Chapter 52: Friends and Neighbors, Part II

August, 1983, Chicago, Illinois

I rang the bell at the Nichols' house, a brick home like mine, but with a very different look, blockier and almost fortress-like. We were quickly ushered in by Alice Nichols and my first impression was 'old money', given that the decor was very traditionally American, as opposed to my more 'Scandinavian Modern' minimalist tastes. That didn't mean that it was actually 'old money', but it sure felt that way, especially when I saw a series of black and white family portraits over the mantle.

"Welcome! I'm Alice," she said, then gestured towards the kitchen, "and that's Bart, my husband."

Penny came bounding down the stairs just then, followed by a Jack Russell Terrier who decided that he was going to make up for his diminutive size by barking as loudly as he could.

"Shush, Pete!" Penny scolded, to absolutely no effect.

"Penny, take your dog back upstairs!" Alice said. "You know how high-strung he is, especially with guests he doesn't know."

"Come on Pete, you dope!" Penny groused, again having no effect on Pete, who was now running crazy circles around both Jackie and me.

"Penny, you're going to have to pick him up," Alice said. "You should know better than to bring him down at a time like this!"

Penny made a pouty face and managed to corral Pete, then picked him up and carried him up the stairs. That did nothing to silence him, though the barks were muffled once she locked him in a room which I presumed was hers. She came back down the stairs, but didn't look as happy as she had before.

"Penny doesn't like being corrected in front of people," Alice said softly.

"Who does?" I answered.

"Who's your friend, Steve?" Alice asked.

"This is Jackie, one of my housemates. She's the first one to arrive and her parents were here today to get her settled in her room."

By this time, Bart had come out of the kitchen to greet us and everyone shook hands. Dinner was going to be steaks on the grill, so we all went out to the backyard to relax and talk while Bart grilled. I answered a bunch of questions from Alice, then asked some of my own. She and Bart had been married about two years, after both being divorced for about five years. They'd known each other in college and kept in touch and when they'd both ended up divorced, started dating and eventually married. Penny had a brother and step-sister who lived with her dad and his new wife in Florida.

It turned out that the three of them, Bart, Alice, and Penny's dad, had been part of the same group at college back in the late 60s, and Bart and Alice had never really hit it off in any way until after each of their divorces. I asked about their group and it sounded eerily familiar — a group of about twelve kids who got together to talk politics, the war in Vietnam, philosophy, and anything else that struck their fancy. I told Alice about our group.

"I suspect you aren't as radical as we were, though. Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, not to mention dabbling with Marxism and flirting with the SDS. After the 'Ten Days of Resistance', we kind of fell away, though, because we were all graduating. We all worked on the Kennedy campaign in '68 and were completely disillusioned when Bobby was killed. It only got worse when Nixon was elected."

"I'd say we're not radical," I replied. "We're mostly libertarian or conservative."

"So are a lot of our friends from college," Alice said. "Bart and I stuck to our vision of peace and reforming the system. Hopefully, Reagan won't blow up the world before we can elect someone who believes in peace, rather than in arming the country to the teeth! Do you support the military buildup?"

"That's a tough question," I replied. "If a bunch of thugs want to take away your stuff, do you give up all your methods of protecting yourself, or do you make sure you're stronger than they are? I hate the idea of nuclear weapons. They are nothing but a tool of terror. But it's not possible for one side to just give theirs up unilaterally. I'm for limiting and reducing them in a rational way until we can finally be rid of them. As for the rest of the military, it depends on the threats."

"You're not one of those who sees a red under every bed, are you?" Bart asked from the grill.

Jackie laughed hard, "No, but Steve sees a Red IN his bed from time to time!"

Bart and Alice looked confused.

I chuckled, "I have a Russian friend who I'm seeing from time to time. I met her in Austria a little over three years ago. Her father is a diplomat stationed in Washington and she's at Harvard. She and I disagree on the value of what she calls 'world socialism'. Let's just say that economic and political freedom go hand-in-hand. You can't have one without the other. Not to mention that from what I've seen, the communist countries are the least liberated and most repressed societies around. They're the ones banning sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll!"

"The US does a good bit of that too, Steve," Bart countered.

"True. And it's wrong to do that. I believe in personal freedom, whether it's economic, sexual, religious, or whatever you want to think about. Nobody should stick their hand in my pocket any more than they should stick their nose in my bedroom, or decide what I can or can't believe. And back to your previous question, sometimes you have to use guns to protect that, either personally or collectively."

"Violence is never the solution!" Alice said.

"I disagree. Sometimes it is the only solution. As Jefferson said, liberty requires the blood of both patriots and tyrants in order to flourish. I also believe Mao said that all power stems from the barrel of a gun."

"You seem pretty well educated, but you're going to find a lot of resistance from your neighbors here. This is a very progressive area."

"I don't think it'll be a problem, really. As long as nobody bothers me, I won't bother them. So unless there's some sort of community meeting where I have to declare my politics and will be run out of Kenwood or Hyde Park if I don't give the right answers, I think we'll be just fine. Maybe we should change the topic. What do you two do for a living?"

"I'm a secretary at the University and Bart teaches theology."

"How long have you lived here?"

"This was my grandparents' house," Alice said. "They left it to me, and obviously I kept it when Penny's dad and I divorced. Penny and I moved in about five years ago, just before the divorce, when her dad and I were separated."

I had forgotten about Penny, who was sitting just to my right. With her mom and dad to my left, my attention had been focused on them. I wondered what her take on the politics was and glanced at her. She had a totally bored look on her face and that fit with what she'd repeatedly said on Friday about things being 'boring'.

I noticed that it wasn't just their faces and hair that were common between Penny and Alice. Instead of mother and daughter, they could have been sisters. I did a rough calculation in my head and figured that Alice and Bart were about thirty-seven and I knew Penny was fourteen. The age gap was greater than the one between Melanie and her mom, but these two looked a lot more alike.

"So I guess you got married right when you got out of school? I have some friends who are going to do that."

"Not just married, but pregnant right away," Alice said. "Penny was born in 1969, less than a year after her dad and I married. She'll be fifteen in April."

"My birthday's in April," I said.

"What day?" Penny asked, speaking for the first time since she'd been reprimanded about her dog.

"22nd," I said.

"No way!" she exclaimed with a huge smile. "That's my birthday, too!"

"You'll be twenty-one, right, Steve?" Alice said.

"That's right."

"Finally able to drink!"

I laughed, "I'm a big fan of bourbon, and I keep quite a few cases of wine on hand. I've been drinking for years. Turning twenty-one isn't a big deal."

"The steaks are ready," Bart announced. "Unless someone wants well done instead of medium."

Nobody did, so he brought the steaks and baked potatoes to the table. Alice and Penny went inside and came back with a bowl of potato salad and a pitcher of lemonade. Bart put a huge T-Bone on each of our plates and we served ourselves for the rest of the food.

"You were gone quite a bit this Summer," Bart said. "Penny didn't see you until last Friday."

"I was in Ohio, then Sweden for three weeks to attend a wedding and see some friends, and then I was in Georgia, and finally Ohio again."

"Sweden?" Alice asked.

"A former girlfriend of mine was getting married to a friend of mine. I was Best Man at their wedding."

"Hang on — you were Best Man at a wedding where your ex-girlfriend was the bride?" Bart asked.

Jackie laughed and interjected, "Get used to it. He has a very complicated life and can be friends with pretty much anyone, no matter what."

"Interesting," Bart observed. "How do you have so many Swedish friends? You mentioned Austria before, but not Sweden."

"I was an exchange student for a year in Sweden. That was my Junior year in High School. I went to Austria during that year. I've been back to Sweden twice so far, and I plan to go back next Summer."

"That sounds like it would have been fun," Alice observed. "Penny, what do you think of doing something like that?"

"It sounds cool!" she replied. "Did you like it, Steve?"

"Honey," Bart said, "you should probably call him Mr. Adams."

"It's OK, Bart. I prefer NOT being called Mr. Adams. That's my dad. I'm just 'Steve'. Heck, my friend's three-year-old nephew calls me Steve."

"If that's what you want, I won't argue."

"Yes, Penny," I answered, "I loved it. It was a great time, and I'd recommend it to anyone. You'll have to work real hard in school if you want to graduate on time, though. A lot of kids end up graduating a year late. I managed to do it and graduate on time."

"We can talk about it, Penny," Alice said. "But we'll see how your grades are this year, first."

"Oh, Mom!" she whined. "Not that again!"

"Your grades weren't very good last year. We had to work extra hard to get you into Maria because of that."

Penny didn't respond, but was looking daggers at her mom. It didn't surprise me that Penny was unhappy. It was the kind of thing my mom would have done in front of others, though Alice seemed a lot more rational than my mom.

"Alice tells me that you're into computers," Bart said.

"Yes. I've been programming since I was fourteen. My school got some Apple ][s and TRS-80s. I actually ran a computer dating service for the school as a fund raiser and then got hired by my friend's grandfather to write some programs. That turned into a company that I sold last year. All of that helped pay for school and the house. I've been doing consulting for various companies in Chicago, too."

"Can Steve teach me computers?" Penny asked. "He told Mom he could."

Jackie arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Your mom talked to me about it," Bart replied. "I don't see a problem with it."

"Penny," Alice said, "you can't bug him about it and you have to keep your grades up."

"Mom!" she whined.

"Penny, that's enough!" Alice said firmly. "You have to have B's or better in all your classes and you have to do your homework first. Steve, would Saturday mornings work for you?"

I had opened my mouth, so now it had to play out.

"It would have to be early, like from 8:00am to 9:30am; I have karate class at 10:00am. That's actually the best time for me, too, because my weekends are pretty full, otherwise."

"Is that enough time?" Alice asked.

"No, she'd really need her own computer to practice on, and they aren't inexpensive."

"We'll see about getting her one. But she has to show us good grades before we do that."

Penny rolled her eyes. I was trying to remember if I'd been like Penny at fourteen and realized that I probably had, just in a different way. I knew I'd acted pretty badly when my mom and I had disagreements, and that included whining, rolling my eyes, and generally having a bad attitude. A lot had changed in six years, that was for sure!

We finished eating and Alice sent Penny inside to get the ice cream for dessert.

"She's actually a pretty good kid," Alice said. "She just needs to put more effort into her schoolwork. I'm hoping the carrot of a computer and you teaching her are enough to keep her on track. Did you want to start next Saturday? I'll come over with her at 8:00am if that's OK."

And that neatly addressed the one major concern that I had — being alone with Penny in my house. She seemed pretty immature, and I didn't want any kind of misunderstandings.

"Sure. There'll be a house full of people on Saturdays, but you're more than welcome to stay. There's always tea and coffee available."

"We'll see you then," she said.

Penny was back a minute later with bowls and ice cream. Alice dished it out, and we each took a bowl.

"You know, we haven't heard much about you Jackie," Alice said.

"There's not much to hear," Jackie said with a smile. "I'm an architecture student starting my fourth year out of five. My family lives in Rockford and I met Steve just about two years ago in computer science class. I hung out with him a lot the last year and when he bought the house, I asked if I could rent a room. I'm sharing a big bedroom with my friend Cindi Spanos from Madison, Wisconsin.

"Elyse, Steve's friend and roommate from his apartment, has her own room. We also have three other girls — Katy, from Boston; Julia from Idaho; and Stephie, a girl from Georgia. Boyfriends are around on the weekends a lot — Eduardo, that's Elyse's boyfriend, Dave, Julia's boyfriend, and Jamie, my boyfriend, all come around. Cindi's boyfriend moved to Texas, so he's not around, and Katy and Stephie don't have boyfriends here."

"You had all those people in the apartment?" Bart asked.

"On Sundays," I said. "It was a tight fit, be we managed. We had some great rap sessions, I think you would have called them."