Chapter 59: Three Birthdays, Two Jobs, and a Play, Part III

April 1981, Milford, Ohio

The rest of the week went along as usual, with Kara accompanying me to the computer lab, and me going on my date with Elyse. Kara didn’t raise the issues that were clearly spinning around in her head, but I knew she would, eventually. I did pull Mary and Tracey aside separately and ask them to be careful about their teasing and joking around Kara. They both agreed to tone it down a bit, which I figured was the best I could do.

On Tuesday when I arrived home, I had a message from Andreas. I called him back, and he told me that he had another job for me to do on Saturday night and asked me to meet him at the deli at 11:00pm. I was a bit worried about getting more involved this way, but I didn’t see a way out, given what I’d asked them to do. Fortunately, when I went to Chicago, I’d be too far away for anything like this.

On Friday, Kara and I went out to dinner, and then went to the apartment. She hadn’t raised the subject of my past during dinner, but as soon as we were inside, she pointed to the couch. I sat down and she made tea for us. She brought me my cup and sat down next to me.

“I want the whole story,” she said, indicating by her tone of voice that I wasn’t allowed to say no. “Start to finish. You don’t have to name names, but I need to hear everything.”

“OK,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything, nothing omitted. You know about Becky and the baby, so I’ll just mention that where it fits in.”

“I’m listening,” Kara said.

I started with Jennie McGrath and Birgit and worked my way forward. I gave names for key people, because I was sure that Kara wouldn’t repeat this to anyone, though I didn’t name the dalliances and deflowerings unless there was some important reason. She didn’t ask any questions during the story all the way up to Birgit’s death. At that point, she refilled our teacups and bade me to continue.

I went through the anguish of Birgit’s death and the following year, ending with Becky’s deceit and the pregnancy. Kara continued to listen quietly, and she had to refill our teacups again. I told her about all of my relationships in Sweden, of finally getting closure with Birgit’s death and about the mistakes with Annie. Once again, I left nothing out.

When I came to the issue of Jennifer’s hiding the fact that her family was moving, for the first time I started to have concerns about how Kara might react. My behavior then had been horrid, and even though Kara knew a few details, she didn’t know how fast and how low I had really fallen. I tried to read Kara’s emotions, but she was doing a good job of hiding them, though I saw her eyes narrow when I told her about Dona Bingham. I completed the story and looked at the clock. It was 10:00pm! I had been talking for two and a half hours!

“That’s some story. I see a lot of serious failings on your part, but you seem to have learned from them, at least eventually. You seem nothing like your former self.”

“I’ve changed a lot, especially since I started dating you. You’ve been a good influence, and Bethany and Stephanie have helped.”

“If we weren’t going steady, you could have had at least five or six other girls, if not more.”

“I could have. But so what? I wouldn’t trade what you and I have for twenty other girls!” I said, hoping I was convincing.

“No, but you would trade it for one other girl,” Kara said.

I lowered my eyes and nodded slightly.

“Jennifer,” she said, pausing. “Yes. I know that in August, you’re going to be with her in Chicago. You’re going to have sex with her.”

“Yes,” I said softly.

“I want you to do something for me, Steve.”

“What’s that?”

“Call Bethany and ask if she wants you to get a hotel room. I think she’ll say ‘yes’.”

“What about our commitment?!” I asked apprehensively.

“You’re going to break up with me in August, if not sooner. That’s a fact. Unless something has changed.”

“It hasn’t. Are you breaking up with me tonight?”

“No, not tonight. May 21st is the day before Prom. That should be when we break up.”

“You’re telling me to have sex with Bethany? Why? I don’t understand,” I said, a tear forming my eye, and I felt my voice about to crack.

“You both want it,” Kara said matter-of-factly. “I know for a fact that if you are with Jennifer, you are going to have some level of freedom to fool around. You made that clear from the story. I can’t give you that if we’re a couple, and I can’t stop you from doing it when you’re with Jennifer. I’m overlooking Stephanie, but that’s a whole different topic altogether.”

“So I won’t see you again after the 21st?”

“We can still see each other, Steve, but no sex. You can only have that with a commitment to be faithful to me. And you can’t do that after August for sure,” Kara said gently.

“Is this because of all the crazy stuff that I told you? Or the stuff Stephanie and Bethany told you?” I asked, a tear running down my cheek.

“No, not at all. We do need to discuss that at some point if we’re going to marry, though. We have to make sure that both of us have our expectations right, or it will end badly,” Kara said with a wan smile.

“Kara, I’ve failed you miserably,” I said, crying freely.

Kara put her arm around me, “No, you haven’t. Not at all. Look at me, Steve.”

I lifted my head, and she wiped the tears from my cheeks. She kissed me gently on the lips.

“You have not failed me at all. I knew about Jennifer going into this relationship. And if you’re referring to Becky, well, I forgave you for that and you need to accept that forgiveness and not beat yourself up about it.”

“I wish things were different,” I said.

“Only you can make them different. If you did wish they were different, you could make them different. So you don’t really wish that.”

I sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“We have about thirty minutes before we have to leave here, Steve. Can we make love, please?”

I took my beautiful girlfriend in my arms, kissed her, then led her to the side of the bed. We quickly removed our clothing and kissed deeply before climbing into bed. Kara was wet enough that I slipped right in and we made love, our bodies expressing our emotions, our orgasms shaking us to our cores. When we finished, we showered and dressed and I drove Kara home, beating her curfew by about two minutes.

I drove home in a funk and was glad to see that Stephanie was still awake. I told her what happened, and she hugged me tight while I cried. I knew this had to happen, but the reality still sucked. When I had calmed down, I went to my room and got into bed. Sleep didn’t come easily. I was tossing and turning when my door opened and then closed and a warm body crawled into bed with me.

“Shh, Big Bro, I’m just here to comfort you. I knew you’d have trouble sleeping. Just close your eyes.”

She snuggled next to me, her chest pushing into my back, and I felt the warm comfort of her body. I fell asleep fairly quickly. When I woke up in the morning, I was alone. I put on my swimsuit and, as was her habit, Stephanie gave me a good kiss and we walked out to the pool.

“That was dangerous, Squirt!” I said.

“Not at all. I wasn’t going to fall asleep. As soon as you were sound asleep, I went back to my own bed.”

“Thanks. I owe you,” I said.

“Then take me to lunch today!” she said with a smirk, diving into the pool.

I dove after her and caught up and we swam our laps side-by-side, took our showers, dressed, and ate breakfast. I called Bethany as soon as I felt it was late enough to not disturb anyone.

“Bethany, did you and Kara talk between Monday and last night?” I asked.

“Yes, we did. Why?”

“Because last night she told me to ask you if you wanted to get a hotel room on Prom night. Kara’s breaking up with me on the 21st because of Jennifer,” I said, my voice breaking.

“I knew. She told me yesterday at school, but made me promise to let her tell you before I said anything.”

“I’m bummed, but I guess it had to happen, eventually.”

“It did. You both knew it. She’s making it on her terms, not yours. Think about it. From her perspective, she’s in control and she needs to be in control. She’s not going to abandon you. She’s madly in love with you and she’s going to be in your life whether you want her to or not!”

“Oh, I want her to, but I’m pretty bummed,” I said dejectedly.

“Then let me brighten your day a bit. Book the hotel room. I’m going to fuck you to within an inch of your life after Prom!” she giggled.

“I see you’ve changed your mind, Bethany. Is this a one-time thing?”

“One day at a time. I have the same problem that Kara does. The only difference is I won’t require you to be exclusive with me, but there are limits, Mr. Adams. Let’s just go to Prom and then we’ll figure it out. Kara and I did agree on something else, too. You’re still under the guidance of the Triumvirate until you go to college. At that point, you’re Jennifer’s problem!”

“Gee, thanks, Bethany!” I chuckled. “But you did brighten my day a bit. I’m glad you trust me enough to do this.”

“You are still on probation, you know that. And don’t you forget that! You belong to Kara until May 21st. With no exceptions. We’re just having a change of chief probation officers.”

“I understand.”

Stephanie and I had lunch together and spent a couple of hours at the apartment making love. We had time for foreplay and I made sure that my tongue touched every spot in her pussy it could reach many, many times. We took a nice, long, warm shower together, gently caressing each other as we washed. When we finished, we did the laundry and were home about 4:00pm. I was a bit worried that someone would ask why we were gone so long, but it never came up.

I left around 5:00pm to take Kara to dinner. I told her that Bethany had agreed to booking the hotel room and Kara seemed satisfied. She didn’t seem to want to talk about any of the issues she had raised, so after dinner we made love as much as we could before I had to take her home. I dropped her off at 10:45pm then headed back to the deli to meet Andreas.

Joey was there again and Andreas gave me the address I was to drive to in Newtown. He handed me a box and nodded when I asked him with my eyes if I should open it. It was a 9mm pistol with a concealed-carry shoulder holster. I’d need to wear a sports coat or windbreaker to hide it.

“It’s yours. Keep it safe, Steve. Joey told me you complained about the pea shooter he carries,” he chuckled.

“Am I going to need this, Andreas?” I asked quietly.

“I hope not, but in case you do, you have it. No serial number and no record that you have it. And I have replacement parts if you need to use it — barrel, firing pin, and so on.”

“OK,” I said.

He handed me a box of ammunition and I got into the dark sedan. I drove Joey to the address that Andreas had provided and back to the deli. Once again, it was uneventful, and I received an envelope just like the previous time. I decided I needed to get a locking box of some kind to keep this in the back of my car. For now, I just put it in the glove compartment.

On Monday after school, I made a quick trip to the stationery supply store and bought a locking, fireproof box that I felt was sturdy enough to keep the gun in. I also bought some foam rubber that would fit in the box to protect the gun. Finally, I stopped in a men’s store and bought a navy blue sports jacket.

Everything went along as usual until Wednesday, my 18th birthday. All my friends wished me ‘Happy birthday!’ at school and I got a lot of kisses on the cheek from the girls. Kara gave me a heavenly deep kiss when I walked into chemistry class and held it long enough that Mrs. Brewer cleared her throat twice and finally admonished us to stop.

“Sorry, Mrs. Brewer, it’s his eighteenth birthday, and I was just wishing him ‘Happy birthday!’.”

“On your own time, Miss Blanchard, not mine,” Mrs. Brewer said with a smile. “Happy birthday, Steve.”

It dawned on me that we had become a couple and Mrs. Brewer’s rules didn’t allow couples to work together. I wondered why she allowed it and decided I wasn’t going to ask!

“Thanks,” I said, chuckling.

I went home after school for the family birthday celebration. I didn’t particularly care about it; instead I was looking forward to the party on Saturday. I’d thought about asking to invite Kara to dinner, given I was allowed to do that, but I was afraid of my mom’s reaction. I was surprised when she and Larry showed up at 5:30pm.

“What are you two doing here?” I asked.

“Your dad called me and asked me if I knew Kara and if we could come for your birthday,” Larry said.

“Surprise!” Kara said, then kissed me. She whispered in my ear, “And you get to take me home later!”

I nodded, and she slid her blouse sideways to show me the strap of the lace teddy. I was instantly hard. I also realized that meant she wasn’t wearing a bra! For Kara, that was crazily risqué! She smirked when she saw the recognition on my face.

I whispered in her ear, “You’re being bad, Kara!”

Stephanie greeted both of them with a hug. She didn’t seem surprised, so I asked her about it.

“Dad’s idea. He told me yesterday,” she said.

“Mom?”

“No clue. But I don’t think Dad would have arranged this if things weren’t OK.”

A few minutes later, Dad called us to dinner. We were having steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. Dessert was Devil’s Food cake with chocolate fudge icing and chocolate ice cream. Dad had made dinner, so it was fantastic and Stephanie had made the cake. After we ate, they sang to me and I blew out the candles after making my wish. I saw Stephanie smirk, so I knew a Smart Aleck comment was coming later.

Larry and Kara both let me know that they were bringing my gifts on Saturday. My parents gave me a very nice leather book bag to use at college, and Stephanie gave me a leather-bound name and address book. I was sure she had something else for me, but that would wait for later. Jeff got me nothing, which was par for the course and didn’t bother me one bit. I was surprised and relieved that my mom hadn’t made a scene, and I made a mental note that I’d have to thank my dad later.