Chapter 5: Back to School, Part I

January, 1983, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday morning after I called Karin and after the four of us in the apartment ate breakfast, Stephie asked if we could go to the IIT bookstore, which had special Sunday hours because it was the day before school. I agreed, and she packed a few things to leave in her dorm room at IIT and we headed to the campus. We also took some flyers that I printed for our tutoring service to hang up on campus. We went to the dorms first and found Jackie unpacking her things.

"I hope you're doing better," Jackie said.

"I am. Thanks for coming by with Cindi and kicking my butt. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome! How are things going, Stephie?"

"Good. I don't know if Steve told you, but I'm moving in with him. I won't be here except for when his friend Karin visits."

"How is that different from last semester?" Jackie asked with a silly smile.

"It's not, I guess, but if things hadn't gone to hell in a handbasket for the Yankee here, I would have been here full time starting today."

"I had no idea he was going to propose to Kara," Jackie said.

"Join the club!" Stephie replied. "He didn't say anything to me until the morning I flew home. But you know how it turned out. And thanks for looking out for him. I owe you for that."

"Let me borrow him a few times and we'll be even," Jackie smirked.

"I ain't got no claim on him, even if'n I've tried my best! But I'll take bein' his main girl. Given what happened, I can understand why he's gun-shy. Just don't get too attached to him!"

"Thanks for talking about me like I'm not here, girls!" I laughed. "As I said, Jackie, give me some time to deal with everything and then we'll talk."

"Sorry," Jackie said. "I am glad you're doing better. Are you starting the weekend gatherings next Saturday?"

"Absolutely," I said. "And you're welcome to visit any time during the week, too. No invite necessary. You might want to call to make sure we're there, or find one of us on campus."

"What about our coffee meetings?" she asked.

"If you want to do that, I'm up for it. My schedule is really close to last semester's. Classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are at 10:00am, 2:00pm and 4:00pm — you know, 'Dr Pepper Time'," I joked. "The Tuesday and Thursday classes start at 9:00am."

"We can still do Wednesday morning, if that's OK," Jackie said.

"Sure. I'll see you Wednesday, if not before," I said.

Stephie packed up a few things she had left at the dorm and then we left to go to the office to get our flyers stamped and then put them up around campus, then went to the bookstore. Once Stephie had her books for the semester, we headed back to Hyde Park and had lunch with Elyse and Eduardo.

"What's your schedule like, Elyse?" Stephie asked.

"Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have four classes," Elyse said. "I start at 9:00am and end at 4:00pm. I have one class Tuesday afternoon and nothing on Thursday. What about you?"

"Three classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting at 10:00am and ending at 5:00pm, two classes on Tuesday and none on Thursday," Stephie responded.

And that reminded me I needed to talk to Becky, and that I had promised to call Anala. I'd do that later in the day, after dinner, along with calls to Jennifer and Stephanie to check in as I'd promised.

"And I have the same, except I have one class on Tuesday morning and one on Thursday morning," I said. "Stephie and I are in two classes together and I have one with Dave and Julia, too."

"What classes do you have with Stephie?" Elyse asked.

"Statistics on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Writing for Engineers on Tuesday," I answered. "And the class with Dave and Julia is Management Information Systems. I assume we can get help with stats from you if we need it?"

"So long as you help me with my computer class!" Elyse replied.

"I plan to start up the weekend gatherings on Saturday. I'm not sure if Dave and Cindi are coming on Friday night, though I'm going to suggest to Julia that she talk to Dave. He took notice of her when we finished our project last semester."

"And Cindi will be cool with that?" Stephie asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I said after a moment's consideration. "They're still good friends, according to both of them, just not lovers. It's kind of like me and Kathy, I guess."

"Yankee, I don't know anyone who can be friends with ex-lovers like you can," Stephie observed. It's kind of amazing, really."

"It's been a struggle at times, but I do my best to be friends with everyone I can. I've had a few bad breakups, but I've reconciled with all of them, including Becky," I said.

"Becky?" Stephie asked. "The girl who got pregnant on purpose?"

"Yeah. Even her. Staying mad at her would serve no purpose. Jennifer and I had a pretty bad breakup and Melanie and I had a falling out. I even had one with my little sister. But I worked on all of them. Ask Kathy — she and I had a falling out at one point, including her eventually screaming 'Fuck you, Steve Adams' at me in the lunchroom back in High School.

"Kathy?! As in Kathy and Kurt? That Kathy? I don't believe it!" Stephie exclaimed.

"Ask her on Saturday," I chuckled.

Eduardo went back to his dorm and Elyse, Stephie and I went for a walk before dinner, just beating the drizzle that began around 5:30pm. The temperatures were in the upper 30s, which for January in Chicago was relatively nice, though I certainly would have preferred snow to rain. After dinner, we relaxed with tea for a bit, then I excused myself around 8:00pm to make my phone calls.

I called Stephanie to see how she was doing. I wondered when she'd talk to Ed and if he'd really break up with her over her being with me. She didn't say anything, and I didn't ask. She had been back in school for a week already, which was keeping her busy. She said she had tried to call Kara but hadn't had any luck. I told her that given the circumstances, it was probably best to stop trying, at least for a little while, though I'd still call occasionally.

After talking to Stephanie, I called Jennifer at Stanford to let her know I was doing OK and was thinking about her. She thanked me again for letting her spend time with my sister and we talked about when it might be possible to see each other. We agreed that sometime after I got back from Sweden was the most likely time. She reminded me that I could call her anytime if I wanted to talk and I told her not to be surprised if I took her up on that.

My next call was to Becky to confirm that I'd still be free for lunch on Thursdays, though I couldn't meet her until noon. That worked for her because she had a morning class as well. We couldn't meet at the Governor's Table or David's because the two restaurants had recently burned to the ground. We decided to meet at a small diner on Halsted Street instead.

Becky told me that Richie and a guy named Art had stopped by to talk to her. They would use a messenger to get requests to her, though the legitimate businesses, like the auto repair shop, would call her directly. We agreed that we'd only discuss the underground businesses face-to-face at lunch. Before we hung up, we discussed a trip to see Alyson in February, deciding on the first weekend, assuming the weather cooperated.

My final call was to Anala. I apologized for not being able to see her before Winter break. I told her that I had Tuesday afternoons free and fortunately, she did as well. She gave me an address in Bridgeport and told me to come by after lunch for tea. I replied that I'd see her then.

I rejoined the girls for a short time, then the three of us went to bed — Elyse in her room, and Stephie and me in ours. Stephie and I made love as we usually did and fell asleep in each other's arms.

Monday, the first day of the new semester, was unseasonably warm — in the low forties — with a light drizzle. This Winter was turning out to be a complete bust for snow so far. I hadn't been exercising as much as I should have, and Stephie and I would start karate classes again on Tuesday. Two weeks with no practice and almost no exercise was going to make the first couple of sessions tough.

My first class that morning was American History. The professor was, much to my surprise, Scottish with a very cool accent. He had a PhD in American History from, of all places, the University of Glasgow. Because the class covered the period from AD1000 to AD1840, it made some sense, as many of the first settlers to come to what was now the United States had come from the British Isles.

After lunch with Stephie, we walked to the first of our joint classes — statistics. For this class, I wasn't so lucky. The instructor was from China and his accent made him very hard to understand. I hoped that between the book and Elyse, Stephie and I would be able to muddle through the lectures. It took serious concentration that first class period to understand what was being said, but I was happy that by the end of the class I was getting most of it.

My final class of the day was Management Information Systems. I found Dave and Julia in the room, saving a seat for me in the front row, where the three of us had agreed to sit. Julia was looking pretty good, and I wondered if she and Dave might somehow hit it off. I'd have to talk to her after class and make the suggestion. As advertised, this professor had a thick Eastern European accent, which sounded Russian to me, but could have been from some other Slavic language speaking country. That said, I had no problems understanding him when he talked.

After class, Dave headed back to the Sig Ep house and Julia walked with me towards my car, which was on the way to the dorms. We talked about our Christmas, and I gave her a very brief rundown of what had happened with Kara. She asked if I was doing OK and I told her that my friends had done a fantastic job of taking care of me.

"Julia, what's your view on religion?" I asked.

"Uhm, why?"

"I'm just wondering if you might ask Dave to have a cup of coffee. I'm sure that you know that he's not seeing Cindi anymore, but he'd want someone who would go to church with him, at least occasionally."

"I went to a Greek Orthodox wedding last November, and it was totally cool. I'd be OK with going with him."

"Then ask him. He noticed the changes you made, and I'd say he was impressed!" I chuckled.

"You seemed to like it," she said with an impish smile.

"I certainly did! I enjoyed being with you," I said.

"Want to enjoy it again? I kind of have an itch!" she giggled.

I thought about it and decided that it was probably OK in that she didn't seem to be falling for me or anything, and because I'd been with her before, Stephie most likely wouldn't object.

"I might be convinced to sample your charms again!" I grinned.

"What afternoons do you have free?" she asked.

"Tuesday and Thursday. I'm free this Thursday and next, but tomorrow I'm busy. Next week I'm free either day."

"Thursday. Just come to my dorm! What time can you be there?" she asked.

"Probably by 1:30pm. I have a business meeting at lunch, but I should be done no later than 1:15pm."

"Cool! See you then. I'll ask Dave for coffee after class on Friday."

We hugged, and she continued on to the dorm. Stephie walked up a minute later.

"That looked friendly," she observed with a slight smile.

"Yeah. Would you mind if I was with her one more time? She's going to ask Dave for coffee on Friday."

Stephie thought for a moment, "Nah. It's OK. She doesn't have any designs on you, Yankee. Show her a good time!"

"You're really OK with the group situation?" I asked.

"It's what I can have right now, and you did tell me that I'm your main girl. Hell, I was the one who shared you with Emily!"

I chuckled, "That you did, Peaches!"

"And it's something we discussed last semester, if you remember."

"I do, but I wondered if you might have changed your mind because of what happened with Kara," I said.

"Not really. I mean, it's not my ideal, but honestly, I wasn't plannin' on gettin' engaged or nuthin' until I get out of college and get a job and stuff. I want to get a Master's, so that's around '87, I guess, at the earliest."

"Elyse and Bethany are going for their Masters as well," I said. "And my sister is talking about coming to school in Chicago, so I guess I might just have to find a job here when I graduate."

"No graduate school for you?" Stephie asked.

"Nah, I don't think so. I don't think it's necessary. My friend Beth is going to get a PhD because she wants to do research, but I'll be fine without one. The experience I have is way better than a lot of guys who've graduated in the past few years."

We headed home for dinner with Elyse and afterwards started on our homework assignments. After finishing my reading for history and MIS, and the small set of problems for the statistics class, I decided to write Kara a letter. If she wouldn't talk to me, maybe, just maybe, she'd read a letter. I hated writing it out longhand, but I felt that typing it into the computer and printing it out wouldn't convey the message I wanted to send. I poured my heart out to Kara, begging her to please talk to me, even for just a few minutes. I told her how much I loved her, how much I missed her, and how much I wanted to be with her. The letter ran to two full pages of notebook paper, with both sides covered with my handwriting. I folded it up and put it in an envelope that I addressed and stamped.

"I need to mail this letter," I announced. "I'm going to walk over to the Post Office."

"I'll walk with you, Yankee," Stephie offered. "It's to Kara, isn't it?"

"Yes," I sighed. "It's basically a last-ditch effort on my part. I had to try something. I'm really tempted to drive to Milford this weekend, but I'm afraid she won't see me even if I do that. Hopefully, she'll read the letter."

We got our coats and hats and walked out of the apartment and towards the Post Office.

"I guess I hope she does, so that you'll get some closure. It would be better if she talked to you, even though that's risky for me," Stephie said, slipping her gloved hand into mine.

Chapter 6 »