Chapter 24: Karin, Part I

July 1981, Milford, Ohio

On Saturday morning, I woke up earlier than usual, excited and nervous. I hadn’t seen Karin in a year and I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Karin and I had talked weekly, but there was only so much that could be said in calls that lasted less than ten minutes. Her letters were often breezy descriptions of what she’d done that week, things her friends had said and so on. She was fifteen now. She’d been twelve and a half when Birgit died. I was eighteen and had been fifteen when Birgit died.

Stephanie and I swam and ate breakfast, and then I packed my bag for staying at the Spencers’. I’d talked to my dad about it again and he said he’d let my mom know, because he really didn’t want the conflict. Of course, I knew it had to come when we had the party for Karin, but Dad had promised to take Mom out for the day. I don’t know why she even bothered at this point, but she still seemed hell-bent on creating conflict rather than just trying to get along.

“Steve, can I go with you to the airport?” Stephanie asked. “You could drop me back home on the way to Melanie’s.”

I would drive right by Overlook on Klondyke, heading from the freeway to Wolfpen-Pleasant Hill, so I could easily do it. Did I want to? I could speak to Karin in Swedish for privacy, but that wouldn’t feel right. Of course, I’d have ten days to talk to her, so the hour or so in the car wasn’t that important. On the other hand, it might be important to my sister. She’d done so much for me that I owed it to her.

“Sure Squirt. Go ask Dad and I’ll take you with me.”

She scampered out of my room and down the hall to go find Dad. She was back in two minutes with a huge smile on her face.

“He said yes, on the condition you stop here so he can meet Karin!” she giggled.

“That’s fine with me!” I chuckled. “He promised to take Mom away during the party.”

We left the house just after 10:00am. It was only about an hour to the airport, but I didn’t want to be late. There was no traffic on I-275 and even with a light drizzle that popped up, we made it to the airport exit in good time. We parked in the short-term lot and walked into the terminal. We checked the board for her incoming flight from Chicago and saw that it was listed as on-time, so we went through the metal detectors and found seats at the gate.

Just as the board’s clock changed to 12:02pm, her flight’s status changed to “landed.” A few interminable minutes later, a Boeing 727 taxied to a stop at the gate. At my mental urging, the Jetway slowly extended to the front door. I was happy that Karin had cleared Immigration and Customs in Chicago because that meant that as soon as she walked off the plane, I could see her. The Jetway door opened and passengers began streaming from the plane. It seemed that half of Chicago had come on this flight before I gasped when I saw the stunningly beautiful blonde teenage girl I remembered. She was a year older but otherwise seemed the same as I’d seen her last her a year ago in Stockholm. I pointed her out to Stephanie and started walking towards Karin.

“She’s gorgeous!” Stephanie whispered.

“I know!” I said, beaming.

Unlike Katt, Karin gracefully walked towards me and we hugged. No huge show of emotion, no leaping into my arms. Just a simple hug. I was a bit surprised by that, but then I remembered she was in a foreign country, and she’d always been somewhat calm and reserved, like most Swedes I knew. I also knew that she and I had some unresolved issues to deal with.

“«Hej Steve!»”

“«Hej Karin! Det här är min syster, Stephanie.»” (“This is my sister, Stephanie.”)

“Hi, Stephanie! I’m Karin!”

“I know!” my sister giggled as the two girls hugged briefly.

I asked Karin for her claim tags and we walked to the baggage claim area. The girls started chattering and I more or less ignored the teenage girl banter, not that I had a choice, because they seemed perfectly content ignoring me! About twenty minutes later, we had her two bags, and I loaded them onto a cart that Stephanie had retrieved and we headed out to the car. I loaded her bags into the back while Stephanie got into the back seat. Karin was settling into the front passenger seat and I rushed to close the door for her. I ran around the car and got in, closed the door, and turned on the ignition, revving the engine to show off its throaty roar.

“«Vilken bil!»” (“What a car!”)

“Probably best to speak English around my sister, Karin. We can speak Swedish later.”

“I’m sorry, yes, that was rude of me!” Karin said. “It’s a nice car.”

“How was the flight?” Stephanie asked.

“Long! Well, not the last part. It was less than 90 minutes from Chicago. But the flight across the ocean was long. I slept, mostly.”

“We’re going to stop at my house to drop my sister, and so you can meet our dad. I’ll also grab my bag to bring to the Spencers’ house.”

“I’m glad you’re staying with me! But what about meeting your mom?” Karin asked.

“You don’t want to meet my mom!” Stephanie said. “She’s going to have a complete fit about my brother staying with you. And if she does see you, she’ll call you a slut.”

“Slut?” Karin asked.

“«Slampa» in Swedish,” I said. “It’s the word my mom uses for any girl who would be seen with me. She immediately assumes that I’m having sex with any girl I go out with. Because she doesn’t approve of pre-marital sex in any way, shape or form, she thinks anyone who does it is completely immoral. Think of the «gamla kärringar» in the Factory song Susie och Lena. Same idea.”

“Wow. I knew the US isn’t as free as Sweden, but that’s totally crazy!”

“That’s my mom!” Stephanie said. “Just ignore her. My dad will make sure she’s not there when we have the party, so you can meet some of Steve’s friends.”

“That sounds like fun. What else did you have planned, Steve?”

“«Förutom att älska?»” I chuckled. (“Besides making love?”)

“«Ja, förutom det!»” she giggled. (“Yes, besides that!”)

Stephanie laughed. “That had to be about sex!”

I just smiled and switched back to English.

“Well, I had hoped to take you to a baseball game, but the players are on strike right now, so there are no games. We can go to the zoo and see the white Bengal tigers and King’s Island, which is an amusement park like Gröna Lund. Otherwise, we’ll spend some time with Melanie and Pete, and, if my little sister behaves, with her and her boyfriend.”

“Good! Otherwise, I guess we just need to spend time together to figure things out. Well, I guess more so that you need to figure things out.”

“Yes, we have a lot to talk about,” I said. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too!”

We arrived home just after 2:00pm and we walked inside. Karin immediately slipped off her shoes, and I told her that wasn’t the custom in the US. We would usually do it in our own homes, but not in others. I led Karin back towards my dad’s office with more than a little trepidation, but was pleased to see Dad alone.

“Dad, this is Karin. Karin, this is my dad, Mr. Adams,” I said, emphasizing the point of not using first names like was done in Sweden.

“Hi, Karin. It’s nice to meet you,” he said, standing up. “Steve, your mom is out shopping.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and Stephanie smirked. I figured that Dad had somehow managed to orchestrate the shopping trip.

“I’m going to give Karin a tour then get her over to Melanie’s house. The Spencers’ phone number is in my address book and Stephanie knows where I keep that.”

“OK,” my dad said. “If anything comes up, we’ll call you. Karin, you’re welcome here any time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Adams,” she said brightly.

I showed Karin the house, and she was amazed. Because Stephanie was tagging along, we spoke in English.

“Our apartment would fit in a few rooms here! Your room is as big as mine and Birgit’s put together, and bigger than my parents’ room!”

“This isn’t a normal size house for the US. My dad had it special built to be like two houses we had in California. Of course, the one we had there with a swimming pool had an outdoor pool. The other one had a rose garden in the center instead.”

When we finished the tour, I grabbed my bag, and we headed back to the car for the drive to Melanie’s house. I knew that Karin and I had a lot to talk about, and I figured it would be better to get her settled at Melanie’s, get her something to eat if she needed it, some rest if she needed that, and then we could start to talk. I’d more or less let Karin dictate the pace. I knew she’d basically dropped everything to come see me because of my sister’s call. I wasn’t sure if Karin knew that I had found out. That would have to come out today, too.

We started speaking Swedish again. I figured we’d speak as much Swedish as possible, though when anyone else was around, we’d speak English.

“How close do the Spencers live to you?”

“About four kilometers. We’ll be there in about five minutes. Are you tired?”

“A bit, yes, of course, but I was just curious. Remember, I’m used to Stockholm with the subway and bus, not taking a car everywhere the way it seems you do!”

“True. There is almost no public transportation here in the Cincinnati area. They tried to build a subway once, back in the 1920s, but they never finished it because of the Depression and World War II. There is a bus system, but it’s really limited compared to Sweden. You pretty much have to have a car to get around here.”

“That’s so odd compared to back home. But lots of things are odd from what Birgit told me and what you’ve said.”

“Yes, for example, the Spencers letting us stay together is not normal for the US. Most parents would never allow such a thing. Only Melanie’s parents are totally comfortable with it. They’re more like Swedes. Jennifer’s parents tolerated it, but didn’t like it.”

“And your parents are not happy about you staying with me?”

“My dad is OK with it, I guess, but my mom will have a fit about it. Dad’s going to tell her today. I’m sure she’ll call the Spencers and complain. But don’t worry. It’s not an issue!”

We pulled up to the Spencers’ house, and I parked along the street because I didn’t want to block the driveway. Melanie must have been watching from the front window because she came bounding out to the car just as we were getting out.

“Karin!” Melanie said excitedly.

“Melanie! How are you?”

I grabbed Karin’s bags while the girls hugged and chattered. We walked inside and I took Karin’s bags up to the spare bedroom, then went back to the car for my bag while Melanie introduced Karin to her parents and gave her a quick tour of the house.

“How are you, Steve?” Frank Spencer asked.

“Good. The couple of times I’ve been here to see Melanie, you’ve been at work. I’m sorry I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“It’s OK. Trudy told you that you’re welcome here any time, I’m sure. And of course, you’re welcome to stay with Karin. She specifically asked us if that was OK.”

“Thanks, Mr. Spencer. I appreciate it.”

Mrs. Spencer had set out some fruit, cookies, and drinks, and we all sat at the kitchen table. Dinner was planned for 6:00pm, but it was going to be light — chicken caesar salads — given nobody knew how much Karin would want to eat or how tired she was going to be. Given the time difference, it was early evening in Sweden, so Karin’s internal clock wasn’t telling her to sleep just yet.

Karin fielded questions about her trip and about things she wanted to do when she was here. We finished our snacks and Karin asked if she could take a shower and change, and Melanie took her upstairs. I stayed and talked with Mr. and Mrs. Spencer for the twenty minutes Karin was gone. She came down freshly washed and dressed in casual clothes.

“Mom, Dad, I think we should let Steve and Karin have some time together so they can talk.”

“Talk?” Mrs. Spencer smirked.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Mom!” Melanie huffed with a grin. “Yes, talk. They have a lot to talk about. I’m sure they’ll do what you’re implying at some point!”

“Wow, Steve. You used to blush at stuff like that,” Mrs. Spencer teased.

“True. But a good dose of Melanie over the years cured that. I mean, after all, we even walked down to dinner naked once!”

“I heard about that!” Karin said with a smile. “Melanie told Birgit about it. We both laughed so hard.”

Karin and I got up from the table and went upstairs to the spare room. This had been Birgit’s room, but I had never been in it when she had been here. I had, of course, made love in this room, but it had been with Michelle Parker many years before and, I remembered, also with Sarah Leonard, before I went to Sweden. The room didn’t hold the same kind of memories nor have the same aura as Birgit’s room in Stockholm and I was glad for that. I knew I needed to see Karin as Karin, and not as some kind of surrogate or replacement for Birgit.

“Is it OK if I start unpacking?” Karin asked.

“Sure. We can talk while you do that. I’ll unpack my things as well, though I didn’t bring nearly as much as you did! I can always run home for anything I need!”

“True!” she said, as she shut the door.

“First of all,” I said. “I know why you’re here. I know that my sister called you and told you that if you didn’t come now, you might lose me to Kara or Bethany.”

“How did you find out? Did she tell you?” she asked, turning to me with sudden concern.

“No, it was just a bit too convenient. A few days after Jennifer basically ended our relationship, you surprised me with plans to visit that we hadn’t even discussed. I was suspicious, so I confronted my little sister and she confessed.”

“Well, was what she said true? Were you going to pick one of them and make a commitment to them? And think about marrying one of them?”

“There was a good chance of that, yes. The situation was really complicated, but basically I was dating Kara exclusively, but Bethany was still my best friend. I had planned to be with Jennifer in Chicago, which you knew about.”

“Yes. That’s the one I was thinking might steal you away from me, but I guess that’s not going to happen.”

“No, it’s not. Jennifer and I are done as a couple. I’m going to see her next month when she comes to visit, but no matter what happens when she’s here, we’ll part as friends at most. I can’t trust her enough to even think about a long-term relationship with her.”

“So tell me about Kara and Bethany,” Karin requested. “Why did Stephanie think I needed to come here?”

“First, I want you to know that I am VERY happy you are here. It’s amazing to see you and much sooner than we had planned. But, my sister didn’t tell you to come here so that you and I could fall in love. She wanted you to come here so that Jennifer and I could eventually get back together.”

“What?!” Karin gasped. “That makes no sense! She told me that you and Jennifer had broken up and that because you were so upset, you were going to do something stupid and maybe even ask Bethany or Kara to marry you! And that if I didn’t come now, then when you came to Sweden next year, it would be too late!”

She was frowning now, with some anger rising. I had no doubt she was feeling deceived by my little sister.

“Stephanie’s motives were always to get me and Jennifer back together. Nothing more. You were a convenient weapon for her to use. She hoped that you would come here, I would decide we really did have a future and because it’s three years before you graduate from «gymnasiet» and four years before I graduate from university, that Jennifer and I would have time to reconcile.

“On the other hand, if you and I didn’t work out, it would create turmoil in my relationships with Kara and Bethany, hopefully enough for me to delay any decisions long enough for me to forgive Jennifer and think about getting back together. Stephanie simply couldn’t accept the fact that I was done with Jennifer, and that even being friends with Jennifer was going to be difficult.”