Chapter 24: I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

April, 1983, Chicago, Illinois

Friday at school went by quickly. We were only a month away from the end of the semester and I had several projects due before the semester ended. I decided that I'd see Anala on Tuesdays, but our dinners would have to wait until school was out, and I planned to let her know on Tuesday. I wasn't really happy about the decision, but school simply had to come first.

The usual guests came to dinner on Friday — Dave and Julia, Cindi and Chris, and Eduardo. I made sure that I had several different vegetables as well as some garlic pasta to go along with the blackened chicken that I made. Dave nodded and smiled and filled his plate with vegetables, potatoes, and pasta. I had to give him credit; he certainly took his faith seriously. I noticed that Julia ate chicken, but she was Catholic, not Orthodox, so it didn't surprise me.

"Everything still set on the house?" Cindi asked.

"I met with the contractors on Thursday and I should have the bids by the end of this coming week. I talked to Jackie on Wednesday, so I know the two of you are in. The only question is whether Katy's taking the fifth room or not. We have Stephie and me, you and Cindi, Elyse, and Julia, all confirmed. There will be two guest rooms in the basement, though I suspect Kathy and Kurt will use one of those most weekends during the school year. And we'll have the sofa bed, too."

"When do you plan to move?" Dave asked.

"Well, our lease here ends at the end of June, but I'm planning to move around May 14th if things are done. If not, then a day or two after the construction is finished. I want to leave for Ohio around May 19th, if possible. That way I'll have two weeks in Milford before I need to come back to Chicago to head to Sweden for my friends' wedding. I'll be back in Chicago late on the 30th, and other than four days in the former Confederacy for the race at Talladega, I'll be here in Chicago. Well, with the caveat that if I need to go to Milford to see Kara for some reason, I might be gone a day or two. But the girls are welcome to move in anytime after July 1st."

"Did you tell your landlord that you aren't renewing your lease?"

"As soon as we close. I don't want to get hosed if something bad happens. That's still more than 60 days in advance, so it's within the lease contract timeframe."

"When can we see the house?" Cindi asked.

"April 24th. We'll do an open house. The house will be empty, but we'll take food there. The kitchen has a fairly new refrigerator and all new gas range and even a double-oven. It's a dream kitchen. It's even got a dishwasher, I mean besides Elyse!" I teased.

"Why do brides wear white?" Cindi asked.

"I don't know, Cindi, why?" I asked.

"So that the dishwasher matches the other appliances!" she declared.

"Boo!" Julia responded, but she also laughed with everyone else.

"Well, miss smarty-pants, the ones in the house are actually stainless," I said. "And just so you guys know, you'll have to furnish your rooms. There are huge closets in each room, but that's it. Just bare hardwood floors, bare walls and a ceiling fixture with a fan. The house has central air conditioning, but I want to only run that when we really need to. It'll cost a fortune, otherwise!"

"What about heat?" Julia asked.

"Forced hot water, you know, radiators," I said. "I prefer that to forced hot air. The house doesn't dry out so badly in the Winter. Though I think the architect added baseboard heaters in the basement — electrical ones — because tapping into the radiator system would be way more expensive and might require a boiler upgrade and other significant changes. That's OK, because basements don't get super-cold."

"The sauna seems pretty massive compared to the ones I've seen," Eduardo said.

"It has to fit all of us! It'll hold twenty-four in a pinch, though it'll be really cozy."

"And you're serious about everyone being naked?" Cindi asked with a smirk.

"Of course I am! But anyone who is modest or uncomfortable is welcome to wear a bathing suit or stay out when there's anyone they don't want to see them naked."

"You just want cheap thrills!" Cindi said, laughing.

"Nah, I have Stephie for that," I said.

I was immediately tackled and knocked out of my chair by a feisty ball of hair and fists pounding on my chest.

"Cheap thrill? Yankee, I'm going to kick your ass so bad tomorrow you'll be demoted to white belt!" Stephie growled as she pounded on my chest.

I resorted to the sure-fire tactic that I knew would give me the advantage — I tickled her.

"No fair, Yankee!" she gasped, trying to hold in her giggles.

Her protest didn't work. I gained the advantage and pinned her, straddling her waist and holding her arms down.

"You two should go to your room for that stuff," Cindi teased.

"If Yankee thinks he's getting his lovin' tonight, he's a bigger durn fool than I thought!" Stephie declared.

"Like that was going to happen, anyway! You were afraid I'd fuck you silly so you couldn't beat me in sparring tomorrow!"

"What the heck are you two talking about?" Dave asked.

I let Stephie explain what had happened and her role in my advancing to purple belt, and the challenge I'd have trying to keep her from hitting me. Cindi, Julia, and Elyse all urged Stephie to kick my butt and stand up for 'all women everywhere'.

"Uhm, I may regret this," Dave said, "but Steve's pretty much the most equality-minded guy on the planet. And I didn't hear him say anything about Stephie being a girl!"

I let Stephie up and we hugged and kissed, then went to the living room while Dave and Julia took it upon themselves to do the dishes. When everyone but Eduardo left around 10:00pm, the four of us headed to bed.

"If you want to fool around, Yankee, I trust you!" Stephie said invitingly.

I pulled her to me and made sure I got a healthy dose of peach juice before I added the cream. We slept soundly, spooned together, and I woke well-rested for the karate test.

In the end, I won the sparring match, but just barely, and only because I figured out that Stephie was telegraphing her moves by the way she held her hands. That let me block just enough of her strikes that Sensei Jim awarded me the victory.

"Shit, Yankee. What was different?" Stephie asked on the way back to the apartment.

"You telegraph your moves by the way you hold your hands. You need to pick a single position, or maybe two, and always hold your hands that way. About halfway through, I knew where every strike was going, so it was easy to block most of them. You got me a few times with the second or third strike in a combination, but almost no first strikes."

"Dammit!" she growled. "I wanted to whup your Yankee ass!"

"I know you did. It was obvious from the get-go! If I hadn't figured out your 'tell', you would have won easily. As it was, I only scored three more points than you did. But that was enough."

We celebrated passing our belt tests by having a vigorous fuck before taking our shower, much to the amusement of Kathy and Kurt, who both commented on Stephie's vocalization of what she wanted.

"You know, Kathy, that last one sounded interesting," Kurt deadpanned. "I wonder if you want to try it when we..."

"KURT!" Kathy scolded, hitting him with a throw pillow, "You're being corrupted by this crowd!"

"I'm glad you two will be sleeping in the basement next semester!" Stephie laughed.

Our study session was quiet, and I made a lot of progress on my semester projects. I did take some time to sit with Elyse for some help on a couple of statistics problems that had me stumped. She patiently explained what I was doing wrong and when I was done, I was confident those kinds of problems wouldn't trip me up on the final.

On Sunday morning, after an enjoyable Saturday evening with my friends, I called Karin. We had a good chat and then I went to make breakfast. Later in the day, our full complement of friends arrived and Katy confirmed that she would be moving into the house in the Fall. That gave us a full house and ensured that my dad and I would turn a small profit from the rental income.

"Hey, Cindi, what are you doing when Jackie graduates at the end of next school year?" I asked.

"Did you forget that architecture is a five-year program?" Chris asked.

"I did indeed," I admitted. "Never mind. I guess Jackie will be here for two more years! The rest of us are all Sophomores. I know Elyse and Stephie are working on master's degrees, so they'll be around. My sister will be here after all the rest of us graduate, so she'll need one of the rooms, but that should work out because Katy is talking about going back to Boston and Cindi wants to go back to Madison. What do you plan to do, Julia?"

"Well, it depends on what happens with Dave. We're slowly moving forward, and if we're still together, then we'll have to decide where we want to be. He likes Chicago and that would be fine with me. Heck, the three of us could go into business together!"

"I doubt it, because Dave wants to write compilers," I said. "But you never know. I saw a company in Downers Grove was recruiting and they do cross-compilers, video games, and custom projects. It looked interesting, and I wondered if I could swing working for them in the Fall, but I don't think so. Maybe next Summer, if they'll take me. But I'd have to work around my planned trip to Sweden. I couldn't go for a month if I wanted to do something like that."

"Why would you do that?" Cindi asked.

"Experience," I replied. "And finding out what it's like to work for someone else where I'm free to quit without causing myself financial trouble."

"Interesting. Could you set your schedule up in the Fall or Spring so you had Tuesday and Thursday free? Then maybe they'd take you as an intern or something."

"I'd have to go to class in the evening to make that work — five classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But I could. Ah, it's all speculation until I see what they do in the Spring. Supposedly, they recruit on campus every semester for part and full time."

"What's your scoop, Jamie?" Dave asked.

"I'm in my second year, so I have one more to go. I'm hoping for a job in Chicago with a firm in the Loop. I have a few contacts. That's the best way in, of course."

"What's your deal, Eduardo?" Jamie asked.

"One more year, then Wharton for two years, then back to Sevilla to find a job."

"The more of us who stay in the Chicago, Rockford, Milwaukee, Madison area, the better," Elyse said. "Of course, I might end up in DC eventually, but there's a good chance I can work for Doctor Nie at SPSS. He hires the best statistician from the University each year. I plan for that to be me!"

"Keeping the group together is important," I said. "But it's going to be tough."

"Kathy and I are staying in Chicago," Kurt said. "She decided that's what she wanted solely because you're here. She thinks being around you is a good reason to stick around. And I agree!"

The rest of the afternoon was a lot of talk about possible future plans, about ideas for our end-of-the semester party and plans for the Summer. We decided that we'd have the end-of-the semester blowout on Monday, May 9th, in the house. Everyone said that they'd schedule their trip home for after that, though the dorms would close on the tenth. I offered our apartment, though it would be pretty cozy if everyone stayed.

On Sunday evening after everyone had left, and after Stephie, Elyse, and I had eaten dinner, I called Jennifer to chat. I filled her in on Kara and she expressed concern and hoped that Kara would recover. We talked about her visit during the Summer and she asked if Stephanie could be there.

"Jen, I want that time for you and me. We have lots of work to do. Last time you spent a lot of time with Stephanie. This time, I want us to have each other's undivided attention."

She agreed, though she asked if it might be possible for Stephanie to overlap one day of her visit. I told her I'd see what we could work out, but of course, I had to deal with my mom's desire to keep Stephanie away from me. And I really wanted the time alone with Jennifer.

When I hung up with Jennifer, I called Stephanie and we talked for a bit. She said that she was going to try to come up with my dad for the closing, given it was on my birthday.

"Too bad I can't give you a good birthday fuck, Big Brother!" she whispered.

"You should figure out a plan for when I'm home, Squirt. That way I can let Stephie know what days you and I will spend together."

"Count on it!" she giggled.

"Squirt, you should see if Dad will let you come to Chicago. Jennifer will be here on the afternoon of July 8th and stay until the 14th or so. I need lots of time alone with her, though."

"I bet!" she laughed. "You guys haven't screwed since the Summer after High School!"

"And we may not this time. We're taking it slowly and carefully. What I was trying to tell you is that, even though I need the time with Jennifer, if you wanted to come up for a few days before or after, that's cool. You could overlap the first or last day so you guys could see each other, but no more than that, please."

"I'll see what I can figure out. The old bat will have a fit, but I should be able to convince Dad."

"You do that!"

We spoke for a couple more minutes, then hung up and I hung out with my roommates until bedtime.

Monday was a normal day, but on Tuesday morning, I went to vote before heading to campus. I wasn't thrilled with my choices, but in the end, I voted for Congressman Washington. The racist campaign that had been run by Epton just stuck in my craw, and it was just not something I could support, even tacitly.

My afternoon with Anala was like the previous ones, tea and good conversation. She was disappointed about not having dinner for a month, but said that she understood. We set a dinner date for May 10th and agreed that the week before exams and the week of exams we wouldn't have our Tuesday meetings.

After dinner, I called Bethany to wish her a happy birthday and to invite her to the end of the semester bash on the 9th. She said she'd drive down on Saturday and hoped she could stay with us. I told her that we'd find some room, one way or the other.

Wednesday was another normal day of classes, and we woke to discover that Congressman Harold Washington had eked out a victory over Bernard Epton. A solid black vote plus some Hispanics and North Shore liberals had given him a small margin of victory. Already there were rumblings from Ed Vrdolyak and Ed Burke that they would use the City Council to thwart Washington's programs.

That evening, I called Nancy Blanchard to see how Kara was doing. She said that Kara had been to see Doctor Mercer again and that nothing really had changed. I asked to speak to Kara and Nancy put her on the phone.

"Hi, Steve," she said.

"Hi, Kara. How are you?"

"OK. I've seen Doctor Mercer twice. She's a nice lady."

"Kara, would you be OK with me talking to her?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to help you. I'm going to call her tomorrow. She'll ask you to sign a paper that lets her talk to me. Would you do that for me, please?"

"I guess so. When are you coming to Milford again?"

"In May, after school is out."

"Will you take me to lunch again?"

"Yes. Let me talk to your mom again, please."

Nancy came back on the line.

"Nancy, I'm going to call Doctor Mercer and ask her to have Kara sign a release so she and I can discuss things about Kara. I'd appreciate if you made sure that happened."

"I wish you would tell me what caused this, Steve," Nancy pleaded.

"I can't. Only Kara can do that, if and when she decides to. I hope you can trust me on this."

"If it fixes what's wrong, then yes, of course. It's frustrating being her mother and not knowing what the root of the problem is," she sighed. "But I trust you completely on this, Steve."