Chapter 59: New Friends

August, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

The rest of the week proceeded as expected — class on Wednesday, as well as the usual visit from Penny, work on Thursday, and class on Friday. Kara and I had lunch together at IIT, Sofia practiced her driving and parking, and I hung out with Mark Agnini after class for beers. Staci and I got into a couple of interesting debates about the Old Testament that Mark had to break up to allow others in the class to participate. She was very much of the 'directly inspired, literal word of God' camp and I was very much in the 'engaging stories that describe the human condition but aren't necessarily true' camp.

As we were walking to The Bog on Friday, I asked her if she really, truly believed that the universe was created in six literal days. When she said 'yes', I chuckled and said I'd love to discuss the first couple of chapters of Genesis with her. I had all of my history with Kara on these topics to draw on, and I was pretty comfortable with that. She was curious about why I raised the issue.

"Well, if you're brave enough to take Mark's class, you'll be brave enough to have the discussion with me."

"Brave? If a class like this can shake my faith, my faith isn't worth much. And I'm still going to get the best grade in the class!"

I chuckled, "Not a chance. This stuff is right up my alley! And I don't have any shackles on me. Nor scales over my eyes."

"We'll just see about that, Mister! How about a bet?"

"Depends what the stakes are!" I smirked.

She laughed, "You wish! I see that look. As if anyone would make a bet like that!"

It was my turn to laugh, "Not only did she, but I won. The young woman in question bet me that the Soviets would beat the US in ice hockey at the '80 Olympics. She thought she had a sure thing. She was wrong!"

"And you were just low enough to collect on a bet like that?" she replied with a frown.

"Low?" I replied, askance. "I didn't offer the stakes! She offered them to get me to make the bet! And collecting was fun! For both of us!"

"I'm not making a bet like that, Sir. In your dreams! You'd have to do a LOT more than beat my grades in this class to get THAT!" she smirked.

I laughed, "Let's go have a beer. We'll just call it a friendly wager, shall we?"

"It's your turn to buy," she said, flashing her wonderful smile.

We went into The Bog and sat down with Mark and a few other students. I asked Staci if she had her Bible, which, of course, she did. Mark looked as if he was going to bust his gut trying to hold in his laughter as I ran through my 'two creation stories' with Staci. The other students sat rapt, listening to me explain my point.

"There's no contradiction," she said. "Genesis 2 is just a detailed explanation of when Adam and Eve were created."

"I don't think it can be explained that way," I countered. "Remember that in Genesis 2, it specifically says that there were no plants when God created Adam and Eve. After God creates Adam, only then does he plant the Garden. Once he does that, he notices that Adam is alone, so he makes all the animals, but none of these is a suitable mate. I find that particularly amusing, because surely God would know in advance that a lion or zebra or elephant isn't going to be a mate for a human!"

Everyone at the table laughed, and Mark was finally no longer able to contain himself. Except Staci. She was frowning, not laughing. I continued.

"So, after all this, when Adam has finished naming all the animals, God figures out that none of the animals will work, so to speak, so he puts Adam to sleep and then cuts him in half."

"Cuts him in half? What are you talking about?"

"Mark, what does the word in Genesis mean?" I asked.

"Side. And there are stories about Lilith as well that didn't make it into the Hebrew scriptures. But we'll get to THAT on Monday. Continue."

I continued, making the same point that I'd made to Kara years before.

"If you think about it, it makes sense because when Adam and Eve join, they become one flesh — that is, they complete each other."

"Nicely done," Mark said.

"I still don't see how there's a contradiction," Staci said. "It talks about planting the Garden, but why couldn't that have just been some bare ground that God used for Eden. As for the mate, now you're just being flip! Moses was just saying that God created woman to complement man as no animal companion ever could."

"But you're the one who's telling me it's literally true," I replied gently. "I'm just reading the words as they're translated. You're the one having to come up with answers."

"It's not easy to rightly divide the word," Staci said. "That's where you're going wrong, Steve."

"Well, I think it's all myth, so literal or not, it tells us important things about mankind and our place in the universe and our relationship to God. Whether it happened that way doesn't really matter to me."

"Do you believe in God?" Staci asked. "I mean, if Genesis is just a myth, then maybe the rest of it is."

"Maybe it is. I'm an agnostic. I can't make the logical leap that because I'm not sure about something that it doesn't exist. But I can sure as heck say that I have no idea. Maybe there's a god. Or gods. Or maybe there isn't. I simply don't know. That said, I find a lot of wisdom in the Bible, just like I did in the Bhagavad Gita and the Kama Sutra."

"I bet you found a lot more than wisdom in the Kama Sutra!" one of the other students said, causing everyone but Mark and me to laugh.

"Oh, that stuff is there," I said. "But I learned a lot about relationships and intimacy, and not the sexual kind, from reading it and talking in depth with my Hindu friend. Just as I learned a lot from Sun Tzu. Yes, we can all smirk and titter at the drawings in the Sutra, but there's wisdom there, too."

"Isn't that like claiming that you're reading Playboy for the articles?" another student smirked.

"Hey, Playboy has some excellent articles," Mark interjected. "Not to mention gorgeous artwork."

Even Staci laughed at that.

"How do you go through life without God?" she asked.

"Quite easily, actually," I replied. "Strive to do good, cause no harm, and love everyone. I don't need a holy book to tell me those things."

"You sound like a libertarian, Steve," Mark said.

"I suppose I am. I also don't take my cues from society on how to live my life, nor do I think I should tell anyone else how to live theirs."

"A recipe for chaos!" Staci objected.

"You and my Russian friend Tatyana are in complete agreement. Besides being a 'decadent capitalist', she says that I'm an advocate for chaos. And yet, she still finds me «культурный»," I grinned.

Mark laughed, "It sounds like you've been around the block once or twice. How much time did you spend in Europe?"

"A full year as an exchange student, and I've been back several times. How did you know?"

"Just the way you talk and act. And speaking of talking, I need you and Staci to dial it back just a bit in class. You two are intimidating the rest of the students! Let them get some comments in, please! Trust me; you both are going to have full points for participation. Especially if you carry on with conversations like today at these after-class sessions."

"Speaking of which, do you happen to know Bart Nichols from the University of Chicago?" I asked.

Mark laughed, "I do. How do you know him?"

"He's my next-door neighbor," I said.

Mark nodded, "I know who you are then! Bart was telling me about this computer whiz kid who bought the house next door to him and was teaching his daughter programming. He described you as having a harem!"

I laughed, "I think my friend Dave might object to his fiancée Julia being mentioned as part of my harem. I do have six housemates, including Julia, who I just mentioned, but I have my own room. And besides Julia, Cindi and Katy both have steady boyfriends and Elyse had one until this Summer when he graduated from UofC. I think he's just jealous of my living arrangements."

"I think you're right on the jealous bit, though his wife is a sweetheart."

"I like Alice," I said. "And yes, I taught his daughter Penny how to program."

"You live with six girls?" one of the other students asked.

I chuckled, "No. I have six girls who live in my house. I do not live with them! Anyway, I need to get to my accounting class. I'll see you all on Monday."

I got up and headed out of The Bog. As I was walking across the grass to the math building, Staci caught up with me, out of breath.

"You walk fast!" she huffed and puffed.

"You're out of shape," I countered with a smile.

"Yeah, I know. I hate exercise. Can I ask you a serious question?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"You've read the Bible, obviously. Why don't you believe?"

"If I could answer that question, my life would be a lot easier. As it is, my not knowing pushes me to read more and learn more and think more. I want to know the answer, but I'm afraid that I can't ever know it. Remember, I don't say that Jesus isn't the Son of God, I just say I can't know for sure that he is."

"And the miracles? Rising from the dead?" she asked.

"To me, the Gospel is a like a history book or a newspaper. It's eyewitness information through the lens of a reporter. Even the Gospels present very different views of Jesus. Notice I'm not saying contradictory, because that's a loaded word. But Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell different stories from different points of view. Sure, the three synoptics tell a similar story, but it's not the same. And the Gospel According to John is a very different thing altogether."

"And none of that bothers you?" she asked.

"Not in the way you mean. What bothers me is not knowing for sure. If you're asking about death and the afterlife, well, if God doesn't exist, it doesn't matter and all that matters is how I've lived my life and affected other people and how I've changed the world. If God does exist, all of that still matters, plus I get to hang out in heaven and play a harp and sing for eternity. In other words, no difference that matters. At least in this life."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I looked at my watch. As much as I wanted to keep talking, I didn't want to miss a single second of my accounting class.

"I have to get to class. We can continue this some other time."

"OK. I'll see you Monday. The conversation was fun!"

I smiled and turned to head into the building. After class, I went to find Kara. We waited for Sofia, then picked up Anala in Bridgeport and headed home. Sofia did a good job parking, and I suggested we go for her driver's test in about two weeks. She was ecstatic.

"Will you help me find a good used car?" she asked.

"Sure! Let's get your license and then we'll figure it out."

We went into the house just as Katy and Kenneth were coming out.

"We're going out to dinner and a movie! See you later!" Katy said.

"Have fun!" I offered.

Anala and I fixed dinner while Elyse and Sofia set the table. Elyse told me that Julia and Dave had gone out, and that Cindi was heading out to pick up Jorge, so there would just be the five of us there for the evening. We had a nice meal and because it was just Elyse, Kara, Sofia, Anala, and me, we went to the sauna after cleaning up the kitchen. Once again, I marveled at the gorgeous female flesh that surrounded me.

"Steve, do you mind if Malin comes by tomorrow evening to hang out?" Elyse asked.

"Nope. I'm cool with that. Have you heard from Eduardo?"

"He called last night. Classes start at Wharton on Monday. I think he misses me."

"No shit!" I chuckled. "You guys were joined at the hip for a couple of years. Do you miss him?"

"Honestly? Yes. But it really was time to move on. He's going back to Spain after Wharton, so it was going to end eventually."

"That seems a bit cold," Sofia noted.

"We knew it was going to happen when we started seeing each other. Ask Steve about me. I'm not going to have one life partner. That's just not me. Unlike Steve, I won't have more than one at a time, but I'm not getting married. I like a bit of variety and spice, and want to be able to change things around when I need to."

"Now your request makes sense!" Sofia said. "I couldn't figure out why you wanted to have kids with Steve. You want someone who'll be a strong, stable dad while you move from lover to lover!"

"Ouch," Kara said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I think it might have sounded better in Swedish."

I chuckled, "No. It would sound just as bad! But you aren't really that far off from what Elyse is thinking."

"No, you aren't," Elyse said. "I like sex. A lot. But I don't want to get tied down to just one guy. It's just not me. But I want to be a mom. So I found an elegant solution to my problem. Just like Jennifer did."

"That one was easier to figure out," Sofia said. "Being that she's lesbian, she needs someone to get her pregnant or be a sperm donor. I guess she opted for the fun way versus the medical way!"

Everyone laughed at that.

"I guess you didn't realize the circus you were signing up for, did you?" Elyse asked.

"The sad part is, I knew all of it," Sofia said. "But it never made sense and I could never put it all together, so I kind of just pushed it aside and chalked it up to Steve's usual strange life and thought it would all resolve itself. It will, of course, but exactly the way he's said, not like I thought."

"Are you saying that Sofia ran away to join the circus, Elyse?" Kara teased.

"I guess I am!" Elyse said with a smirk. "Either that or a zoo. The thing is, every single part of it makes complete, logical sense. And I'm going to put one thing to rest and ease your mind, Sofia. After Steve and I have kids, we won't have sex. He and I have already talked about that."