Chapter 29: New Faces

September 4, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

On Tuesday morning, I thought about whether or not I should ask for the favor over the phone. In the end, I decided it was safe because I was simply asking a favor, and there was no quid pro quo. I had records of our meeting, including Elyse being there, to show legitimate business development, and that should provide sufficient cover so as not to cast any doubt on what I was doing.

I called Alderman Roti’s office first and talked to his aide. I explained what I needed, and the young woman said that she would make sure the Alderman got the message. Just after lunch, Keri put a call through from Alderman Roti. He asked me to get a copy of Ed’s résumé and send it to him, and he’d talk to someone in the Planning and Development department. I thanked him and asked him to let me know if there was anything I or NIKA could do for him in the future.

That evening, I called Ed and asked him to send me a résumé right away, and I’d make sure it got into the correct hands at the city. He thanked me and said he’d send it in the morning.

“I take it your sister filled you in?” he said.

“Only the barest of details,” I responded. “And that’s sufficient. You two need to work this out between you, and I need to keep my distance while you do.”

“She needs you, Steve. Just as my sister does. Well, not for the same reason, obviously. Stephanie’s biggest fear in life is that she’ll lose you. That’s what had her so freaked out about moving out and about the delay in taking charge of NIKA.”

“Let me know if you need anything, Ed. It’ll be good to have you around.”

“Thanks. I’ll get the résumé in the mail in the morning.”

I hung up and went back to spend time with my wife before bed.

September 6, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“All rise! Court is now in session! The Honorable Judge Martin Klinger presiding.”

I was sitting just behind the bar between the area for spectators and witnesses and the tables for the prosecution and defense. My sister was sitting with Melanie at the defense table, and an Assistant State’s Attorney was at the prosecution table.

“Case 90–298842, People vs. Stephanie Ann Adams,” the clerk announced.

“I understand we have a plea agreement?” Judge Klinger asked.

“Yes, Your Honor,” the State’s Attorney answered.

“Let me see it, please,” the judge said.

The State’s attorney handed up a two-page document that I’d read the day before. The judge scanned it.

“Miss Adams, you understand the agreement?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor,” she said.

“Counselor, is your client ready to plead?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Melanie replied.

“Miss Adams, on the charge of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, how do you plead?” the judge asked.

“Guilty, Your Honor.”

“I accept your plea and find you guilty,” the judge declared. “I accept the recommendation from the State’s Attorney and sentence you to court supervision for a period of two years.”

Judge Klinger banged the gavel.

“Next case, please,” the judge asked.

Stephanie and Melanie walked through the swinging gate, and the three of us left the courtroom while the next defendant and his lawyer took their places at the defense table.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes. So long as your sister keeps her nose clean for the next two years, I can petition for everything to be expunged. But if she does get into trouble, she could be re-sentenced on these charges.”

“I got it, Melanie,” Stephanie said.

“Given your history of a short temper and the two incidents that involved the police, it’s my duty to make SURE you know.”

“Are all your lawyer friends this difficult?” Stephanie asked with a sigh.

“Yes!” I grinned.

Melanie just shook her head. She gave me a quick kiss and was on her way, and Stephanie and I headed back to Hyde Park.

September 13, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“How did the phone interview go?” I asked.

“Really well,” Ed answered. “I’m coming up next Tuesday evening for a face-to-face interview on Wednesday. Thank your Alderman friend for the assist!”

“All he did was get the résumé into the right hands. The key is getting it past the city’s Personnel Department, and that’s what he did.”

“Well, it worked. They have a position open that’s perfect for me. OK to crash at your place on Tuesday?”

“Of course. We’ll see you on Tuesday!”

September 16, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“Big Brother, these are my two new friends, Claire Colson from Virginia and Marie Annette Kedja from Vermont.”

“Marionette?” I asked because that’s what it sounded like Stephanie had said.

“I’m nobody’s puppet!” she laughed.

“I’m guessing you get that all the time?” I asked.

“It could be worse,” she said. “I could be Shanda Lear or, God forbid, that NASCAR driver, Dick Trickle!”

I laughed, “It must have been rough growing up with his name! I assume my sister told you how this works?”

“Yes. It’s an open forum, but nobody is allowed to attack anyone else’s beliefs. It’s OK to challenge, but it has to be done politely.”

“Exactly. Welcome, both of you! Go on in. Stephanie will introduce you to everyone.”

Before we started the Rap Session, I put in a tape to record the race from Dover so that I could watch it after dinner. Elliott was on the pole, and he’d had some success at Dover. I hoped this would mark a turnaround in his fortunes.

Our Sunday group had dwindled a bit, with Melody and her friends all graduating and, for the most part, moving away. Lisa was still around, as she was working in Chicago, and so was Becka, who was now a Sophomore. There were a few other new faces as well — a girl and a guy from IIT who Penny had encouraged to attend.

Because of the new people, we discussed the ground rules before starting the discussion about the impending war in Iraq. Earlier in the week, President Bush had given a nationally televised speech in which he threatened to remove the Iraqi military from Kuwait by force. I had no doubt that Saddam Hussein would stand fast, and that meant going to war. There was a wide range of opinions, though a slight majority opposed the war.

After the session, we had refreshments, and I talked to the new students. The two from IIT, Ronnie, and Serena, were majoring in chemical engineering and math, respectively. Claire was majoring in computer science, and Marie Annette was majoring in Spanish.

“I heard from your sister that you run your own computer business,” Claire said. “Could I ask for help with my assignments if I need it?”

“I have done some tutoring in the past, so sure. But if you’ve messed around with computers at all, you should be OK with first-semester computer science.”

“We had one at home, an Apple IIc, but I didn’t use it very much. Mostly to type papers. My dad works for a software company back home. They do work for the DoD.”

“Well then, if you need help, just let my sister know, and we’ll arrange a time.”

“Thanks!”

Everyone left just before 5:00pm, and I went to start working on dinner with help from Jessica.

“Claire and Marie are cute,” Jessica said almost offhandedly as she was chopping vegetables.

“I suppose. I did notice Jorge eyeing Marie. And when she said she was a Spanish major, his eyes lit up!”

“You suppose? You didn’t notice?” Jessica asked.

“I noticed, but so?”

“It was just an observation, Tiger. There’s no need to get defensive about it.”

“Sorry,” I said. “It just seemed like the old pattern, and I don’t think we should fall back into it.”

“You know I’m not placing any restrictions on you, and neither is Kara. Well, not beyond what you agreed with Elyse.”

“I know, Babe. It’s just at the moment, I’m not even thinking about that.”

“Because of what happened between us?”

“That, and everything else. Wouldn’t you be happy if I just stopped having dalliances?”

“I’ll be happy if you’re happy. I mean that. Remember what I told Doctor Green?”

I nodded, “That our marriage vows didn’t require sexual fidelity and that you were not concerned about my ‘dalliances’.”

“And?” Jessica prompted.

“That me having sex with other girls did not bother you in the least at this point, so long as I stick to the sensible guidelines that Elyse set.”

“Becka was the last one? In March? I mean, not counting Jeri, which was a special situation.”

“Yes. Since then, it’s been you, Kara, Elyse, and Abbie. I would have told you if anything was different.”

“You really don’t go to Elyse or Abbie very often these days.”

“That’s been noticed,” I sighed. “But I don’t know what I can do about it. Honestly, at this point, I’d expected Elyse to start looking for a boyfriend. I didn’t expect her to basically decide to wait until Eduardo comes back to the States.”

“I heard he’s coming to visit.”

“Sort of. In December, he has a business trip to Miami and Buenos Aires. Elyse is going to fly down to Miami to see him. It’ll be the first time she’s seen him since he left for Wharton six years ago.”

“And he’s trying to get a transfer to the Chicago office of his company?”

“That’s what he told Elyse. The problem is that the Chicago office is very small. Most of the work is done out of New York. They also have a small San Francisco office. So we’ll see what happens. But this development, which I think is very good, complicated things for us.”

“Because your initial agreement was that once the kids were born, she’d find a boyfriend.”

“Yes. And you know me; I’ve generally left it up to the girls to define the terms, though obviously, there is always some negotiation.”

“May I ask a question about Elyse?” Jessica asked.

“You’re my wife. You’re allowed to ask any questions you want.”

“Even about business?” she smirked.

I chuckled, “’This one time, Kay, you can ask me about my business.’”

Jessica laughed, “I knew you’d get it. You LOVE that movie. When you went to take your walk, back when we were having issues with Jeri’s mom, why did you take Elyse with you and not one of us?”

“If you remember, she’s the one who suggested that you stay home. She just wanted to talk to me and make sure I wasn’t going to do something stupid.”

Jessica nodded, “That does seem to be her role in your life.”

“SOMEBODY has to do it!” I chuckled. “I can be a «jävla idiot» at times.”

“True. Back to the girls — what about Abbie? Is she exclusive with you?”

“At the moment, but I think that will change at some point. I’ve seen her talking to a couple of the college guys who come to the Rap Sessions, and it wouldn’t surprise me if one of them asked her out. And that’s probably a good thing.”

“She’s a very different person, isn’t she?”

“Yes. We, and I mean all of us, gave her exactly what she needed to blossom and grow. And she’s doing a great job as our nanny. The kids love her.”

“And she’s OK with the scarcity of your attention?” Jessica smirked.

“OK with it? No. If she had her way, I’d be in her bed every night. But she knows the rules. Elyse is the same way, though with Elyse, it’s more about the closeness than about sex at this point.”

“Similar to what your relationship with Bethany has become?”

“Something like that, I guess,” I said. “I suppose it will eventually turn out the same. Bethany’s need for my close, physical companionship is waning, pretty much as I expected it would.”

“Your self-control in that particular matter has been outstanding.”

“Do you realize what a disaster that would have become?”

“I do. The question was whether or not you realized and if you could manage the situation properly.”

“Oh, I knew. Remember what I said about it? That it was both the easiest and hardest thing I’ve ever done? Well, I still believe that’s true. You have no idea how badly I wanted to take her in my arms and make her feel loved. But I knew that using sex for that purpose leads to all kinds of potentially disastrous results.”

“Your meltdown after Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah. I was one lucky SOB. I learned my lesson about dangerous situations.”

“Jeri?” Jessica asked.

“Nobody could have foreseen that! Well, maybe Jeri, but even she was taken by surprise at just how vindictive her mother was. If Margaret Lundgren had been a bit less heavy-handed and hadn’t made false claims about IIT, she might have been successful.”

Or, I didn’t say, if she’d known the friends I had. But she hadn’t, and her overplaying her hand had played right to my strength. But that was something Jessica could never know about.

“I suppose that there really was no way to predict that, any more than you could have predicted Carla coming back four years later to create the situation she did.”

I shook my head and smiled ruefully, “That unsolved mystery is going to haunt me forever, I suspect. But there’s nothing I can do about it, and she’s stayed away. And honestly, there’s nothing more she could do.”

“Are you happy?” Jessica asked.

“I think so,” I said. “Things are great between Kara, you, and me. Your career is back on track. The kids are awesome. The business is doing well. We’re financially secure. We have great friends. I don’t know what more I could ask for. Are YOU happy?”

“Yes, I am. I have absolutely everything I need and most of the things I want. I have you, Kara, and Albert. I have Kathy and Kurt. My career is back on track, as you said. We have a great sex life. What more could I ask for?”

“Just having what you want doesn’t make you happy,” I said. “I’ve had pretty much everything I wanted at times and been very depressed. I think it’s more about having a positive outlook on life than anything else. And having kids. The kids make me very, very happy.”

“Obviously, or you wouldn’t have six!” Jessica laughed. “And one more next year!”

“When?” I asked.

“I figure we can start trying in December. That would put us around October when I’m back in the ER.”

“Whatever works for you,” I said.

She put down her knife, stepped behind me, and slipped her arms around me. She rubbed against me lightly.

“What would work is you fucking me silly right now, but dinner would burn!”

“Rain check for after dinner?” I chuckled.

“Absolutely!”

We finished making dinner, and after we ate, Kara, Jessica, and I went up to our room and wore each other out. When we finished, I put on a robe and went downstairs to get the tape from the race and brought it up to our room. I put it in the VCR, and we cuddled together and watched Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt trade the lead back and forth a number of times before Mark Martin took the lead on lap 321. Bill passed him on lap 352 and led the final 148 laps, beating Martin by about a second and a half.