Chapter 61: Picking Up the Pieces

August 11, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"I'm glad you took me up on my offer to go out tonight," I said.

Jorge smiled, "You can thank Jennifer and Josie. They insisted. Where's Abbie?"

"Abbie's meeting us there. She had dinner with Trish and Henry after work. You certainly spent a lot of time in the coach house this week."

"Jennifer and Josie are good listeners, and they've become like sisters. Jesse gave me hugs to make me feel better, too. I think it helped that Jennifer knows your little sister so well."

"I thought I did, too. This past week has been one seemingly irrational move after the next. And all because you said you wanted to get married at some point. She's nuts, Jorge. Certifiably nuts."

"No, she was, is rather, afraid," Jorge said. "That's what Jennifer thinks."

"And Jennifer is probably right," I sighed. "In a way, it reminds me of what happened between me and Becky. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be married and have kids. The thought never frightened me, but Becky and I were fifteen and she pushed too hard, too fast. Talking about it was cool, and fun, actually. But I couldn't make the commitment she wanted at age fifteen, when I had no idea of who I was or what else I wanted. If she'd been slightly more patient, my life probably would have been very different.

"That said, it's not exactly a parallel because all you did was tell Stephanie how you felt and what you wanted to work towards. Becky was picking out china patterns and names for our kids. At fifteen! If it had been just fun talk about what the future might hold, or what we'd like to have happen, things might have gone her way," I sighed deeply. "You know, maybe I'm not helping."

"It's OK. You're right that I didn't propose. I just said that someday I'd like to get married, and asked her to think about it. I figured we had a couple of years while she finished her Master's degree before I'd actually propose. And I could wait. Unlike you, I'm not in a super-rush to have kids! I want some, eventually, but I'm still pretty young, Remember I started at IIT when I was seventeen."

"I keep forgetting that you're only a year older than my sister. By the way, I was a bit surprised at the sleeping arrangements."

"It did freak Lauren out a bit, but I think Katy and I reassured her enough that it won't be an issue. Katy was always like a big sister. Not as close as Jennifer and Josie, but still close. Katy didn't like the fact that I was in a guest room. And I just didn't feel right sleeping in your sister's bed, even though she hasn't been home all week."

"I could see how that might be a bit uncomfortable," I said. "Have you talked to her at all?"

"I tried, but she's refused. I did have a good long talk with Melody. You know we got kind of close after Chrissy died."

"Yes, and I saw her at the hospital almost constantly when you had your surgery."

"I think that's when things sort of started to get rocky with your sister. She couldn't see the forest for the trees."

"I told her to forget the battle and win the war, but I think her experience with my mom is what caused that whole issue to blow up. I have to say I'm pretty bummed. I was looking forward to having you as a brother-in-law."

Jorge nodded soberly, "I hope we can maintain the friendship, but Stephanie is your sister, so I understand if things have to change."

"I'm not going to let her interfere with my friendship with you one iota," I said firmly. "She has to figure out how to deal with it. Oh, and before I forget, Kara told me that she requested that you join us for dinner on Sunday with the Jaegers."

Jorge laughed, "She didn't ask. She ordered me to be there in no uncertain terms."

"They all love you and they're all looking out for you."

"I'm grateful. I really am. But you do know I will eventually need to move out."

"I know," I sighed. "But don't act hastily. Katy said you could stay as long as you like."

"I'll start looking for a place soon. It's a little tough because all the college kids are streaming back into the city for school again."

"Let me know if I can help in any way," I said.

We parked in the usual parking garage on Illinois and walked to the club. I paid our cover charge, and we went inside. Trish, Henry, and Abbie saw us and waved us over. There was a girl with them, and Henry had his arm around her. He introduced her as Gaby. Almost immediately, Trish grabbed Jorge's hand and led him to the dance floor.

"How's he doing?" Henry asked.

"All things considered, he's doing OK," I said.

"I see he dressed for the occasion," Abbie observed.

Jorge had dressed in all black, and with his naturally black hair, didn't stand out like a sore thumb like I did.

"Trish was really worried that she'd messed things up for him," Henry said.

"She didn't," I said. "If my sister had spent five seconds asking a simple question instead of flying off the handle, things would be OK. I honestly think she simply found an excuse. She's been behaving erratically for months."

"She'll take him home if he's interested," Abbie said.

"I'm not sure that's the best move," I said. "She should be his friend first, but I'm not going to interfere."

"Shall we dance?" Abbie smirked. "Or do you have the balls to ask some random goth or punk girl to dance with you?"

"You pick," I said with a grin. "I'll ask."

Henry and Abbie looked at each other and then simultaneously said, "Rhonda!" and started laughing.

"You two are cruel!" Gaby laughed.

"What am I missing?" I asked.

"You'll find out," she said with a silly smile.

"Point me to her," I chuckled.

Abbie smirked and led me towards a girl who had her back to me. Abbie tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face us. I did my best to keep my face passive, but I was taken aback by the sheer amount of metal on her face. Three eyebrow rings on each side, at least six piercings in each ear, a stud and ring in her nose, and a ring through her lip. All in addition to the usual black makeup and black clothing.

"Who's your dork friend, Abbie?" Rhonda asked.

"Rhonda, this is Steve. Steve, this is Rhonda."

"What's your malfunction?" Rhonda asked.

"I had the distinct disadvantage of growing up in a conservative, upper-middle class home," I replied with a grin.

"And you came to the zoo to gawk at the animals?"

"No, I came with my friends Abbie, Henry, and Trish. I've been here a couple of times before. I also brought one of my friends who's dancing with Trish."

"He let me make up one of his kids, complete with temporary hair dye. And all of his kids love us!"

"Kids? You can have him back, Abbie, he's no good to me!"

Abbie smirked, "I think you might be surprised."

"Uh-huh. And even if he could, how good could some dork be? Let me guess, he was a pity fuck!"

Abbie laughed hard, "I think you might find yourself to be terribly mistaken."

"Want to dance?" I asked.

"Want to fuck?" she asked, as if the question was no different from the one I asked.

Abbie smirked, then turned and walked away.

"How about we dance first?" I said with a smile.

The music was a local punk band that I had never heard of, which was no surprise, given that other than the few groups that Abbie, Trish, and Henry had exposed me to, I didn't know much. I had, on the other hand, observed enough to know how I was supposed to dance, which was nothing at all like we danced at home. The dance floor was crowded, with bodies bouncing off each other, and Rhonda making sure she rubbed against me every chance she had.

She was what I would call an average build — not thin, but not fat. She was about three inches shorter than me and had medium-sized breasts. I was, if I was honest with myself, bothered by all the hardware on her face. I thought she might be nice looking, but it was difficult to get past the piercings. At one point, when she yelled out a response to something one of the band members screamed, I noticed an additional piercing — a stud in her tongue.

I hadn't answered her question and truthfully, I didn't know if I did want to be with her. And even if I did, there were rules I had to follow, and that meant not doing anything without first talking to Elyse. It also meant making sure that Rhonda was tested. Those gave me a natural, reasonable way to deflect her question without having to say that I wasn't really attracted to her.

We danced for about twenty minutes and I'd worked up a real sweat. I asked if she wanted a drink and we went over to the bar. She ordered a gin and tonic, and I opted for a Sprite, which drew a derisive comment from her.

"You don't drink? God! What a square! Abbie must have totally lost her mind!"

"I don't drink when I'm going to drive. Period. It has nothing to do with being a dork. Put me in the right situation and I'll drink you under the table. I've had plenty of experience drinking vodka with my Russian friends!"

"Sounds like an excuse to me. How about X?"

I shook my head, "No drugs."

"No drinking. No drugs. You turned down a fuck. What are you doing here, Richie Rich?"

"Listening to the music, hanging out with my friends, dancing, and enjoying the company! And I didn't turn it down."

"Sure you did. You didn't say 'yes'."

I smiled, "I don't fuck on the first date. I'm not that easy!"

Rhonda actually laughed at my lame attempt at humor.

"I can respect that. What about the second date?" she asked.

"Depends on the girl. And a clean STD test."

"No shit, Sherlock! If you were with Abbie, I'm sure you were tested."

"And that made it safe to ask?"

"Yes. But also, I was sure a rich boy who looked like you would never touch a girl who looked like me."

I laughed, "Nice try, Rhonda. That was a bit too transparent! You're trying to put me in a position where if I say 'no' I'm a bigot!"

"I can tell you aren't comfortable with all the jewelry. I have a lot more that would probably shock your sensibilities. And some interesting tattoos."

I shook my head, "Nothing would shock me at this point. Maybe before I met Abbie back in February, but not now."

"Uh-huh. Give me your hand, Richie," she smirked.

I wasn't sure what she was going to do but, I decided to just go for it. I extended my hand to her. She smirked and took it and pulled me a bit closer. She rotated my hand a bit, pressed my palm flat against her stomach with my fingers pointing down, then used her other hand to move the waist of her pants. She pushed my hand down inside her pants, where I quickly discovered she wasn't wearing underwear. My fingers passed smooth skin and then a small metal knob that I recognized as a piercing. That didn't surprise me. What I felt next caused me to have to fight hard not to recoil. I felt a series of rings that appeared to pierce her labia. Rhonda smirked as she pushed my hand further, then squeezed her legs together.

"You can't see the butterfly tattoo," she smirked.

"Fascinating," I breathed.

It was fascinating. But it was a complete turnoff. I wanted to see it, just to see it, but the idea of having sex with her just didn't appeal to me. She released her grip on my hand, and I carefully withdrew it from her pants. She smirked and leaned forward, wrapped an arm around me, and pulled me to her. She kissed me, hard, ramming her tongue into my mouth. I reflexively kissed back, and our tongues fought each other. The stud in her tongue felt very strange as it ran over my tongue and along my teeth.

I felt Rhonda's hand on my stomach and she slipped it into my pants and inside my briefs. She ran her fingers over my shaft, and then began stroking me, getting exactly the reaction she desired. I suddenly had a picture in my mind of her giving me a blowjob, and that stud running along my shaft. That caused me to instantly become hard and Rhonda squeezed a few times before she removed her hand and broke the kiss.

"Well, that's respectable. Not impressive, but respectable."

I chuckled, "Gee, thanks."

"Come on, Richie, let's dance some more!" she grinned, dragging me out to the dance floor.

This time she danced even closer, her body almost always in contact with me. I had no problem at all dancing with her, and the kiss had been interesting, but I didn't think I wanted to be with her. In fact, I was sure of it. I was also sure that she'd give me no end of grief if I turned her down. The problem was, I didn't know if I could do it, even had I wanted to. And I didn't.

The rest of the evening was alternating between dancing and standing at the bar having a drink and her initiating very aggressive French kissing. She was basically putting on a full-court press and I was going along, protected only by my flip, but true, comment about not having sex on the first date in this kind of situation. It was nearly midnight before I rejoined Henry, Gaby, Abbie, Trish, and Jorge. I did a double take when I walked up and then started laughing. One of the girls, or perhaps Henry, had helped Jorge put on black lipstick and black eyeshadow.

"Perfect," I said, laughing.

"Where's Rhonda?" Henry asked.

"Disappointed that I don't fuck on the first date," I said.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You know my situation at home. I need permission on a girl-by-girl basis. I didn't tell Rhonda I needed permission, just that I wasn't that easy and that I didn't fuck on the first date. She was disappointed, but not upset. I suspect she's trying to find a willing partner for tonight."

"She has no shortage of those!" Trish laughed. "It might have been quite the experience for you."

"Could be," I chuckled. "I'm ready to head home, though. We have breakfast with the guys tomorrow. You all can stay if you want."

"No, I'll come home with you," Abbie said.

"I think I'll stay," Jorge said, putting his arm around Trish. "I can catch a cab."

"Cool! See you at home before breakfast, or if you don't make it home, see you at Alex's place."

Abbie and I said 'good night' and left the club. As we were walking down the street towards the parking garage, she took my hand.

"So?" she asked.

"Rhonda? She seems cool. Super aggressive, but I'm sure you knew that. I was a bit put off by all the hardware."

"She told you?" Abbie asked, smirking.

"More like showed me. Well, made me feel. If I can be totally honest, it was a turn off."

"The rings?"

"Yes. I guess I just don't get it. I mean, she's free to do what she wants, but it's just not my thing. You know how I reacted to your piercings."

"But you're OK with them now."

"It's not about being OK with them, it's about what I find sexually stimulating. In your case, I can overlook them! But what she has is really difficult to overlook."

"Some people are turned off by it. Do you know why we put you with her?"

"To see how I dealt with someone who was more extreme, I would guess."

"Yes, of course. Let's just say that if you went home with her, it would be an eye-opening experience!"

"Something beyond the piercings and tattoos?"

"She wasn't working for herself alone," Abbie smirked.

"Oh?" I asked.

"She and her boyfriend bring home random people and watch each other fuck. And if their conquests are game, a threesome or a foursome."

"The conversation we had about expanding my horizons," I said, nodding. "I'm not sure if I should be upset with you or not."

"Not. They don't force anyone. They're just VERY persuasive!"

"And you thought that was a good idea?"

"I didn't see how it could hurt. You aren't a shrinking violet and you're secure enough to say 'no' to anything you don't want to do. I don't see you objecting to having an audience. And if her boyfriend wanted to do you, you would just say 'no' if you weren't interested."