Chapter 53: Prajesh and Anala

July, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

On Tuesday morning, CNN reported that Gorbachev had removed Andrei Gromyko as Foreign Minister and replaced him with Eduard Shevardnadze. It seemed that some kind of shakeup had begun in Moscow, but I didn't know what it might mean. I called Tanya in Boston to ask her, and she said that she didn't think it was a bad thing given Shevardnadze had been a party member from before World War II, and thus was, at least to some extent, part of the older faction in the Kremlin — the one to which her father had, in the past, tied his career.

"How did things go with Mary?" I asked.

"Good," Tanya said. "She is a lovely girl. She will make a fine roommate and she has a man she is devoted to, so I do not have to worry about her bringing strange men to my apartment."

"You've brought ME there!" I laughed.

"Yes, this is true," Tanya agreed with a soft laugh. "You are, in many ways, a strange man! You must visit again sometime. And do not forget to be in touch with Colonel Anisimova. She and Aleksey Nikolay'ich would very much like to maintain your friendship."

"And I am sure that Lyudmila Alekseyevna would be pleased to see me!" I chuckled.

"This is without question! She is no longer a young girl!"

"Are you saying I should give her what she has wanted for years?"

"You are not mine to control, Stepa. Of course, if you wish to defect, then this is a different story!"

"Don't even joke about that, Tanya. I'm sure that you heard about the recent spy case! The FBI questioned ME about that."

"No!" she gasped. "You had nothing to do with this, I am sure!"

"But they don't know that. I have lots of friends who have some relationship with the Navy, including my father, as you know."

"But you have no trouble from this?"

"Not really. Just a couple of hours of time wasted answering questions about my relationship with your father, you, and the KGB."

"I can see how this could be a problem. I am sorry this has happened."

"Don't worry about it. Just please don't make jokes like that!"

"Come see me when you can, Stepa. And do not forget to keep in touch with Katya Sergeyevna."

I agreed, and we said our goodbyes and hung up. I went to the NIKA office and sat down next to Penny. She smiled at me, and we began our work for the day.

Thursday was July 4th, and that meant a rare Wednesday release for a new movie. All of us in the house were hyped to see Back to the Future, staring Michael J. Fox. We went to a late showing on Wednesday evening and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

"That's the video camera I thought about buying," Kara whispered when Marty brought out the JVC camera to film Einstein's test journey in the time machine.

I smiled and nodded. Bethany, sitting on the other side, hadn't heard, but I wondered if Kara had talked to her about it. I doubted it, but the way things were developing, I had no idea just how much the two were talking. When the movie finished, we stopped for ice cream, and then everyone headed back to the house.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Elyse asked as we walked inside.

"Fireworks in Grant Park, I guess," I said. "I invited Pete and Melanie, Jamie and Jackie, Kurt and Kathy, and Kenneth and Katy for a barbecue tomorrow. I'm sure you saw that on the menu on the board."

"Not Anala?" Julia asked.

"Burgers on the grill aren't exactly proper Hindu fare," I said. "Not to mention that they are super busy this week with relatives because of their wedding on Saturday."

"Oh that's right!" Elyse said. "On Friday, I'm picking up the clothes that Anala helped me find for the girls. Did Penny get permission to go?"

"Yes. And her mom helped her find a gorgeous royal blue sari to wear. I saw her try it on and it is absolutely out of this world! She looks like she's about twenty, and it perfectly complements her figure!"

"Mine is green," Jennifer said. "And Josie's is yellow."

"Blue for me," Elyse said.

"Red for me," Stephanie said. "It's close to Steve's red and gold outfit that Anala got for him."

"I'm just wearing a suit," Jorge said.

"Me too," Dave said. "I had considered wearing the Greek outfits that Julia and I have, but they don't really fit in."

"Anala said most of her American relatives and friends will be in suits and dresses, so that's not an issue. Don't sweat it. It's going to be one heck of a party, according to her! There's a bunch of Hindu prayers and rituals, but mostly it's about drinking, dancing, and having a good time."

"It's all day Saturday?" Josie asked.

"Yes. We're supposed to be there around 8:30am and Anala said it would last well into the early morning. I guess in India the party can more or less go on for a week!"

"Sounds like rush week for the fraternities at IIT!" Dave laughed.

When I went up to bed, Kara followed me. Bethany had given me a quick kiss and gone downstairs, so I assumed things were pre-arranged. It did follow the pattern where the girls worked things out for themselves. And I certainly wasn't going to object. Kara and I started undressing.

"Snuggle Bear, we have an issue," Kara said, sounding very serious.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well, I want to rent that movie, you know, and the only TV in the house is in the great room. I'm not sure I want to watch it in public, if you know what I mean!"

"I don't like the idea of a TV in my bedroom," I said. "But I suppose if we bought a cabinet for that wall there," I pointed, "that let us close it off completely, like it wasn't there, I could agree. I suppose I could put in a regular stereo, too, instead of just using the clock radio. And I really want to check out those new Compact Disc Players."

"You don't spend much time in here like you did when your study was Stephie's bedroom, but I think when we have a full house in the Fall, you may want to use your room as a refuge. I know you like solitude at times, and with the study room being the NIKA office, the Indian room will be used more. And what's a Compact Disc?"

"A Compact Disc is a plastic disc about four inches across that's read by a laser. The sound is near perfect — no skipping, no scratches, and no hiss. Just music. Let's buy a TV, stereo, and entertainment center unit for the bedroom. Maybe we can go shopping on Sunday afternoon before my date."

"Date? I thought Jessica was in Ethiopia," Kara said as we got into bed.

"She is. Anna Wilson took a job with Allstate and is moving to the area."

Kara laughed, "One of the early contenders shows up at the last minute!"

"A contender who will accept nothing less than a complete and exclusive commitment from me! She won't negotiate, so it's not happening."

"With you, Snuggle Bear, anything can happen! It might be very unlikely, but anything is possible."

"It's possible that I'll move to Russia and become a monk. How probable do you think that is?"

"Not very!" she giggled. "Monks aren't allowed to fuck! Show me that you aren't a monk!"

I did, and we snuggled close together to fall asleep.

The Fourth of July barbecue turned out to be a smashing success. With the expected exception of Prajesh and Anala, all of our friends who were in town came to the house. I was happy to see Andrei and his sister Natalya show up. I'd invited them without expecting them to come, because Andrei had more or less avoided coming to the house. I knew that church was part of it, but I wondered if there was something else. I put that out of my mind and greeted him warmly.

Pete, Kurt, Jamie, and I shared grill duties, while Jennifer, Stephanie, Elyse, and Kara shared kitchen duties. We managed to keep the hungry masses at bay until everyone was stuffed with hamburgers, brats, coleslaw, potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, cookies, apple pie, and ice cream.

About 4:00pm Kara came to find me and let me know that there was a phone call for me. I went to my study/office to take the call.

"Steve?" a voice I didn't recognize said.

"Yes," I said.

"«Kanske du inte kommer ihåg mig, men detta är Magda från Malmö. Vi träffades på flygplanet förra året.»" ("Perhaps you don't remember me, this is Magda from Malmö. We met on the plane last year.")

"«Jo då, jag kommer ihåg! Vad är på gång?»" ("Of course I remember! What's happening?")

"«Min bror och jag kommer till Chicago på semester. Vi undrade om du ville träffa oss?»" ("My brother and I are coming to Chicago on vacation. We wondered if you wanted to meet.")

"«Självklart! När kommer ni?»" ("Of course! When do you arrive?")

"«Om et par veckor, den 20:e Juli.»" ("In two weeks, on the 20th of July.")

"«OK. Ring mig en eller två dager innan så vi kan bestämma vad vi ska göra. Hur länge kommer du vara i Chicago?»" ("OK. Call me one or two days before and we can figure out what to do. How long will you be in Chicago?")

"«Fyra dagar. Sedan ska vi till Minneapolis för att träffa våra släktingar.»" ("Four days. Then we're going to Minneapolis to see our relatives.")

"«Jättebra! Vi hörs snart!»" ("Great! We'll speak soon!")

We said 'goodbye' and I hung up. I hadn't even given a thought to Magda and Bengt. They'd offered to get together last Summer, but I'd been in the wrong state of mind and I'd only had a few days, so I didn't bother to call. I was somewhat surprised that she'd called, but I had given her an open invitation.

"Who was on the phone?" Kara asked when I came out of the study.

"A girl I met on the plane to Sweden last year. She and her brother invited me to get together when I was there, but the timing didn't work out, and I wasn't exactly in the state of mind to make new friends at that point."

"Interesting. So why call you now?"

"I extended an open invitation to call if they were in the US. They're going to be in Chicago for a few days before they go to Minneapolis to visit relatives."

Kara smirked, "Another Swedish girl enters the fray!"

"Oh stop!" I chuckled. "I talked to her for about eight hours on the flight, and haven't seen her in over a year."

"I suppose it's OK, given Bethany is dating," Kara smirked.

"It's not a date! Not like you mean! I don't even know this girl other than from the plane, as I said! It's just meeting someone from the past who isn't even really a friend."

Kara laughed, and we went to find Bethany to tell her so that there were no surprises. Bethany laughed as well and agreed with me that it wasn't a big deal and that if she was going to worry it would be about Anna Wilson, not some random girl who I'd met on a plane a year before who was coming to Chicago with her brother.

We went back out to join our friends in the backyard, where we hung out until it was time to head to Grant Park for the city fireworks display. We decided to take the South Shore train rather than fight traffic and parking, so we walked towards the lake to the train station on 56th Street. It was the only RTA train that used electric power instead of diesel engines, and reminded me of the trains in Sweden which ran on electric power, though I remembered those as having been much cleaner.

We found a spot in Grant Park where everyone could spread their blankets. Kara and Bethany shared one with me, and Stephanie shared with Josie and Jennifer. Everyone else more or less paired up with their date, whether it was spouses or boyfriends and girlfriends. Elyse and Jorge were without dates and ended up sharing. The only concern that we had was whether or not the rain showers that were forecast would hold off until after the fireworks display.

Fortunately, the showers held off, and we enjoyed the explosions of skyrockets and aerial bombs that shook us to our core. We listened to the music simulcast that accompanied the display on a portable radio that Julia had brought along, because the sound of the symphony from the band shell was too faint to properly enjoy.

When the show finished, we quickly made our way to the train station to board a very crowded train headed for Hyde Park. We just barely beat the showers, walking into the house about five minutes before a light rain began to fall. Bethany and Kara both accompanied me to my room, though, as was typical in such a case, we simply cuddled and went to sleep.

Friday went by quickly. Bethany had a date, so Kara and I decided to go shopping for the TV, stereo, and furniture instead of waiting for Sunday. We visited a couple of furniture stores before I found what I was looking for — an entertainment center unit that looked like a wardrobe and matched the wood color of the other furniture in my room. I arranged for delivery and then we went to Venture to buy a TV, VCR, and an inexpensive stereo system.

The Compact Disc Player required a trip to Tweeter, a stereo store. After looking at the options, I decided on a unit with a 5-disc changer. I purchased several discs, including Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution, Nervous Nights by The Hooters, Sports by Huey Lewis and the News, and Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen. Once we had everything, we headed back home.

"So next Saturday?" Kara asked with an inviting smile.

"For the movie?"

"Yes. Do you know which one we should rent?"

"I know nothing about them!" I said. "Julia saw one and mentioned another one. Supposedly they're pretty good. The one Julia saw was Debbie Does Dallas and the other one her friends watched when she wasn't there was Insatiable. I guess we could pick one of those, assuming the store has them."

"Why not both!" Kara giggled. "Maybe we'll get some fun ideas!"

"Seriously?" I chuckled.

"Are you embarrassed, Snuggle Bear?" she giggled. "Or upset that I'm interested?"

"No, just surprised. You have to admit it is a bit much."

"Compared to asking you if you would like to fuck my cute little ass and my tight little pussy and cum in my sexy mouth?" she giggled. "I said that before my meltdown! And I let you do those things before the meltdown. And I liked them!"

"OK! OK!" I agreed. "Next Saturday."

"Is Bethany sleeping with you tonight?" Kara asked.

"I have no idea when she'll get home from her date with Andrew."

"And you're OK with that?"

"How the heck could I object? Bethany lets me fuck pretty much anyone I want right now as well as date Jessica, and Bethany is only going on dates with Andrew. It's a dance she and I need to have."

"Dance?"

"Do you remember the Triumvirate?"

"How could I forget? What does this have to do with that?"

"What was the core issue that you, Stephanie, and Bethany had with me after the Becky incident?"

"Trust. Specifically rebuilding it. I trust you completely. I think your sister does as well. Are you saying Bethany doesn't?"

"I think that betrayal is subconsciously weighing on her."