Chapter 28: Thanksgiving \'87

November 24, 1987, Chicago, Illinois

"Did you have a good time on Saturday?" Penny smirked as she came into the office on Tuesday afternoon.

"Shut the door, Penny," I said tersely, and without my usual greeting.

She looked confused, but shut the door behind her before taking off her jacket and hanging it on a hook behind the door.

"What?" she asked.

"You can't talk about what happened with ANYONE. It could cause all kinds of trouble."

"I haven't! I only talked to Tasha, and it was in private! Did something bad happen?"

It had, but not the way that she meant it.

"No. I'm trying to prevent something bad from happening!"

"She came to me for advice! She knew that I'd been with you."

"Because you told her!" I said. "Most people here don't know about that. They know that we're close, but they don't know that we were having sex when you were fifteen!"

"So? We aren't now! You broke up with me!"

"I'm not sure that accurately describes what happened, but fine. Think about the trouble Kaitlin could have caused had she known about that! And despite you being a VERY willing participant, I still could get into legal trouble."

"I'd just tell them I wanted to do it!" Penny protested.

"Remember what I said about that? The law says you COULDN'T agree to have sex because you weren't seventeen."

"That's just dumb and you know it!"

"Yes, but it's still the law. Anyway, my point is, please don't discuss this with anyone or even hint at it."

"Because you broke your rule?"

"Yes, Penny. I broke my rule."

"Next!" she giggled.

"I don't think so!" I said firmly, but trying to conceal my own smirk. "And you know all the reasons why! Tasha was a very special exception to the rule. What I don't need are girls who are working for NIKA thinking they can sleep with me. And before you say it, this has nothing to do with being 'no fun'. It has to do with potential problems that can occur. Like Kaitlin."

"Well, you certainly performed well, from what I hear!" Penny giggled.

"She called you?" I said, slightly annoyed.

"On Sunday! And you shouldn't complain. She wasn't going on the Pill until I talked to her! Rubbers suck!"

"And how would YOU know that?" I chuckled.

"I might have been at a party where I might have fooled around with someone," she smirked. "But it was after Jonathan and before Ned, so don't get all moralistic on me!"

"Your relationships are your own, Pretty Penny. Just never lie to deceive your boyfriends, please. My only concern is that you're safe and happy."

"You could make me VERY happy right now!" she teased.

"And help you cheat on Ned? No way! I learned my lesson on THAT the hard way."

"Becky?"

"Exactly. Just promise me that you won't talk to anyone about this, and that you won't encourage anyone to come to me for sex. Please."

"I promise," she said.

"Thanks."

I got back to work and kept at it until about 4:30pm. I saved my work and shut down my computer. Penny gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and I left my office, planning to walk over to the hospital to meet Jessica. I didn't make it to the door before Tasha waved me over to her workstation.

"Hi," I said. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nodded, and we went to one of the small meeting rooms. I shut the door, and we sat down at the table.

"First, how are you doing?" I asked.

"Wonderful! I mean that. Well, I was a bit sore on Sunday and yesterday, but I'm fine today!"

"You were a bit overenthusiastic, given the circumstances, but I'm not about to complain!" I chuckled.

"I hope not! Anyway, Charlie said that she needs a roommate next Fall, and I wondered if you would be OK with me moving in?"

I suppressed a groan. I should have said something to Charlie about not saying anything to anyone until I'd had a chance to talk to Jessica and Kara about it. It wasn't that I was opposed to Tasha moving in, but I thought Jessica might object. And I didn't want to cause any hard feelings with Tasha if I had to say 'no' to her, but now I might have to. Maybe I could use the fact that we were adding a baby to the house to delay a decision.

"I haven't decided what to do about that just yet," I said. "I need to talk to Kara and Jessica because Kara is going to have a baby in May or June, and we have to figure out the room arrangements. Charlie jumped the gun just a bit."

"Well, I'm interested if the room is available."

"OK. I'll let you know what we decide. And thanks again for Saturday!"

"I'm the one who should thank you!" she said with a huge smile. "That was amazing! I want to do it again!"

That didn't surprise me, but it was highly unlikely, given my mistake.

"That's not entirely up to me," I said. "It's up to Jessica and Kara, so we'll have to see. Just remember to keep it quiet here at work."

"I will!" she said.

Tasha leaned over and kissed my cheek, similar to how she'd seen Penny do it hundreds of times. I smiled and headed to the hospital to meet Jessica.

"Hi," I said.

I didn't make a move to kiss her because I didn't know exactly where I stood at the moment. Jessica had seemed OK in the morning, and Kara had said that she was, but Jessica hadn't said anything.

"Is something wrong, Tiger?" she asked.

"I'm just not sure where I stand," I said.

"I'm not angry with you, Tiger," she said. "Disappointed, but not angry."

"And the odd sleeping arrangements last night?"

"A very poor choice on my part. I was annoyed, and I acted foolishly. I'm sorry."

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her softly.

"You're forgiven," I said. "I love you, Jess. I don't want us to have problems. I acted foolishly and upset you. I'll do my best not to do that again."

"How is it that you don't get upset with me when I do things that ought to upset you?" she asked.

I chuckled, "I'll let you in on the secret. I DO get upset. But Kara talks me off the ledge before you find out."

Jessica frowned, but then laughed, "I guess I should be thankful for that."

"I sure am. But why the frown?"

"Because you've never told me," she said.

I took her hand, and we started on our way home.

"It was always little things that weren't important. Like when you called and left the message at the house instead of calling me at the office to let me know about dinner. I was already on edge because of the mess with Kaitlin and I let it get to me. Kara simply pointed that out, and explained, as only Kara can, exactly what was going to happen if I'd confronted you about it in the way I felt I should. She talked me off the ledge, as I said."

"This is hard," Jessica said.

"I think marriage is hard enough to start with," I said. "If you add in all of our complications, it's even harder. My friend Carol ended up divorced, so did Kathy's parents, and you know Doctor Barton's story."

"It's a good thing we have Kara."

"I agree. How do we fix this? What do I need to do?" I asked.

"It's something that I thought about all through my shift. You do so much for me, and work around my schedule, and tolerate my situation, and all I do is act like a bitch. You give me all kinds of freedom and I spend my time trying to limit yours."

"Jess, there's a world of difference between me adapting to your work schedule and giving you the freedom to do what you need to do to further your career, and me having freedom to play around. They aren't even in the same ball park!"

"It just doesn't seem right that you have to do all the adapting and tolerating and accepting."

"But I agreed to," I said. "And the bottom line here is that I broke our agreement."

"What I figured out while I was working was that you broke the letter of the agreement, but not the spirit. The spirit was 'safe sex'. Have you heard that term?"

"Sure. There was an article in The Economist that used it earlier this year. Why?"

"Did you practice safe sex with Tasha?"

"No, if you mean using a condom."

"But you were both tested, and she used birth control. Do you know the risks?"

"Negligible for STDs because we both tested negative. The Pill is extremely effective if used properly, far more effective than condoms, though the reported condom failure rate is high because of misuse and misunderstanding."

Jessica smiled, "You've paid attention! I'm not saying that I'm letting you off the hook, only that what you did probably didn't violate the spirit of our agreement."

"So what ARE you saying?" I asked as we turned onto Woodlawn for the last two blocks of the walk home.

"I don't know yet. I'm concerned about overreacting and making things worse."

"I did break the agreement, Jess. You're perfectly right to hold me to what I promised."

"I know. As I said, this is hard."

"Hey, I do have a question for you about STDs."

"What's that?"

"They can be transmitted from genitals to mouth, so doesn't oral sex present a problem?"

"It does. It's why I insisted that you not rely only on a barrier method for STD prevention — I made you have her get tested. And it's more complicated than that. Some STDs are spread to areas of the body that you wouldn't expect. For example, let's say you wear a condom. You could still get HPV because it can attack the scrotum. The only truly safe sex is no sex, the next safest is being tested and using barrier methods."

"What about a couple that are both negative and are only with each other?"

"I can't tell you all the transmission vectors for AIDS, but we know for sure sex, blood transfusions, and fluid passing from an infected person to a sore or cut. Or, in healthcare, an accidental needle stick, or accidental cut with a scalpel during a procedure. That's never happened to me, but it's also why we three get tested regularly."

"So what about the situation with Tasha?"

"Negative tests are not absolutely conclusive, but they're the best we're going to do. Unless you want to give up on your 'dalliances'."

"Are you trying to scare me straight?" I chuckled.

"I'm not sure that I could!" she smirked. "I'm just trying to educate you. It's not 1980 anymore. HIV has changed everything."

We fell quiet for the last minutes before arriving at the steps of the house.

"I am sorry, Jess," I said.

"And your contrition is noted and appreciated. I love you, Tiger. Thanks for putting up with me!" she replied with a quick hug.

"I'd say it's the other way around!"

"Let's go have some dinner. Remember, I only work until 4:00pm tomorrow."

"It'll be nice to have you home an additional night," I said.

We walked up the steps hand-in-hand, and into the house. I felt much better than I had on Sunday and was confident that Jess and I could work past this issue. And THAT made me happy.

November 25, 1987, Chicago, Illinois

"Steve?" Kimmy said, buzzing the intercom on the phone on Wednesday afternoon.

"Yes," I answered.

"You might want to turn on the TV in the conference room. WBBM radio is reporting that Mayor Washington was rushed to the hospital from City Hall. There are conflicting reports about them trying to revive him and him being dead."

"Thanks," I said.

I got up and walked down the hall to the conference room and turned on the television. All four local stations had coverage, and I decided on WGN, the independent station. Dave, Julia, and Elyse came in a minute later, having heard the news from Kimmy.

"Who's mayor if he dies?" Dave asked.

"I think it's David Orr," I said. "He's the alderman who was elected Vice Mayor. If you paid any attention to the stupid 'Council Wars', he's one of the white aldermen who backed Washington against the Machine. But I'm pretty sure the City Council will have to elect a mayor, though maybe there's a special election. I guess it depends on timing."

"Didn't Mayor Daley die in office?" Elyse asked. "I remember reading that somewhere."

"Yes," I said. "He was the father of State's Attorney Daley who ran against then Congressman Washington and Mayor Byrne back in '83. I'll bet you anything that the younger Daley is on the phone to his people starting his campaign for mayor."

"That's morbid!" Julia protested.

"That's politics!" I opined.

The intercom in the conference room buzzed, and I hit the button.

"Yes?" I said.

"There's a Connie Abbadelli on the phone for you," Kimmy said.

"Give me one minute, then transfer the call to my office, please," I said.

I excused myself and walked to my office, and shut the door. The phone buzzed, and I picked it up.

"Hi, Steve," Connie said, returning my greeting. "We need a favor."

"What's that?" I asked warily.

"We're coming to Chicago for a meeting. Would we be able to use one of your guest rooms?"

If that was the limit of it, there was no reason to say 'no' to them. I wanted to stay on at least neutral terms, if not good ones, with them, to prevent any 'misunderstandings' like we'd had in the past.

"That favor I think I can do," I said. "When?"

"The meeting is on Monday morning. We'd drive up late on Sunday and head home after the meeting."

"OK. See you Sunday evening," I said.

"Thanks!"

I hung up and went back to the conference room.

"WGN just said that the reporter on the scene was told that he died," Dave said.

"What hospital?" I asked.

"Northwestern," Dave said. "And you were right; Alderman Orr will be the acting Mayor until the City Council elects a replacement for Mayor Washington."

"Well, then I'm going back to work," I said. "I have a lot to get done given we have the next couple of days off."

Later that afternoon, I walked to the hospital to meet Jessica. She'd heard the news about Mayor Washington and had the same information that I did, though she added that she'd heard that he'd had a massive coronary.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" she asked.

"The RTC recruits will arrive around 3:00pm. Dinner's at 6:00pm. My sister and Sofia volunteered to help cook. You'll be home around 4:15pm, right?"

"Yes, if things don't get hectic at the last minute. My shift is 4:00am to 4:00pm. And then I have that same shift Friday and Saturday. On Monday, I go back to normal."