Chapter 24: Fast Cars, Fast Women, Part I

July 1982, Dawsonville, Georgia

My drive south took me into Kentucky and I stopped for lunch at Wendy’s just after I passed through Lexington. As the countryside rolled past my windows, I reflected on the things that had happened recently. I hadn’t been keeping my journal as closely as I should have and resolved to spend some time alone at Stephie’s to put my thoughts on paper so I could put them in the computer when I got back to Chicago.

I was a bit concerned about the situation between Kara and Joyce, and hoped they could find some way past the impasse they seemed to be at. Joyce wanted to experiment with Kara, but Kara didn’t want to be intimate with Joyce without me there, and I didn’t think I could be involved, neither in the present nor in the future. I was very concerned about Joyce getting the wrong idea, even if I was blunt about it being ‘just sex’, and of her messing up potential relationships.

I felt that Kara was doing as well as could be expected, given everything that had happened. I was pretty sure that she would be back to normal after spending the time she’d asked for with her mom. The job she’d found was perfect because it would end in late May and would help her feel that she was contributing to her mom’s well-being. I was grateful to Don Joseph for the job that Kara’s mom had and I felt that by May she’d be confident enough that Kara would feel comfortable with moving to Chicago.

Except for those two concerns with Kara, I was pretty happy with how my life was going. I’d had straight A’s my Freshman year at college, I was about to receive a serious windfall from selling my company, had a regular income from the work I was doing for Don Joseph and his Chicago associates, had a great roommate, fantastic friends, and several lovers, including Stephie, who I was on my way to visit. I’d had the pleasure of taking Pastor Kent van der Meer’s daughter’s cherry, as well as finding an amazing lover in her friend Ruth, a formerly innocent member of his congregation who was one of the most enthusiastic virgins I’d ever been with.

The next year looked to be shaping up really well, despite Kara not moving to Chicago. I’d be seeing Tatyana in a week, Stephie and I would continue our relationship, I’d complete my Sophomore year in college, and then head to Sweden again, this time for Katt and Mikael’s wedding. I was really looking forward to the trip, including taking Kara with me. That would give the trip a quite different character from the previous one, but it was a difference I was happy to have, because by then Kara would be in Chicago.

Kentucky turned into Tennessee and I stopped to get a drink and fill my gas tank in a town called Newcomb. I continued south through the towns of Elk Valley and Lake City, and eventually Knoxville. I continued on I-75 to Cleveland, where I turned on to TN-74, which became GA-225 at the border. I was traveling on country roads now, rather than interstates through small towns and farmland, finally coming to GA-136 which took me into Dawsonville. I found the address on Maple Street at about 6:40pm, parked in the short driveway and walked up to the door. I knocked and a few seconds later Stephie was giving me a bear hug and a quick kiss on the lips.

“Come on in, Yankee, you got to meet my family. Red is here too. And Rose, of course. And my parents. Listen to me! Where are my manners? I’m just goin’ on. Come on in!”

She led me into the house and then into the living room.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend Steve, the Yankee. Steve, this is my mom and my dad, that’s Jason and Rose over there.”

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Grant,” I said.

Then it hit me and I burst out in laughter.

“You only just figured it out now, Yankee?” Stephie asked with a laugh and a shake of her head. “You’re denser than I thought!”

“Well, I suppose it could be worse — your last name could have been Sherman!”

“Son, that’s a swear word in Geo’gia!” her dad said with a smile. “Stephie tells me you aren’t too bad, at least as far as Yankees go.”

“I was born in California, which in my mind makes me Californian, not a Yankee,” I said.

“They was on the wrong side in The War, Steve. That makes ‘em Yankees. But fergit all that truck for now, welcome! If you get your things, you kin put ‘em in the first room down the hall. That’s the guest room.”

“Thanks.”

“Hi, Steve, I’m Jason, but you can call me Red; everyone else does,” Jason said, standing up and extending his hand.

I shook Jason’s hand and sized him up. He was about 6’ tall with shocking red hair and freckles. I could see how he got the nickname. He had a firm handshake and a big grin. I figured if Stephie liked him, he had to be a nice guy.

“This here is Rose, my girl,” he added.

A cute, short, dark-haired girl stood up and held out her hand. I remembered my manners and took her hand, turned it and, with a short bow, raised it to touch my lips to the back of her hand. I laughed inwardly at the contrast. Where she was about 5’2” with nice curves, Red was lanky.

“Pleased to meet you,” I said with a smile.

“Well, I’ll be tar’d,” Mr. Grant chuckled, “a Yankee with proper manners!”

“Come on, Steve,” Stephie said. “Let’s get your bags and put them in the guest room.”

We walked out to my car, and I grabbed my overnight bag and larger duffle and took them to the guest room. It was fairly small, just enough room for a bed and a wardrobe. I put my bags on the bed and turned to leave the room, but Stephie pulled me into a hug.

“My parents would never let me sleep in here with you,” she whispered, “but I’m going to sneak in after they go to bed!”

I chuckled, “Be careful, Peaches!”

“You’re the one who better be careful! It’s been two months and I have this huge itch I need scratched! Several times!” she added with a giggle.

“I need to make two quick phone calls, if you’re OK with it. I’ll give you the money for them if need be.”

“Kara, and who else?” she asked with a sly smile.

“My sister, so she can let my dad know I’m here safe.”

“Go on. The phone’s in the kitchen. I’ll tell my parents.”

I went into the kitchen and called Kara and Stephanie to let them know I’d arrived safely, then went back into the living room. Stephie’s mom offered me some dinner. I hadn’t eaten, so I accepted and we went back to the kitchen and almost instantly I had a plate full of fried chicken, potatoes, and coleslaw. She’d been keeping the chicken and potatoes warm in the oven, just in case. I thanked her and dug in, drinking the Dr Pepper that Stephie set out without me even asking. After I ate, Stephie suggested we go for a drive with Red and Rose in my car.

We took the T-Tops off and went for a drive, Red sitting in the front with me, and the girls in the back. He told me where to turn and I got a tour of Dawsonville, a tiny town with just over 300 people in the town proper. We drove by the Elliott’s and Stephie mentioned the team was having financial trouble and Bill had sold the team to some guy named Melling. The red #9 Ford that we’d see Bill drive on Sunday would have Melling’s name on it.

“I love this car, Steve,” Red said as I opened it up on a long, straight stretch of road that ran between farms. “You should have got the Turbo like the Bandit drove in the second movie!”

“Wasn’t worth the extra couple of grand to me. I went for the 305 engine and it has a lot of pep. And with the stupid 55MPH limit, it’s kind of silly. But I have the radar detector, so I can usually get away with quite a bit more if I want. What’s the plan for Sunday?”

“We thought about drivin’ down on Saturday, but we’d have to get a motel and they’s all booked for miles around, so we’ll leave around 5:00am. It’s a three hour drive, but the traffic’ll be hellacious if’n we get there after about 10:00am. We can take my car or your car up to you.”

“I’m OK with driving,” I said.

“Did Stephie tell you that her cousin Emily is comin’ to the race with us?”

“No, but that’s cool.”

“She’s cute as a button and a real firecracker! She knows what she wants, and she gets it! Only fifteen, though, so she can’t drink with the rest of us. Alabama’s drinkin’ age is 19, just like Georgia, so we can drink beer at the track.”

“It’s 21 in Illinois. They changed it the year before I moved there, the bastards! But I have a friend in Ohio who buys me what I need to keep my apartment stocked. I’m not a big beer drinker, though.”

“So bring you a flask, ya’ dumb Yankee!” Stephie said over the rush of the wind. “If’n you ain’t got one, Red will lend you one! Or you can just buy a bottle of bourbon that size.”

Rose and Red laughed.

“Does she talk to you like that all the time, Steve?” Rose asked.

“Pretty much. But I give as good as I get. Don’t I Peaches?”

“Peaches?” Rose said through a fit of giggling. “That’s rich!”

I was tempted to make a comment about peach juice or eating peaches, but I wasn’t sure how much Stephie had shared with Red or Rose.

“Yankee, you are so going to get it if you aren’t careful!” Stephie said firmly, but then burst out laughing.

We drove around for about ninety minutes and I saw the grade school and High School where Rose, Red, and Stephie had attended, a lot of farms, the Elliott race shop, a couple of dirt tracks, and the town. We pulled back into Stephie’s driveway about 9:30pm and Red and Rose got into his Ford Thunderbird and headed home. Stephie helped me put the T-tops back on. When we finished, we went inside, and each got a glass of cold lemonade and went to sit on the porch swing.

“How have things been at home, Steve?” she asked, sipping her lemonade.

“Pretty good. Kara’s had good days and bad days, but she’s doing better and so is her mom. It’s tough on them, as you could probably imagine, but things are slowly coming together. Kara has a job that starts next Monday and I helped her mom find a job. Kara’s job is only temporary — she’s covering for a young woman who’s going on maternity leave. That woman comes back at the end of May so Kara can move to Chicago in June. She’s going to a wedding in Sweden with me in June.”

“And she’s cool with me and you bein’ together for another school year?”

“Absolutely. I’m glad you’re going to be with me, Peaches. I really enjoyed our last year together. We’ll have another really good one!”

“Another school year of sex and cuddling and gettin’ together with your friends is just what I need! I only wish it could be all four years, and then some!”

“Well, except for the sex, it sure can be. But once Kara moves in, that does have to end.”

“I know that, Yankee. But until then, I’ll keep your bed very warm!” she giggled. “And you never know what might happen.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Peaches,” I warned gently.

“I know, I know. But I got dibs!” she declared with a big smile.

We finished our lemonade and Stephie took the glasses inside and came back to sit with me. She sat close, and I put my arm around her and she snuggled close. We sat quietly for about fifteen minutes, watching the fireflies flit around the flowerbed. Just before 10:00pm we went inside. After I used the bathroom, I went back to my room and Stephie came to the door.

“I’ll come in your room after Mom and Dad go to bed. I just have to be back in my room by morning,” she whispered.

I nodded, and she said “Good night” loud enough for her parents to hear and then shut the door to my room. I unpacked my things and stripped to my undershorts, then sat on the bed with my notebook and started writing. At about 10:45pm, the door opened and Stephie, wearing a short robe, slipped in and closed and locked it behind her.

“They’ve been in bed about twenty minutes. My door is closed and the light’s off, so if’n they get up, they’ll think I’s asleep. We just can’t make no noise,” Stephie said quietly.

She slipped off the robe, revealing pink baby-doll pyjamas. I smiled and nodded. She quickly took them off, turned off the light, and got into the small bed next to me. I slipped off my underwear, and we kissed softly for a bit and I got my first taste of ‘peach juice’ in a couple of months. We ended up making love twice, slowly and quietly, with Stephie kissing me hard during her orgasms, so she didn’t groan out loud.

“Now, that’s what I needed!” she said softly, kissing me a final time. “See you in the morning. I left a can of air freshener in the wardrobe so you can spray in the morning!”

She dressed without turning on the light and slipped out of the room to go back to her room. I pulled the thin cotton blanket over me and quickly fell asleep on a pillow that smelled of Stephie’s shampoo and sheets that smelled of a mix of her perfume and ‘peach juice’.

I woke early in the morning and slipped on some underwear, shorts, t-shirt, gym socks, and sneakers and let myself out of the house to run. I followed Maple Street to Academy and then followed Academy to GA-53 and followed that back through the town to Maple and then back to the Grant’s house. I smelled bacon cooking and went down the hall. I was happy to find the shower open, so I quickly showered then dressed for the day. I went out to the kitchen and Mrs. Grant put a pile of hash browns, eggs, and bacon on my plate. One thing was sure; I wasn’t going to go hungry.

“If you want grits, I got ‘em. Or biscuits and gravy. But I figured I’d feed you like a North’rn boy.”

“Ma’am, I’ll eat what you set before me. I spent a year in Sweden and I don’t think you can top the blood pudding or sucking the stuff out of a head of a crawfish. Or worse, «inlagd sill»”

She laughed, “That sounds almost South’rn, ‘cept that last one! But I’ll let ya’ stick to bacon, eggs, and potatoes. I got toast, too, if’n you want it.”

“«Inlagd sill» is pickled herring. It stinks to high heaven and tastes worse!”

Mrs. Grant laughed and went back to the stove, just as Stephie came in and sat down. Her mom served her biscuits and gravy and bacon. I wondered how Stephie stayed in shape with the rich food. If I ate that every day, I’d gain twenty pounds even with all the running or swimming! Neither Stephie nor I had gained the ‘Freshman fifteen’ at IIT, but I chalked that up to living off campus and eating right, plus running and karate. And that reminded me that I had better practice as soon as I got back to Chicago or I was going to have to deal with the wrath of Sensei Jim!

“What’s up for today, Peaches?” I asked.

Her mom laughed, “Is that your nickname for Stephie?”