Chapter 25: Thanksgiving Break, Part II

November, 1981, Milford, Ohio

On Sunday, I spent the morning with Stephanie swimming and eating breakfast, as well as making my call to Karin. I had lunch with Larry before heading over to Don Joseph’s house. The weather wasn’t good enough for bocce, so I sat with Don Joseph and his friends and talked before dinner and with Larry and Joyce after dinner. When it was time to leave, Joyce followed me outside.

“Can I come spend the night with you?” Joyce asked.

“Sure. I’ll see you at the Spencers’.”

Later that evening, we made love, then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

I woke early and headed to my house to swim and eat with Stephanie and Joyce headed back to her house. Around 11:00am I picked up Kara for lunch.

“How are you today?” I asked.

“Uncomfortable, but happy,” Kara replied. “The fact that you did that without fighting with me about it meant a lot.”

“Was that some kind of test?”

“Yes, it was. And you passed!” she said with a smile. “You just did what I asked.”

“And how did it feel?”

“Strange,” Kara replied. “Very strange. What about you? How did it feel?”

“Fantastic. You have a really tight, hot, cute little ass,” I smirked.

“And what was that with your tongue? Wasn’t that gross?”

“Did it excite you?”

“Yes, but I felt kind of grossed out, too.”

“I just wanted to do it.”

She didn’t reply. I pulled into the lot at Frisch’s and we got out of the car and went inside to meet Tracey and Marty for lunch. Stephanie was right — Tracey had lost some weight and was dressed in a very cute blouse and jeans. She was indeed looking very good. Marty also looked like he was in better shape.

“You two are looking pretty good!”

“We’re exercising together,” Marty said. “We’ve each lost about ten pounds and have better muscle tone.”

“Cool. You guys seem to be doing really well,” I said.

“We are!” Tracey declared. “We’re talking about going to college together. And we have you to thank for all of this!”

“Another couple, Steve?” Kara inquired. “Pete and Melanie. Josh and Mary. Tracey and Marty. You’re a regular matchmaker!”

We enjoyed our lunches and had a great conversation. I invited Marty and Tracey to the party on Saturday and they said that they’d come. When we finished, Tracey asked Kara if it was OK to talk to me privately. Kara nodded her approval, so Tracey and I stepped a few paces away.

“Did you think about Jessica?” she whispered.

Stephanie had made a pretty strong argument, though I wasn’t quite sure.

“I did,” I said quietly. “I’m not sure,”

“Here’s her phone number. Call her. You’re not exclusive and she really wants this.”

I took the small slip of paper with the phone number and put it in my pocket.

“I’ll think about it, OK? I’ll decide today,”

“Think of it as a favor to me,” Tracey whispered.

We walked back to Kara and Marty, the four of us said goodbye and I headed for Kara’s house.

“What did Tracey want?” Kara asked.

“She just needs a favor. Something personal.”

“Personal? I thought she was exclusive with Marty!”

“She is. It’s not that.”

“Oh, OK.”

I wasn’t happy with the answer I had given Kara, but she had specifically told me she didn’t want to know about things like what I was considering. When she didn’t press it, I wondered if she had guessed what it might be. But then I realized that she really couldn’t know. When I dropped her at home, I let her know I’d pick her up around 5:00pm for dinner, then headed to my parents’ house.

After I arrived, I called everyone that I hadn’t already spoken to about the party. I received positive responses and set about making a shopping list. Stephanie, Kara, Bethany, and I would do the shopping on Saturday morning and set up for the party.

I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do about Jessica, so I walked across the street to see Debbie C and Alexa. They were doing great, and I was surprised to see that her boyfriend was there. She introduced Don, and I shook hands with him. I asked how things were going and she told me they still planned to get married in a year and a half when they graduated from High School. Alexa was already walking and starting to talk and was cute as a button. I stayed for about fifteen minutes, then walked along Overlook to Debbie V’s house.

She and Tracy were happy to see me, and we sat and talked for about twenty minutes. Debbie and Phillip had broken up, but she was dating a Senior named Roger and Tracy had a boyfriend named Carl. They both were doing well and Debbie was really looking forward to graduating in a year and a half. She was still planning on being a nurse and was going to go to UC for her undergrad courses, at least. They both made it clear that they’d be happy to spend some private time with me, but they weren’t pushy or demanding. I just smiled and let it go.

When I arrived home, Stephanie followed me to my room.

“Mom’s not happy about the party. But Dad told her that she wasn’t to interfere or say anything. He’s happy you came to visit, but obviously she’s not. She keeps hoping you’ll flunk out of college or your business will fail or something, so you’ll have to come beg her to let you move back in and she can say ‘no’.”

“She’s certifiably insane and totally delusional if she thinks that will happen. I could get a computer programming job tomorrow that paid at least $20,000 a year, according to my professor, even without finishing school. I could stay in school and take a $7.00 an hour work-study job doing programming. And, if something goes horribly wrong, Larry’s grandfather will help me, as would the Blocks, Spencers, or Krajicks. I’d even go so far as to get back together with Becky and get help from her dad before I’d ask Mom for anything at all.”

“Only if you want to die, Big Brother,” she growled with sudden ferocity.

“I was just telling you what lengths I’d go to. Heck, I could call the Anderssons and move to Sweden. They’d pay for everything and help me get into college there. If I called Katt’s parents and asked for help, they’d help me in a heartbeat. Of course, Katt would break up with Mikael to be with me and that might wreck her skating, so I probably wouldn’t do that.”

“I have no doubt about any of that. Did you decide what to do about Jessica?”

“Tracey gave me her number. I suppose I should at least call her.”

“Remember what I told you about Laura? Same advice. Oh, and Michelle Bateman asked me on Friday if you were coming home. She STILL wants to get together with you.”

“No thanks. One thing I’m sure of is that I don’t want to be around people who treat others like dirt. I’ve seen too much of that from Mom. I also don’t want to be around judgmental people, nor people who don’t respect relationships.”

“You mean like Becky?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah. Or this girl at IIT named Papiya, who pretty much said the same thing — cheat and don’t tell, because it’s just sex.”

“Your rule is a good one, Big Brother. Ed and I agree completely on that. There’s nothing lower than cheating. I saw the price you paid for that. It was well deserved, of course, but I don’t want to even contemplate being on the receiving end of something like the Triumvirate, even if it’s just Ed.”

“So you AREN’T actually the Princess, Lord High Ruler of the Universe that you pretend to be!” I chuckled.

“Well, of course not. But Ed doesn’t know it!” she smirked. “And if you know what’s good for you, you won’t tell him!”

“What; or you’ll spank me?” I teased, sticking out my tongue at her.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Put your tongue back in your mouth before I make you use it.”

“In your dreams!”

“You know it, Big Brother. Now, go call Jessica and give her what she’s looking for.”

I sighed, “Fine. You win.”

“Oh come off it! She’s cute and I bet she’s going to fuck you almost to death. Think about all that energy and enthusiasm! You sound resigned, like it’s a death sentence.”

I was torn by it, but in the end, I wanted to be with her. I didn’t totally understand why, but I didn’t see any real harm. I wasn’t steady with Kara at this point and really, nothing stood in my way. I quieted the inner voice that was giving me pause.

I chuckled, “I guess I did. Let me call her.”

I dialed the number on the slip of paper that Tracey had given me. Jessica answered on the third ring. I identified myself, which caused her to squeal then start talking a mile-a-minute. She was as effervescent as she had been that morning at breakfast, sounding like she was going to explode.

“Jessica, relax and let me get a word in!” I said after three minutes of chatter about everything she was doing in school, what her dog was doing, and what she wanted for Christmas.

Stephanie smirked.

“Sorry, Steve!” Jessica exclaimed, sounding apologetic. “I was just so excited that you called. What did you want?”

“Tracey said you wanted to get together with me. I’m interested if you are.”

I had to move the phone away from my ear as she shrieked.

“Yes, yes! Can you come over right now? My parents both work.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have much time. How about tomorrow morning?”

“Perfect!” Jessica gushed. “My parents leave for work at 8:15am. Come at about 8:30am and I’ll be ready! Here’s my address.”

She gave me her address, and I wrote it down. We said goodbye, and I hung up the phone, shaking my head at her enthusiasm. If it translated the way my sister thought it would, she WAS going to fuck me almost to death! Stephanie had a smug look on her face.

“Did Tracey put you up to this?” I asked my sister good-naturedly.

“Not really,” she replied. “When Marty said he’d do it, but only as a threesome, and Jessica didn’t want to, Tracey asked me if she could ask Ed. I said no, that Ed and I were exclusive and we had a firm rule against that. She accused me, with a smile of course, of being a pain just like you are!”

I chuckled, “Yeah. She wants me in the worst way, but unlike Melanie, she restrains herself. So I guess that means you aren’t going to bring Shelly into a threesome with you and Ed.”

“That’s right,” Stephanie confirmed. “One guy, one girl. That’s what I want. I got all that other stuff out of my system with you.”

“Wow. So you went full crazy at the start, then became about as conventional as possible.”

“I know! Don’t get me wrong, I loved every single thing we did together, and I don’t regret it. I’d still be doing it if we hadn’t changed our relationship. But with Ed, no.”

“You’re in love with him!” I said, realizing what was really going on.

“Yes,” she said simply. “And he’s in love with me.”

“Damn! Good for you, Stephanie. I’m really happy. I’m sure Bethany is as well.”

“Ed says she is. And she’s happy with Gene, though she’d come back to you in a heartbeat.”

“Maybe. Every day she’s with Gene, that becomes less likely. And that’s a good thing. She’s a new person, Stephanie. Wait until you see her at lunch tomorrow. Speaking of which, we’re going to make it a late lunch, 1:00pm so that I have four hours or so with Jessica. Let Ed know, will you? But not why. Keep this to yourself.”

“I’ve learned my lesson in that regard,” Stephanie said.

“Good!”

The phone rang and Stephanie answered it. She laughed and handed me the receiver.

“Thank you!” Tracey gushed.

“You’re welcome. Why is this such a big deal to you?”

“She’s my best friend and she’s wanted you since the start of eighth grade. I’m glad I could help her.”

“Why me? She’s cute as a button. I’m sure there are guys who would want to be with her.”

“She wants someone who’s experienced and really good. That’s you.”

“You’ve talked about me, I guess.”

“Yeah, to her. And to Michelle, who is beside herself, that you won’t do it with her and you did it with me.”

“Too bad for Michelle,” I replied flatly. “I don’t appreciate how she treated you and people who treat my friends that way are absolutely not someone I want to be friends with, let alone do anything else.”

“I know. She’s really sorry, but I totally understand. By the way, I know how careful you are, so I want you to know that I took Jessica to the clinic to see Doctor Gustafson about six weeks ago. She’s on the Pill.”

I chuckled, “Thanks, Tracey. But please don’t set up any more like this. I’m getting out of the business, so to speak.”

“Yeah, I know. You and Kara are getting really serious. I could tell at lunch. I promise. Just make it as good for her as it was for me, please.”

“I promise!”

We hung up, then I went with Stephanie to hang out in her room for a change, mostly because she had the beanbag chairs and I didn’t. We sat and talked until it was time for me to leave to pick up Kara. I’d wanted to spend the whole day together, but she’d had to do something with her parents for the afternoon. I arrived at Kara’s house just after 5:00pm and she came out to meet me before I even got out of the car.

“Any particular place you want to go?” I asked.

“Not really, so long as we end up in bed!”

“Kara Blanchard, you are insatiable!”

“I haven’t seen you for a month! And I won’t see you until Christmas! Then I’ll have you for two weeks at Christmas, then maybe a weekend or two, then Spring Break, then probably when you finish school. Then you’ll go away for a month. I have to be with you as much as I can when you’re here. Then, when we move in together, you can make love to me when we go to bed, when we wake up, and during the day! All the time!” she giggled.

“We do have to go to class and study, and I have to work!”

“I know. But you know what I mean! It’s your fault, anyway!”

“My fault?”

“If you hadn’t taken my virginity, none of this would have happened!”

“I didn’t take a thing!” I countered. “You threw it at me! And insisted!”

“I did. And I insist you make love to me!”

“I was thinking of Friday’s, but that would take a couple of hours. Is three hours of sex enough for you tonight?” I smirked.

“It will have to do!”

We did go to Friday’s and then back to the Spencers’ house, where we made love until it was almost time to take Kara home. I wished she could stay the night, but that just wasn’t going to happen. We showered quickly and used Melanie’s blow dryer to make sure that Kara’s hair was dry, and then I took her home. I told her I’d see her after lunch with Ed, Stephanie, and Bethany, and that we’d have the afternoon and evening together.

On Tuesday, I was up early and went to my parents’ house to swim and eat with Stephanie. At about 8:15am I headed to the address that Jessica had provided. She lived just off Route 28 on Happy Hollow Road, which wasn’t too far from Kara’s house, which was on McClelland Road. I arrived at about 8:25am, which was a few minutes early, but I didn’t see any cars in the driveway. I pulled up and parked, then walked to the front door and rang the bell.

The door opened and Jessica asked me to come in. She quickly shut the door behind me. She was dressed in a short, black silk robe that was tied at the waist.

“Hi!” she gushed. “Would you put your car in the garage? I’ll open it. Don’t want anyone seeing it and getting suspicious!”

I went back out and the garage door opened and I pulled the car in and she shut it. I walked back into the house through the door from the garage. She led me through the house to the stairs, then upstairs to her room. She had a full-size bed with light blue sheets and pillowcases and a dark blue blanket that was turned down. The rest of her room was typical — a desk and chair, a dresser, an REO Speedwagon poster, and a Cincinnati Bengals poster. Sheer drapes covered the window, allowing light in, but nobody would be able to see.