Chapter 64: Halloween Surprises, Part I

October, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

October flew by. Between school, work, programming for the unions, and time with my friends, days vanished like fog under a bright sun. Wen had continued getting one kiss each Saturday, but nothing more, and she'd gone home after studying. The twins, for all the teasing and banter, hadn't done anything except serve lunch when I'd visited them on Sundays. Things with everyone else continued as they had. Anala had gone on a few dates with Prajesh, the guy who she'd met, but so far she hadn't changed our relationship.

I'd kept in touch with Bethany, Jennifer, and Stephanie, as well as Joyce and Karin. Bethany was coming to the Halloween party, so I'd see her then, but we weren't seeing each other as much as either of us would have liked. It turned out that our Senior years were much busier than either of us had anticipated. Much of our time on the phone was spent with me answering questions for her project on incest, and she had similarly lengthy conversations with Stephanie. I was keenly interested in reading her paper, and she promised to get me a copy at the end of the semester.

Pete and Melanie were fairly regular visitors, sometimes on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday, depending on their schedule. Married life seemed to agree quite well with them, though Melanie was a member of two study groups, which took a lot of her free time. I could tell that created a bit of tension between her and Pete, but they both had been prepared for it, and Melanie made sure that she took some time away from her books so that she and Pete could have time together. If they missed a weekend at the house, it was because she'd arranged for them to go some place like Lake Geneva for a romantic getaway.

Kurt and Kathy were making wedding plans, and her mom was pushing for a big wedding, but Kathy and Kurt were holding their ground. They wanted an intimate ceremony with just close family and close friends — no more than forty people, total. Bethany and I both helped out by saying that we'd be each other's dates, which wasn't exactly a sacrifice on our parts. It would be the third time I was best man in less than three years — Katt and Mikael, Pete and Melanie, and now Kurt and Kathy. I knew that if Josh Richards ever married Mary Harrison, he'd most likely ask me to be best man, and I felt Dave would ask whenever he and Julia set a date.

I'd also spoken to Stephie at length. She was doing quite well and she and Red were moving forward towards what I thought was an inevitable marriage, but she wasn't as sure about that as I was. I felt that if Red hooked up with this up-and-comer named Alan Kulwicki, he'd have a great future ahead of him, and he and Stephie would be able to go to as many races as they liked, though he'd likely be working rather than simply being entertained. I was sure that the three of us would have a long friendship, and that made me quite happy.

Finally, Brown Construction had completed the work, joining the walk and building the low decorative brick wall to show the division between the yards. Gerald Brown had even taken care of filing the necessary paperwork to have the two properties merged, and we'd passed the initial review by the zoning and planning commissions. Given that Alice and Bart would never object, and we had no objections from our neighbors on the other side, it was a sure thing that the change would go through by the end of the year.

As I reflected on the previous weeks, I knew that a relatively long period of stability in my life was very likely the calm before a storm. It had always been that way and as the last weekend of October approached; I had the feeling that things were going to change — they always did. Something always happened. I just didn't expect it to all happen in such a short period of time.

On the Wednesday before Halloween, I had what was probably the biggest surprise of all. Staci and I left religion class, and I turned to walk towards the dorms rather than The Bog. She put her hand on my arm to stop me.

"What's up?" I asked, wondering if she'd got her period, though we'd handled that the first time with two out-of-this-world blowjobs.

"We need to talk," she said.

Those words only ever had one meaning when spoken by one person in a relationship. We'd just been having some fun, so I wasn't going to try to talk Staci out of it or even get upset. There really was no point. I took her hand and led her to a bench, and we sat down.

"OK," I said, making sure I smiled. "Let's talk."

"I met someone and I really can't keep doing what we're doing," she said.

"I understand," I said. "It's been fun. When did you meet him?"

"At the beginning of the semester, but I didn't realize that he was interested. I discovered that on Monday and, well, one thing led to another..."

"I'm not going to make it difficult, Staci. We're friends and lovers, and we can go back to just being friends. Or at least I can. I hope that you're not going to completely break off our friendship. I enjoy the conversations."

"No, of course not. It's just that I don't want him to know about us."

"I don't have a problem with that. I won't say a word to anyone. Only one of my friends knows and she goes to the University of Chicago."

Staci smiled, "Thanks for being so nice about it. I really enjoyed being with you, but we weren't dating or anything. We were just having fun."

"Don't worry about it," I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. "Let's go have a beer. I'm sure that Mark will be happy to see us."

We went to The Bog and got our beers and sat down at the usual table. A look passed between Mark and Staci, and I instantly knew what had happened. Mark was the guy she'd met at the beginning of the semester and had become involved with. It made sense and there had always been something of a tension between them, though I'd never been able to put my finger on what it was. Now I was sure that I knew.

I kept my face as expressionless as possible so as not to give away the knowledge that I'd just gained. A bunch of random thoughts swirled around inside my skull, including one with alarm bells, about a student sleeping with her professor. She was an A student, so I didn't think it was about grades, but I was sure it was against school policy. He was running a big risk, and he'd certainly lose his job if this became public.

From my perspective, they were both intelligent enough to know the risks and decide if they wanted to take the chance. In a way, it was much like my situation with Penny, though mine was actually riskier as I could go to jail for my relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl. Given my overall attitude of letting people do what they wanted to, I was the last person who was going to turn them in. I just hoped that they were able to keep it under wraps.

I suppressed a chuckle when I thought about what Staci had said about not wanting Mark to know about us. He had to at least suspect something with Staci and I both missing the Wednesday bull sessions for over a month and us not even trying to hide the fact that we left class together on Wednesdays, nor did we try to avoid being seen walking to her dorm. I'd keep her confidence, but I was pretty sure that Mark knew, or at least suspected, that Staci and I had been fooling around.

When I arrived home that evening, there was a message on my answering machine from Anala. I could count the number of times she'd called me on one hand with at least a couple of fingers left over. I picked up the phone and called her, already knowing what she was going to say, at least in general terms. My suspicions were confirmed.

"I think I'm at a point with Prajesh where you and I need to become just the closest of friends," she said, just after I'd greeted her.

"We both knew this was coming, and sooner rather than later. What do you want to do?" I asked.

"If you're free tonight and tomorrow, I'd like to spend both of them with you. And Friday as well. I'm going to dinner at Prajesh's parents' house on Saturday, so I won't make your party."

"I'm free. I'll come get you after dinner, and then tomorrow, I'll pick you up on the way home from work."

"OK. See you soon," Anala said.

I replaced the handset in the cradle and leaned back in my chair. Ending things with Staci wasn't a big deal. In fact, as I thought about it, it didn't bother me in the slightest. Anala was a completely different story. If things went perfectly, we could maintain our intimacy, but I had serious doubts that an Indian man would allow such a relationship to continue, and given Anala's submissive nature, she would put an end to it.

I knew I had to talk to Penny, so I called next door and let her know that I had something important come up and that I wouldn't be able to see her. She was disappointed, but when I reminded her that her mom was letting her come to the Halloween Party and that I'd dance with her, she brightened up again.

I went to find Elyse and asked her if she'd help me make dinner, because I wanted to talk to someone about the situation. She was the easiest of all the girls to talk to, and the most practical. Jackie had more or less filled that role, with Elyse as a secondary confidante, but Jackie was only available on Sundays and the occasional Saturday, and Jamie was almost always with her. I liked him and was glad that he'd taken the Bar exam at the beginning of the month because it freed up a lot of his time. Of course, he was a nervous wreck waiting for the results, which would come at the beginning of November.

"You look like you need to talk," Elyse observed, as we went into the kitchen.

I smiled, "That obvious?"

"You have that look. Things have been so calm that I knew something had to give. It's that one thing that always gives me pause with you — I like simple and your life is never, ever going to be simple. But forget that for now; tell me what's going on."

"Staci broke things off with me today," I said.

"That's not it. That look is NOT about some random dalliance telling you she's found another dick. You still get more action than a squad of Marines on liberty. What's really bothering you?"

"You know me too well. Remember I told you a few weeks ago that Anala was seeing someone casually? Well, it's not casual anymore."

I finished getting the things out of the fridge and cupboards, and we started preparing the fresh cod and vegetables I'd planned to serve.

"Since when?" Elyse asked in surprise. "She was just here last Friday, and you guys seemed to be just as close as ever."

"She called today. She's going to spend the night tonight, tomorrow, and Friday, and then she's going to dinner at Prajesh's house so she can meet his parents."

"That sucks," Elyse replied. "She's been one of your best influences. Other than me, of course!"

"Of course!" I agreed.

"I guess that means she won't come to the party on Saturday?"

"No, she won't."

"Speaking of the party, did you get everything you needed for your costume?"

"I did. The last item showed up today."

"Good. Kara and Sofia got theirs as well. You three are going to be just perfect! Anyway, back to Anala."

"She wants to keep up the close friendship, but I'm doubtful that it can work out. Even as close as I am with Jamie and Pete, I can't be as close to Jackie or Melanie as I was when they were my confidantes. When Bethany was dating Gene, even our friendship was strained a bit, and she's been my best friend in the world since Freshman year of High School."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Elyse asked with a silly smile.

"No, of course not! But even our closeness was strained by Warren. Not so much with Eduardo, but there was still a bit of a divide, don't you think?"

"A bit, but not a lot with Eduardo. Despite being the macho Spaniard, he wasn't the jealous type. Maybe that was because we both knew that it was going to end when he went to Wharton, but I'll grant you that Warren was an impediment. I think you might be right, especially given Anala's submissive nature."

"I was thinking that if he objects, then she'd have to break things off. It kind of sucks. She's helped me a lot and I'm going to miss that if it changes."

"You have others who can help you," Elyse counseled. "I understand that she has a unique perspective from Eastern philosophy, but you've taken that and run with it. You don't need her as a guide in that area at this point. I'm not trying to minimize the impact, but you two were never going to be a couple — the divide was just too great. Your other close confidantes, like me, Jackie, and Bethany, don't have the religious and cultural issues that stood between the two of you. Stephie was somewhere in-between."

"She was, is, and will always be a Georgia girl. There's no denying that. Heck, her accent has come back fully and even when she was here, she more or less stuck to her Southern ways. She was a fish out of water here."

"Yes and no," Elyse said. "When she was your 'main girl', as you called her, she could handle it because she had you there with her. When you two parted ways, she had to leave because she couldn't handle it here without you constantly at her side."

"This really bums me out," I sighed. "I don't want to lose Anala as an intimate friend and confidante."

"Then propose. That appears to be your only option. I hope that you don't, but you have to ask yourself just how far you're willing to go to maintain what you have. Your fate, at least in this matter, is completely in your hands. If you ask her, she'll say 'yes', and you'll marry and be happy. At least to a point."

"To a point?" I asked.

"You'd always have the religious and cultural tension unless one of you yields completely to the other in those areas. And I just don't see that happening. Even if it did, I think that would probably create even more tension than if you simply accepted the differences and tried to find compromises."

"I'm not asking Anala to marry me," I said.

"Good!" she exclaimed with a smirk. "One more girl out of the way!"

"For you? Or for the other competitors?"

"I'm not competing because I don't need to," she said simply.

"Uh-huh," I said dismissively. "Anyway, I guess I knew this was coming. It's just that I kind of hoped that it would continue at least until I graduated."