Chapter 34: Old Routines and New Ideas

September 1982, Chicago, Illinois

The weekend was quiet and besides homework, I worked on the program changes for Frank, called Karin, Tatyana, and Kara, and hung out with my usual study group.

Monday was refreshingly normal.

On Tuesday morning, I handed Katy my completed intake form. She put it in an envelope and stuck it in her bag. She said she’d let me know soon about the interview. On Tuesday afternoon, after having lunch with Stephie, I made my rounds and then I headed over to Sigma Phi Epsilon. Dave took Julia and me up to the third floor study room that had a window that looked out on the quad and the Delta Tau Delta house next door. We pulled out our project sheets, textbooks, and parts and sat down to begin building our first circuits.

I set my breadboard on the table, and sorted out the parts I’d need, along with the collection of plug wires and the battery, while Julia and Dave did the same. Dave read the project instructions out loud and then we looked at the circuit diagrams and the examples in the book and debated the best way to achieve our goal. We decided to build one unit, make sure it worked, and then duplicate it on the other two breadboards. Dave offered to go first, and we began working. About two hours later, the right LEDs lit when we flipped the switches to various configurations, and we were happy with our work. Julia and I duplicated Dave’s working prototype on our breadboards and after making a few corrections, we both had working circuits as well.

“That was pretty simple, but we pretty much had everything laid out for us,” Dave said. “I talked to one of our double-Es and he said that by the end of the semester, we’ll get a schematic and a set of tests to run. We’ll have to draw up the parts list. In addition, we’ll have a circuit to design and build from scratch — just a description of what it’s supposed to do. He said as long as we do each project correctly, we’ll know everything we need for the last two.”

“If we keep working together, we’ll be just fine,” I said. “We just have to make sure we do each project correctly.”

“Next week we’ll skip, but after that, we’ll need to meet every Tuesday,” Dave said.

Julia and I said our goodbyes to Dave, and I walked her to her dorm. She thanked me and headed inside. I went back to meet Stephie at the car. She arrived a few minutes after I did and we headed home for dinner and karate. When we came home from karate class, Elyse had a message from someone looking for chemistry tutoring. After our showers, Stephie returned the call and arranged her first session for Monday morning at 9:00am.

On Wednesday evening I got a call from my dad saying that the sale of the business had gone through and that the letter I’d drafted for Larry Walsh to review was fine and I should go ahead and make copies, sign them, and send them out. I promised to do that right away and put them in the mail on Thursday. My dad said that Jack would be in touch and that any calls that I received should be referred to Jack or Bill. He said the money would be deposited in all our accounts by Friday.

On Thursday at lunch, I gave Becky the disk with the program changes, and then went to class. Things were becoming very routine, though that evening I had my first call for tutoring, or really, help writing programs, for the C programming class. I arranged to meet the guy Thursday morning in the computer lab.

Another weekend with Elyse, Stephie, Kurt, and Kathy went by, along with calls to Karin, Kara, and Bethany — things were good with all three of them. I also spent some time writing in my journal, once again reprimanding myself for not doing that on a more regular basis.

Nothing unexpected happened the next week. Stephie had her first tutoring session on Monday, and on Thursday I met Jared at the computer lab. It turned out he was in Navy ROTC and was having real problems getting his head around PASCAL. I spent two hours with him and felt we had made some progress, though clearly computers were not going to be his strong suit. I was glad to hear he was interested in surface warfare, not anything to do with computers or electronics beyond using them. He handed me $20 at the end of the session and asked if I’d meet him again next week. I agreed and then headed off to have lunch with Becky, after which I went to class.

On Tuesday morning after our philosophy class, Stephie and I asked Katy to join us for lunch. She asked me if I was free over the weekend to do the interview, which would take a couple of hours. I let her know that I’d be in Cincinnati for the weekend, but the weekend after that was OK. I asked if she wanted to join us that Saturday for dinner, and if so, she could come around 3:00pm and we’d do the interview at my apartment. She agreed, and I gave her the address and directions to get there by the El.

After lunch, I walked Stephie to class, made my usual rounds, then decided to head over to The Hub and see if Anala was there. I’d finished reading the Kama Sutra and was curious to see what she had to say. I ended up waiting about forty minutes before I saw her walk in. She saw me and walked over to where I was sitting and asked if I wanted coffee. I told her yes, so she got two cups and came and sat next to me.

“I really prefer tea, but you can’t find it too many places,” Anala said.

“Me too. I keep about a dozen different types of tea in my apartment. I drink a lot more tea than coffee, though since starting college I’m drinking more coffee.”

Anala laughed, “I can understand that! Did you read the book?”

“Yes. I was more than a little surprised at the content!”

She smiled, “I figured. But I hope you read from the beginning.”

“I did. There’s some thought provoking stuff in there, but I’m not sure that using deceit to gain a wife is a good idea, and I sure don’t conform to the roles assigned to men and women by whoever originally wrote that stuff. And the last section has some pretty bizarre ideas about what seem to be magic potions and painful body modification.”

“Then you did actually read it. Most guys get fixated on the intimate positions and never get past those. Was your book illustrated?”

“One of them, yes, but I kind of glossed over that stuff. I was more interested in the philosophy.”

Anala laughed, “I think you have some promise!”

“Excuse me?”

“If you really read the Kama Sutra for the philosophy, you’re pretty rare. That’s like reading Playboy for the articles!”

I chuckled, “I’m sure some people do.”

“Would you read something else?” she asked. “More philosophy?”

“Sure.”

“Get a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. It’s not too long, maybe 700 or so verses, and you’ll find more about «dharma», «moksha», and «kama». In a way, it’s like some of the ancient Greek texts I’m sure you’ve read.”

“I’m actually taking a philosophy survey course, but it’s purely Western. I do plan to take two world religions courses as part of my free electives.”

“You’re really missing something if you aren’t reading Eastern literature, Steve. After the Gita, why don’t you get a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu? It appeals to Western guys because it’s about war, but you can apply the lessons to your life.”

“I’ll check those out.”

“Good. Let me give you my phone number so you don’t have to search for me here. I live over in Bridgeport. Give those books a read and then get in touch.”

She wrote her number on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I pulled my address book from my bag and filled in her name and number, then crumpled the note, intending to throw it in the trash when we finished.

“So you’re a philosophy teacher as well as a graduate student in architecture?” I asked.

“I told you I was into quality, not quantity. I wasn’t just talking about sexual ability. Real, true intimacy requires more than the ability to engage in intercourse. Or didn’t you really read the Kama Sutra?”

I chuckled, “I did. I do remember saying something similar, though it’s a bit crude — that any jock or stoner could figure out how to screw.”

“Exactly. But sex isn’t intimacy. If you learn nothing else, learn that.”

She drained her coffee cup, stood up, picked up her book bag and with a wave walked out of The Hub. As I watched her walk away, I realized that I’d never really met anyone like her before. At twenty-three, and in her first year of the graduate architecture program, she was quite a bit older than any of the girls I usually hung out with and even a couple of years older than Pete, who was the oldest person I regularly spent time with. In fact, other than the parents or grandparents of my friends, only my first lover, Jennie Sanders, was significantly older than me. Anala was the same age that Jennie was when Jennie had seduced me.

It dawned on me that that was most likely what Anala was doing, but in a far different way from any girl who had ever approached me. That intrigued me. Of course, any relationship with Anala beyond friendship would have a limited duration at best, and given everything else that was going on in my life, might never happen, even if I was right about what she was doing and what she wanted. I finished my coffee, threw away my trash and headed for the library where I returned the Kama Sutra books and found copies of the Bhagavad Gita and The Art of War and checked those out at the desk. After Stephie’s class finished, we headed home for dinner and our usual evening of karate and studying.

On Thursday morning when I was out running, I ran by a police car, rolling down the street slowly with his lights flashing. A moment later, I heard him calling out on his loudspeaker.

I immediately turned and ran back to the apartment, surprising Stephie and Elyse by my early return. I quickly turned on Channel 2 and called Stephie and Elyse to come listen.

A continuous scroll across the bottom of the screen stated that you should not take Tylenol and to call the poison control center if you had.

“Oh my God!” Elyse gasped. “Who would do such a thing?”

“This is nuts!” I said, as we watched the news unfold.

The three of us ate cereal in front of the TV rather than cook breakfast. I needed to leave so that I could meet Jared to help him with his programming class, so I quickly showered and left Stephie and Elyse in front of the TV. Elyse said she was going to call Kurt and Kathy to check on them.

When I arrived home, Stephie said that my dad, Kara, Bethany, and Jennifer had all called to check on me and she told them all that we knew about the deaths and that none of us used Tylenol. I called Kara first, both to reassure her that I was OK and to confirm that I’d be coming home for the weekend. I was surprised at how quickly the month had passed since she’d been here. I was driving to Milford after class on Friday, I wouldn’t arrive until around 11:00pm, and I’d have to drive back late in the afternoon on Sunday, which didn’t leave us much time together, and less time if we got together with Joyce or any of our friends. I left it to Kara to decide and told her I’d see her late Friday evening.

When we hung up, I called Stephanie, who went and got my dad. I reassured him that I was OK, as were my friends, and that I would see them on Saturday morning. After talking to Dad, I called both Jennifer and Bethany to let them know that I was indeed OK. Both of them seemed a bit freaked out because they used Tylenol, but hadn’t taken any recently. They both had turned in their bottles to their campus clinics.

After a quick dinner, karate, and showers, we did homework with the news on in the background. All stores in Chicago had been ordered to clear their shelves and people were told to destroy any Tylenol that had a particular batch number. I decided that if I’d had any, I’d have destroyed it no matter what the batch number!

October, 1982, Milford, Ohio

Even with the hysteria about Tylenol swirling around me, Friday flew by and when my last class ended, I met Stephie at the car. After dropping her at the apartment and grabbing my weekend bag, I set out for Milford. I made my usual stops on the way, grabbing dinner to go in Lafayette, and made it to Milford just before 11:00pm. Kara was watching out the living room window for my headlights and came out the door just as I shut off the car. We embraced, I grabbed my bag, and we headed up to her room.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, Snuggle Bear! They said seven people died in Chicago from that Tylenol!”

“Yes, but I only use aspirin tablets, not Tylenol, so in this case, I was safe. But it’s kind of scary.”

“Why do people do things like that?” she asked.

“I have no idea, Honey. I’m safe and so are my friends. That’s all that matters right now. How’s your mom?”

“She’s fine. She went to bed a little while ago. Were you planning to have breakfast with Stephanie tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, I was hoping you would come with me,” I said.

“Of course! Now, get naked and get into my bed!” she requested with a big smile.

We awoke early Saturday morning, having made love passionately before falling asleep spooned together. Kara took a quick shower and then we drove over to my parents’ house, where I swam with Stephanie and then made breakfast for the three of us and my dad. When my dad came to breakfast, he handed me the deposit slip for the money that had gone into the company bank account, and a check for my share. He’d mailed Beth hers and dropped Krista’s at her house. I thanked him for the help and told him that I’d sent the letters as we’d agreed. We briefly discussed the Tylenol murders, but my dad was pretty calm about it, like he usually was, even when things got crazy.

“How is work going, Kara?” my dad asked.