Chapter 13: Predictions

June 16, 1981, West Monroe, Ohio

Tuesday was a very odd day. I couldn't remember when our entire family was home on a weekday. It was even odder because Jocelyn and Emmy were at the house as well. My parents had relented on that, allowing us to have our friends with us. I'd argued that both Jocelyn and Emmy knew everything and that Liz needed the support. In the end, Mom had allowed me to call them.

"So what happens today?" Jocelyn said when she arrived just after 9:00am.

"Phil is going to arrest the guy at work in the next few minutes," I said. "Then he's sending Deputy Sanderson to talk to Liz. My dad called our lawyer last night, and he'll be here when Liz gives her statement. I guess my dad is considering a civil suit as well."

"Wow," Jocelyn said. "I hadn't even thought about something like that. On what grounds?"

"I have no idea. You're the future lawyer!"

"Yeah, but I haven't done the same stuff you have. You were at the library at least once a week reading medical stuff. You're pretty fanatical about learning as much as you can in advance."

"The MCAT is a hundred times tougher than the GRE and probably ten times tougher than the LSAT. No disrespect, but getting into medical school is WAY tougher than getting into law school. And then there's the issue of Matching with the right hospital. I intend to be the first choice of whatever hospital I decide is best for my training."

"The Bar Exam is no picnic."

"I know, but you can work and get a job before you take it. The 'Match' isn't like that. If you don't Match, you're done."

"I know you well enough to know you have a backup plan."

"The Navy or Army, though I'd prefer the Navy of those two."

"But then you'd be overseas, maybe for years!" Jocelyn protested.

"And I'd come back here when I'd served however many years are required. But it's a backup plan that I do not expect to have to use. Which is why I've been so fanatical about everything taking a backseat to my goal. Karate suffers because, ultimately, it only contributes in a minor way towards my goal. School and work were WAY more important."

"You aren't going to have much time for anything but school, work, and karate."

"If you're worried about me having time for you, don't. I will MAKE time for you even if I have to force the earth's rotation to slow down to make the days longer."

"You and Superman?" she laughed.

Our conversation was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

"Here we go," I said quietly.

We stayed in the kitchen where we had been sitting drinking tea. Liz and Emmy were in Liz's room, but there was no way I was going to risk taking Jocelyn to my room under the current circumstances, even with the door wide open. Tensions were, understandably, a bit high in the house. I could see the front door from where I was sitting and saw my dad let Deputy Denise Sanderson into the house. She had graduated about ten years earlier, and her little brother had graduated two years ahead of us.

"Let's go to the basement," I said. "That will give them free rein to sit wherever they need to."

Jocelyn and I went to the basement, and I took the cover off the pool table.

"I thought we were waiting for me to play with your stick and balls!" she teased. "And for you to shoot into the center pocket!"

"Jocelyn Mills!" I gasped. "When did YOU start talking like that?"

"About ten seconds ago!" she laughed. "I've THOUGHT stuff like that before, but I never wanted to lead Carl on. Or Neil before him. You can't tell me you haven't thought stuff like that!"

I sighed, "I actually can. My sister is totally right about me being a 'goody two-shoes'."

Jocelyn walked over to me and put her hand on my arm, "And if you weren't, we wouldn't be where we are in our relationship. Think about it."

I nodded, "You pretty much have the same standards I do. And despite the stuff we said last night, so does Dale. In fact, once he gets laid the first time, I bet you anything, his standards move closer to ours."

Jocelyn shook her head, "No. He's not controlled enough. Think about it, Mike. He's going to get it once and then go through as many girls as he can. You're too close, so to speak. And a guy. I get the vibe. It's why Stacey, ultimately, isn't going to do it with him. She wants to, but she knows she'll just be the first notch in his belt or on his bedpost."

"You really think so?"

She nodded, "Yes. I hate to say this, but Dale isn't who you think he is. He hasn't been since we turned fourteen."

I sighed, "I suspect you're right. His focus is on getting laid. His rejection of everything around here we love. And it did start around age fourteen. He actually has more in common with Liz in that regard. I think she'll decide to go to college halfway across the country and never look back. And that makes me sad."

"Why does your dad live in West Monroe?"

"Because it's my mom's hometown," I said. "He'd really prefer a big city, but this is where Mom wants to be because of her family and church. And the lifestyle."

"Who does your sister take after?" Jocelyn smiled.

"My dad, of course. She has his temper, looks like his sister, and generally thinks the way he does."

"And you take after your mom, to the point you can't tell the difference between your pictures as a little kid and your grandfather's, except for the Ural Mountains in the background of his pictures."

"Not to mention the «Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи» (Vsesoyúznyy léninskiy kommunistícheskiy soyúz molodozhi) uniform!" I chuckled.

"Is this what the rest of my life will be like?" she frowned but then laughed to show the frown was fake.

"I was teasing, and you know it! He was wearing the uniform of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. But he and Grandma got out of the Soviet Union in 1936 when they were eighteen or so. They married as soon as they arrived in New York via Paris and had my mom three years later. They moved to West Monroe about three years later when they had her brother. They, and the Orlovs and the elder Antonovs, started the church we attend in 1940."

"How does that work?"

"They started meeting for prayers on Sunday mornings because there was no local church. They talked to a bishop in Pittsburgh who arranged for a priest to visit once a month to bring them the Eucharist. When there were ten families, the bishop created what's called a mission and assigned a priest. It became a full church in 1962 when enough Russian families had moved to the area. They had some converts, too. And people like my dad who married in. And, eventually, the large diocese that covered the Midwest was split, and Ohio had its own bishop."

"Your parents met at the University of Illinois, right?"

"Yes. If you remember, my dad is from a city called Naperville, west of Chicago. He wanted to go back, but Mom obviously convinced him to come here. Your parents are both from here, went to college, got together, and came back. Kind of like we've been discussing."

"But they didn't quite go together. They both went to UC, but she hadn't liked him in High School. She thought he was too much of a jock. You've seen all those trophies in the display case at the High School he and the team won about twenty years ago. The college team at UC wasn't nearly as good. Anyway, they had a class together during their Junior year, were assigned to the same small group for some project, and you know what happened!"

"You!" I chuckled.

"They really struggled to graduate and take care of me. I think I'm the only kid I know who attended her parents' wedding!"

"The Summer between their Junior and Senior years, right? You were like two months old."

"Yes. Their Senior year was really tough. My mom's parents basically disowned her. My dad's parents helped them out so they could both graduate."

"But your mom's parents are cool now."

"It took some time, but once they had a grandkid close by, it was kind of tough to be jerks about it."

"You never told me how that, uh, developed."

"I didn't know until a few weeks ago when Mom finally told me! They were supposed to meet for their study group, so Dad went to her dorm and just walked into her room. She was standing there totally naked. She squealed, and he ran out of the room. A minute later, she came to find him, dressed, of course, and brought him back to the room. They ended up laughing about it, and she joked he owed her a look. You know how much of a smart aleck my dad can be, right? Well, he stood up, stripped off his clothes, and fifteen minutes later, I was on my way!"

"No way!" I laughed.

"Mom said they were really scared at first, especially because it was just a physical thing. But then she realized what a good man he was and decided they should marry. He felt responsible for the whole thing, so he agreed. And seventeen years later, they're still happily married."

"Hmm. Sex, a baby, THEN dating and marriage. I think my parents would have a stroke."

"And so would mine. Mom's comment was that she does not advise that course of action!"

"Having a kid out of wedlock while in college? That would put a serious crimp in either of our career plans. That said, I'm really thinking about what Tasha said to me."

"About doing it on your own?"

I nodded, "Yes. But the problem is, just how bad would it be for my girlfriend, or fiancée, or wife, whichever we're talking about?"

"It's the same for me, at least during law school. If you don't study pretty much all the time, you don't get good grades. When I talked to the attorney who came to Career Day at school, he said most law school students have no life except for their study groups."

"So we'd have no life together?" I chuckled.

Jocelyn laughed, "We could always get degrees in accounting or business or whatever."

"Thanks; no. You couldn't do that any more than I could."

"True. My goal is to be the one to lock up people like the guy who abused your sister."

"Hang on," I said, putting down the pool cue. "She wasn't abused. Is he a «мудак» (mudak)? Absolutely. But how can you say Liz was abused when she sought him out, initiated the physical relationship by kissing him, and made all the dates?" ("asshole")

"You don't think he's abusive?"

"You know, I'm not sure. I mean, what he did was wrong, and he should have known better. And it was illegal because the age of consent is sixteen. I actually turned him in more because he was a cheating «мудак» (mudak) than because he had sex with a teenager."

"Interesting. I suppose, knowing you, that makes sense."

"If there had been coercion or he'd done anything to physically hurt her or mistreated her in any way, well, besides having sex with her when she was fourteen, then I'd say he abused her. But I guess it's a fine line."

"You agree he should be in jail?"

"I agree the law says he should be in jail. I don't know my opinion on the law because I don't know enough about it. Do you?"

She shook her head, "Not yet. But we both agree that we need government, taxes, and laws to keep society functioning. We just don't like the process!"

I chuckled, "Now, there's an understatement if I ever heard one. I guess it's possible for the law to go too far and possible for the government to take too much in taxes, but that's all a matter of degrees, I think. You and I are more or less moderates. Sure, we preferred Reagan to Carter, but that wasn't really a choice."

"No, it wasn't. Do you think we should have socialized medicine?"

I shrugged, "I guess it depends on what you mean by that and how it would work. Ask me again in ten years when I actually see the system from the inside. I expect to have a much different opinion then, compared to what I do now! I bet you will experience the same thing with courts and laws."

"I think you're right. Pick up the cue, Mike. Put that stick to good use!"

"Which one?" I smirked.

"Mike Loucks, did you just make a risqué comment?" Jocelyn teased.

"You started it!" I countered.

Jocelyn laughed, "Do you remember that from second grade? When we had our first spat? You said that to me, and I said, 'Did not!' and then you said, 'Did too!' and we went on like that until Mrs. Stevens sent us to stand in separate corners?"

"I don't even remember what the spat was about!" I chuckled.

"Me neither! But I remember our moms telling us to hug and make up, and we both stood there with our arms crossed and refused."

"I got in SO much trouble at home that day! My mom was so ticked at how I was behaving!"

"Mine too! We were mad at each other for a week."

"And then we met Dale," I said.

"You started talking to him, and I was afraid I was going to lose my best friend. So I came over to you and said I was sorry and kissed you on the cheek."

I smiled, "That is one of the highlights of my childhood. I really was afraid we would hate each other forever. And now we can't even remember why we had our little tiff."

"Can I ask you something?" Jocelyn asked, putting down her cue and coming close to me.

"Anything."

"What are you going to tell Emmy?"

I shook my head, "Nothing. She and I are not steady. She knows I have dinner with Tasha Antonov on Wednesdays, and she didn't ask me not to date when I eventually move to McKinley. It's like with Dale. If you and I start dating or get engaged, or move in together, or whatever, then we'll tell the world. What you offered, and what I gratefully accepted, is a stand-alone thing. Well, unless you tell me otherwise."

Jocelyn sighed, "I can't right now. I'm going to be away. It wouldn't be fair to you. I know you, Mike Loucks; you'd wait for me and never even go on a date. Let's just take it one step at a time. OK?"

I nodded, "OK. You know how I feel. I know how you feel. And I'm going to find out JUST how good you feel soon enough!"

Jocelyn laughed and swatted my arm lightly, "You brat!"

"I feel free around you, Jos. You won't judge me or look down on me."

"Is this the real you coming out now?" she asked.

"I don't know. Talk to me in five or six months when I've been out of my parents' house, and I've settled on a new style, so to speak. One that obviously would be influenced by my parents, but one that no longer needs their approval."

"That's not true, and you know it! You will always crave your mom's approval. Fortunately, I don't think she's ever withheld it. She didn't last night."

I smiled, "No, she didn't. She had to work within the parameters my dad would accept, but I know my mom approves of me making sure this was resolved properly. She'll talk to me, but it's going to be about advice and how to think about stuff like this. My dad, on the other hand, will have a very different opinion."

"But you've never really been in serious trouble with them. You're a pretty good kid. Just like I am. Or your friend Tasha, from what you say. Even Dale doesn't get in TOO much trouble."

I chuckled, "Really, it was just when he got caught with Anne in his room at midnight when he was sixteen!"

"Which got him both grounded AND slapped!" Jocelyn said.

I nodded, "He pushes too hard. It's like, I don't know, hormone overload."

"Testosterone poisoning!" Jocelyn laughed.

"Good one! Mind if I use that?"

"Not at all. Your dose seems more controlled."

"I wouldn't be so sure," I chuckled.

"Uh-oh!" Jocelyn laughed.

Emmy came down to the basement and walked over to where we were.

"We're supposed to go for a walk or something. The deputy just left, and your parents want to talk to Liz alone."