Chapter 23: Last Second Heroics

February 23, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“Who invited her?” I asked Birgit when Kelly Edmonds came into the dining room.

“No clue!” Birgit replied. “But she has a gift with her.”

“Weird.”

“Is that going to cramp your style?” she teased.

“Why would it?” I asked.

Libby came over to where I was standing with Birgit.

“You didn’t tell me you invited Kelly!”

“Because I didn’t!” I replied. “And neither did Birgit!”

“Weird!”

Birgit laughed, “That’s what Jesse said!”

“How old is Larisa?” Libby asked.

“Twelve,” I replied. “She won’t be thirteen until this Summer.”

“She speaks very good English.”

“Her mom and dad have been teaching her since she was little.”

“Do you know any Russian?”

“Not really. Dad knows a little bit.”

“Will her dad let her dance with you?”

“He’d probably have me shot!” I chuckled. “But I think I can dance like they want us to at school dances.”

“Ugh!” Libby groaned. “So dumb! ‘Keep daylight between you!’ Give me a break!”

“About what?” Joy asked, coming up to us with a slice of pepperoni pizza on her plate.

“The dumb rules they enforce for school dances except for Prom - you have to keep daylight between you.”

“No way! Seriously? We were allowed slow dances in Junior High!”

“Welcome to our stupid world!” Birgit declared. “Are your parents cool?”

“Not compared to yours!” Joy replied.

“Nobody’s parents are cool compared to Jesse’s parents and aunts!” Libby declared.

“So true!” Amber agreed coming near us.

“Your parents are just as cool!” Birgit objected. “And your mom knows a LOT of stories about my dad!”

“Like she’d tell ME?” Amber groused.

When everyone finished their pizza, we went upstairs to the attic room and Birgit put on a dance mix CD Libby and I had created. I had to decide who to ask to dance with me first, and the obvious choice was either Joy or Larisa, because they were visiting and that wouldn’t bother Libby. The first song was Deeper And Deeper by Madonna, which was fast, so I asked Larisa first. Once it finished I danced with Joy to Vogue, also by Madonna. After that, I danced with Libby and then most of the other girls at the party, except Kelly, because I had no clue what was up with her. She didn’t come up to me, but danced with lots of other guys. It happened, totally by accident, that my last dance before it was time for cake and ice cream was with Rachel, and the song was to Open Arms, by Journey.

“Not what you planned?” she laughed when I shrugged and took her into my arms.

“Not exactly, but if you don’t mind, I don’t mind! I’m just shocked your mom isn’t here spying on us!”

“She had a photography job tonight,” Rachel replied. “Otherwise, I suspect she would have. She gave me grief about it before I left home but I just ignored her.”

“I saw you getting pretty chummy with Kenny,” I chuckled.

Rachel squeezed her arms tightly, “And you! But that doesn’t mean you and I are going to go to bed!”

“No, but we both have our reasons for not doing that!”

“What’s up with Kelly?”

“No clue. Neither Birgit nor I invited her, but she doesn’t seem like a girl who would crash the party. Libby didn’t know, either.”

“Maybe MC or Suzanne?”

“Possibly.”

“Maybe she asked one of them because she decided our group of friends is way more fun than Cynthia’s catty group of bitches! I swear, all it takes is one stuck-up cheerleader to ruin anything!”

“Aunt Bethany and Aunt Kathy were cheerleaders!” I replied.

“Hmm. But they were your dad’s friends, so they must have been the exceptions that prove the rule!”

“You know he’s downstairs...” I teased.

“And you know he won’t because my stupid mom would lose her mind and call the cops or something. But forget that, what’s with the girl from Minnesota?”

“I met her when I went up to Mayo for my tests. She’s a candy striper at the hospital and friends with Doctor Mary, who I know you’ve met.”

“She’s cute!”

“Interested?” I teased.

“No!” Rachel exclaimed, but she was laughing.

“She is cute!” I agreed.

When the song ended, we all headed downstairs to have cake and ice cream, after which I’d open my presents. My moms brought out a large sheet cake and ice cream and after my friends sang Happy Birthday to me, my moms served everyone. When we finished, I opened presents that some of my friends had brought, and then we all trooped back upstairs to dance.

“Will you dance with me?” Kelly asked when we got to the attic room.

The song that started playing was If You Leave Me Now by Chicago, and I decided to be very careful with Kelly, and dance with her the way I’d danced with Larisa - hands on shoulders and hips.

“How have you been,” she asked.

“OK.”

“I heard that Francesca ran away to see you.”

“She did, but the FBI came to get her and we really didn’t even have a chance to talk.”

“Her mom is crazy.”

“She is. How have you been?”

“OK, I guess. I miss hanging out with you and your friends.”

Which was her fault, in my mind, but I wasn’t going to fight with her about it. She’d broken up with me because of things other girls had said about me, and wouldn’t even talk to me about it. Even though I didn’t want to fight, I had to let her know that it was by her choice, not mine.

“That was your decision,” I replied.

She frowned and nodded, then surprised me by stepping closer and putting her arms around me. Pushing her away seemed mean, so I wrapped my arms lightly around her shoulders.

“I’ll let you,” she said quietly.

“Let me what?” I asked reflexively, though as soon as the words left my mouth I realized what she was offering.

“You know,” she whispered. “Do it.”

I took a couple of breaths before I said anything.

“You know that wasn’t the problem,” I replied.

“But I can’t be your girlfriend if I don’t let you!” she protested.

This was one of those situations Dad and I had discussed where banging our heads on the wall or a desk was the correct response. Kelly STILL didn’t get it, and I had the distinct impression that nothing I said was going to convince her.

“That’s not true at all!” I replied as evenly as I could. “It was NEVER true! I asked you to be my girlfriend without any conditions except that I could still be friends with Libby and hang out with her.”

“But you wanted to, right?”

“That’s not the point,” I replied.

“I’ll let you,” she said again.

“It’s not about letting me!” I objected. “It’s about wanting to and thinking it’s right. You should never just ‘let’ someone!”

“It’s that girl from Minnesota, isn’t it? You like her!”

“Yes, I like her, but it has nothing to do with you and me.”

“You won’t go out with me?”

“Why? So you can freak out every time I talk to another girl? So you can ‘let’ me have sex with you? No thanks.”

I dropped my arms and pulled back and Kelly reluctantly let me go. I went over to the refrigerator to get a Coke and Libby came over by me.

“She just ran out of the room,” Libby said quietly. “What happened?”

“She came to try to get back together with me, and offered to sleep with me to make it happen. Well, she said she would ‘let me’.”

“Oops,” Libby replied, shaking her head. “Bad move because I know that would never work with you!”

“She tried to blame Joy, too.”

“Give me a break! You only met her a couple of weeks ago! I mean, it’s obvious you two like each other, but she’s not the reason you and Kelly broke up!”

“I know.”

“What happened?” Birgit asked, coming up beside me.

“Kelly offered to let Jesse fuck her if he’d go out with her!” Libby smirked.

Birgit rolled her eyes, “Like that would ever work! Do we know who invited her?”

“I thought it might be MC or Suzanne,” Libby said. “But now I think she might have actually asked one of them. The party wasn’t a secret, obviously.”

“I’m totally not interested,” I said. “Anyone who simply refuses to talk when there’s a problem can’t have a proper relationship.”

“Think she’ll be OK?” Birgit asked.

I shrugged, “I guess.”

I finished my Coke and Libby and I danced, then I asked Joy to dance again, this time to a slow song - I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love by Chicago.

“Had to dance with everyone in the room before I got my second dance?” she teased as I took her into my arms.

“I was just being polite! And I didn’t dance with everyone in the room!”

“OK, besides your sister and the college girls!”

“You can have more dances if you want,” I replied.

“And the promised kiss?” she asked, squeezing her arms.

“I think I should go put on Journey!” I replied with a grin.

“Any way you want it, that’s the way you need it, any way you want it?” she giggled.

“Ooh, all night, all night, oh, every night, so hold tight, hold tight“ I chuckled.

“All night, huh?” Joy teased.

“If you want!”

“You’ve really done that?”

“Yes, and by all reports, I’m VERY good!” I declared.

“Uh, I, uhm, haven’t, you know. Not anything.”

“You kissed really well for not having done anything!”

Joy laughed, “Obviously I’ve kissed, you clown! I meant more than that.”

“I see,” I replied evenly.

“You’re a total goofball!”

“Thank you!”

She moved her hand and swatted my butt just as the song ended.

“Do you mind if I dance with a few other girls?” I asked. “The next couple songs are faster and better for the girls who are younger.”

“Save the next slow dance for me?”

“Sure!”

She smiled and moved away and I asked Larisa to dance again, and after her, Amber, and finally Nicole, who wasn’t younger, but who was totally like a sister.

“I don’t bite,” she teased.

“You don’t mind if I check with my dad to verify, do you?”

Nicole laughed, “You’re too funny! You and Joy seem to be getting along.”

“I like her. She’d be a great girlfriend if she didn’t live so far away. I’m going up to Rochester to see her in Hamlet next month.”

“Cool! Spring Break?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a bummer the party has to end so early, but I know you have your game tomorrow. Going to win?”

“St. Rita is tough, but I really want to win for Mia because she’s played four years and never won anything.”

“There’s a second-place trophy, right? And silver medals?”

“Sure, but second is just the first loser!”

Nicole laughed, “You and your dad are so alike on that! Some race driver said that, right?”

I frowned and nodded, “Dale Earnhardt. He died about a week ago.”

“Oh! I heard. I didn’t even think about that! You were a fan, right?”

I nodded, “I got to sit in his car, shake his hand, and have some autographed pictures and stuff. It totally sucks.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up.”

I forced a smile, “You didn’t, actually. I said the quote.”

“My dad usually says that second place is like kissing your sister.”

“Gross! Now I need some brain bleach!”

Nicole laughed, “Well, knowing Birgit, SOMEBODY is going to enjoy kissing her!”

“Blech! Now I need a 55-gallon drum of brain bleach!”

“Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you feel that way about Mia?”

I laughed, “No. She’s like you, you know, a teammate and a friend. Set aside the stuff with my dad, and it still wouldn’t feel right. It’s not gross, it’s just that we’re like brother and sister, though not like Birgit. Does that make sense?”

“Your dad and Penny?”

I laughed, “Pretty much, though you know they had a thing around fifteen years ago. But you know what?”

“What?”

“You should date Mikey.”

“What?! No way!”

“He’s nuts about you, and you guys aren’t on the same team. Seriously, it’s like Katt and Mikael!”

“Who?”

“Ask my dad. You’ll see.”

“You’re nuts!”

“Duh!” I chuckled. “I’m a goalie!”

We finished our dance and the next song was You’re the Inspiration, by Chicago. Birgit had insisted we put it on the mix CD, even though it was Dad’s song with his wives. I went over to Joy and asked her to dance.

“Great song,” she said, melting into my arms.

“It’s my dad’s wedding song.”

“It’s perfect! So, about ‘all night’?” she teased.

“I have to be up early tomorrow and I have the championship game,” I replied. “Let’s hang out tomorrow afternoon, and if you’re still interested, there’s tomorrow night.”

“You’re playing poker, right?”

“Yes, but that’s usually over before 10:00pm. If you want, you can hang out with Birgit and my girl cousins next door while I play poker.”

“Sure!”

I pulled her tightly to me and began to imagine exactly what she was going to feel like if we did do what she was suggesting.”

🎤 Steve

“Do you have a minute?” Nicole asked from the door to the ‘Indian’ room where Don, Mary, Kurt, Kathy, Dmitry, Natalie, and my wives were all relaxing.”

“Sure,” I replied. “Let’s go to my study.”

I excused myself and she and I went next door.

“What’s up?” I asked after we sat down in two of my wingback chairs.

“Jesse said I should ask you about a girl named Katt and someone named Michael.”

“Mikael,” I corrected. “What was the context?”

“He said I should go out with Mikey.”

I smiled and nodded, “Ah, that makes perfect sense! Let me tell you the story.”

I related how Katt and Mikael were skating partners, and how we met in Västra Frölunda, and how my relationship with Katt had developed, and then later, how I’d encouraged her to be with Mikael, despite her viewing him solely as her dance partner and nothing more, and how, in the end, they’d become a couple and were happily married and had an eight-year-old daughter.

“Do you see the parallels? And why Jesse would suggest that?”

“Sure. But it just feels kind of strange. I’ve known him since we were six and started playing hockey together.”

“And, all things being equal, that’s a pretty good basis for a long-term relationship, wouldn’t you say?”

“That’s true, but he’s not nearly as mature as I am, or Jesse is.”

“But he’s also not as immature as some of your teammates, either,” I countered.

She laughed, “So true. He’s also not obnoxious about liking me the way some of the guys are. And he’s not gross like some of the idiots I have to play against.”

“I’m all for chirping,” I replied, “but not when it crosses the line into racism or misogyny.”

“You mean like a defenseman threatening to follow me into the girls’ locker room and show me how to ‘score’?”

“That would be completely out of line,” I replied.

Nicole smirked, “I had a hat trick in that game and told him I knew how to score just fine!”

“Good comeback, but he was just as out of line as the kids who were taunting Kenny.”

“Those assholes wrecked our season!” she growled.

“I hear that the two Oak Park teams might merge.”

Nicole nodded, “Mikey’s team is short players and our new coach doesn’t want any of those three kids back next year, which hurts because they’re all Juniors and we’re losing six Seniors. Jesse told me that his school made the deal with the private school.”

“Yes. There will be joint tryouts at the end of the Summer. Are you playing in the recreational league over the Summer?”

“Absolutely! Mom is trying to arrange for Jesse, Mikey, and me to be on the same team.”

“Cool. Did Jesse tell you that if they win tomorrow, Samantha will open the box for the entire team for the game against the Hurricanes on March 4th?”

“No! Do you need a date?”

I chuckled, “I think you and Mikey are considered part of the team. But I’d be happy to have you as my guest.”

“Cool! And would you be free after the game?”

“I could be, yes.”

“I think I know the answer to this question, but if I were to start seeing Mikey, you and I would be intimate, but not physical, right?”

I nodded, “That would be the ethical way to handle it, yes. My rule is about people in committed relationships, but you also need to take into account how Mikey would feel about it if he found out.”

“I’d have to tell him, actually. Even before we went out, unless you and I agreed beforehand to stop being physical.”

“Ah, grasshopper, you’ve listened!” I said in a fake ‘Kung Fu’ accent.

Nicole laughed, “That show is pretty goofy, actually, but I like watching it. Nothing will change about mentoring, right?”

“Did it when Natalie was dating John?”

“No. It was just about sexual ethics and everything else stayed the same. I think Mikey has been exposed enough to Cirque du Steve that he won’t have the problems John had!”

“I agree. How do you want to handle it?”

“I suppose the Sunday date after the Hawks game would be the last one, at least for now. If there isn’t a game, would you take me out anyway?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I think I’ll go back upstairs and ask Mikey to dance a few times.”

“I think that’s a good plan.”

“You’re not upset with me in any way, are you? I mean, I don’t think you would be, but I just realized I should make sure.”

“No, I’m not upset at all. The most important part of our relationship isn’t changing.”

Nicole smiled, “That’s what I thought! Now, may I have a hug and a kiss?”

“Of course!”

Nicole moved to my lap and we exchanged a soft kiss, and she cuddled for a couple of minutes, then got up.

“Thanks!” she said.

We left the room and she went back upstairs while I rejoined my wives and friends.

February 24, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“If we lose this game, we’re going to regret it for the rest of our fucking lives!” I said to Mia as we walked into the United Center on Saturday morning.

“The pep talk for the Soviet game?”

“No! It was after the US beat the Soviets and had to play Finland for the gold medal. If you think about it, it only makes sense that way.”

“Oh, yeah, it does.”

“My dad watched those games when he was living in Sweden. He made a bet with a girl that the US would win, too!”

Mia rolled her eyes, “Of course he did! I can guess what SHE offered. What did he offer?”

“It started out as a bet on some games, but eventually on who would medal. Then, during the game with the Soviets, there were offers to double the bet because the US wasn’t getting blown out, but she was sure that the USSR would win. She tried to double when the USSR went ahead 3-2 after Tretiak was pulled and he said he’d have to be dumb or get serious odds to make that kind of bet. That’s when she offered.”