Chapter 8: Vänner och Älskare, Part IV

June 1982, Göteborg, Sweden

On Monday morning, after breakfast, I headed to Linnéplatsen to catch the bus to Hovås, then walked about a kilometer and a half to the coffee shop that was just down the street from Sofia’s house. I was really looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday night, and it would be good to see Tomas, Petra’s little brother, again as well. I hadn’t heard from him in over six months, but he’d never been a regular pen-pal like Sofia, Tina, Pia, or Suzanne.

I decided it was best to take a table inside, so I found one in the corner that gave me a good view of the door. I didn’t want to cause problems for Suzana because I was sure her dad wouldn’t be happy with us being together. I was early, so I ordered coffee and sipped it while I waited. I saw Suzana walk in the door at 10:30am. She’d certainly grown up. She had been fourteen when I lived at her house, and at sixteen she’d grown a couple of inches upwards and her breasts were larger, and she was much curvier. She’d gone from cute to gorgeous.

She smiled when she saw me and I stood up and waited for her to walk over to me. We hugged, and she kissed me on the cheek. She sat down at the table and I called the waiter over and ordered coffee for her. It was brought over a minute later.

“How have you been, Suzana?” I asked.

“Good. Dad was so pissed after you left! That whole Summer was a mess, but once school started he calmed down a bit. How about you?”

“I had serious problems with my mom, probably even worse than you did with your dad. But now I’m living in my own apartment in Chicago.”

“My mom wasn’t nearly as upset as my dad; she was just worried that you might have taken advantage of me. I told her all about the bet and how it was my idea. She laughed because she agreed that I should easily have won!”

“My Russian friend Tatyana and her father agree with both of you!” I said.

“Oh, you’ve seen the girl you met in Austria?”

“Yes, once in Chicago and a couple of times in Washington, DC, where her dad is posted. She’s going to start at Harvard in the Fall. You’re starting «gymnasiet» in the Fall, right?”

“Yes, Schillerska, just like Peter.”

I smiled, “And?”

“Once. He totally freaked out afterwards and he barely talks to me now. It was a huge mistake. I didn’t even really enjoy it because of how nervous he was. It was better with Stephanie, I guess.”

“It was the best decision I’ve ever made. The sex was amazing, the closeness we had was amazing, and we’re closer now than we ever were before.”

“Are you guys still doing it?” she asked.

“No. We stopped a year ago because of my girlfriend. Stephanie has a steady boyfriend now and I have a couple of girlfriends.”

“Would you two do it again in the future?”

“It’s possible, but not likely. In the end, only time will tell. Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Just one, not like you!” she giggled. “We’ve been dating for about a year. He’s not as good as you, but he’ll do!”

“I have to say that sex with you was pretty damn good, Suzana. No, actually, it was out of this world! I’m so glad we made that bet!”

“Me too! I was so sore afterwards, but what a first time! And then that day when we basically had sex constantly, I’ve never done anything like that since!”

We talked for another twenty minutes and each drank a second cup of coffee. Unlike in the US, I had to pay for each refill. A coffee habit here would be very expensive indeed! When we finished our second cups, we got up to leave.

“Thanks for having coffee with me, Steve. I’m glad I could talk to you again, even for half-an-hour. If you come back again, get in touch with me through Sofia, and we can have coffee again. Also, can I have your address and phone number in Chicago? Maybe I’ll write to you or call you sometime. I’d like to stay friends.”

I wrote the details for her on a napkin and handed it to her. She put it in her purse and hugged me and turned to leave. She stopped, turned back and gave me a quick kiss on the lips, smiled, and then headed back down the street. I gave her about a five minute head-start, then walked down the street towards the Hovås Nedre stop to catch the bus back into Göteborg.

When I arrived back at Torbjörn’s place, we had lunch, and then I packed a bag and walked to Linnéplatsen to catch the #2 tram to Centralstationen. When I arrived, I bought my round-trip, 2nd class ticket to Alingsås and then sat down on a hard bench to read until the train arrived at the platform. When the train arrived, I boarded and settled in to my seat for the forty-minute trip. As usual, «Sveriges Järnvägar» was on-time, and I arrived at 2:09pm, a minute before the scheduled arrival time.

June 1982, Alingsås, Sweden

I stepped off the train and scanned the platform for Tina. She’d sent me a recent picture, which was a good thing. She had just turned twelve when I met her and now at fourteen she’d blossomed into a beautiful young woman. She was about 5’2” with light brown hair and dressed in a white blouse and black jeans. And she was wearing a black fedora, nearly identical to the one I was wearing.

I walked up to her, and she greeted me and gave me a quick hug. We walked over to a bike rack and she unlocked a moped, put my bag on the rack and secured it with a bungee cord, stuffed her fedora in the saddle bags with mine, then handed me a helmet and told me to get on behind her. I’d never ridden on a moped or motorcycle before, so it was a new experience.

“Just put your arms around me and hold on!” she said as she started the bike and slowly drove down the street. We crossed the railroad tracks and made our way to Svedenborgsgatan, then made two quick turns ending on Polhemsgatan. She stopped in the driveway and I got off, and then she put the bike in the detached garage. I handed her my helmet, which she hung on a hook, then grabbed my overnight bag and led me into the house.

“Let me put your bag upstairs. I’ll be right back down.”

She disappeared upstairs and was back right away. She asked if I wanted some lemonade and went to the kitchen to prepare two glasses, then led me out to the patio behind the house.

“My parents are at work. They’ll be home around 5:15pm and we’ll eat around 7:00pm. Are you hungry at all?”

“No, I had lunch before I left, I’ll be fine until dinner.”

“I’m glad you came to visit. We’ve been writing for over two years now, do you realize?”

“I do. Nobody writes to me more regularly than you do. I was really surprised because I don’t think we even said ten words to each other when I was here in April of ‘80.”

“No, but you noticed me, right?”

I smiled, “Of course. A cute girl who hung around the whole time was hard to miss!”

She laughed, “Sure, but you were sixteen and I was only twelve. I figured you wouldn’t want to talk to me. Most guys your age wouldn’t.”

“I was talking to everyone that day. I certainly would have talked to you if you wanted. You did take the chance to write to me and found out that I was happy to have a pen-pal. I think I know more about you than almost anyone in Sweden, except perhaps my friend Karin in Stockholm.”

“You’re going to see her next week, right? And your letter seemed to indicate that you thought she was just a friend at this point because of your girl back home?”

“Yes, that’s true. Though some things have changed back home that I had no time to tell you about.”

I told her what had happened with Kara’s dad and that Kara wouldn’t be moving to Chicago with me, at least not this year. She expressed sympathy for Kara and asked what I was going to do. I told her I’d probably continue dating Stephie for another year. She nodded.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked.

“There’s a guy who I like a lot, but he doesn’t know it. I haven’t told him yet. Soon, though.”

“That should be a nice, pleasant surprise for him!” I replied.

We finished our lemonade, and she took my glass and put it in the kitchen, then came back to the patio.

“We could go walk by Mjörn, a lake, if you want. It’s really nice this time of year and there’s a nice jetty by the sports stadium.”

“That sounds nice,” I said, thinking about the walks I’d taken with Pia along the shore of Hjälmsjön.

We went out front and she got her moped from the garage and we headed to the lake. She parked the bike in a small parking lot off of Lövekullevägen, right next to the local football pitch. We walked along Mjörnstrandsvägen and then along the jetty until we reached the end of the path. We stood next to the light tower and watched the sail and motor boats for a bit, then walked back to Mjörnstrandsvägen and then along the beach. After about an hour, we made our way back to the moped and Tina drove back to her house. She got us both glasses of lemonade and we sat on the patio talking until her parents arrived home.

“This is Steve Adams, my pen-pal. Steve, these are Per and Agnetha, my parents.”

“Welcome, Steve!” Per said. “Tina has been looking forward to this visit for quite some time.”

“Yes, welcome, Steve,” Agnetha added. “Has she made sure you had something to drink and eat?”

“Yes, of course. We were just out at the lake walking.”

“Very nice. I hope that grilled chicken is OK with you for dinner?” Agnetha asked.

“Anything will be fine. I got very used to eating Swedish food when I was here as an exchange student.”

“Including «filmjölk»?” Per asked. “Most foreigners don’t like it at all.”

“I was determined to be as Swedish as I was able, so yes, even «fil»!” I grinned.

“Your Swedish is amazing,” Per said. “I thought we’d have to speak English, even though Tina said you wrote her in Swedish. I’m glad, because my English is not very good.”

“Thanks. I make an effort to keep fluent. I very much enjoy being able to speak a second language.”

“Dinner is at 7:00pm; did Tina tell you?” Agnetha asked.

“Yes, she’s been a perfect host so far,” I said.

Tina shook her head in disgust that her mom didn’t trust her to be a good host. I wasn’t surprised — it was the lot of teenagers everywhere, especially younger ones, that parents just didn’t trust them. I’d experienced it, as had most of my friends. Even Melanie, who had the best parents I knew, had run into that, though as it turned out, there was good reason.

We went back to the patio and talked until dinner. I had liked the girl I’d gotten to know via letters, but I found myself really liking the girl who was sitting next to me. She was smart, outgoing, witty, and generally a great person. I somewhat regretted that I’d only see her this one time, but given that I’d cut my trip short, there wasn’t much I could do about it. I was sure we’d remain pen-pals for some time, though I figured that eventually that would change as it had with most everyone else, where letters were few and far between instead of regular as clockwork.

Just before 7:00pm, Agnetha called us to dinner. She served something akin to coleslaw, though a bit sweeter than I was used to, grilled chicken, potatoes, and cauliflower. For dessert we had rhubarb pie, something I’d never had before and discovered was delicious. I thanked Agnetha for the meal and both Per and Agnetha for their hospitality. After dinner, we all sat in their living room and drank coffee. Per and Agnetha peppered me with questions about school, my family, my hobbies, and pretty much anything else they could think of.

During the conversation, I found out that Agnetha was a paralegal and Per was a foreman at a construction company. They were impressed to hear that I had my own company, and that I was paying my own way for everything at nineteen, especially when they heard that university in the US wasn’t free. We talked until just before 10:00pm when Per and Agnetha excused themselves and said they were heading to bed. Tina and I said goodnight, and they went upstairs.

“Are you ready to sleep?” Tina asked.

“That’s up to you. I’m not too tired.”

“Let’s go up to my room and listen to music,” she said.

She turned off the lights and made sure the front door was locked, and then led me upstairs to her room. She turned on the light, shut the door, put a record on her turntable and started the music — REO Speedwagon’s Hi Infidelity album. I went to sit on the loveseat by the window and stopped short when I saw my bag on the floor next to the night table.

“Tina? Why is my bag in your room?” I asked.

“Remember how I said that there’s a guy I like, but he doesn’t know it? He knows now,” she said with a smile.

“Me?” I asked, incredulously.

“Yes. You. I didn’t write it directly in my letters because I wanted to see you and tell you face-to-face.”

“How long?” I asked.

“Since the 21st of April, 1980.”

I smiled, “The day I was here? But we barely even spoke.”

“No, you talked a lot, and I listened. By the end of the day, I knew I liked you. If I hadn’t been twelve, I’d have asked you to come visit me. I almost did, but I was afraid that you would say ‘no’ because I was too young.”

“You don’t mean...?” I said.

“Yes, I do mean that. I would have, but I knew you probably wouldn’t. I’ve been waiting two years to see you and tell you.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” I said.

“Is it a nice, pleasant surprise?” she asked tentatively.

I thought about it. It was certainly a surprise, though in hindsight it probably should have been obvious from how she behaved that day and her letters to me. I had read them as if she were a friend and I was sure that if I went back and read them again, I’d see things I’d completely missed before. In one sense, it was indeed nice and pleasant. In another, it was somewhat frightening. It was frightening because I realized that this young woman was very special and the development was one for which I was totally unprepared. No matter what happened between us, I certainly wasn’t going to hurt her feelings if I could help it.

“Yes, it is a nice, pleasant surprise,” I replied. “I guess I was just blind.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Steve. I was careful with everything I wrote. Please don’t worry about that. Will you stay with me tonight?”

That was the real question, wasn’t it? There was no doubt in my mind what she wanted and it certainly wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing — she’d clearly given it plenty of thought. Putting my bag in her room as soon as I arrived was a pretty strong indication of her thinking. I’d absolutely love to stay with her; the question in my mind was what it would mean.

“Is one night all you want from me, Tina? It doesn’t seem so.”

“I’d like more, but I’m only fourteen, so we’d be talking at least four and probably eight years in the future. I know a lot can happen. I’m not expecting anything from you except what we can have right now. I’ll have to worry about everything else in the future. I just know what I want tonight.”

I nodded, and she smiled. She turned down the duvet on the bed and then locked the door to her room. She stood in front of me and started taking off her clothes. I did the same and soon we were standing naked in front of each other. I admired her compact body, small breasts, and, much to my surprise, her shaved mons.