Chapter 60: Loki Will Interfere!

January 4, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

I returned to the house and found Jackson had refilled his bourbon glass and set a mug of hot Earl Grey on my side of the small table which was between the two leather chairs.

“Thanks,” I said, sitting down and then picking up the mug.

“You’re welcome,” he said as I settled in. “I haven’t said it directly before, but I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart for molding Holly into the woman she is today. And for everything you’ve done for me, as well.”

“Cindi had her hand, but thank you.”

Jackson grinned, “It wasn’t her hand! Well, it was ... but never mind!”

“Understood,” I replied.

“I’m sure you know we’re a very happy couple,” Jackson continued. “And I think we wouldn’t have come together as well as we have without going through the process. Holly had a head-start and, as I see it, she had a lot more inhibitions and preconceptions to get over before she could accept the way forward. When we started studying together, it was just two classmates getting together to hit the books.

“At that point, I think she was really mulling over what she’d been learning in the rap sessions, as you called them then, and she began telling me about them and the topics that were discussed. Many of the ideas resonated, as they were things I’d been thinking, but couldn’t really put into words. At first, she was extremely careful about revealing too much about the Circus, but eventually, she opened up more about the people and the way all of you lived your lives.

“It was an interesting situation for me. Here I was, a college guy, with a girl opening up to me as if I was another girl, not as a guy with potentially ‘other’ thoughts and designs on her. I have to admit, those thoughts did occur, but I didn’t make a move on her because I was pretty sure that would have spoiled the whole interaction, and in hindsight, I’m positive it would have. That had to wait for the proper confluence of time and events.

“Anyway, as we kept meeting to study and talk, I became more interested in how this conservative and shy girl was basically rejecting her upbringing, and how she wanted to ‘go out into the world’ and experience new ideas and, it was increasingly obvious, sex. I was attracted to her, as I said, and I wanted to spend more and more time with her. But, at the same time, I wasn’t particularly eager to commit to anyone, because I had my own ideas and wanted to experience ‘life’. Between our conversations, and later the rap sessions, I became much more comfortable with being around her and opening myself up to her as she had been doing with me.

“Because of all of that, Holly and I were never physically intimate, despite becoming more and more intellectually and spiritually intimate. I know NOW that’s the right approach, but I had the same wrongheaded notion about intimacy that the rest of the world outside the Compound has. All we shared was a friendly hug, and the occasional kiss on the cheek, which, surprisingly, are very intimate if approached through YOUR view of intimacy.

“Something told me to wait, and it was weird, because I was sure she was a virgin, just as I was, but I somehow intuitively knew we wouldn’t be each other’s first. I can’t say why, it just, I don’t know, felt wrong, I guess. Both of us needed what I later learned was ‘mindfucking’ before we actually had sex. You delivering me to Cindy was a stroke of genius.”

Jackson stopped to take a sip of bourbon, then continued.

“It was also a LOT of fun! But weirdly, while she taught me about sex, how great it was, and how to please my partner, the most important thing she taught me was about the responsibilities of sex and relationships. I know it’s OK to share this with you, but at first, we didn’t have sex, which was weird because we slept together, naked, the first night just talking and kissing. The next night, on the other hand, was Sex 101, and after that, I received the master course! She said, during one of our intimate conversations, that it was the way she’d handled things with your friend Jorge.

“Holly has it exactly right that an expertly fucked Holly and a well-taught Jackson would make a perfect couple, while the virgin versions of ourselves could never have made it work. It turns out, and I know you’ll understand, that we never ‘fell in love’. When we first got together, sex was about consummating our intimacy, but more importantly, consummating the mindfucking we’d undergone.

“And, because of your insights, we weren’t two sexually innocent kids figuring things out for the first time, but the product of two people having been shown the ropes by experienced guides to which we both hold the deepest gratitude. We committed to explore each other, and decided to love each other, whatever that means. Sexually, we’re monogamous, out of choice as I said earlier, which we’ve talked about, and while we haven’t promised eternal exclusivity, we found that neither of us really wants to explore an open relationship.

“We’re comfortable with each other, and don’t have the desire to ‘broaden’ our horizons beyond what we can do together. As I’m sure you’re aware, there are plenty of options for variety, and we’ve explored some with others left for some point in the future. Most certainly, neither of our imaginations have been dulled, and we’re always intrigued to hear about what others are doing. Your openness in that regard is an amazing benefit.”

He raised his glass and I raised my mug in response.

“So,” Jackson continued, “I consider myself extremely fortunate in being your male confidant, a role that was ably filled by Jorge, someone I would have loved to know.”

He raised his glass towards Jorge’s picture which stood on the credenza behind my desk, next to those of Don Joseph and Stephie.

“There’s a lot of him in you,” I said. “And others have noticed it, too. That’s very likely the most important reason why we’ve grown close. Some of your reactions and comments have been almost spot-on with what he might have said.”

“One major difference is that I don’t have anything remotely resembling his artistic abilities. I’ve done a bit of doodling, and tried some sketches. Holly appreciates the ‘What if?’ sketches I’ve done for her. And, I hear enough commotion to know that the women are back!”

I chuckled, “They do make themselves known! How many have you had?”

“Two!” he said with a smirk. “Cindi and Holly! But you meant booze, obviously. I’ve had enough that I wouldn’t drive, but I’m taking the L.”

“Then let me give you a lift.”

“Thanks.”

January 5, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

“Is something bothering you, «Tesoro»?” Mr. Felipe asked at the dojo on Saturday morning.

“No,” I replied carefully, wondering why he thought that.

“I don’t think you’re being honest with me,” he said gently. “Mom or Dad?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, because he’d hit the nail on the head.

“Mom,” I said quietly, not wanting her to hear.

“Your mother is a wonderful woman, and I can’t imagine what you might think she is doing wrong.”

‘Everything!’ I wanted to reply, but I knew he’d never accept that.

“Not you, too!” I replied, rolling my eyes.

He smiled, “We all challenge our parents, though I suspect you don’t challenge your dad.”

“Oh yes, she does!” Dad exclaimed, having heard as he walked to his spot at the front of the dojo.

“Are you complaining to Mr. Felipe?” Mom asked.

I stifled a groan.

“I asked her what was bothering her,” Mr. Felipe replied. “She seemed a bit out of sorts, even for a teenager!”

“Hey!” I protested.

“I wonder if you even realize what’s happened?” he asked with a silly smile.

“I’m a woman!” I said firmly.

“Actually,” Felipe continued with a smirk, “you aren’t even you!”

“What do you mean?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

“Careful with your next words, Felipe-san,” Dad said. “You’re in the ‘death stare’ zone!”

“Lasers, of course,” he chuckled. “Over the years, I’ve developed a hypothesis that I think is borne out by what I’m seeing here - Abduction.”

“Abduction?” Dad asked.

“Yes, abduction,” Mr. Felipe confirmed with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s my working hypothesis, based on my observations over the decades, that teenage girls are generally abducted by aliens around ages 13 to 14, and replaced with evil clones!”

“Hey!” I protested, looking daggers at him.

“Those evil clones,” he continued, “are programmed to be triggered randomly and cause parental distress at inopportune moments, driving said parental units to the edge of distraction, if not outright to the crazy farm!”

“You might have a point,” Mom said.

“Dad?!” I exclaimed.

“Don’t look at me, Pumpkin, it’s not MY theory!”

I narrowed my eyes and gave Dad the ‘death stare’.

“Fortunately,” Mr. Felipe said with a big smile, “around age 19 or 20, the evil clones are withdrawn, and the originals are returned, generally more calm and mature.”

“I think he has a point,” Sensei Jim chuckled. “Which is why I thank my lucky stars I had two boys!”

“What is this,” I fumed, “pick on Birgit day?”

“I don’t believe he was picking on you, Pumpkin, but on teenage girls in general!”

I almost said ‘Not the ones you like to fuck!’, but I would be in HUGE trouble if I were to say that at the dojo.

“And we have two more to deal with!” Mom said, shaking her head.

“Hey!” Stephie and Ashley both protested.

“Oh, look what you did now,” Dad said. “You just activated THEIR circuits and now we have THREE ‘evil clones’ to deal with!”

“Hey!” my sisters and I objected at once.

“And this is where I make my escape to the front of the class!” Sensei Jim declared.

“Coward!” Mom said with a smirk.

“I know which battles to fight, and which to avoid, unlike the REMFs when I was in Vietnam.”

“Or during the Cuban Revolution,” Felipe agreed.

Dad and I were going to have words when we got home, that was for sure. And as for Mom, well, she was even further on the Wicked Witch of the West scale than she had been before. And I was NOT happy with Mr. Felipe! Of course, I couldn’t SAY anything, or Mom would lose her shit again! Sensei Jim called the class to attention, and after our moment of silence, he called me to lead exercises.

🎤 Steve

“I’m not sure I’d have walked into THAT minefield,” Sensei Jim said after class.

“All he did was ask Birgit what was bugging her.”

“If you haven’t learned in twenty-five years of dating and marriage that you NEVER ask that question if you don’t already know the answer, you’re not as wise as I thought you were!”

I chuckled, “It’s not about knowing the answer, it’s about being ready to apologize for whatever it is that’s wrong, whether or not it’s actually your fault!”

Sensei Jim laughed, “There is some truth to that! I guess you aren’t as much of a «jävla idiot» as your daughter thinks!”

“Oh yes, I am!” I chuckled. “In HER mind!”

“But she’s not actually going to do anything to mess up the relationship with you. She has her sights firmly set on her mother as the source of all that is wrong with her world!”

“If there were anything actually wrong with Birgit’s world, she might have a point! This is just Birgit staking out her territory. And Mom is the ‘invader’.”

“Do you have the ‘king of the hill’ problem with your boys?” Sensei Jim asked.

“No, because Jesse lives with his moms, Matthew and Michael live with their mom and her boyfriend, and Albert is as squared away as any of my military friends, including you and Robert-san!”

“He’s the future Eagle Scout, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll let you deal with the Empress of the Universe!”

“In her own mind, anyway,” I chuckled.

I bowed, then joined Kara, Suzanne, and my daughters for the walk home. Kara and I went up to the master bedroom to shower.

“I thought the armistice was holding,” I said as I got into the shower. “Do you know what she said to Felipe?”

“No. But Katy sent me an IM saying that Birgit was probably suffering from PMS. Katy suggested Midol, and I guess Birgit got some from Jennifer.”

“And you’re annoyed she didn’t come talk to you about it, aren’t you?”

“A bit, but it follows your blanket permission for the kids to have an adult in whom they can confide.”

“Do you have a problem with Jennifer giving her drugs?”

“No. I mean, I wouldn’t object to any of our close friends giving our kids Advil, and Midol is basically the same.”

“Has she talked to you at all about it?”

“No. The last conversation we had was when she had her first period, and that was mostly reminders about proper hygiene because she already knew everything else.”

“OK. I’ll chalk it up to her being moody and let it go unless she says something.”

“She did NOT appreciate Felipe’s comment!”

I chuckled, “Neither did our other daughters! The brothers would wholeheartedly agree!”

“Boys are just mutants!” Kara declared.

“And you like MY mutation!” I exclaimed.

“I do!” Kara declared, stepping into the shower with me.

🎤 Jesse

“What are you and Adi doing today?” Mom One asked when I came into the kitchen late on Saturday morning.

“Having lunch and then hanging out. Remember, we have dinner tonight with the Kennedys.”

“It’s on the calendar.”

“Ah, I see how it is! It’s OK for YOU to remind ME of things on the calendar, but not the other way around!”

“Forget it, Ducky! I am not playing that game with you!”

“You’re just no fun, Mom One!”

“Mom Two thinks so! Your dad still thinks so sixteen years later, without any actual evidence!”

“Uh-huh,” I replied flatly.

“What are you making for lunch?”

“Curried chicken with rice,” I replied. “I was going to start now.”

“That’s fine. I was just getting the pie in the oven for tonight’s dessert.”

“What kind?”

“Blueberry.”

“Cool. Ice cream?”

“Vanilla bean.”

“Excellent!”

Mom One left the kitchen and I went to the fridge to get the chicken and butter, then got the other ingredients I needed from various cupboards. Thirty minutes later, it was ready, and a minute after that, Adi arrived.

“Hi!” she exclaimed when I opened the door.

We exchanged a quick kiss and then went to the kitchen table to eat.

“Did you make this?” she asked after she tasted it.

“Yes. My dad taught me to cook, starting when I was five. Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s really good!”

“Thanks.”

“What are we doing after?”

“Dishes!” I exclaimed.

Adi laughed, “You do that, too?”

“Sure. And my laundry, and I clean my room, and help with other stuff around the house. All my siblings do.”

“Most boys I know don’t do any of that stuff.”

“I’m not ‘most boys’!”

“So, after we wash the dishes, what are we going to do?”

“It’s up to you, really. We have a bunch of movies, a couple of game consoles, a pool table in my dad’s house, and a bunch of board games. Or we could just hang out and listen to music.”

Adi didn’t answer, so I just kept eating. When we finished, she thanked me for the meal, and then we did the dishes together.

“What movies do you have?” Adi asked when we finished.

“Let’s go downstairs and I can show you what we have here, and if there’s nothing you want to see, there are plenty more in the main house.”

We went to the basement and I found out she’d never seen The Princess Bride so I put that one in and we sat down on the couch to watch.

[Cincinnati, Ohio] 🎤 Matthew

“When can we see each other again?” Chelsea asked as I packed my things.

“Ask if you can visit over Presidents’ Day weekend. I’m positive it’s OK with my mom.”

“OK. We do have one very important thing to resolve.”

“What?”

“How much closet space I get in our room at your house!”

I laughed, “Maggie warned me about that! Half the closet, and I asked Eduardo to get a second dresser from IKEA for my room that will be all yours.”

“What’s IKEA?”

“A Swedish furniture store. It’s inexpensive but really nice. You put it together yourself. They opened a store in Schaumburg, which is north of where we live in Aurora, in 1998. Dad bought all the furniture for Jesse’s basement hangout there. The store is seriously huge. We can check it out when you visit.”

“So, Maggie, huh?”

I grinned, “I need all the help I can get!”

“Oh, please! I am about as low maintenance as possible! I make no demands!”

“Orgasms?”

Chelsea giggled, “OK, besides those! But I give as good as I get!”

“True!”

“So she knows we’re sleeping together?”

“I’m sure she suspects, but it was a general conversation about relationships. Females are ... complicated.”

Chelsea laughed, “And boys are simple?”

I shrugged, “I’m even more low maintenance than you are! But I’m sure girls have as much trouble understanding guys as guys do understanding girls.”

“Don’t you think it’s about communication?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And we communicate really well, right?”

I grinned, “You’ve always been VERY clear about what you wanted!”

“Are you complaining?”

“Hmm...” I smirked, then quickly said, “No, of course not! Not now, anyway!”

“Kids, it’s time to leave for the airport!” Aunt Jennie called out.

I zipped up my suitcase, fastened the small padlock which wouldn’t stop a toddler, but would keep the zippers from coming undone, and Chelsea and I left her room so we could head to Greater Cincinnati Airport.

[Chicago, Illinois] 🎤 Jesse

Adi really enjoyed the movie, and we cuddled and kissed a bit while watching it. It was obvious from the way she reacted that she wanted to do more than kiss, but I was concerned about what she’d expect from me afterwards. One thing was for sure, and that was a long-term relationship wasn’t possible unless she was willing to become Orthodox. And even if she were ultimately willing to convert, I wasn’t interested in a steady relationship.

I had, during the course of the week, effectively gotten my dad out of my head, and no longer felt bound to a strategy which limited which girls I might be with, though I didn’t want to let it get out of control, and I certainly wanted to avoid the kinds of drama that Dad had gone through. That meant, in my estimation, not having sex with every girl who offered, nor chasing after every girl who might be available.