Chapter 75: Callie

November, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

The last days of November went by quickly. I didn't say anything to anyone about the meeting; only Bethany knew that Scott had called me. Kara and Sofia both joined me for karate on Monday night, though they were in a beginner's class taught by one of the two black belts who studied under Sensei Jim. I found Jorge after my accounting class and he was pretty resolute that he was happy being with George and that Cindi had been fun, but he knew it couldn't last. I wasn't sure if he was simply putting on a brave face or if it was true.

Because of karate, I changed Penny's visit from Wednesdays to Thursdays and she made it clear how much she'd missed me the previous week. She told me that she wasn't thrilled with visiting her dad and her step-mom, but did enjoy seeing her brother. She confided that as soon as she turned eighteen, she was going to stop visiting her dad.

Otherwise, it was a fairly normal week with work, school, and karate. On Friday, Scott asked me to stay after class for a few minutes and told me that he'd talked to Len and that Len had put all the blame on me, and had said some fairly unflattering things. He advised me not to worry about it; that responses like that were pretty common when employees received poor performance reviews.

"I talked to a couple of others on the team, plus Julia, and they all confirmed what you said. I did the same with the two that Dave rated low as well. One of them, Trent, owned up to the issue, took full responsibility, and actually asked if there was any way to fix the issue. He'll get a C at least. The other two are going to fail. I saw the same thing you and Dave did in them, and in the assignments that they handed in individually — very little effort beyond the absolute minimum. If they'd been like Trent, they'd have passed."

I nodded, "That's a tough lesson to learn."

"Better now than when getting fired can ruin your entire life. Both Kyle and Len are Juniors. They can make up the credits next year with an overload or take Summer school. The important lesson for you and Dave to learn is that at some point, you are going to have to fire someone. If you get sentimental about it, you'll wreck your company. If someone doesn't pull their weight, work with them the way you did with Len. But don't give them an unlimited amount of time. You can't afford that."

"Got it. I really appreciate the advice and what I learned in class."

"Thanks. See you on Monday," Scott said.

I went to The Bog to have lunch with Kara. She told me that she'd heard a rumor circulating that they were going to close The Bog for lunch because it was taking too much business from the new cafeteria that they'd opened in the student center. It would still be open for beers and dinner, but not for lunch, to try to encourage students to use the new cafeteria. I wasn't happy to hear that, but, in the end, I had one semester to go and after that, it wouldn't matter. I'd just go to the diner in Bridgeport if it came down to it.

That night at home, after dinner, I decided to just relax and read. Elyse, Kara, and Sofia went to the Loop to check out the Marshall Field windows. Every year, the windows were decorated with Christmas scenes and they were a very popular attraction. The rest of my house mates, except Cindi, were out with their boyfriends. Around 8:30pm, Cindi came into the Indian room where I was sitting and plopped down.

"Am I doing the right thing?" she asked.

"You're asking me?" I replied in disbelief. "That's like asking the devil if what you're doing is a sin!"

"You must have an opinion, though."

"Do you love Chris?" I asked.

"I suppose so. We've been apart for what, seven months now? But it was always kind of casual."

"Why did you say 'yes'?"

"I honestly don't know," she sighed.

"Why did he ask you? And don't say because of your chest!" I grinned.

"How'd you know what I was going to say?" she smirked. "But seriously, I'm not sure either. I know he missed me once he moved to Texas. And I missed him."

"Then I guess the only question you have to answer is whether or not he makes you happy."

"He does. I'm just afraid," Cindi said.

"Tell me about it," I commiserated. "Commitment, especially permanent, has been a real conundrum for me. I want it, but I'm afraid of it. I was prepared to ask Kara to marry me, but then she had her meltdown and now I'm gun-shy. I always had an issue with it, but in some ways, it's worse. I'm pretty sure that's the real issue right now. I'm afraid of making a mistake."

Cindi smiled, "I think mine is different. It's the idea that I'm permanently with someone. I'm 22 for fuck's sake. I have to make a decision that affects the next 60 years. Or more! How do I know I'm making the right choice?"

"Isn't that the dilemma that everyone faces?" I asked. "I talked to Karin about it, and it's not just relationships where this happens. You decided to go to IIT, which closed off other possible schools. You decided on Computer Science which closed off most career options unless you want to basically start over and get another degree or take an entry level position and work your way up. I bought a house. All of these things set some kinds of limits on the future, though some are easier to get around. I could sell the house, even at a loss, or rent it out, if I wanted to move. Marrying is a completely different prospect."

"Well, shit," Cindi sighed.

"Are you thinking of changing your mind?"

"No. It's just so sudden, I guess."

"You know what I do when I need to think and clear my mind?"

"Fuck?" she giggled.

"Well, that, too," I chuckled. "But I was talking about a sauna. You interested?"

"You know, we could combine those!" she smirked.

"And ruin your twenty-four-hour sex marathon?"

"You wouldn't be willing to give a girl a free sample, would you?" she asked with an impish smile.

"You set the ground rules, Miss Spanos. Not me," I said firmly.

We got up and went to the sauna and, after setting the temperature, we stripped off our clothes and went inside. When the rocks heated enough, I ladled water on to create steam.

"How the hell can you resist? Not just me, but others?" Cindi asked about five minutes later. "I wonder if I should be offended that you don't get hard sitting here with me!"

"You know how much female flesh I get to see on a regular basis. And nudity and sex do not always go together. Trust me, when it's time for business, I'll react exactly as you want me to! But forget that. The most important thing to do now is figure out what you want to do with Chris. Just relax and let the steam work its magic."

Cindi took my advice, and we sat quietly for another fifteen minutes. I used the time to think about the situation with Charlie, Callie, and Bert. The idea of cheating had never crossed my mind, even in the toughest classes that I'd had. There were rumors swirling around about advance copies of tests, about people being paid to do homework, and even a case of a student sending a surrogate to take a test for them. All I knew was that I would keep an eye on those three and make sure that if they were really caught up in this in a serious way that they didn't manage to drag anyone else down with them.

When we got out of the sauna about twenty minutes later, we went up to our bathrooms to shower and dress, then I poured us each some bourbon and we went back to the Indian room. I sipped my drink and waited for Cindi to talk.

"I've always looked forward to the day when I'd get married. Now it's looming in front of me and it scares me. I think, though, I just have to suck it up and move forward. If I don't, I'll talk myself out of it. He is the guy I want, and if he hadn't moved to Texas, I wouldn't have even thought about any other guys."

"That sounds like the Cindi I know — take the bull by the horns! Are you guys spending Christmas in Dallas or Madison?"

"Dallas. I'm going to fly down on the 23rd."

"Cool. I'll be happy to see the ring on your finger!" I grinned.

"Thanks. And thanks for agreeing to break your rule with me," she said.

"I try to keep my promises the best I can. To be honest, there was a point I was considering backing out, but in the end, I think it's the right thing to do for you."

"You turned down others, I hear."

"I did. More because of the guys than the girls. If Chris and I were closer, I'd have a big problem with it. As it is, I might consider it MY last fling, so to speak."

We sat quietly for a few minutes sipping bourbon and then the other girls arrived home. In addition to looking at the windows, they'd done some more shopping and had some ice cream. Cindi started talking with them, so I excused myself and went to my study to call Jennifer. As usual, Josie answered and after a bit of teasing, she put Jennifer on the phone. Jennifer and Josie were heading out to a party, so we only had a few minutes to talk, but we made the most of them. After hanging up, I wrote in my journal and then headed up to bed.

December, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

On Saturday morning I followed my new routine — breakfast, working with Penny, and then karate, for which Kara and Sofia joined me. Both of them said that they liked the classes and were planning to join. I was happy about that, though it would be different from with Stephie given she and I had been very close in our progression. Kara and Sofia were both white belts, and I was brown, so we would have very little interaction in class.

When we arrived home, after showers and lunch, everyone staked out a place to study and I went to my study to work on a last paper for my literature class. When I finished it, I went to find Charlie and asked her if I could talk to her. We went to my study, and I shut the door.

"I hear you gave my name as a reference," I said.

She sighed, and looked very upset, "I didn't know what else to do. They're accusing me of cheating!"

"Did you?" I asked.

"No! Some guys in my math class said that I had a copy of the exam, but I never, ever did! You've known me for over a year and I worked on your team this semester. I always did my work and never, ever, missed a deadline. You even worked with me on stuff!"

"I did. And that's exactly what I'll tell whoever it is I have to talk to if it comes to that. Did anyone give you anything formal about this? Anything in writing?"

"No," she said.

"Then don't worry too much about it right now. I'm pretty sure they have to send you a letter if they intend to have a hearing or anything like that. If you have one, I'll tell them what I know about you. But, you have to be prepared for someone to ask about our relationship. My usual way of handling that is simply to refuse to answer one way or the other, but I will have to admit that we dated. That's more or less public knowledge."

"I know," she sighed. "How do you know about it?"

"I was asked if I would be a character witness for you and I said 'yes'. That's all."

"Who asked?"

"Don't worry about that now. As best as I can, I have your back. Right now, just finish out the semester and stay away from anyone who accused you."

"I'll owe you. You know, I was kind of upset with you when you broke things off with me, but I have to say that you're a great guy and a good friend!"

"Thanks, Charlie. Will you do something for me?" I asked.

"What?"

"I want you to give part of our presentation in Scott's class."

"You do?"

"Yes. That will show everyone how much I trust you and respect you. And nobody can complain — I chose you first for my team, so it should come as no surprise that you're presenting. Julia will help. I have to give the summary at the end, per Scott's instructions."

"Cool! Do you think I still have a chance at an internship next Fall?"

"That's going to be up to Scott. Do you think presenting helps or hurts that chance?" I asked with a smile.

"You're the best!" she said, hugging me.

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and went back to where she'd been working. I figured I should let Bert and Callie know as well, so I went to find them and asked them into my study and had a similar discussion with them. They weren't in Scott's class, so there wasn't much I could say in that regard. I noticed Callie squirming a bit, but didn't know if it was me or the accusation that was making her antsy.

"How much trouble are we in?" Bert asked.

"I honestly don't know. Other than being asked if I was willing to vouch for your character, I don't know anything that wasn't in Tech News."

"You aren't like going to kick us out of the study group or anything, are you?" Bert said.

"Why? Because someone made an accusation? No way. If the school takes disciplinary measures, that's their business. And if that happens, it depends on what you've been accused of and any determination they make. Let me be clear — if you cheated at all, that makes it tough for us to have you continue in our study group. I hope you understand that."

"I do," Bert said.

"Me too," Callie said, looking down at the floor.

I was getting bad vibes from Callie. I hoped it was just what Elyse had said about being nervous around me. If not, it might get very, very ugly for her.

"OK," I said. "Then nothing changes unless the school takes action, and as I said, I'll speak on behalf of both of you if it comes to that."

"Thanks!" Bert said, and they got up and left.

Callie had never made eye contact once during the short meeting, and that increased my anxiety that she'd actually been involved in the scandal in some way. There really wasn't much I could do about that unless an accusation was made, so I went to find Wen so we could work through our accounting exercises and have Elyse check them. I was happy that we were using Lotus-123 now, because it made all the difference in the world.

That evening, after dinner, we were hanging out in the attic room watching Jorge and George dance. He'd seemed to handle the end of his fling with Cindi OK, and in terms of girls, George was not a trade down in any way. Prudence had come by, but Patience was nowhere to be seen. I wondered if she'd ever get over what had happened, or if we'd never see her again. In the end, it was up to her to decide what to do, not me.

I danced a bit with Sofia, Kara, and Elyse, but mostly just sat and talked. I watched Callie and Bert. He took the opportunity to dance with several of the girls, but mostly with Prudence. Callie just sat on one of the benches along the wall, sipping her drink from a highball glass. I thought about trying to talk to her and asked Elyse what she thought.

"She's afraid of you," Elyse said, "and whatever happened this afternoon made the problem worse. Care to tell me about it?"

"I can't, really. Let me just go over and talk to her."

I got up, got a Dr Pepper from the fridge and walked across the attic to where Callie was sitting and sat down next to her, making sure I kept some space between us.

"Hi, Callie," I said.

"Uh, um, hi," she stammered, looking down at the floor.

"I don't bite you know," I said. "I thought maybe you'd talk to me. Mostly, you seem to avoid me."

"I just get nervous around you. You're super popular and super smart! I can't imagine you'd want to hang out with a silly girl from Sheboygan, Wisconsin."

I chuckled, "I'm just a kid from a small town in Ohio. I bet it's smaller than Sheboygan. How many people live in your town?"

"About 40,000," she said.

"That's eight times as many that live in Milford, Ohio! Heck, our entire county only has about three times as many people as your city. How close are you to Milwaukee?"

"About an hour or so."

"And Milford is about that far from Cincinnati. Milwaukee is twice as big as Cincinnati. So I'm from a smaller place than you are. As for being popular, that might be because I don't sit by myself at parties. I don't see you talking to anyone except Bert."

"I met him the first day. He's from Wisconsin, too — Waukesha, near Milwaukee, only west instead of north."

"And have you talked to anyone else who lives here or comes here?"

"Just Elyse and Charlie. Bert mostly talks and I just kind of listen."

"Kara over there," I pointed, "is from the same town that I'm from. Elyse is from a town in the same county that's about the same size as mine. Stephie, my girlfriend from last year, was from Dawsonville, Georgia, which only has about 300 people! Cindi is from Madison. Dave's fiancée, Julia, is from a town in Idaho called Coeur d'Alene that has about 20,000 people. You fit right in with the rest of my friends. You're a computer science major like Cindi, Dave, Julia, and me. And there's a bunch of other CS majors who hang out here."