Chapter 18: Return of the Girlfriend

June/July 1981, Milford, Ohio

“Mr. Blanchard, I would like to be able to speak with Kara. I know it’s not the norm for your house, but I’d like to help Kara with the dishes. We can have a conversation while we’re doing them.”

“Dad, please let him,” Kara quickly interjected.

A look was exchanged between Kara’s parents, and then, with a grimace, Mr. Blanchard nodded. Kara and I went to the kitchen. When we were out of sight, she gave me a quick hug.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“We’re not even close to out of the woods yet,” I said. “I’m afraid that your dad is going to look for any reason he can to keep us apart. He’s just barely tolerating this situation, and only because your mom intervened.”

Kara began washing dishes, and I dried them and stacked them on the counter.

“I’m guessing you and your mom had a talk?” I said quietly.

“Yes. It turns out she and dad had sex after they got engaged but before they got married.”

I was right. But I had promised my dad not to reveal that he knew what Kara’s mom had said.

“That would explain everything, including how she was dealing with the fact that you and I are having sex.”

“She assumes that we’re going to be married eventually, so in a sense, it’s not all that different from what they did. She really told your mom off, I guess.”

I had to keep playing ignorant, even though I really wanted to tell Kara the truth.

“Really? How so?”

“Your mom did her usual thing. According to my mom, she was actually winning until she called me a slut. That made dad really angry, as I’m sure you can imagine. He can’t see me that way, even though I’m ‘ruined’ and ‘defiled’ in his view. But then mom shut up everyone in the room by saying ‘I guess that makes us both sluts, Judy.’ Your mom stormed out of the house and your dad simply said good night and left.”

“Wow! And because of that, your dad agreed to have me here for dinner?”

“Mom basically forced him into it. You were right about her, by the way. His goal was to get you to say something that let him throw you out of the house. You appear to have walked through that minefield unscathed.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve had to do that,” I said, then realized how bad that sounded. “Sorry.”

“It’s OK. I know about Becky and her parents, and Jennifer and her parents. You told me about them. Remember, I know about your past. Of course, now dad knows, too. Your mom told him that you’ve had sex with lots of girls. Mom said dad was totally freaked out by that. But when he talked to me and I told him about being the one who initiated things, he calmed down a bit. Not much, but a bit.”

“What did your mom say?”

“Mom somehow assumed you were very experienced. Don’t ask me how, but she seemed to know. She knows now that I’m on birth control pills. That pretty much convinced her that I was telling the whole truth because it meant advanced planning. Dad doesn’t know.”

“So what happens now?”

“You come to dinner once a week. I’ll ask for permission to have you over during the day when mom is home. You can bring Karin here to meet me, I guess, because I won’t be able to come to a party for sure.”

“What about the going away party? I really want you there.”

“If my mom was at the party, that might work.”

“Your mom and my mom? That would be interesting! Somehow, I think your mom won’t take any crap from my mom.”

“No, it appears not. I’ll ask. It might work. But I won’t ask until closer to the time.”

“OK. And what about kissing and hugging and stuff?”

“Dad is going to keep an eagle-eye out for that. I don’t see any way around it. It’ll have to be like it was in the beginning — just kisses on the cheek and stuff,” she said sadly.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to see you,” I said. “Are you allowed to talk on the phone?”

“Yes. He didn’t restrict that. Will you come home from Chicago to see me?”

“As often as I can. And you still want to move in with me next year?”

“As soon as you come back from Sweden. At this point, it’s not like we’re hiding the fact that we’ve had sex. I’m getting my college applications ready over the Summer and will send them in as soon as possible. I’m applying to the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Rosary, and IIT.”

Rosary! Oh, now THAT would be a potential nightmare. Becky and Kara at the same school. But I had a way of limiting that option for her.

“Rosary is kind of far from Hyde Park, so that would be really tough unless you bought a car and drove quite a bit every day. Even Northwestern is a bit of a commute, though you could take public transportation there.”

“Those are just where I’m applying, Steve. I want to go to IIT with you. They have an excellent chemistry program. I could even take chemical engineering classes and become an engineer.”

“What about teaching?”

“That’s still my plan, but I want to have career options. I want to be a mom more than anything, but I don’t want to just sit around the house for the next fifty years.”

I saw then a girl who had completely abandoned her father’s worldview for one I could completely approve, which was an excellent development.

“We do have one major challenge to deal with — church,” I said.

“You won’t go with me, I assume. At least not here. And going to my church is probably a bad idea anyway, given what Sandy has said about you and about Josh.”

“You talked to Susie, didn’t you?” she asked with a smile as I dried the last dish.

“Yes,” I replied. “Everything makes sense now. Sandy seems very much like Becky, although I don’t see Sandy having sex even after she gets married!”

“Oh, she will, as the dutiful wife. But she won’t enjoy it, nor will she want to enjoy it. It’s a thing she has to do to have children, so she’ll lie there and let whoever her dad selects for her to marry take ten seconds to cum and then roll off and go to sleep,” she giggled.

Kara quickly put the dry dishes away and then we walked hand-in-hand back into the living room. We sat on the couch, once again keeping space between us, but holding hands.

“Thanks for helping with the dishes, Steve. I really appreciate it,” Mrs. Blanchard said with a smile.

Mr. Blanchard’s face was set like those stone idols on Easter Island. He clearly did not agree with what was going on, but the two women in the house seemed to have overcome his control, albeit in small ways.

“You’re welcome,” I replied with a smile. “I’m always happy to help.”

“Steve’s an excellent cook, too, I hear,” Kara said. “Maybe we should let him cook for us sometime?”

I felt she was rubbing salt into a wound and squeezed her hand, hoping that she’d get the point.

“That would be fun,” Mrs. Blanchard said.

I could see by the look in her husband’s eyes that he most definitely did not agree with that sentiment. I wondered if he could cook at all. I’d have to ask Kara, but I suspect he never learned if he grew up in a household that was just like this one and married just after graduating from college.

“I think it’s time to say goodnight, kids,” Mr. Blanchard said. “Steve can come to dinner on Monday.”

“I’ll be here,” I said.

I got up, went over to shake his hand and he grudgingly extended his. Kara walked me to the door and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled, winked, and then headed out to my car and drove home.

I called Bethany and Susie and filled them in, then went to find Dad. I told him what had happened, and that Kara had told me about the conversation, so I was free to talk about it. He told me that he was happy that things had worked out so far and wished me luck. I knew how much he favored Kara and I was pretty sure he was glad this had worked out, at least somewhat, before Jennifer came to visit. I think he was somewhat worried that Jennifer and I would resolve our issues and get back together.

I went to find my little sister, who immediately berated me.

“You’ve been home thirty minutes and I still don’t know what happened? I stop fucking you and so I’m no longer top priority?” she asked with a forced smile.

“Squirt, please don’t be upset. You are still top priority for me. I knew you would be here for me, and I wanted to call Bethany and Susie before it was too late. Then I needed to talk to Dad before he went to bed. You know I’ll stay up all night for you.”

“You used to ‘stay up’ all night for me, but not anymore,” she smirked.

“Ah, I see how THIS is going to be. You’re going to tease me incessantly, aren’t you?”

“Of course, Big Brother. You’re the one who decided to give up on the best sex you ever had!” she smirked.

“Squirt, it had to end and we both know it, no matter how good it was.”

“True,” she said wistfully. “Though that last night in Chicago was so far out of this world, I don’t even know what to say. I lost count after the fifteenth orgasm! I can’t believe your jaw didn’t hurt!”

“It did, but little sister pussy is the best tasting thing in the world, so I’m not complaining!”

“So, how did things go? You didn’t come right home, so I’m guessing something good happened.”

“I can go to dinner at their house once a week. That’s it. I can’t see her otherwise. She’s going to try to get her mom to let me come over during the day sometimes, but she can’t ask until next week.”

“Wow. That’s pretty restrictive.”

“It’s better than nothing, Squirt. I’ll get to see her. And a year from now, if things go the way we planned, we’ll be together.”

“And until then? No sex?”

“Correct.”

“Then you won’t feel guilty fooling around some. Good.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it does make it somewhat less of an issue, I guess.”

“Laura was good for you. Kathy will be good for you. And so will Joyce. Well, assuming you’re still going to do that.”

“Probably, yeah.”

“So, is Kara still your girlfriend?”

“I think she thinks she is, or at least we have a commitment to be together next Summer. Her dad would have relaxed the rules a bit if we got engaged, but she told him that she didn’t want to get engaged when it seemed like it was being forced on us. I was happy to hear that.”

“I hate to say this, Big Brother, but I’m starting to like that girl more and more.”

“Enough to replace Jennifer?” I asked.

Stephanie sighed, a long mournful sigh, “I think so.”

I had to be a Smart Aleck, of course. “In EVERY way?” I chuckled.

“How does she taste?” my little sister smirked.

“Touché,” I said with a grin. “We know she’d never go for that. That was a ‘Jennifer only’ fantasy that will probably have to stay just a fantasy.”

“I’m sad about that, but the more I see you and Kara together, the more I realize that it’s nothing like you and Jennifer. Things with Jennifer were always volatile, but I guess that led to some crazy, wild sex, too. But if I understand correctly, you and Bethany can get pretty crazy. Kara’s nothing like them.”

“Don’t be so sure, Squirt. She and Joyce have a lot in common and a lot of similarities. If the issue with Sandy hadn’t occurred, you never know what might have happened.”

“No way! Those two? With you?” she gasped.

“Joyce was OK with it. And Kara was teasing just a bit too much for it to be completely out of the realm of possibilities. But now there’s no chance. By the way, did you talk to Ed?”

“Yeah, how about July 4th? We can go to lunch and spend the afternoon out. Then Melanie is having her Fourth of July party. Ed and I are both invited. Kara was supposed to be invited, but I guess she can’t go.”

“No, she can’t. Who else did Melanie invite? And when did you talk to her?”

“She called while you were out. It’s the usual gang, though I gave her Tracey’s number. I also got Susie’s number from your address book. I hope that’s OK.”

“Yeah, Susie is cool.”

“That’s a big change from ‘not my type’, Big Brother.”

“No, it’s not. She’s totally cool, but she’s not my type. And she’d never hurt Kara that way. She could certainly be a friend and I like her that way, but she wouldn’t even be a casual dalliance candidate.”

“I have a random deflowering candidate for you, Big Brother,” my sister said with a grin.

I knew who she meant. “No way, Squirt. Even if I could, even as sweet as it would be to rub her dad’s nose in it, I’d never touch her. Ever. I can’t imagine something more boring and ultimately disgusting.”

“You have to admit it would be poetic justice, Big Brother. The pastor’s daughter!”

“Hell no, Squirt. I might kill her, but I’d never fuck her. Ever.”

“You really are picky, which is surprising, given how many girls you’ve been with.”

“Well, I was with you, so I’m not too sure my standards are all that high anymore!” I teased.

I dodged out of the way of what would have been a harder hit than the slap to the face she had administered.

“Asshole!” she giggled, indicating she knew I was teasing.

“That’s me!” I smirked and headed back to my room to write in my journal and then turn in.

I had a typical Wednesday that began with swimming with my sister and ended with a platonic date with Elyse. We talked about Chicago and I showed her in the atlas where our new apartment was in relation to the campus. She’d be within walking distance of pretty much everything. I’d either take the bus, the El, or drive to IIT. I asked her about Kathy visiting on the weekends and she said she had no problem with that. Everything seemed to be coming together.

I did talk to Kara during the afternoon and she invited me to dinner on Monday the 6th. She had talked more with her mom and thought that once I came back from my trip to Madison, I’d be able to come to her house for lunch and spend the afternoon. Her mom was fine with it and would have to clear it with her dad, but she thought that would happen given how successful her mom had been so far.

On Thursday, I spent the day with Bethany. We had lunch at the deli, made love at the apartment, then went to dinner. After I dropped her at home, I went to meet Joey to drive him to a couple of different stops, getting home about 1:00am. Once again, everything was uneventful, and I got the usual envelope when we finished.

I spent Friday with Larry. We had lunch at his house and then hung out until I headed home at 4:00pm to get ready for my dinner date with his cousin. I dressed in all black and my sister whistled at me as I left the house. I headed to the apartment and waited by my car until Joyce arrived. We kissed and carried the cooler and a grocery bag inside.

“How are things with Kara?” Joyce asked as soon as we were inside.