Chapter 44: Spring Break, 1982, Part I

March, 1982, Milford, Ohio

As I drove along I-65, I thought about what Stephanie had asked for and what Bethany had said without even knowing about the request. Of course, because Bethany and I were so in tune, she might have actually had an idea that I was struggling with getting involved with my sister again. I kept turning it over and over in my mind and I kept coming to the same conclusion — that I shouldn’t do it.

I was torn between doing what Stephanie wanted and doing what Kara and Bethany expected of me. I knew that it was now or never. Most likely, in less than four months, I’d be living with Kara and everyone else would be permanently off limits, including my little sister. I sighed and put an ABBA tape into the cassette deck. I tried to clear my mind, but my thoughts kept coming back to the same topic.

By the time I arrived in Milford, it was almost 1:00am. I quietly let myself into the Spencers’ house. They had left a light on for me, which I turned off before heading upstairs. I dropped my bag and went to use the bathroom, then came back to get ready for bed. I noticed a piece of paper on the pillow and picked it up. I was surprised by what I read.

A bunch of things ran through my mind, the most frightening of which was that she was pregnant. She’d told me that she was on the Pill, and I believed her, but things happened. That would make a royal mess of things, and would pretty much wreck everything I’d planned. I grabbed my address book, my hand shaking, and went to Melanie’s room to use her phone. I shut the door behind me and picked up the phone. I dialed the number, filled with extreme trepidation.

“Minister Voronin’s Official Residence,” a male voice answered.

“This is Stephen Rayevich calling for Tatyana Ivanovna, please.”

“One moment. She is expecting your call.”

I waited two minutes, which seemed more like two hours, before she came on the line.

“Stepa!” she gushed.

“Tanya, is everything all right?”

“Yes, but I must tell you that I am in Washington.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Leningrad at school?”

“Yes, but you have heard of death of Mikhael Andreyevich, Father’s sponsor?”

“Yes, I read about that in the paper. The article suggested that there might be a power struggle.”

“Yes. Father thought best if I come to Washington and finish school at Embassy here.”

Which told me that the article was correct. He’d lost his sponsor and didn’t want his wife and daughter in Russia when he was here. That made a lot of sense to me. I also knew any discussion of the situation should be face to face, not over the phone.

“So you are in Washington until Fall?”

“Yes. Do you think you can visit soon?”

I looked at my calendar and saw that we had Good Friday off and that was just under four weeks from now.

“I could come April 9th to April 11th, I think. I don’t have class that Friday because of Easter.”

“But Christian Easter is not until 18th!”

I remembered from the book I’d read that the dates of Easter and Orthodox ‘Pascha’ diverged most of the time.

“I think they are on different dates for Roman Catholics and Russian Orthodox, so I think that we are both correct.”

“I do not know this. But is good weekend. You fly to Washington Thursday and go home Sunday?”

“I’ll make the flight reservations,” I said.

“Good. Will be nice to see you, Stepa.”

“And you too, Tanya.”

“«Спокойной ночи. Я люблю тебя»,” she said. (“Good night. I love you.”)

Two phrases that she had taught me and I remembered.

“«Спокойной ночи. Я люблю тебя»,” I responded. (“Good night. I love you.”)

I replaced the receiver in the cradle and breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Of all the things she could have said, a power struggle in Moscow was, somewhat surprisingly, probably the thing that would make me the least concerned! I went back to what had become my room, set the alarm so I could go to swim with Stephanie, and then fell into bed and was quickly asleep.

The alarm jolted me awake, and I quickly dressed and left the quiet house for my parents’ house. Stephanie was waiting for me and gave me a big hug.

“Happy birthday, Stephanie!” I said, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Thanks Big Brother!”

“We’ll spend next Saturday together, if that’s OK. I already told Kara that I needed to spend the day with you. I’ll see her for dinner, but you have me from swimming until around 5:00pm. We’ll swim every day I’m here. I do need to see Kara today, but we’ll both be at your birthday celebration tonight!”

“Good!” she smiled.

I quickly changed into my suit and we swam our laps. She pulled ahead towards the end as she had the last time we were together and was treading water when I completed my last lap.

“We have to work on your stamina, Big Brother!” she smirked. “I’m a little worried!”

I ignored her and got out of the pool and went to shower, and then went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Stephanie joined me a few minutes later.

“I got a call from Susan Pollard on Monday.”

I could see from her face that Stephanie knew what I meant.

“I was threatened with being grounded for a year if I breathed a word to you. Mom basically said if you ever found out, she’d know I told you.”

“What? She thinks I don’t know anyone in Milford? Joe Caldwell is a Milford Police Cadet. He called Susan because they were in band together and he knew she knew me. She called me.”

“Mom’s going to be pissed.”

“Didn’t it get into the paper?”

“Not what really happened. They got to the police, the county prosecutor, and the judge the same day, and the charges filed were misdemeanors only. So it just showed up as a couple of counts of public indecency, not what he really did.”

“Unbelievable,” I sighed. “If that had happened to me, Mom would have tried to stop Dad from helping me.”

“You would never do something like that, Big Brother! Every girl who’s seen yours WANTED to see it!”

“Cute. But don’t worry about it. I’m not going to say anything now. It’s just one of those things I’m going to keep until I can use it effectively. And I’ll make sure that Mom knows how I found out.”

“She’ll still blame me, Big Brother.”

“We’ll see when the time comes. Please don’t worry about it,” I said, trying to reassure her.

I got breakfast ready and on the table. Dad joined us as he usually did. When we finished, Stephanie and I cleaned up and went to hang out in her room for a bit before I headed to Kara’s house.

“What are your plans for the week?” Stephanie asked.

“Well, obviously you know Milford has their Spring Break next week,” I said, “not this one, so my days are kind of open. I’m having lunch with Susan Pollard on Tuesday and Dad on Wednesday, but otherwise, during the days, there isn’t much to do. Most of my friends have Spring Break next week. Next year, Kara will be with me, so it won’t matter when Spring Break is. And as I just told you, I WILL spend Saturday with you.”

“Cool.”

I was happy she hadn’t raised the issue of sex and hoped that maybe she had gotten past that. It was time for me to head to Kara’s, so I hugged Stephanie and she walked me to the door.

“Oh, Steve, I forgot. Your friend Anna called and asked if you would call her. She has Spring Break this week and hoped you could have lunch.”

“Thanks. I’ll call her later today.”

We hugged, and I got into my car to head to Kara’s house. She must have been watching out the window because she came bounding out of the house before I’d even come to a stop. I set the parking brake, got out of the car, and was immediately enveloped in a bear hug.

“Steve!” Kara squealed.

“Miss me?” I asked with a smile.

“Well, yes, of course!” Kara declared. “Certain parts of me missed certain parts of you a LOT!”

“And which parts would those be?” I smirked.

“Maybe we’ll just have to try them all and see if we can figure it out!” she giggled.

She took my hand and led me towards the house.

“We’re having coffee or tea with my parents,” she said as she pulled me through the front door and into the house.

We went to the kitchen, and I greeted her parents. To my surprise, her dad greeted me in a cordial manner. Her mom gave me a brief hug, and we sat down. Kara and I drank tea while her parents drank coffee. We talked about school and my plans for the Summer. I talked about going to Sweden but then just said that for the most part, I’d be staying in Chicago, working, though I might take a trip or two. And of course, I would make time to see Kara.

Kara’s dad stayed cordial during the entire time, though her mom did most of the talking. She had told her dad that she’d applied to IIT, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago, and that she’d been accepted to all three. Personally, I was surprised that he hadn’t put two and two together, but what Kara planned to do was pretty far outside anything he might expect. He had to assume we’d see each other and continue to be intimate. I wondered if Mrs. Blanchard had finally made him see that Kara and I were not going to break up and that all he was doing was alienating both of us. I’d have to ask Kara about that.

After we finished our tea, Kara and I left for the Spencers’. When we arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer invited us to sit with them and have coffee and I felt it would be impolite to decline, given the hospitality that had shown me over the last year, as well as how well they’d treated me since Junior High when Melanie and I had been dating. Kara told them that she was going to school in Chicago and would most likely be at IIT with me, though she was looking closely at the University of Chicago.

“Will you and Steve live together the way Pete and Melanie are at Ohio State?” Mrs. Spencer asked.

“Dear, please don’t pry,” Mr. Spencer suggested gently.

“It’s OK, Mr. Spencer,” Kara said. “Yes, we will. He has a really nice two-bedroom apartment in Chicago that he’s sharing with his friend Elyse. I’m moving in as soon as he comes back from Sweden. But please don’t say anything because my dad doesn’t know and I don’t want to tell him until after I graduate.”

“Don’t worry, Kara, we won’t say anything to anyone. Steve can certainly vouch for us, given the way his mom has treated him, Melanie, and us over the years.”

“And I have to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Mrs. Spencer, including allowing me to be here with Kara.”

She smiled, “If we let you be here with our daughter when she was sixteen, it shouldn’t surprise you!”

I chuckled, “Including walking into the sauna while we were there!”

Mrs. Spencer laughed, “I promise not to do that to you and Kara. It was fun to tease Melanie, but don’t worry!”

Kara just smiled. I’d told her about the incident when Mrs. Spencer walked in while Melanie and I were screwing in the sauna, and then later had brought us Cokes while we were soaking in the tub.

“And we promise not to come down to dinner naked!” Kara giggled.

“Ah, I see he’s told you everything!” Mrs. Spencer said with a small laugh.

“There are no secrets between us. I knew he was here with Karin and Jennifer. I know about him and Melanie, and I know all about Birgit.”

Mr. and Mrs. Spencer both nodded and took sips of their coffee. That was still a tough subject for them, and the fact that they’d almost lost Melanie to suicide only increased the emotional impact of Birgit’s death. They hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to their ‘daughter’ as I had to my lover. Birgit had lived with them for a year as an exchange student and they had completely accepted her as if she were their own child.

When we finished our coffee, Kara and I went up to my room and, without a word, undressed, and got into bed. We made love slowly and passionately and when it was over, we cuddled like we usually did.

“I wish I didn’t have to go to school this week!” Kara said.

“I have no idea why IIT has a different break than pretty much everyone else. Nobody’s home except the people who are at UC. We’ll see Joyce on Friday for dinner. She’s going to bring Terry with her. Tomorrow after church, I’ll take you to Don Joseph’s house. Joyce is officially dating Terry, so I can bring you there without causing problems with my boss. Stephanie and Ed will go with us.”

“I never really understood your relationship with Joyce’s grandfather. It’s kind of odd.”

“It’s like Joyce said. He’s an older Italian guy and for him, friendship and business go together. Once I started working for him, I’ve become his friend, and to a point, an adopted son. He calls me «figlio mio», which in Italian means ‘my son’. He appreciates my work, the respect I show him, how I treat Joyce, and the fact that I play bocce better than he and his friends do!”

“Bocce?”

“It’s a kind of bowling game. You throw a small target ball called a ‘jack’ and then try to get the larger balls as close as possible. I learned to play when I was little. I went to his house with Larry and that’s how I met Joyce and their grandfather years ago. He gave me a job and ever since he’s looked out for me. He helped me get my business set up and helped me find customers, including his friends in Chicago.”

“And it’s all programming work?”

Well, I did have ONE secret from her that I had to keep.

“Now, yes. In the beginning, I worked at Andreas’ Deli here in Milford sweeping floors, stocking supplies, running the register, and occasionally running errands for Andreas. Stephanie’s boyfriend Ed has my old job there now, basically doing the same stuff.”

“What else do you have planned?”

“Dinner here tonight, then hanging out with Tracey and Marty afterwards. During the day, while you’re in school, I’ll see a few people like my old friends Susan and Larry, and hang out with my sister. On Monday night, you and I will go out, but I want to stop by and see my friend Donna and her baby, Marcus. We’ll have dinner just you and me the rest of the week, except Thursday when we’re supposed to eat with your parents. I’ll pick you up around 5:00pm, so you have time to do homework. Saturday I promised Stephanie I’d spend the day with her, but you and I will have dinner and our last night together. Sunday we’ll have lunch and then I’ll head back to Chicago.”

“So there will be plenty of time to figure out which parts missed which parts!” she giggled.

“Yes, Kara!” I chuckled. “Remember, when we get to Chicago, we do have to study sometime!”

“Not during the Summer! I think we’ll stay in bed except for when we have to go shopping or eat!”

“You know, there is more to life than sex!”

“Yes!” she exclaimed with a silly smile. “Babies!”

I sighed theatrically, “So, that’s all I am to you? A life support system for a dick, a tongue, and ten fingers?”

She laughed, “Yes!”

I started tickling her and refused to stop despite her shrieks. Eventually she gasped, “OK, I take it back!”

I stopped tickling and pulled her back to cuddle me.

“That’s not fair, Snuggle Bear! I’m so ticklish and you aren’t!”

“Is it fair that you can have multiple orgasms in a row, sometimes only seconds apart, and I can’t?”

“Yes, of course!” she declared. “I have to bleed for a few days every month, so I should get something in return!”