Chapter 33: Wicked Wanda?

November 29, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“I swear I’m going to kill him,” Jessica growled on Sunday morning as we ate breakfast.

“I thought the drawings were wonderful,” I said. “He has your likeness down pat! Even the body drawings are perfect!”

“And those positions?” Kara teased. “Wow! I love the ‘close up’ drawings of you being spread wide!”

“You two are just eating this up!” Jessica whined. “I need it to stop!”

“Perhaps you should have taken it a bit easier on the poor boy,” Elyse laughed.

“Wait! You know about these? How?”

“Oh,” Elyse smirked, “there might have been a PG-13 version left for me by someone!”

“Kara!” Jessica whined.

“Not me!” Kara protested. “I only knew about the X-rated one he left upstairs! Not even the one someone dropped off yesterday!”

“PG-13?” I asked. “How boring!”

“Oh no, not at all! You KNOW what’s happening, it’s just not explicit. In fact, no nipples even show!”

“Tiger, you have to make this stop!” Jessica demanded. “Now!”

“How do you propose I do that?” I asked with a smirk.

“Just tell him! He’ll stop if you tell him to!”

“Yes, I suppose he would. But I want to see Volume I, Number 3!” I grinned.

“I’ll kill YOU first, THEN him!” Jessica said harshly. “I want it to stop, and I want it to stop NOW!”

I nodded, “OK. I’ll talk to him. At breakfast.”

“No! Today! You know darn well that by next Saturday he’ll finish Number 3 if not Number 4!”

“Touchy, touchy! I’ll call him this morning before I head to the tournament.”

It was time to walk her to work, so we grabbed our coats and hats and walked to the hospital. Jessica was silent and I could tell she was very upset. After the usual kisses and hugs, Kara and I turned to head for home.

“She’s really upset,” Kara said quietly.

“I know. It’s all in good fun, and honestly, I don’t see why she’s so upset. But I’ll call Jorge and ask him to stop.”

“I noticed you avoided Samantha and her friends like the plague last night, and this morning, except for making them breakfast.”

“I didn’t want to intrude. She needs her time with her friends just as the rest of us do. It’s all about helping her develop healthy relationships. I did want to talk to you about something Abbie said to me last night.”

“Without Jessica here?”

“Do you think she’s in ANY mood right now to discuss ANYTHING rationally?”

“No, I suppose not. I hope she doesn’t have any tough traumas today.”

“She had her ‘game face’ on when she went into the ER. She’ll be fine.”

“So what did Abbie say?”

I told Kara what Abbie had shared about Samantha and wasn’t at all surprised by her reaction.

“I’ve known that since she came back after the whole fiasco with Lisa and what happened in Monaco! Neither Jessica nor I have an issue with that, if it’s what she wants. And if it’s what you want.”

“I’m just not sure she should choose that path,” I said.

“And Michelle? Should she have chosen the path SHE did? The one that led her to you, to blood on her sheet, a conversion to Orthodoxy, and a lifetime in a convent?”

“I’m not even going to begin to try to explain that one,” I sighed. “I’m STILL not sure I did the right thing.”

“Your mind now only sees her as a nun and you can’t imagine having sex with a nun. But she wasn’t a nun when she made love with you. She was Michelle, a confused teenager. As for Samantha, she will have plenty of opportunities to change her mind and select a different path. She’s certainly not of the mind that she can only be with one man. Even allowing for Monaco as a grave mistake, she doesn’t have that mindset. Not even close. Yes, sex with you is something that raises her to some absurd level of pleasure, but it’s your love that really matters. That’s what always mattered to Bethany, and still is all that matters to her. She moved out BECAUSE she loves you, which I’m sure you realize.”

I nodded, “Yes. Bethany and I are, well, special. I don’t know any other way to put it. And I’ll wager that requests like last week’s won’t come very often because she knows what it means to both of us if it becomes a regular thing. It means she takes me away from you and Jessica, and it keeps her from getting on with her life. And I’m OK with it because I love her just as much.”

“And Jennifer, too.”

“She and I never, ever stopped loving each other, no matter how angry we might have been with each other at any given moment, or how confused either of us was, and in spite of the terrible things we did to each other emotionally. That love is why we kept our relationship the way it has been since she decided to marry Josie.”

“And your proposed resumption of sex?”

“Would have been a one-time thing. It would have had to be. Anything else would ruin things with Josie, and put Jennifer in a position to come between you, Jessica, and me. But in the end, Josie couldn’t handle it.”

“Everything you just said confirms that you’re doing the right thing with Samantha. Just stay on the path and see what happens. She’ll step off if she needs to.”

We arrived home and I went to my study to call Jorge. He was laughing so hard it took nearly five minutes before we could have a real conversation.

“I’m sorry if she got upset. I would have LOVED to see that! But I’ll apologize if I need to.”

“No, don’t do THAT,” I laughed. “Just confirm for me that you won’t release any more comic books. I will tell you that Kara and I really liked them, and that Elyse liked the PG-13 version you did for her!”

“It was fun. I suppose I’ll need to find something else to do to annoy ‘dotora Yessica’!”

“She was certainly annoyed! But you were a good sport about the whole thing, considering.”

“Eh, it was my problem, so to speak. I let her get into my head and the fantasy just ran away with me. It won’t happen again!”

“It sure did in those comic books! You know, I have an idea. Talk to Abbie about her movie script. Maybe a comic book version of Virgin Slayer would work.”

“That sounds like a good idea! I think I will! And you don’t mind if the main character looks like you?”

“I’d be disappointed if he didn’t!” I chuckled. “See you Saturday for breakfast!”

We hung up and I went to the laundry room to get my gi from the dryer. I hadn’t exerted myself in it the previous two days, but I didn’t want to smell badly for the finals.

“Hey,” Samantha said when I came up upstairs. “Got a sec?”

“For you? Always! What’s up?”

“I’m going to have lunch with my parents. I just wanted to let you know.”

“At home? Or out?”

“At my dad’s country club. They give the staff a four-day holiday at Thanksgiving and I think my mom would burn water if she tried to boil it. And I’m not sure Dad has ever BEEN in the kitchen!”

I chuckled, “He did tell me he’d pay money to see you doing chores here.”

“I had to ask Abbie how to use the washing machine! Believe it or not, I don’t think I’d actually seen one being used before I came here.”

“I believe it! Did you and your friends have fun last night?”

“We did!”

“Did you get any sleep?” I asked.

“A couple of hours. I’ll take a nap after lunch.”

“Say ‘hi’ to your parents for me. See you tonight!”

We hugged and I went upstairs to get my gym bag. I came back down, kissed Kara and the kids goodbye, and headed back to DePaul for the final sparring matches and the trophy awards for all events. Far fewer judges were needed for the finals, and I was pleased to be selected for the orange and green belt finals. Miyu was facing a boy who looked to be about a year older, but I couldn’t tell for sure since in the thirteen to sixteen age-group, it had become tougher for me to judge ages. Miyu was about fifteen, and I thought the boy was fifteen or sixteen, but I wasn’t sure.

The match started out tough for Miyu, and she lost the first round 3-1. She recovered, winning the second round 3-2, which meant that the third round would decide the first place trophy. Miyu quickly scored a point, but then gave up two points. She was careful and brought the round to a 2-2 tie. The next point would win. She hadn’t faced a challenge this difficult for the entire tournament, but this boy was her equal, if not slightly better.

Miyu barely blocked a furious attack by her opponent, and countered with a risky spinning kick. Had she missed, she would have left herself wide open and lost, but she surprised the boy with the kick and her foot connected squarely on his chest, knocking him to the mat. I quickly raised my red flag, as did the other judge, and she’d won.

After bows, the consolation match was held, but it was over quickly, 3-1, 3-1. Once it ended, I was done, and waited for the other matches to finish, then joined everyone for the awards ceremony. Miyu received her trophy and when the ceremony ended, she and her sister walked over to where I was standing talking with the two judges I’d met the first day.

“Congratulations,” I said to Miyu. “That was a risky move.”

“I was in danger of losing so I felt why not take the risk! It worked.”

“It did. May I give you some pointers?”

“Yes, please!” she said.

I excused myself to the other two judges and Miyu and Mitsuko followed me to a mat. I thought back to the moves that Miyu’s opponent had used and taught her how to anticipate them and how to block them. A few practices and she had the moves down pat.

“Remember, watch the hips. They tell the whole story, at least at your level. Later on, it will be tougher.”

“I beat a boy! That’s the most important thing! And he’s fifteen and I’m only thirteen! Well, fourteen on Tuesday!”

“Happy Birthday a few days early!”

“Thank you!”

“Why is it important to beat a boy?”

“Because they all think they’re better than girls! And I can kick their butts! Just like my sister!”

I laughed, “In our dojo, I’m the only black belt who’s a boy, except for our Sensei. The other three are all girls!”

“Good!” she said. “In our dojo, there are no girls who are black belts. They all drop out!”

“Well, if you decide to go to UofC in four years, come to JM Martial Arts. By then, I think you’ll be a black belt! You’d be welcome in our dojo!”

“Thanks!” she said. “I need to go change. Mitsuko, wait for me here?”

“Sure!”

Miyu scampered off, much like Penny had back when she was fourteen and fifteen.

“You just made her day, you know?”

“How?”

“By talking to her as a fellow karateka instead of a little girl the way the black belts at her dojo always do.”

“Her sensei needs to fix that,” I said.

She shook her head, “He’s a bad teacher. Good with forms; terrible with the spirit of karate. His students are arrogant and violent.”

“The opposite of our dojo. She should change. How far away do you live?”

“We live in Springfield, so it’s not really possible.”

“Where do you practice?”

“There’s an Aikido club at the university. The nearest school is too far away for me to go regularly.”

“You should come by our dojo sometime and check it out. If your little sister comes to Chicago, we’d be very happy to have her.”

“Thanks! Are you and Crystal still dating?”

I shook my head, “No. We broke up. You haven’t talked to her?”

“No. We were never very close, and she was very upset at how you behaved towards me. I thought you were being very nice, and proper, and treated me with respect, but she saw it differently.”

She did. And Crystal’s view of what happened was correct. I HAD implied that I wanted Mitsuko. But Mitsuko hadn’t seen it that way, which was interesting.

“Yes, she did. I’m sorry if it caused hard feelings.”

Mitsuko shook her head, “That was her problem. She was jealous because you greeted me respectfully. She felt you were somehow inviting me into a relationship. I didn’t see anything other than a polite man. The same thing I’ve seen today. Especially with the way you’ve treated my little sister.”

I smiled, “Thanks. Come by the dojo sometime.”

“I think I will! Here comes Miyu, so we’ll be going. I have to drive her home then get back tonight for class tomorrow morning. Chemistry 200! With a Professor Adams!”

I nodded, “Have fun!”

Even if Crystal had said something to Mitsuko, it appeared she hadn’t made the connection. If she came to the dojo, she’d discover the relationship if she didn’t already know about it. She and her sister said ‘goodbye’ and left. I went to find Sensei Ichirou to thank him for inviting me to participate.

“I received good reports from your fellow judges. I asked them, because it was your first time. Both Royce and Marnie said you were very demanding, but fair. I like this, as too often the judges are very loose with good scores, especially with the forms. I had no reports of mistakes or errors from your judging or refereeing, either.”

“You did very well, Steve-san,” Ailea said. “I watched for Grandfather.”

“I never even noticed you!” I said.

She laughed, “Normally, I would be upset, but you were focused on the matches as you should have been! Will we see you soon?”

“That’s up to your grandfather,” I said.

“If you wish to see him, you may invite him for lunch, with proper supervision befitting a young woman,” Sensei Ichirou said firmly.

She rolled her eyes hard, but said, “Yes, Grandfather!”

She bowed to me and walked away.

“She’s learning to be a proper Japanese woman and it is not easy for her. Her friends lack discipline and focus. I wish she would study karate, but she has no interest. And I will remind her you are married. And you will remember that as well.”

I bowed, “Yes, Sensei. Of course!”

He nodded, “Good. Having a friend who is as disciplined and respectful as you are would be good for her.”

“I’ll do my best, Sensei.”

“I would expect nothing less. May I count on you for black belt testing in the Spring?”

“Yes, Sensei!”

He nodded, we bowed, and I headed home.

December 4, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“This is going to be a complete mess, isn’t it?” I asked Kimmy.

“That depends on what you mean! Some of the programmers are at work at the other office, others have the day off. Your office will be moved tomorrow. Are you and Penny moving your own computers?”

“No, we both decided just to let the movers handle it.”

“That’s quite the change from last time!”

“I know. Did the phones get switched off?”

“We can make outgoing calls from the phone at reception. All the incoming calls are already routed to Pittsburgh or Los Angeles. On Monday, we’ll be back to normal. Lucas is helping coordinate the movers today because he doesn’t really have any reception duties.”

“OK. I’m only working a half day today. Without the phones, I’m limited in what I can do.”

“If there’s anything critical, Barbara or John will call your mobile. You could probably just go home now if you wanted!”

“You know, maybe I’ll do that. I can spend some time with Abbie, Jason, and the kids.”

“We’ll call you if anything comes up. You’ll be able to work as usual on Monday at the new offices.”

“Thanks, Kimmy!”

She flashed me one of her special smiles, and as she always did, wiggled her hips when she walked away, reminding me of just how special she’d been to me in my serious time of need. I checked with Elyse, Julia, and Cindi, then headed home.

“Daddy!” Birgit squealed. “You’re home!”

“Yes, Pumpkin. We’re moving our offices so I don’t have much work to do today. I thought you might want to play!”