Chapter 21: No Balls Makes the Best Sport

February, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

Things went along smoothly until I remembered that in addition to the Penguins game, Thursday was also Valentine's Day. I'd completely forgotten about it until Wednesday evening, and by then it was too late to do much about it. I called Bethany on Wednesday night because it would be tough to call her on Thursday with work and the hockey game. She was forgiving and told me to have fun at the game. I promised to make it up to her when I could, but I couldn't even take her out to dinner for another month because of her chest surgery. After I hung up with Bethany, I called Jennifer to let her know that I was thinking about her and that I loved her.

I did go out at lunchtime at work on Thursday and buy cards for each of the girls, though with something of a different message for each one — romantic for Kara and Sofia, silly for Elyse and Cindi, friendly for Julia and Katy. I got a strange look from the clerk for buying six cards, and Dave laughed as we walked out of the store.

"I bought one card," he said. "It was so much easier! And I didn't forget about it until today."

"Yeah, I might have been a bit preoccupied. Anyway, I'm fortunate that all the girls are forgiving. Julia's OK with a hockey game as a Valentine's Day date?"

Dave laughed, "She's the least romantic of the girls in the house, except perhaps Elyse! Cindi is way more romantic than Julia."

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked.

"No. Not at all. It's just not Julia's thing. She doesn't need flowers or stuff like that to feel loved. I didn't even buy her a sappy card. I chose a funny one because that's what she'll appreciate."

I nodded, "I suppose if I'd thought about it, I'd have realized that. She always was pretty down-to-earth and practical about things. As for your comment about Cindi, she's deeply romantic. She hides it because she's afraid of being hurt. Katy, on the other hand, puts it all out there and she's been hurt a few times."

"And I bet that Julia was about experimenting, not romance," Dave said.

"Fine, Dave. Yes, Julia and I were together. And yes, it was pretty much about experimentation. Happy now?"

Dave laughed, "Thank you. As I said, I'm not upset; I have no right to be. She's mine and I'm not worried in any way because you are, as Pete always says, a stand-up guy. Remember, I was with Cindi. A lot! And Julia knows that."

"I know!" I chuckled. "You do know what Cindi's asked me to do, right?"

"Yes. I've heard that from two of the girls. It kind of violates your rule, which concerns me."

"It concerns me, too. I'm not sure what to do, actually. It makes it even worse that it's Chris that she's engaged to."

"Does that really matter?" Dave asked. "Isn't being engaged the issue?"

"It is, though being close to the guy makes my resolve to not violate the rule stronger. Melanie was always pretty damned persistent, and my relationship with Pete helped me stick to my guns. The same was true with Katt and Mikael, even though Mikael gave me permission."

"Permission? Really?"

I laughed, "Yeah. He had no problem with me sleeping with Katt when she was his fiancée, or even as his wife. It's an interesting relationship. If I went to Sweden next Summer, she'd ask, he'd be OK with it, and I'd still turn her down."

"Don't ask," Dave chuckled. "Julia doesn't get a pass!"

"And I would never ask. And neither would she. That's not her style at all. As for Chris, I can't even ask him because that would violate Cindi's deal with her friends."

"Her deal. Not yours. But I can't imagine you going to Chris and asking him for permission to fuck his fiancée. I just don't see that going well!"

"Me neither," I said as we got back into the car to head to Mr. Submarine for lunch.

"This might not be a fair question, and you can refuse to answer, but have you broken your rule before?"

"Yes, with two different girls. The first one was a strange situation where her dad told me to ignore the fact that she was seeing a guy because it was going nowhere."

Dave laughed, "Wait, some girl's dad told you to have sex with her?"

"I know, right?" I said, laughing with him. "The second one was more serious — the girl was in a serious relationship and really came on strong. I allowed it to happen when I probably should have resisted. Fortunately, it turned out OK, but it could have really gone straight to hell."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Talk to Cindi, I guess," I said.

"I know her well enough that she's not going to let you off the hook. If you don't want to do it, you're just going to have to refuse and be adamant about it."

"I suppose you're right. But I will talk to her about it. Then I'll have to figure it out."

"She's a lot of fun, but you get more than your fair share of action, so I don't think that's a consideration."

I chuckled, "I suppose I do."

"And one more consideration — if you hire her, you simply can't do it."

"There is that, too," I agreed.

We bought our sub sandwiches and took them back to the office to eat, where Scott joined us.

"Did you give your deposition?" he asked.

"Yes. You?"

"I did. I have no clue what her angle is. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Did your lawyer get the defamation suit dismissed?"

"He's filed the papers and asked for an expedited hearing on his motion. Hopefully in a couple of weeks it will go away."

"The university trustees agreed with each other not to settle, so they're in for the long haul."

"I'm not surprised. How could they settle in a case like this? They have so much evidence against her."

"The grad students rolled over on her, too. And given that they were expelled, it's not as if she can claim that the university bought them off."

"Her conspiracy theory just isn't going to stand up," I said.

"I agree."

The afternoon passed quickly, and I was ready to leave at 5:00pm on the dot, going to get Dave rather than the other way around, as usual. When we got to the house, Sofia and Julia were ready and waiting, which let us get to our seats in the Chicago Stadium with about twenty minutes to spare. We got food from the concession stand and settled in to watch the game.

The Penguins were riding a six game losing streak and things didn't improve for them by visiting Chicago. They ended up losing 5-4 in a close game, taking their record to 18-30-5. Mario Lemieux played well, but without a team to back him up, the Pens weren't going anywhere near the playoffs. I enjoyed the game, but not the result.

"Well, that sucked," I said as we left the stadium and walked back to the car.

"That kid Lemieux on the Penguins looks fantastic," Dave observed, "but the rest of the team is pretty bad."

"I'd guess it'll be three or four years before they can surround him with the players they need to really compete. Of course, he's done some things Gretzky can never, ever do!"

"Such as?" Dave asked.

"Be the number 1 pick in the NHL draft and score on his first shot of his first shift of his first game."

"How the hell could Gretzky not be a number one draft pick?" Dave asked.

I chuckled, "It's a trick statistic. I said NHL draft. He was on the Edmonton team when the leagues merged. He was a WHA player, so he never went through the NHL draft."

"Nice use of phrasing. But it's something I didn't know," Dave said.

"The 'Hawks look pretty good, though I doubt anyone can beat the Oilers," Julia said.

"This is very much unlike hockey in Sweden," Sofia said. "There's a lot more hitting here, though there weren't any fights, which I understand is rare!"

I chuckled, "If you watched the scoreboard, there was a brawl at the end of the Red Wings/North Stars game."

"Why do they fight so much?" she asked.

"The joke in the US is 'I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out'. It's just part of the game here."

"Interesting. And I noticed you called the 'backs', 'defensemen'."

"In the US they do play much more defense than in Sweden where the back shoots a lot, but it's the same role. And we do have some defensemen who do score a lot."

We headed back to Hyde Park and, contrary to my usual way, I urged Sofia to join me at bedtime. She smiled and followed me up to my room. She joined me again on Friday night.

February, 1985, Dawsonville, Georgia and Daytona Beach, Florida

On Saturday, I had just enough time to work with Penny before Kara and I had to head to O'Hare for our flight to Atlanta. I'd confirmed everything with Stephie the night before she met us at Hartsfield Airport. I had expected to see Red.

"Where's your boyfriend?" I asked, after greeting Stephie with a quick kiss.

"Daytona! Did you fergit that he's crewin' for Alan Kulwicki for the Saturday races in the South? You know, the Grand National stuff?"

"Ah plum fergot 'bout that," I said, mocking her Georgia accent. "I guess it just didn't come up last night."

"You're still a jerk, Yankee!" she giggled.

"Always, Peaches. Always," I chuckled.

She held out her left hand. A small diamond ring graced her finger.

"When did that happen?" I gasped.

"Christmas!" she grinned.

"And you didn't tell me?" I said, offended.

"I felt I owed it to you to tell you in person. We was pretty special to each other."

"We still are, Peaches. That will never change. Congratulations! When's the wedding?"

"It's still a couple of years off. I want to graduate first, and Red needs to get settled full time with a racing team."

"Keep us posted!"

"I will. Y'all are stayin' at Red's place. His parents are cool with you sleepin' together if you want, but if not, they got a guest room for Kara and you can use Red's room, Steve."

"We're just going to sleep from around 7:00pm to 1:30am anyway, so I'll leave it up to Kara."

"Are Red's parents really OK with us being together? Or just kind of tolerating it?" Kara asked.

"Good question. Me and Red ain't stayed over at his place nor my place. Steve knows about my mom. My dad is cool, but Mom's a stickler about that stuff."

"Then I think, to be safe and polite," Kara said, "I'll use the guest room."

"His mom is makin' supper for all of us. Red's little brother Will is going to be there, along with his little sister LeAnn. Will's going to Florida State on a football scholarship in the Fall. LeAnn's in 9th grade. She wants to be a dentist, of all things!"

"It's nice of them to let us stay there," I said.

"They's good people. You can thank his dad personally for the Talladega tickets."

"How's Emily?" I asked.

"Good. She's pretty tight with that boy she was sweet on that I told you about. I guess you'll need a new date for the race this Summer! Maybe LeAnn?" Stephie teased.

I laughed, "You are bad, Stephie. Let's worry about it this Summer."

"She's cute. Hell, she's better lookin' than Emily!" Stephie teased.

"Peaches, careful or I'll turn you over my knee."

"No, you won't, 'cause you wouldn't do nuthin' that would upset Red."

"Then I'll have to tell Red that you're misbehaving and HE'll turn you over his knees!"

"Ooooo!" Stephie giggled, "And THAT's supposed to stop me from teasing you?"

Kara laughed, and I groaned.

"You know me too well! Let's keep the teasing to a minimum at Red's house, please."

"I suppose," she giggled.

We walked out to the car and headed for Dawsonville.

"Did you see that Bill won the qualifier? He nearly lapped the entire field!"

"I only saw that he won in the Tribune. They have terrible racing coverage for the most part. I get Winston Cup Scene but it's a week behind."

"We get a bit more coverage here!" she exclaimed. "Plus we got to see the Twins on TV on Thursday."

We arrived at Red's house and were greeted by his dad, Jay, his mom, June, and his brother and sister.

"Welcome!" Mr. Stuart said. "Good to finally know you!"

"Hello! And I owe you thanks for the race tickets you've arranged for us for three years in a row now!"

"You're welcome. This is your girlfriend?" he asked.

"I'm just a friend," Kara interjected. "Kara Blanchard. I've known Steve since High School. We dated for a while, but then he went with Stephie in Chicago."

"My boy says y'ur a good man, Steve. He was downright afraid you might come after him. We're all glad that didn't happen."

"I like Jason a lot," I said. "He and Stephie were friends since they were little. It's not really a surprise. And I'm very happy that they're engaged."

"They've been sweet on each other since they was two," Mrs. Stuart said. "There was just that little interruption with that hussy, Rose."

"Mom Stuart," Stephie said gently, "Red don't like it when you go saying that."

"Well, it's true! Steppin' out on a man like that! It's just not right. You didn't step out on Steve. Y'all handled it all civilized and nobody done nobody wrong. Anyways, we got the guest room for you, Kara, and Jason's room for you, Steve, given y'all aren't goin' steady or nothin'."

We carried our overnight bags to the rooms, and then went and sat down in the den with Red's family. Mrs. Stuart brought out lemonade and a plate of cookies, and we got to know each other. I saw his little sister give me the eye once or twice and suppressed a chuckle.

"Will, what position do you play?" I asked Red's 'little' brother, who was a good four inches taller and forty pounds heavier.

"Tight end. I was All-State and got a couple of scholarship offers. Florida State seemed like the best choice for me. I don't know that I'm good enough for the pros, so I'll focus on academics."

"And girls!" LeAnn teased. "That's going to be his REAL major!"

"Hush!" Mrs. Stuart said, but she was laughing.

"He dated half the cheer squad!" LeAnn protested.

"Sound familiar?" Kara said, elbowing me.

"Hush!" I said to Kara.

Everyone laughed.

"Well, Steve didn't date half the cheer squad, just the two prettiest girls on the cheer squad. They're both close friends still, and he dates one of them from time to time."

"He don't have no steady girl?" LeAnn asked with a clearly hopeful smile.

Stephie laughed, "Nope. Though I think he might need a date for the Talladega race now that Emily has herself a boyfriend."

"Oh! Mom, can I please go to the race with Jason and Stephie?" LeAnn begged. "Please? Can I? Please?"

Mrs. Stuart laughed and her husband rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"That's up to Jason and Steve to work out, LeAnn. You kin talk to your brother. But don't get your hopes up. You two don't always get along."

"'Cause he's an idiot, that's why!" LeAnn huffed.

Kara laughed, "Steve's little sister called him a 'dumb boy' all the time. Sounds like a common theme with little sisters."

"Do you have a lot of kin, Kara?" Mrs. Stuart asked.

"Just me and my mom, plus a couple of other relatives. I was an only child and my dad died a couple of years ago. Steve helped me a lot through that whole thing and even helped my mom get a job."

"And you picked my idiot brother over Steve?" LeAnn said to Stephie. "I don't see it!"

I chuckled, "That's because you're a little sister. Mine had some choice things to say about me, too, when I was living at home. But we get along great now. She's moving to my house in Chicago."

"You got a house?!" LeAnn asked, surprised. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one. And yes, I own a house. Stephie lived in the house the last year she was in Chicago. Kara's there now, along with a bunch of other friends."

"Girl, you are crazy!" LeAnn said to Stephie.

"LeAnn, go find somethin' to do," her mom said. "Your brother and Stephie are in love and are good for each other. Now shoo!"

She reluctantly got off the couch, made a face behind her mom's back, and left the room.