basil sauce, green beans, and boiled new potatoes with a dash of rosemary. The girls loved the meal, and I was pretty happy with how it had turned out, though I felt I could do a better job on the sauce the next time. When we finished dinner, Elyse cleaned up while I took Stephie home. I got back just in time to make it to my karate class, so I ran into the apartment, changed, and then walked briskly to the dojo. After karate class, Elyse and I showered, cuddled, and then made love.

Our Friday dinner went off without a hitch. I liked Warren. He was something of a nerd and like Elyse, he was an Economics major. He was our age and was from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He and I got along well enough, though we didn’t have any common interests. He wasn’t into hockey, baseball, or racing, but instead liked football and basketball. He wasn’t into computers at all and didn’t swim, run, or ice skate. That said, he was in pretty decent shape from the looks of him.

Warren was lanky with dark hair and brown eyes and wore small, wire-rimmed glasses. All-in-all he looked like a college professor, though a bit younger, of course. It turned out that’s what he wanted to do — teach Economics, so he’d be working on a PhD, eventually. He was soft-spoken, polite, and pretty well versed in current events. Overall, I thought he was a pretty good match for Elyse. His life seemed far simpler than mine was, and I didn’t think he’d be prone to bouts of drama, not that I’d really had one recently.

After dinner, we walked to the ice cream shop and got cones. Stephie giggled a bit when I ordered peach ice cream and took an ostentatious lick and then winked at her. It was still in the low sixties, even though Winter was fast approaching and it was after 7:00pm. We walked around the neighborhood while we ate our cones. When we got back to 53rd Street, Elyse said she was going to walk Warren to his dorm, and she’d see me later. Stephie and I said goodbye to them and they walked towards the UofC campus.

“How was your peach cone, Yankee?” she giggled as we walked into the apartment.

“Pretty good, but I prefer to eat the fruit directly from the tree, so to speak!” I said with a grin.

“You talk a good game for a guy who’s trying to keep me out of his bed. Maybe you’re really a virgin and don’t want me to know,” she teased.

“That ship sailed a long time ago, Peaches. I was fourteen. But I do like to tease you occasionally.”

“Fourteen? Wow! And teasing is OK. I tease you some, too.”

“What do you want to do now?”

“Make out. At least until your roomie comes back. It’d be kinda awkward if she was here, I think.”

“Nah, she’d go to her room or we could go to mine. I have throw pillows in the bay window that we can sit on in there, too.”

We sat on the couch and Stephie twisted so that she was across my lap and facing me. We kissed softly several times and then Stephie snuggled against my chest and sighed.

“Is this what it would feel like to sleep in your arms?”

“I guess so,” I said.

“I like it. It just feels right. I’ve never done that, neither. Heck, I haven’t done much of anything, really.”

“Well, you kiss really well, that’s for sure!”

She smiled and turned her face up for a kiss. We kissed softly for a bit and then she broke the kiss. She looked directly in my eyes and smiled.

“You’re a good guy, Steve,” she said and snuggled close again.

I wanted to run my hands over her cute little body, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to do that just yet. She was struggling mightily with how far and how fast to take things, and I didn’t want to push her past her comfort zone. I realized that might mean that we never got to bed, but I was fine with that, though I clearly would prefer the alternative.

That said, I was concerned about how she’d handle things when Kara came to Chicago. But that was something to deal with next August. Stephie was aware that Kara was coming to Chicago and knew that our relationship wasn’t long term. And that gave me pause about taking her to bed as well. I couldn’t predict how things would turn out after that and how she would feel. We’d have to talk, but no amount of talking could predict the resulting emotions.

“Thanks, Peaches. You’re pretty sweet yourself.”

We heard a key in the door and Stephie quickly sat up, though she was leaning on me and my arm was around her.

“Hi! I can go to my room if you guys need some privacy.”

“No, that’s OK. Come sit with us,” Stephie said.

I got up to make some tea and when we all had cups, we sat in the living room to chat.

“Warren seems like a nice guy,” I said.

“He does,” Stephie added.

“Yeah, I think he is. We’ll see where things go. I’m taking it slow because of past experience.”

Stephie giggled, “I’m takin’ it slow because of almost no past experience!”

“Actually, I’ve only really had one serious past experience,” Elyse said. “A guy named Sean. It ended badly, but that was a long time ago. I heard from Steve you had a guy back home, though.”

She was finessing that one. She and I weren’t a ‘past experience’ we were ongoing, but Stephie didn’t know that and Elyse certainly wouldn’t approve of me telling Stephie.

“Yeah, I did. But he and I don’t see eye to eye on having guys as friends. He wanted me to give up my best friend back home, a guy we call Red. That just wasn’t happenin’. Daryl, that was my guy, got kinda squirrelly when I went away to school.”

“I can see it,” Elyse said. “You’re from a small town with only a couple of hundred people, right? Coming to the big city has to be kind of scary for you. I’m sure it was for him.”

“Actually, I wanted to come to the big city. I like livin’ in Dawsonville, but I wanted the experience of a big city. And I wanted to get a ways away from home. I’ll probably go back down South when I graduate, but that’s almost five years from now. Even though y’all,” she said, waving her hand at both Elyse and me, “are nice and all, I’m finding northerners to be a bunch of bad mannered, impolite, cold fish.”

“Ah, you think we are «некультурный»!” I said with a laugh and a fake Russian accent.

“What?!” Stephie exclaimed.

“It’s a word my Russian friend uses. It means ‘uncultured’, so like impolite, ill-mannered, that kind of thing.”

“You have a friend who’s a Communist?”

“Complete with a KGB bodyguard who was with us when we were sightseeing. She’s just a teenager like us. I think you’d like her. She’s very proper and cultured.”

“But her dad is some Communist Party official?”

“A diplomat. He doesn’t make policy any more than I do. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I suppose. It’s just strange.”

“I have lots of friends in Sweden. If I could, I’d have lots of friends in Russia. And anywhere else, really. Think about that. If we’re all friends, won’t the world work better? That’s the whole point of the exchange program I was on. Granted, I got lots of other stuff out of it, but in the end, having friends in another country is a great thing.”

“Remember, I was never more than about 150 miles from Dawsonville until I came here. And if you don’t count Talladega, then maybe 75 miles or so.”

“There’s a big wide world out there Peaches, you’re just finding that out.”

“I guess so. I’m actually kind of tired. Take me back?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

Stephie and Elyse said goodbye, and then Stephie and I headed to the car for the drive back to IIT.

“You OK, Peaches? You seem a bit out of sorts.”

“I’m out of my league with you and Elyse. You’re both so, I don’t know, worldly.”

“So what? You took a big step coming here to go to school. I was lucky, really. Milford isn’t a big town, but my dad was pretty good about making sure I saw most of the country when I was little and then supporting me when I said I wanted to go to Sweden. I’d just be mostly a small-town kid if it wasn’t for that. It’s like the other thing we discussed. Take your time and go slow. Lots of kids go crazy at college. You’re totally under control. Stay that way, Peaches.”

She sighed, “You keep makin’ sense. I’m really glad I met you.”

“I’m glad I met you, too.”

“Take me back to your apartment.”

“Why?”

“I want to sleep with you.”

“Peaches...” I sighed.

“I said sleep, Steve. Not have sex. I just want to sleep with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to be with you,” she said. “To have you hold me in your arms.”

She was obviously confused and maybe even a bit frightened. Her comment before about being out of our league was troubling because it wasn’t really true. I’d have to talk to her more about it. I didn’t want her searching for experiences just for the sake of experiences because, with the freedom all of us had, that could be a real problem.

I also had to worry about Elyse. She might very well be in my bed when I got back, even though it wasn’t even 10:00pm yet. I’d have to give her a call. There were pay phones in the lobby of the dorm that I could use to call her. I’d need an excuse to make the call.

“We’re about five blocks from IIT,” I said. “Do you want to get your toothbrush and a sleep shirt or nightgown or something?”

“Yeah. That makes sense.”

I parked by the dorm and walked her inside.

“Let me call Elyse and let her know, so she’s not surprised.”

“OK. I’ll go up and come back in a few minutes.”

I went to the payphone in the lobby and called the apartment. Elyse answered, and I let her know that we were coming back and that Stephie was spending the night.

“I thought you were taking it slow.”

“We are. She just wants to sleep with me, and I mean sleep. Nothing will happen.”

“That’s up to you,” Elyse said. “I don’t have any claim on you. It’s fine. Remember that Kathy is coming tomorrow morning.”

“Yep,” I said, “I’ll let Stephie know that we have to be up early. I’ll probably take her home before my karate class.”

“If not, we can work it out. Don’t worry. It’s all good.”

“You’re wonderful, you know that?”

“Of course I am!” Elyse said mirthfully.

A few minutes later, Stephie came back with a small overnight bag and we headed back to Hyde Park. Elyse was waiting for us when we walked in. I took Stephie’s bag and dropped it in my room. I noticed that the bed was turned down and had clean sheets. I’d have to thank Elyse for that. I headed back to the living room.

“Want some tea or anything before bed?” Elyse asked.

“No thanks,” Stephie answered. “I’m kind of tired.”

“None for me, either,” I said. “Stephie, why don’t you go change and hop in bed? I’ll be in soon.”

“OK!” she said with a smile, walking down the hall, grabbing her bag from my room and going into the bathroom.

I stepped close to Elyse so I could talk quietly with her.

“Thanks for changing the sheets and straightening my room.”

“I grabbed my things out of there, too. Don’t want her to get the wrong idea.”

“I owe you, Elyse.”

“You can pay me back tomorrow night. I have some ideas!” she said in a voice that was inviting and frightening at the same time.

I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and then walked back down the hall just as Stephie came out of the bathroom in a pink knee-length sleep shirt that had the word “Princess” on it. Given her small stature — she was about 5’2” — it made her look like a little kid, small and vulnerable. The more I thought about it, that’s exactly what she was. A new song by Journey, just released earlier in the month, summed it up almost perfectly.

Now granted, we’d taken a Trans Am, but the point still stood. She was a small-town girl and was way out of her comfort zone. She saw Warren, Elyse, and me all seeming well-adapted and comfortable. The reality was that it wasn’t as picture-perfect as Stephie thought it was. She didn’t really know me that well, not a lot of my history. She didn’t know Elyse’s history, and she certainly didn’t know about my relationship with Elyse, which was, at times, confusing.

“I have to get you a new t-shirt that says ‘Peaches’,” I teased.

I went into my room, grabbed some shorts and a t-shirt and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change. I came back to my room and saw Stephie standing by the window. I shut the door and put my clothes in my laundry bag.

“So?” Stephie asked, looking at me.

“Bedtime,” I said. “Are you sure about this? I can sleep on the couch if you’ve changed your mind.”

“No. I want to sleep in your arms,” she sighed. “Please?” she said plaintively.

I turned on my desk lamp on the lowest setting and then turned off the bright standing lamp, leaving the room washed in a pale, yellowish light. I got into bed and patted the mattress next to me and Stephie got in and moved close. I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my chest and sighed contentedly.

“A couple of our friends are coming early tomorrow morning, so we’ll need to be up. I usually get up and run around 5:30am. Will you be OK if I do that, or would you prefer me to stay with you?”

“It’s OK. I can shower and stuff while you run,” she answered. “Who are the friends?”

“My High School friend Kathy and her boyfriend Kurt. Most likely they’ll stay the night. They like how quiet it is here compared to their dorms. Basically, we all study and have lunch and dinner. Last week we went to a play.”

“What about you and Elyse?” Stephie asked.

“We’re really good friends. We share all the housework, though I do the cooking. We’re together a lot. I’ve known her since tenth grade, though she went to a different school. We met at her aunt’s wedding just before I went to Sweden and when my original plans fell through, she and I decided to get an apartment together.”

“Original plans?”

“It’s a long, long story. The short version is that a girl who I was seriously involved with moved to Seattle. We were supposed to go to IIT together and live together, but she backed out at the last minute. I can tell you the whole story sometime. She and I are still friends.”