Chapter 54: Dangerous Liaisons

April, 1982, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday evening, I called Bethany and wished her a happy birthday. She giggled, saying that she’d celebrated her birthday all weekend with Gene.

The rest of the week was quite normal, with nothing out of the ordinary until Thursday. The day started off normally, with me meeting Jackie in the Stuart Building for coffee. We had a nice visit and after she left, I went to the computer lab to put in my hours as lab assistant. The lab was nearly empty, so I put the finishing touches on my project. I ran the test data sets provided by the professor and had the expected results. I put the printouts into the professor’s box and was happy that my projects were done.

I only had one request for help that morning, so I spent the rest of the time reading my history assignment. I had a term paper on the Reformation to write and I made some notes in my notebook about points I wanted to raise. I also had a short paper to write for my English class. Over weekend I’d write the rough draft of the longer paper and then write and complete the shorter one.

I met Stephie for lunch and then she went to work on a class project and I went to wait for Becky at the Hub. She showed up about ten minutes early and when she walked over to where I was sitting, I stood up.

“Hi, Becky,” I said. “Thanks again for helping Alyson.”

“Hi, Steve. I see that you know her real name now.”

“I do. Let’s walk over to The Governor’s Table on Halsted and have coffee.”

She nodded, and we started walking.

“How long have you been working for the Mafia?”

I sighed, “You HAVE to keep this a secret, Becky. Almost nobody knows about it. The ones who do are all involved in some way.”

“I’ll keep your secret. And I’m not freaked-out. I’m intrigued.”

“It started when I was fourteen. You remember the deli job I had? That’s when it began. I’ve done odd jobs here or there, but mostly I write computer programs for them. On occasion, I make some deliveries or drive someone someplace. I met Alyson a few months ago when I was there doing computer support or making a delivery, I’m not sure which. And then I saw her again a few weeks ago. She was desperate enough to take a chance that I’d help her. I guess the fact that I was young, a computer whiz, a college student, and not Italian made her take that risk.”

“Add in the fact that she has a major crush on you. Those damn eyes of yours just melt a young girl’s heart! She was also amazed that you didn’t take her up on her offer to have sex. I guess you’re the first guy to ever turn her down.”

“I wasn’t a paying customer, Becky. And you, of all people, know I can get sex anywhere and anytime I want it.”

“I have made that clear in the past, haven’t I?” she asked, a smile showing she obviously had some interest, which really wasn’t news.

“Yes; crystal!” I agreed, letting it go because it was an appropriate response to something I’d said.

“Alyson told me how she got involved,” Becky said. “She was fourteen and was at the place her mom works, sitting on a bench waiting for her mom to get off work. This guy in his early twenties pulls up in a really nice sports car. He was really good looking and said hello to her. He went inside and came out about twenty minutes later and struck up a conversation. He was a salesman and the place her mom worked was one of his regular customers. They talked for about ten minutes and he left. A couple of weeks later, she saw him again and well, one thing led to another, and he took her virginity. She didn’t see him for a couple of months. The next time she saw him, they did it again, and she decided she wanted to be with him.

“She had his business card, so she got her babysitting money and took the bus to Chicago. She went to his office in the Loop to surprise him, but she was the one who was surprised. The receptionist was the guy’s fiancée! Alyson was devastated, so she left and went back to the bus station. She was sitting on a bench crying and this young guy came up to her and started talking to her. He told her he could help her. He bought her a meal, then took her to his place. They had sex and then the guy started threatening her and basically forced her into prostitution.

“You were right that she was really desperate. At first, she thought she could never go home because of what she’d been doing, but eventually, she was so disgusted that she no longer cared. Then she thought that if she could get home, she might be able to keep what she’d been doing from her parents. She told me that her plan was to simply tell them that she’d run away because she was upset with them, which was true, and that she’d stayed with a friend in Chicago. She’d say that her friend got into drugs and she didn’t want to stay anymore, and that she met me at a party and I offered to bring her home.”

“I hope they bought it,” I said.

We arrived at the restaurant and were seated. We ordered coffee and a piece of pie each. The waitress brought them right away.

“I think they’re just happy she’s home and they won’t push too much,” Becky said. “You did a really good thing, Steve. You’ve always had a good heart. I’ve finally realized that. I made so many mistakes and acted like such a bitch that I’m surprised you would even talk to me, even before the baby. Then, even after I tried to trap you, you treated me well, and I betrayed you by having the abortion.

“Even after that, I knew you cared about me and I used that at the chess meet to try to get you back in my life. I came to your house and acted like a complete bitch. Then I took advantage of you at the conference and really was a bitch when I said you should cheat on Kara and not tell her. That was wrong and I regret ever saying it. I don’t believe it’s the way to live my life anymore. Can you forgive me and be my friend?”

She sounded sincere, but she was an expert at changing her entire persona. When I’d met her, she was the Queen Bitch in her school, but she’d never been anything but nice to me, at least until the baby. I’d have to stay on my guard and not let it down at all with her.

“I do forgive you Becky. There’s plenty of blame to go around. I should have realized what making love would mean to you. It was foolish given that at the time I was planning on being with Birgit long-term and couldn’t even make a commitment to you to go steady. I’m really sorry for that.”

“Don’t be, Steve. When we were fifteen, I wanted to have sex with you. You stopped me several times, and I persisted. And I’m glad we did it. It was fantastic, minus the pain and the fact that I bled like a stuck pig! But even that first time blew me away with pleasure. So don’t be sorry about that.”

“As long as you’re happy about it, then it’s fine,” I said. “I’m not angry with you anymore. I got over that. I’m sad about the baby, but there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

We finished our pie, and the waitress refilled our coffee cups.

“About this work you do,” Becky said quietly. “Do you need help?”

“Why would you want to get involved in something like this?”

“Excitement. Money. And a chance to do something with you. Plus, I could learn about computers.”

“Your dad is a very successful lawyer. Money shouldn’t be a concern for you.”

“That’s his, not mine. And we’re not talking dangerous stuff here, if I understand correctly. Just computer stuff. How about it?”

I had worried about using Becky, but she seemed truly interested in helping. I realized it might just be a way to try to worm herself back into my bed, but I felt I could keep that from happening at this point. Of course, it would have to be kept completely secret given Kara, Bethany, Jennifer and Stephanie would have serious issues with it.

“Maybe. I’d have a couple of conditions. First, it has to be completely secret. Second, you would have to be able to take phone calls. Third, I’d really need you to stay in Chicago over the Summer.”

“The first two are easy, and I agree. Your friends can’t know and my parents certainly can’t know. I have a phone and an answering machine. The last one, I might be able to. Why?”

“I’m going to Ohio for a few weeks, Europe for a month, and then Seattle for several days. Basically, I’ll be gone from the middle of May until the end of July. That’s when I need the most help.”

“Could I tell my parents I’m working for your company? You do have legitimate customers, right?”

“Sure,” I said. “We have a number of veterinarian clients in Chicago and, over the Summer, Beth will be looking harder for more. And I can tell Beth about you without any difficulty, given she doesn’t know our past, and she isn’t really in my regular circle of friends these days — she’s my business partner. I’ll tell Krista as well, because she’s keeping things going in Cincinnati, but again, she’s not part of my regular gang.”

“Then I’ll stay for the Summer. My parents will be OK with it. Rosary offers really cheap room and board, too. This is going to be fun!”

We finished our second cups of coffee and then walked back to campus. We agreed to meet again next Thursday, said goodbye, and she got into her BMW and left. She hadn’t tried for a hug, a kiss, or even tried to touch me. That boded well for the future, and I was confident that I could manage the situation. I’d have to clear things with Richie and Frank, but I figured they’d be OK with it. I’d call Richie when I arrived home. I headed back to the computer center in the Stuart Building to wait for Stephie.

Stephie came by about 3:45pm and we headed back to the apartment. When we arrived, I checked the machine and had a message from Theo saying he wanted to see me right away. I told Stephie I’d be back in a bit and walked over to Theo’s place.

“Hey, kid. Got a couple of questions for you,” Theo said after he let me in.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“You were with Dawn a couple of Sundays ago. Did you notice anything odd?”

My knees got weak, and it was all I could do to stand steadily.

“Not really,” I said. “I thought she looked pretty young, but otherwise, no.”

“You got it on with her?”

I didn’t like where this was going AT ALL. I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking.

“Yeah. Upstairs in what I think was her room. Why?”

I was careful to keep my breathing as regular as I could and look at Theo’s face.

“She any good?”

“Yeah, small tits, flared hips, cute face, and, well, she felt damn good, too,” I lied, hoping I was convincing.

“You liked that super hairy muff?” he asked with a grin.

She’d been neatly trimmed! He was testing me. She’d been right to have us get naked.

“Huh?” I asked. “She was neatly trimmed. I think she even shaved a bit given she had a small tattoo of a rose at the top of her mons, right above her pubic hair.”

He smiled, “OK, kid. Relax. She disappeared and Frank is talking to everyone who was with her in the last two weeks. He figured if you knew about her tattoo, you were probably playing it straight. She didn’t say anything to you?”

“Other than the usual BS a hooker says to a customer?” I asked with a grin.

“Smart ass! Take off. I’ll talk to you soon, kid.”

“Theo, I did want to mention that I have a solution for the Summer. A friend of mine from Ohio is going to help me with the legitimate side of the business. I trust her completely. She’ll be the contact if anything needs to be done over the Summer. She’d even be able to install new computers and fix any hardware problems.”

“If you vouch for her, then I’m OK with it. But it’s on you if something goes wrong. If she talks, you’re in real trouble. You’ll need to talk to Frank, and he might not be so accepting.”

“Got it. Worst case, she can take the phone calls and get in touch with me.”

“I’ll arrange for you, Richie, and Frank to get together. Sunday morning OK?”

“Perfect,” I said.

I walked out of his place, about to explode from the tension. I got to the street, walked a block and turned the corner and nearly collapsed, holding on to a street light for support. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down, happy that I hadn’t lost control in front of Theo. It seemed that Alyson had gotten away cleanly, because I didn’t get any questions about a car or a girl who might have helped her. It made sense for them to talk to me, but I realized just how big a risk I had run, and what Joyce was trying to tell me.

I walked the opposite direction from the apartment under overcast skies and spent fifteen minutes calming myself down before I walked back home. Elyse had just arrived as I got into the apartment and kicked off my shoes. I made dinner and afterwards we studied and did homework. I worked on my papers, because I’d finished my calculus on Wednesday night. Just before 10:00pm, Theo called and said the meeting with Frank and Richie was set up for Sunday morning.

Friday was a regular day, and I cleared missing the next Friday with my three professors. Kathy and Kurt came for the weekend and Warren joined us as well. The semester was quickly drawing to a close, so we all had significant amounts of work to do, whether it was term papers, research projects, homework or regular studying. We agreed that we’d relax after lunch on Sunday, but until then it was noses to the grindstones.

I did go out on Sunday morning to meet with Frank and Richie. They were skeptical of the arrangement, but agreed that she could be the point of contact while I was gone. Over time, if I could demonstrate that she was trustworthy, then I could use her for the installation of equipment and repairs. We shook hands on it and I headed home, relieved that there had been no further questions about Alyson.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a picnic lunch to Washington Park. The temperature was in the low sixties, but it was sunny and nice. We relaxed in the fresh air after being cooped up in the apartment most of the weekend and, towards dinner time, we tossed a Frisbee around. After dinner, Kurt and Kathy left to head back to Northwestern and Elyse, Stephie, and I relaxed — them with a bottle of wine between them and me with my bourbon.