Chapter 15: Guys and Gals

May 27, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"This is more like a fraternity party than a baseball game!" Elyse laughed, as we sat in the bleachers at Wrigley Field watching the Reds play the Cubs.

"Just be quiet and drink your beer!" I teased.

"That's one thing we couldn't do at Riverfront! We were too young. Of course, the Reds were so good we wanted to watch the game. I think drinking is the only way to get through games these days!"

"They might have a chance today," Stephanie said. "It's only 2-1 after three innings."

"Yeah, but Tom Browning is 2-4 so far this season, not exactly in World Series form," Elyse sighed.

"Hey, give them a chance," Dave said. "They're not THAT bad."

"This is no Big Red Machine," I said. "Not even close."

Dave Parker hit a single up the middle, which to me didn't bode well. Parker was a power hitter who batted third in the order ahead of Tony Perez. Perez, another power hitter, also hit a ball on the ground, which was fielded by the first baseman for an out, though Parker advanced to second base. Steve Trout threw a wild pitch, allowing Parker to advance to third, and then Buddy Bell hit a ground ball to short, which scored Parker.

"Not exactly Reds baseball there, Squirt," I said. "But a run is a run."

"What do you think of Rose as a manager?" Julia asked.

"He's OK," Elyse said. "They sure are playing better for him than they did under John McNamara, but we need 100-win seasons like Sparky Anderson put together!"

"Those teams were out of this world," I said. "Rose, Morgan, Bench, Concepción, Pérez, Foster, Griffey, Geronimo, Billingham, Borbón, Gullett, Eastwick, and McEnaney! Show me a team even close. Certainly not either of the ones on the field here!"

"Or anywhere else," Dave said. "'76 was amazing — 108 wins, and then a sweep of the playoffs AND the World Series. And it was against the Yankees, to boot!"

"I never got into baseball," Jessica said. "How about you, Kara?"

"No. Steve and Elyse were huge fans in High School, but I never really was. I don't really follow any sports except the ones Steve currently does."

"So ice hockey and NASCAR?" Jessica asked.

"Yes. Sofia's the other big hockey fan in the house. I'm sure you've seen the posters and the hockey stick in her room."

"Was that from a famous Swedish player?" Jessica asked.

Sofia nearly doubled over laughing, "No! That was Steve's from when he was learning to skate in Sweden. Katt and Mikael's coach taught him to skate, and suggested that he learn to skate with a hockey stick and gloves because he wasn't trying to figure skate or dance."

"How did you end up with it?"

"When he went home from his year as an exchange student, he didn't want to take it. So he gave it to me as a memory. You know we dated off and on, right?"

"I do. You were his best friend there, I guess."

"I was. I helped him through his issues with Becky and quite a bit of other stuff. I decided back then that I wanted to come to the US and be with him, even if it meant just being friends. I hoped to be his wife, but in the end, he didn't change in the way I would have needed him to."

Jessica nodded, "He loves you a lot. And we owe you for that wonderful idea to help solve my problem. Want to borrow him?"

I raised an eyebrow, because that wasn't in character for Jessica.

Sofia laughed, "I made it quite clear the only married man I'll ever sleep with is my own husband! Not to mention that I'm seeing Stavros, and Steve's rule would prevent it, even if I were interested!"

"Don't look so shocked, Tiger," Jessica said to me. "I'm dealing with my insecurity issues, with Kara's help."

"You're the last person I would think was insecure," I said.

Elyse laughed, "Now that is rich, coming from one of the most insecure guys it's been my sorry privilege to know!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked.

"You!" Elyse said. "Oh, you're secure in your manhood. Aunt Jennie took care of that for you when you were fourteen, but you need more validation than any guy I've ever met!"

"Used to, you mean," Kara said. "He's mostly gotten past that now."

"True," Elyse said. "But he still has moments when he reacts badly because of that insecurity."

"When was the last one?" Jessica asked.

Elyse smiled at me, and I nodded. I was pretty sure what she was going to say.

"About a year ago, twice. The first one was when Alice found out about Penny and Steve, and I thought he was so depressed that he'd go sit on a park bench and freeze to death. The second one was the day Bethany moved to Chicago. They had a minor tiff about church, and he walked away from her and tried to call you to accept your proposal. Fortunately, you weren't home."

"Say what?!" Stephanie gasped.

I sighed, "That night, Bethany challenged me about going to church for Pascha instead of staying with her and I was upset. I went to my study and dialed Jessica's number, intending to accept her proposal. I let the phone ring nine or ten times and then hung up. Elyse came in and hit me over the head and knocked some sense into me."

"Whoa!" Jessica said. "That would have been a supremely bad idea! And I wouldn't have known why, would I?"

"No," I said. "And it probably would have gone even worse than it did with Bethany."

"I would have killed you, Big Brother!" my sister said. "That's assuming Bethany, Elyse, or Jackie hadn't done it first."

"I know. I know," I sighed.

"He's much better now," Sofia said. "But he was pretty insecure when he was in Sweden."

"Blame his mom," Kara said. "She's the one who conditioned him like this. No matter what he did, no matter how well he did, she refused to accept it as a good thing."

"That's for damn sure," my sister agreed. "So he sought his validation in sex, and later, computers."

"I seem to have missed quite a bit of this story," Jorge said.

"Be happy about that, my Puerto Rican teddy bear! You should be glad you didn't know my dumb brother in High School. Pete had to bounce my brother off his car to knock some sense into him, among other things. And don't get me started about a certain girl who shall remain nameless!"

"If anyone says ANYTHING like this around Sharice, I am never going to be able to bring her back to Steve's house!" Jeremiah said.

"We're on our best behavior when she's there," Elyse said. "We even put the alcohol away."

"And I'm grateful for that, but if stories like this ever got back to her dad, that would be the end of it."

The Reds scored single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, pretty much as they had in the fourth — a hit and then advancing the runner. Not an exciting way to win, but they were up 5-2. They tried to blow it in the bottom of the seventh when Browning gave up a double, a single, and then a long fly ball that scored a runner. Ron Robinson came in to relieve Browning, and gave up two singles before finally retiring the side on a Davey Lopes fly to center field. The Reds escaped still ahead 5-4, which was how the game ended.

"Not a bad result," Elyse said. "But Browning looked bad. He gets the win, barely."

"Yeah," Dave agreed. "But a win is a win. Thanks for giving us the afternoon off, Boss!"

I chuckled, "I did clear it with Julia. Cindi was a bit bummed that she couldn't join us, but she had a meeting this afternoon. We need to thank Mario for holding down the fort with Tom, Charlie, and Debbie!"

We left the ballpark and headed for the El, which would take us back to Hyde Park. We'd had a very good afternoon together, and as an added bonus, the Reds had won.

May 29, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"Everything is set with the schools here in Chicago!" Jessica said when I came down from the attic room at the end of the work day. "August and September, as I said before, plus November, February and April! That way, I'm only in Indianapolis for a month at a time, for the most part. The downside is that I have to work all week Thanksgiving week, including Thanksgiving Day until 3:00pm."

"We can work around that, Jess. It'll be great to have you here!"

"Also, for Christmas, I only have the 24th and 25th off, but we can work around that, too, I guess."

"We sure can!" Kara said. "I'm happy!"

"What's the plan for tonight?" I asked.

"We're taking Sofia to Greektown as a thank you for saving me from myself!" Jessica said.

An hour later, the four of us were sitting in the Athens restaurant on Halsted Street, sipping Ouzo and eating our salads. Jessica was drinking 7-Up, and she was going to drive home, so I didn't worry about drinking.

"When do your parents arrive?" I asked Sofia.

"July 7th. They want to take all of us to dinner, and Stavros will come along; he'll be back on the 2nd. By the way, I saw a note on the board that Tatyana will be here tomorrow."

"She will. She's going out with you girls for the evening."

"Oh, cool! That's right; you have your posse coming over tomorrow night when we go out."

"Do you need to spend time alone with Tanya?" Jessica asked.

"I'll take her to dinner, but otherwise, no. She's so proper that she doesn't like to be alone in a room with me now that I'm married."

"That's the opposite of your other Russian friend!" Sofia teased.

"That's for sure!" I grinned. "Tanya is the model of decorum. Lyudmila is pretty much her exact opposite!"

"She's stopping in Chicago on her way to California later this Summer," Kara smirked.

"Kara Anne Adams!" I blustered. "What did you do?"

"I invited her to stop over for a few days," she said primly. "I checked with Jess first."

Sofia burst out laughing.

"I can't wait to see this!" she said, trying to control her laughter. "She's going to expect Steve to screw her silly, and he's going to resist. It should be entertaining to watch, to say the least!"

"Resist?" Jessica asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Because he's afraid of hurting you, silly!" Sofia said. "I know you two negotiated a deal, but he's truly concerned about how you'll react."

Jessica nodded, "I suppose. But things have changed significantly this week. I guess I'm not as nervous about everything as I was. I was kind of working myself into a really good bout of fear and depression over the last couple of months."

"The long-distance thing is tough," Sofia said. "That's why I moved here — I knew if Steve and I were to have a chance, I had to be with him. Even though it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, things are just fine now."

"I'm grateful for your help," Jessica said. "If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"Well, in six years I'm going to be ready for Residency! You'll be a fifth-year surgical resident by then. Maybe I can Match to the University."

"Not Loyola?" I asked.

"That would be fine, too, but UofC would be perfect because it's walking distance. I plan to list it first, then Loyola, then Cook County."

"Cook County?" Jessica asked. "That's a zoo!"

"It's worse for trauma than for OB/GYN," Sofia said. "I could also try for other hospitals. There are plenty of good options around, including Swedish Covenant. But I have six years to figure it out. And I have to get into medical school first."

"Loyola is your first choice?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, then UofC, then Northwestern. But Loyola should be a lock, assuming I get the right score on the MCAT. They have a special program for foreign students that makes it easier to get in and I'm still a Swedish citizen. Once I get into Residency, I'm going to apply for US citizenship."

"Or you could just marry your Greek boyfriend," I teased.

"We're not even close to that," she said. "He needs to finish his Master's degree and get a job before that's even a consideration, and I'm not sure if he's the right guy or not. I suppose the best answer is we're working on it. We'll see."

The waiter brought our meals, and Sofia proceeded to critique each dish, declaring that none of them were authentic.

"Picky, picky!" I grinned. "But I guess Grandma Katsaros taught you well."

"She'd be in the kitchen beating the chef over his head with a rolling pin right about now!" Sofia said with a soft laugh. "It's not that the food is bad, it's just little things that don't match the way it's done in Greece."

"Joyce would say the same thing about an Italian restaurant, I'm sure," I said. "And I can't imagine Donna Grossi tolerating it any more than your grandmother!"

"Jake shipped out, right?" Sofia asked.

"He did. He's in South Carolina at the Nuclear Training School. But for officers, it's a short program. Then he's going to King's Bay. Once he's settled, Joyce is going to visit him. He's been assigned to the unit that does maintenance work on subs, so he won't go out to sea for at least eighteen months."

"And Cleveland isn't going out right away, either, is he?"

"Correct. He'll be in Virginia working on a new sub — the USS Albany — that won't be launched for a year or so."

"He's going to fit in a submarine?" Sofia asked. "He's HUGE!"

I chuckled, "Yeah, but I guess he will or they wouldn't have assigned him to a submarine!"

"Have you talked to your friend Aimee recently?"

"I received a postcard from her saying that she was being assigned to a destroyer based in Rota, Spain, for her Summer cruise. My friend from High School, Napoleon McCallum, was drafted by a USFL team, but I'm hoping he gets picked up by an NFL team. Of course, then the Navy has to cooperate and assign him to duty that would let him play."

"You have a lot of friends in the Navy. Did you ever think of joining?"

"The thought crossed my mind once or twice, but I never seriously entertained it. I wanted to go to college, and because I had enough money, I didn't need ROTC. And now, with everything else, it doesn't make sense. Even joining the reserves as an officer would be tough because of the business. I guess if the family is going to stay in the Navy, it'll have to skip a generation and be one of my kids."

We finished our meal, including dessert, and then headed back to the house. We decided on a sauna, and Elyse joined us.

"Jess, are you OK if Dave or Jorge happen to show up?" Elyse asked. "The rest of us have been naked around the guys, but you haven't."

"Sure, I'm fine. I'm not really modest. Doctors, especially surgeons, can't be. They share locker rooms and strip down to underwear in front of each other all the time. It's no big deal."

"You carefully stayed on the other side of the lockers when I changed," I said.

"Out of deference to you, Tiger. I would have been very happy to see you then!"

"That was before we had coffee the first time!" I protested.

"What can I say? I was attracted to you!"

"You and half the women in the world!" Elyse smirked.

"Half?" Kara giggled.

"Good point!" Elyse agreed.

"You know, I was pretty sure right then that I was going to marry him," Jessica said.

"You're kidding?!" I gasped.

"No, I'm not. There was just something very special about you. Even though I knew Bethany was your girlfriend, I knew what I wanted right then and there. It just took you about eight months to figure it out!"