Chapter 54: Senior Year Begins With a Bang

August, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

I asked Mr. Wyatt to come by about 11:00am and he promised he'd see me then. I checked the clock and saw that my dad was most likely home from work, so I dialed his number. Jeff answered, and I simply said, "Put Dad on," without even greeting him. I had no time for him and wanted absolutely no interaction with him at all. I wondered again if I should just stay in Chicago for Christmas and avoid the entire situation at home. My dad came on the line a moment later.

"Dad, the real estate agent just called me and said that the coach house behind our property is for sale. It used to belong to the original owners when the house was built, and he thought we might want to buy it and combine the properties again."

"That's an interesting idea, but with the cash I sunk into the house, I'd have to take out a note. I can do that, of course, and I'd get a really good rate from the bank, given my relationship with them and my perfect credit score. The loan would be against my businesses, not against the house, so that we could make an all-cash offer. Take a look at it, find out what would be involved in combining the properties, find out what they want for it, and then call me back."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll call you later."

I hung up and started a new page in my notebook. I wrote down the things my dad had said and jotted down a few ideas as well. The house was too far from where both Pete and Kurt worked for them to rent it, though Dave and Julia would be looking for a place in the Spring, and, if my plans came to fruition, it was possible they could rent the coach house from me. Then it hit me — it would be perfect for Jennifer and Josie! We'd talked about them having a room in the house, but if my guess about the coach house was right, that would be a much better option.

I didn't say anything to the girls because so far it was purely speculative, and when Bill Wyatt arrived as planned, I ushered him into my study and shut the door so we could have a private conversation.

"I was offered the listing for the coach house because it's owned by a nephew of the people who used to own your house. He bought it from them about twenty-five years ago, and they divided the property. I suspect you've noticed that the brick walkway just dead-ends into the fence."

"I wondered about that, but then decided it was probably just a design."

"They removed one row of bricks to install the dividing fence. That could easily be taken down, and the bricks replaced. Here's the listing sheet on the house."

We reviewed it together. Two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bathroom. A kitchen, a small dining room, a living room, and a powder room on the first floor, and a laundry room in the basement. It also had a short driveway next to the house, something my house did not have. The driveway was something that I could really make use of, because street parking could be a pain at times, especially during the Winter.

"Let's go take a look," I said.

There was no way to get to the house through my backyard without climbing the six-foot fence, so we walked out the front door and around the block. Mr. Wyatt unlocked the door and we walked inside. The owner was still living in the house, so it was furnished and lived in. We quickly walked through the house. Like mine, it had forced hot water heating, central air, hardwood floors, and was in excellent condition. It was small, but my idea of having Jennifer and Josie rent it seemed perfect, now that I had seen it.

"I'd say it's perfect," I said. "Let's go back to my study and call my dad. My phone has a speaker option, so we can both talk to him."

We walked back around to my house and went to my study. I got a raised eyebrow from Julia, who was in the kitchen, but I just gave her a slight shake of my head, indicating I'd tell her about it later. I closed the door to the study and pressed the speaker button and dialed my dad's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Dad, I have the agent, Mr. Wyatt, here with me, and you're on my speakerphone."

They greeted each other and my dad asked a bunch of questions, and then got down to the nitty-gritty of negotiating a price. My dad's concern was that the price of the two properties together would be less than the separate properties, and wanted to take that into account. The agent resisted, and they went back and forth with numbers for a bit. In the end, they found a compromise that they could agree on and that Mr. Wyatt thought the owner would accept given it would be a quick sale and for all cash.

After we hung up, Mr. Wyatt asked to use the phone and called his client, presumably at work.

"I have an all-cash offer for you that would close within a couple of weeks," I heard him say. Then, "Yes, that's right. I think that it's more than fair given that it's a guaranteed closing and you're getting the offer on the first day the house was listed." He listened, then said, "No, given the market, I don't think you'll get anything like this offer in the next few weeks." He listened, then, "No. It's up to you. Call me at my office and let me know."

After they hung up, I asked, "He's thinking about it?"

"Yes. He wants something closer to the asking price, but I told him there was no room to negotiate. Your dad was pretty clear about that when we struck the final price."

"Do you think he'll take it?" I asked.

"I don't know. People can be funny about houses. They get sentimental and don't always do the rational thing. Your dad made a fair offer, but it was pretty much at the low end of what the house could bring. That said, a locked-in sale on the first day you list the house is a pretty rare thing. It took months to sell this one, and if you hadn't come along, it might STILL be on the market. Mortgage rates are high and these houses are not inexpensive, as you well know. All cash is the way to go, if you can manage it."

"Well, let me know," I said. "It's a cool idea, but given it wasn't something I was even aware of, if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."

We shook hands, and he left. I decided not to say anything to the girls because it made no sense to get them all hyped about it. I had a bit of time before Bethany arrived, so I went to my study to make some notes about what I would do with the coach house if our offer was accepted. I'd need furniture, of course, and I thought that the best idea for the coming semester would be to find some students from UofC or IIT, or one of the other Chicago schools to rent it to. It was a bit late in the year, but there were always students looking for places, even during the semester.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing telephone. It was too soon for Bill Wyatt to be calling — he'd barely had time to get to his office, and I didn't expect the owner to decide quite that quickly. Unfortunately, I was right, because it was someone I didn't want to hear from — Becky.

"Steve!" she said, her voice full of fear. "I was fired!"

"How the heck could you be fired from a job that entailed answering the phone?"

"I was doing the two-week part, you know, when the receptionist was on vacation. I was asked to find a file and I couldn't. There was this locked file cabinet, and I hunted around for a key and found it in the back of a drawer. I opened it and was looking through it when one of the top guys came in, blew his stack, fired me on the spot, and told me to get out!"

"What were the files?" I asked.

"Just timesheets, job records, that kind of thing."

She'd obviously seen something she wasn't supposed to. The question in my mind was whether or not she was in further trouble. And if she was, could I help her? Or, more importantly, was I even the slightest bit willing to help her?

"I'm not sure that there is much I can do for you, Becky."

"I'm worried that they might come after me! I remember what happened to Richie and Arthur!"

I sighed, "I doubt that's going to happen because you opened a file cabinet."

"You don't know that!" she wailed.

I sighed again, "Becky, all I can do is talk to Theo and see if he knows anything. You know I'm not allowed to call anyone else."

"But what about your friend in Cincinnati?"

"I'm out of that stuff, Becky. Completely. All I can do is talk to Theo."

"Call me back at my parents' house. I'm leaving right now!"

"OK," I said, not thrilled with the prospect.

I hung up and looked at the clock. I had just enough time to talk to Theo before I went to my appointment with Doctor Alborg. I told Kara that I needed to run an errand and then go to my appointment. She offered to come along, but I told her it wasn't necessary, that I just needed to talk to a friend and that I'd be back after my appointment with Doctor Alborg.

I left the house and headed to Theo's, hoping that I'd find him home. If not, I'd have to leave him a message. At least in this case, luck was with me and he answered the door when I rang the bell. He ushered me in and asked how I was doing. I gave him a brief synopsis of what had gone on for the past few months and then told him why I was there.

"I have no idea what she saw, obviously, nor what kind of trouble she might be in, if any. It's not in Frank's territory, so it really depends on the capo there. I doubt that she's in any serious trouble. Pretty much the only thing you could do is call your «padrone» and see what he wants to do."

"I figured. I really don't want to bother him with this. Do you think that there'll be any backlash that would affect me?"

"I doubt it. If there is, I'll hear about it because you're technically on my crew, even though you're not under my command because of the way your «padrone» arranged things. I take it everything is OK with the union shops?"

"It is. I've done some programming, but everything seems to be running smoothly."

"Good. Look, I doubt your girl did anything that's going to cause serious trouble. If she did, they probably wouldn't have fired her, if you get my drift. Go home, do your thing, and if I hear anything, I'll call you."

I thanked him and left. I thought about calling Don Joseph, but the last thing I wanted to do was ask for a favor on Becky's behalf. That said, if her life was at risk, I'd do it, but Theo didn't seem to think that was in the cards. I'd have to call Becky later and tell her that Theo had said that it wasn't going to go beyond firing and hope that she'd accept my reassurance.

I went directly from Theo's house to Doctor Alborg's office for my appointment with him. We talked in more detail about my relationship with Kara, which led directly to a discussion of my current relationships, such as they were. Doctor Alborg barely stifled a chuckle when I told him about the living arrangements.

"You don't need my help," he said with a smile. "You need an armed bodyguard!"

"You might be right," I replied with a smile or my own. "Are you going to see Kara?"

"Doctor Mercer encouraged me to and talked about how you were a rock of support for your friend Bethany. I don't usually see people who are involved or related, unless it's family or couples' counseling. I understand why Doctor Mercer does — she's a sole practitioner in a small town, but here in Chicago there are so many options. That said, Kara has an appointment later this week."

"Speaking of appointments, do you have Saturday morning hours? Or evening hours? I start school next week and I have a full course schedule, plus I work two days a week."

"I don't work weekends, but I do have Tuesday and Wednesday evening appointments. Check with my receptionist, but I believe I have a slot on Wednesdays, though I'm not sure why you're coming here at this point."

"Oh?" I said.

"Unless you've been deceiving me, and I don't think you are, your issue was trying to break an addiction, if you will, to a girl, and your concern about healthy relationships. But you seem to have solved that first one on your own. I think your only problem at the moment is that you've managed to create a pretty hairy situation at home, and no amount of counseling is going to solve that problem!"

"Tell me about it!" I chuckled. "Then I guess I'm going to stop coming, except if I need to help Kara. Whatever happens between us, she's my friend and I want to help her."

I shook his hand and thanked him, then headed home. I walked up to the house just in time to see Bethany getting out of her car. I called her name and walked over to her. We hugged and exchanged a quick kiss. I suggested that she bring all of her bags into the house rather than leave them in her car on the street for three days. I helped her bring the bags into the front hall, and then we went to the sunroom so that I could introduce her to Sofia.

"Sofia, this is Bethany," I said.

"Hi, Bethany," Sofia said. "It's nice to finally meet you! I suspect you've heard as much about me as I've heard about you."

"Probably more," Bethany laughed.

"Hi, Bethany," Kara said.

"Hey, Kara," Bethany said. "How are you?"

"Good. Can we talk later?"

"Of course!" Bethany replied. "I'll be here until Thursday."

"Let's move your bags into the study room," I offered.

We went to the foyer to move her bags.

"Should I put my overnight bag in your room?" Bethany asked.

"Would you accept any other option?" I chuckled.

"I don't make assumptions any more than you do. I suspect things are a bit touchy with Sofia and Kara here."

I nodded, "And don't forget Anala and Penny. My life became much more complicated, not easier. And don't forget a certain best friend of mine, making it even more complicated next year!"

She giggled, "I suppose I did do that, didn't I? You could just cut through the Gordian knot and ask me to marry you!"

"And would that be a good idea at this point?"

Bethany sighed, "No. Because you're not ready to ask that question to me, or anyone else, for that matter. Well, that's not true. You're ready to ask Jennifer, but she can't say yes."

"Don't fucking remind me," I growled.

"Well, at least you didn't whine. That's something!"

"Yeah, I know. Most of the time I handle it pretty well, but with all the craziness of the last couple of weeks, including the accident down in Georgia, I was frustrated by you reminding me."

"Let's get something to drink and talk," Bethany said.

We went to the kitchen and got a couple of Cokes and went to sit in the Indian room. For the next few hours, I recounted everything that had happened since I'd left Ohio. I'd talked to her a few times, but I hadn't really talked to her in depth. We talked mostly about Karin and then about the accident. Then we talked about Kara and how she was doing. And finally, we talked about Penny.

"So, care to place any bets?" I asked with a grin.

"The smart money is still in the bettor's pocket. You aren't going to make any commitments before next Summer, are you?"

"No. That much I can promise you. The next year is going to be interesting, to say the least!"

"I want you to do something important for me," she said.

"Anything, Bethany. Well, you know what I mean," I grinned.

"Just work on keeping your life in balance. Jackie and Anala are right. I'd prefer you were only with me, but that's not you, and unlike Sofia and Karin, I don't think that will ever be you. I've been your friend and lover for years and I've come to terms with it. You need to come to terms with it and find a balance. Maybe, over time, if it's what you really want, you'll become monogamous, or mostly so, but you have to be comfortable with it and not force it. All the girls know.

"I'm reasonably sure that Karin threw in the towel because she finally admitted to herself who you are, and she knows she's not going to change you. Think about what she said — you can have kids with Jennifer and Elyse, but once you marry, it's over between you and any other girls. That's her condition. I don't think you can meet it, and I suspect that she doesn't think so, either."