Chapter 8: That’s Evil Genius-Level Stuff!

September 16, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“I swear, the control freaks are taking over the world!” Becka groused about ninety minutes into the Philosophy Club meeting.

“I’m shocked by how things are here, compared to Sweden,” Astrid observed. “It’s very different in Sweden.”

“My time there is where my current worldview began,” I replied.

“We need everyone to be more like Steve!” Claire exclaimed. “He’s the least controlling person on the planet!”

There were numerous murmurs of assent, though not from for Jackson, who started laughing so hard he wrapped his arms around himself to hold his sides. It was a good minute before he stopped laughing enough to speak.

“Seriously?” he asked. “Man, does he have you all fooled!”

“What are you talking about?” Cindi asked.

“You’ve known him for what? Twenty years? And you don’t realize? That just proves my point about how snowed you all are!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Mattie demanded.

“That all of us, me included, are under his spell. But it’s not the way I’m sure all of you think I mean.”

“Then explain!” Mattie ordered.

“He controls each and every one of us, and his kids, too, by merely expecting us to live up to our potential, and we all do our best to do that because we don’t want to disappoint him. We’d all die for him, because he’d die for us. When we miss the mark, we know he’ll be there to pick us up and encourage us, but really, we do our best not to show ANY weakness. So yeah, we’re totally under his control, and I dare ANY of you to deny it. You won’t, for one simple reason - you know how much he loves each and every one of us.”

“But is that really controlling?” Becka countered. “We all act of our own volition. It’s not like he’s taking advantage of any of us, or causing us to do things that aren’t in our best interest. Think about this - the vast majority of the women in this room have slept with him because we wanted to. We all pursued Steve, he didn’t pursue us - wipe that self-satisfied smile off your face, Kara, you’re the outlier!”

“Who? Me?” Kara asked with feigned innocence.

“Yes, you!” Becka laughed. “And newsflash, and I’m not speaking for Steve, nor revealing anything which isn’t public, but for those of you who haven’t been with Steve, and who aren’t in an exclusive relationship, if you want it, ask. The worst thing that can happen is he says ‘no’. That does happen, but it’s the exception, not the rule. The best thing that can happen is hours of mind-blowing sex! I’ve had a lot of really good sex, and some really great sex, but nothing as mind-blowing as having Steve and a girl take my virginity. Guys, sorry, but he’s straight”

Everyone laughed, including me, though I wasn’t thrilled with what Becka had said, even though it was basically true. Actually, not everyone laughed - there was one very sour face in the room - Viv. She had asked and I’d turned her down, though what I’d actually turned down was a place in the Inner Circle, for which she had not been ready, and even if she had, she wasn’t the right person - Natalie was. That might make for an uncomfortable conversation, but she was part of Claire’s group, and I was sure Claire, Becka, and Mattie would speak with her if necessary.

The one bone to pick with Becka, if I really had one, was that there were actually quite a few girls in the group who I hadn’t been with, and who hadn’t shown any interest - Gabby, Elena, Achara, Julie, Luisa, Heidi, Elizabeth, and Sarah. I hadn’t been with Hope, Dyani, Nickie, or Kim, though Dyani had asked and, according to Suzanne, Kim and Nickie would very likely do so. And, of course, there was Viv.

“I see Steve is deep in thought,” Jackson said, “so I need to let Becka know that while what she said is true, she missed the entire point. Well, no, that’s not true. The key part of what she said is ‘mind-blowing’ - THAT is the entire point of what Steve does. For Steve, mindfucking is WAY more important than physical fucking. And there’s a purpose to that mindfucking - it’s to get you to think about a new approach to life, a new way of thinking. And that’s how he controls us! Not by making us do what he wants, but by making us come to terms with ourselves and our relationships to each other and to the universe, which makes us want to be better. Steve?”

“I think you’ve accurately assessed my approach. To put it in more conventional terms, and apply it to my kids, I gave them as much responsibility as they could handle from the time they were toddlers. They knew I expected them to make good decisions, and, for the most part, they have. What keeps my kids in line is NOT the threat of discipline, but the fear of disappointing me.”

“Says the man who doesn’t discipline his kids!” Jessica groused.

“As none of the kids are here, I’ll let all of you in on a secret. I can’t punish the kids more than they punish themselves for disappointing me. Me handing out punishment would be counter-productive and ruin the madness that is my method. You and Kara handing out punishment does exactly one thing - remind the kids how much they disappointed me. The punishment is ONLY effective because of that. Anyone who is a parent who relies solely on punishment will quickly discover just how ineffective it is.”

“That’s evil genius-level stuff, Steve!” Cindi declared, laughing hard. “I mean, seriously evil genius! That’s why NIKA is so successful! You bastard, you’ve been manipulating me for sixteen years!”

“And just how have I done that?” I asked with an evil grin.

“By giving me responsibility and knowing that the last thing I’d want to do is disappoint you. God, that’s SO fucking evil!”

“You have a funny definition of evil!” Claire declared.

“You all know what I mean.”

“But guess what,” I chuckled. “It’s even MORE evil than that!”

“How so?”

“Now that you know, you’ll try even HARDER!”

“Fuck you!” Cindi exclaimed, laughing hard. “This is just sick!”

“And now you know why I’m so pissed off at the infantilization of teenagers. It’s denying them their personhood! It’s denying them their humanity! It’s denying them their potential. They’re not being protected, they’re being destroyed as individuals.”

“Jesus,” Patricia breathed. “It all makes perfect sense. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because I wanted you to figure it out for yourselves. Jackson, I’m not upset with you in any way; you simply stated what you observed, and that’s always OK. For the rest of you, the lesson is NOT in my method for getting the best out of people, but in looking past what seems obvious.”

“May I make one additional point?” Jackson asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Given Becka’s soliloquy, I feel it’s important to point out that for Steve, sex has a different meaning than it does for most people. Steve, OK to continue?”

“At this point?” I asked with a shrug. “Sure. Though, contra Becka, if I were to entertain all of the women in the combined group who I haven’t been with, I’d need one of those deli counter ‘take a number’ machines. Things have changed a bit in the past few years.”

There was soft laughter from most people in the room, which was what I wanted. The last thing I wanted was girls who had no real interest to as feel if they were the only ones who hadn’t had sex with me, and who decided to do it for that reason.

“So, with that caveat, which doesn’t change my point, is that Steve desires to become ‘one flesh’ with his lovers, and that truly only can happen after a meeting of the minds, a Vulcan mind-meld, if you will. That’s when the sex is sublime. That said, from time to time, it does happen the way Becka described. But much more often, sex is delayed until after a complete and thorough mindfuck.”

“You’re a guy!” Tess protested. “How can you know that!”

“ONLY a guy can notice,” Jackson declared. “By observing and watching and talking in the sauna, or over a glass of bourbon. Cindi, and I know I’m not revealing anything which isn’t known to this group, but how long did you two mindfuck?”

Cindi laughed, “Oh, twenty years or so before we actually went to bed together.”

“And?”

“Sublime. Better than it could possibly have been at any point prior to when it actually happened.”

“How did I do, Steve?” Jackson asked.

“Nailed it,” I replied.

He smiled, “That’ll be 5¢ please.”

“He was the only other guy who ever bonded with Steve the way you have, Jackson,” Jessica said quietly.

That seemed like a good place to end, so I asked Jessica and Kara to help me get refreshments and bring them to the great room. I wasn’t surprised when Becka gently touched my arm to indicate she wanted to speak privately. We moved to my study and I shut the door.

“I disappointed you, didn’t I?” she asked, sounding chagrined.

“Five years ago ... no, two years ago, that little speech would have been both appropriate and accurate.”

“Sorry.”

“Learn from it, and resolve to do better in the future.”

“What should I have said?”

“I think, minus the suggesting every girl in the room with a couple of exceptions ask me to take her to bed, it was OK.”

Becka smirked, “So, the worst-case scenario is a dozen chicks ask you to fuck!”

“Is that REALLY the worst-case scenario?” I asked.

Becka was quiet for a moment then frowned, “No. Worst case is one of them asks because she thinks she’s the only one and does it only because I encouraged it, then regrets it afterwards.”

“That’s only one possible ‘worst case’,” I replied. “Jackson corrected you, and he got it exactly right.”

“Mindfucking first, then regular fucking. That’s what you did with me.”

“With the Bible,” I replied with a smirk.

“One piece of advice; get the ‘take a number’ machine.”

I laughed, strongly suspecting she was right. We left the study and rejoined the group. A few minutes later Hope came over to where I was standing with Kara, Jessica, and Suzanne. She had decided to attend despite my suggestion that she wait to read Stranger in a Strange Land. In the end, it had been her decision, and she was certainly mature enough to make that decision, even if she didn’t have a firm foundation on which to stand.

“Boy, my mom wasn’t kidding!” Hope said, shaking her head.

“Are you OK?” Kara asked.

“Oh, yes, sorry, I didn’t mean I was upset. It was exactly what my biological mom told me to expect and exactly what my adoptive parents were afraid would happen.”

“What did your mom say?” Kara asked.

Hope blushed, leaned forward, and whispered in Kara’s ear, causing Kara to burst out laughing.

“Will you come to the next meeting?” Jessica asked.

Hope smiled, “As my mom would say, wild horses couldn’t keep me away! When?”

“October 7th,” I replied.

“I’ll be here. And I’ll see you next Saturday for our mentoring session.”

She left, and a few minutes later, everyone had gone, so my wives, Suzanne, Leigh, and Natalie helped me clean up, and then Suzanne and I went to the kitchen to make dinner. About fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang, and Birgit ran to answer it. She was back a minute later with Amir Khan.

“How was your flight?” I asked after we greeted each other.

“Uneventful, Allah be praised!”

“Birgit, would you let Mrs. Khan and Fatimah know Amir is here?”

“Yes!”

She knocked on the door to the nanny room, waited, then went in. Amir’s wife and daughter came out quickly and greeted him. I sent Birgit to get Yousef, and five minutes later, after profuse thanks, they went across the street, and I returned to making dinner.

September 17, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday morning I was up early so I could walk Jessica to work, then wrote in my journal until it was time to run with Suzanne. After running, I cuddled with Birgit until breakfast, then helped Kara get the kids off to school. Once they’d left, I went to the coach house to make sure the basement had been cleaned up, which it had, then went back to the house to wait for the construction crew from Brown Construction.

“You didn’t ask what Hope whispered in my ear,” Kara said when she joined me in the chaise to cuddle.

“You’re right, I didn’t.”

“You’re so funny, Snuggle Bear!”

“Because I’m patient and generally mind my own business?”

“Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“Yes, but I also know that curiosity killed the cat!”

“Men!” Kara huffed.

“Genetic diversity has its advantages! You’re stuck with two X chromosomes which give you redundancy, which is nice. I have an X and a Y, which is diversity, which is better!”

Kara laughed, “You might want to take a biochemistry course or two, Snuggle Bear. Redundancy makes for fewer genetic defects!”

“And diversity makes life WAY more interesting!”

“You stick with that story, Snuggle Bear!”

“I plan to!” I declared just as the doorbell rang.

“Saved by the bell!” Kara teased as I disentangled from her, got up, and went to the front door.

“Good morning, Mr. Adams,” Gerald Brown said when I had opened the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Brown. You didn’t have to come here yourself for a small remodel job! And at this point, it really ought to be ‘Steve’.”

I extended my hand and we shook.

“My crew is around back waiting. And I’m sure you knew I’d show up.”

I nodded, “I did. Come in, I’ll pour you some coffee, and we can get your men to work.”

He stepped into the house, we went to the kitchen and I poured him some coffee. Kara came in and greeted him.

“We saw your grandkids on the Fourth,” Kara said. “Six now!”

Gerald laughed, “I guess the kids needed something to do in the evenings!”

We all laughed then went out the back door to find the construction crew waiting. I let everyone into the coach house, we went to the basement and after a quick survey by Gerald and the foreman, the crew got to work. Gerald, Kara, and I walked back through the house, he downed the last bit of his coffee, I shook hands with him, and he left.

“Still planning on taking the BMW to work?” I asked.

“Yes,” Kara replied. “I have the ACS lunch in the Loop and I’d rather not have to take the L. They have valet parking, so I can just drive up. I can just make it after my 10:00am polymers class. How long will Dyani be here this morning?”

“She has an 11:00am class.”

“Is this a ‘one-time’ thing?”

“That’s how she presented the question,” I replied. “But Leigh is planning to switch to our dojo, as my student, and she’s staying in the Inner Circle. I obviously made an exception for Suzanne, so I pretty much have to make one for Leigh. And my relationships with my students are my business, not Sensei Jim’s or Will’s. When the time comes for promotion to black belt, I’ll ask Ichirou-san, Sharon, and Will to serve as the promotion board.”

“Not you?”

I shook my head, “Will and I agreed that we would nominate our students for promotion when they’re ready, but not be part of their promotion board. Will cleared it with Hideki-san.”

“That actually makes sense. It’s more like how we handle our Master’s and PhD candidates. Anyway, I need to get going so I can fill the empty heads of Freshmen with chemical formulae while you fill something VERY different.”

We both laughed.

“Cute.”

“About Hope - I think if I tell you what she whispered, you’ll know why she decided to show up yesterday, despite your suggestion that she wait until she’d read the book and discussed it with you.”

“Despite your chromosomal deficiency, that actually makes sense.”

Kara laughed and shook her head, “You’re not going to let that go, are you? Despite it being scientifically inaccurate!”

“Well, it may be anecdotal, but in MY experience, it has to be the Y chromosome and testosterone that are responsible for logic, because it’s SORELY lacking for those who have no Y chromosome and only minimal testosterone!”

“Now you sound like Jesse!”

I chuckled, “Like son like father!”

“In more ways than one! So, what Sandy told Hope was that if she chose to attend the Philosophy Club, she wouldn’t be a virgin by Christmas break. I’d say, based on everything, Sandy encouraged Hope to get to know you for the same reason she and Ruth approached you.”

“Which fits with the discussion Hope and I had on Saturday. She even referenced her mom and Ruth; her comment was that she was setting that option aside ‘for the moment’.”

“She wants to be mindfucked first, and yesterday was a good start.”

“Exactly. This isn’t about rebellion; it’s about exploring the world and blossoming into a real person, not a zombie or puppet.”

“I know you won’t do it, but it would be poetic for Kent van der Meer to find out that both his daughter AND his granddaughter surrendered their ‘virtue’ to you!”

“Why would I even consider THINKING about that man, let alone talking to him.”

“I said you wouldn’t, just that it would be poetic justice!”

“No troublemaking, Kara,” I warned.

“Who? Me?” she asked in her lilting ‘feigned innocence’ voice.

“Yes, you!”

“Kiss me! It’s time for me to leave!”

“Words I’d never expect to hear from you! It’s always ‘kiss me and take me to bed!’”

“Whatever!”

“And now YOU sound like Birgit!”

Kara laughed, “Jesse and Birgit are certainly your kids!”

“MY kids?”

“Jesse sure isn’t mine!”

“No, but Birgit is, and she’s more and more like you every day!”

“I wonder if that’s what I would have been like if my dad had been more like you.”

“Something we have no way of finding out!”

“True.”

Kara grabbed her bag, took the keys to my BMW from the hook in the kitchen, and then we walked out to the car. We hugged, kissed, and Kara got into the car. Once she’d driven away, I went back into the house to wait for Dyani, who arrived promptly at 8:00am as we’d planned.

“That was a very interesting discussion yesterday,” Dyani said after we greeted each other.

“It did go a bit off the rails towards the end.”

“I’m not sure that’s true. I knew your approach to sexuality and intimate relations, and I’d never been to one of your gatherings. The part I thought was ‘interesting’ was the interaction between your friend Becka and your friend Jackson. They have very different pictures of you, but it’s a matter of small nuances, not a gaping chasm. Is your friend Jackson married?”

“Just recently. I actually performed the ceremony in Saint Martin when I was there.”

“You?”

“It’s my third one, though the first one wasn’t technically legal - it was between the mother to my eldest son and her wife.”

“Every time I’m around you, I discover something new, like peeling an onion. In fact, that metaphor works for yesterday - Jackson has peeled off a few more layers.”