Chapter 24: A Birthday Surprise

October 31, 1981, Chicago, Illinois

“I totally forgot tonight was Halloween!” I said as we got off the L near Tom’s apartment.

“What?” Lily asked, “You don’t think it’s normal to see witches, ghosts, and goblins on the streets of Chicago?”

I chuckled, “The truly scary things in Chicago are the Outfit and corrupt politicians! There was another article today about corruption, this time in the courts.”

“Dad says Chicago is a great city and it works because everyone knows who to pay off and who to ask when you need to get something done.”

“That just sounds wrong to me,” I said, shaking my head.

“Well, it’s been like that ever since my parents moved here in the early 60s. But let’s forget that and have fun!”

“Deal!”

I took her hand and led her up to Tom’s apartment where he, Maria, Stuart, and Kelly were. Tom invited us in, we got drinks then plopped down on the love seat.

“Did you hear #1 Penn State was upset 17-14, by unranked Miami, Florida, that is?” Stuart asked.

I shook my head, “No. I didn’t have the radio or TV on at all today, and we took the L to get here. Do you know how Ohio State did?”

“They beat Purdue 45-33. Cincinnati beat Tulane 17-13. And the Ilini beat Iowa 24-7.”

“If I can interrupt,” Tom said, “What do you guys want on your pizza?”

“We’re cool with anything except anchovies or green peppers,” I said, having checked with Lily on the way over.

In the end, sausage and pepperoni won out, which didn’t surprise me as it seemed to be the ‘standard’ pizza if you didn’t go for the ‘Supreme’, or what Stuart called ‘garbage pizza’. Tom ordered the pizza, then sat down in his recliner, where Maria quickly snuggled in his lap.

“How was training this week?” I asked.

“We’re about halfway done with the firefighter training. We’ve actually started practical training.”

“By which he means lugging hose reels from the ground to the top of the drying tower!” Stuart said ruefully. “I thought I was in good shape!”

“When do you find out your station assignment?”

“At graduation. They really can’t decide until they know who’s going to make it. Tom won’t get his assignment until he completes the paramedic course in March.”

“OK, now I remember you guys saying all that. Where’s Dustin?”

“Shooting a wedding,” Tom said. “How’s work going?”

“I had a run-in with one of the new Suits, but hopefully it’ll blow over.”

“What did you do?”

“Followed procedures,” I said, shaking my head. “He was called on the carpet for violating policy and decided to try to make it out as if I was the problem. My boss says it’s going to be OK, but I’m putting together a résumé just in case, and enrolling at Circle to take one class starting in January.”

“Covering all your bases?” Maria asked.

“Exactly. A friend of mine suggested looking for a new job, just in case, and she also suggested that enrolling in college, even part-time, would look good on my résumé.”

“What are you going to take?”

“Probably Finance Accounting,” I replied. “What I learn can be applied directly to what I want to eventually do.”

“Didn’t you have a sponsor who could run interference for you?” Tom asked.

“Unfortunately, my sponsor is the one who brought this new guy in, so I’m not sure. And that’s the real concern. If he blackballs me, I’m stuck and can’t move up from the mailroom. That would be the main reason to find a new job. There are other companies like Spurgeon in Chicago. I don’t want to have to change jobs, but if I’m blocked from advancing, I might have to.”

“That blows,” Stuart said. “But you can’t fight the moneymakers any more than you can fight City Hall.”

“The firefighters union seems to do pretty well,” Kelly said. “And the police union, too.”

“What do you do, Kelly?” Lily asked.

“I’m a clerk in the police records department. You’re still in High School, right?”

“Yes. I’m a Senior. I’ll be going to Circle next Fall.”

“What major?”

“I haven’t decided,” Lily replied. “I’m going to take the core curriculum for a BS degree, and then decide sometime during my second year.”

“How are the wedding plans coming along?” I asked.

“The church and hall are reserved,” Maria replied, “the music and photography are set as well.”

“Dustin?”

“Yes, of course! And the music is a DJ company — Stacks O’ Wax. The guy who’ll do our wedding is their best DJ.”

“So what’s left to do?” Lily asked.

“Get the invitations printed, find a dress, and decide on tuxes for Tom’s groomsmen. My sister and I are going dress shopping next weekend.”

“And Tom and I are going hunting with our dads in Wisconsin,” Stuart said. “Jonathan, if you have a tent and a rifle, you’re welcome to join us.”

“No tent, and my rifle is back home in Ohio. I was concerned about bringing it here.”

“Rifles are cool so long as you get a state ID card. You should apply for one. It takes about two weeks to get it, and it’s good for five years. Then you can bring your gun back with you.”

“I only have a .22 which I used for rabbits; I used to borrow a .308 from a neighbor to hunt deer.”

“Well, we go every year, so next year, if you have what you need, you’re welcome to join us. Guys only.”

“I kind of guessed from the ‘dads and sons’ theme,” I replied. “I have other things to worry about in the short term, but I appreciate the invitation.”

We had a great time, though we had to leave early enough to ensure that Lily was home on time, allowing for the CTA’s usual delays, even outside of rush hour. When we arrived home, I walked Lily to the door of the house.

“See you tomorrow for dinner at my uncle’s house,” I said.

“Just come knock on the door when he shows up.”

“Will do!”

We exchanged a nice kiss, she went inside, and I went up to my apartment.

November 1, 1981, Chicago, Illinois

“Uncle Alec, this is Lily, my girlfriend,” I said, as we got into his Mercedes. “Lily, my uncle, Alec Glass.”

“Nice to meet you, Lily,” Uncle Alec said as he pulled away from the curb.

“Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Glass.”

Uncle Alec and Lily carried on a conversation which covered the basics of her life, and which finished when we arrived at Uncle Alec’s house. I was happy to see that Lisa wasn’t home, though I knew she’d be at dinner, because Aunt Wendy required it. I’d contemplated talking to him about the situation at work, but decided, in the end, it was better to just let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak.

“I decided to enroll at Circle part-time,” I said when we sat down in the living room of the townhouse. “I’ll take a Finance Accounting course starting in January.”

“I’d say that’s a good plan. What changed that you decided to do that?”

“A talk with a friend and the realization that having even that one class under my belt could make a big difference when the time comes. And I understand Spurgeon will pay for it, so long as I get a C.”

“I think that’s a very good plan. How are you doing with your practice portfolio?”

“I’ve made some mistakes, but I went back and analyzed why. In most cases, I know what I did wrong. In some, though, things happened which I had no hint about.”

“That’s one of the major advantages of the news service we have via teletype. It allows you get the news before the general public, but more importantly, you get the rumors and leaks that the general public almost never hears, unless it’s something scandalous. Remember, the articles in the Wall Street Journal are turned in the day before they hit the newspaper, which means everyone with news service access already has that information.”

“Which is why I missed some major moves in stocks I had in my portfolio.”

“And one reason you were told to build a practice portfolio. You’ve learned a valuable lesson without it costing you a dime. The other thing you want to do is cultivate contacts. Granted, at this point, there are a limited number of people who you will come in contact with, but cultivate the ones you do. And not just in finance or investing, because you’ll eventually want to be able to pick up the phone and call someone in, say, consumer goods, and pick their brain.

“Now, I’m not talking inside information, but general information. Get a rolodex and start adding to it. And keep in touch with those individuals even if it’s just an occasional call or inviting them to lunch. It’ll be well worth the price, and here in Chicago, you can do it very inexpensively as tavern food is considered perfectly appropriate for those kinds of meetings.

“And remember perhaps the most important lesson of all — there are no shortcuts. The second most important is that you will have setbacks, and how you deal with those will determine your long-term success. I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but what I’m telling you is the key to your future, and if you’re successful, your future can be anything you want it to be.”

I’d already had a setback, though whether it was minor or major remained to be seen, but I had learned some lessons from it, and I felt I had a sufficient backup plan.

“All good advice, Uncle Alec,” I replied. “But we don’t want to bore Lily to death.”

Lily laughed softly, “It’s OK. I know you get advice from your uncle and he chatted with me the whole way over in the car.”

Just then the front door open and Lisa barged into the living room.

“Jeri is here and I do not want HIM talking to her!” she demanded.

“Lisa Catherine Glass!” Aunt Wendy reprimanded her. “Do NOT speak that way to anyone, especially your cousin, and especially in this house.”

“Just go hang out in your room, Princess,” Uncle Alec said. “Nobody will bother you.”

“He better not!” she said, glaring at me.

I simply smiled sweetly and said, “Hi, Jeri! Nice to see you!”

“SHUT UP, JERK!” Lisa growled.

“Hi, Jonathan,” Jeri replied.

Lisa grabbed Jeri’s arm and dragged her towards her room.

“Wow,” Lily said quietly.

“I’m going to go speak to her,” Wendy said, getting up.

Fat lot of good that would do, I thought, but didn’t say. Until my uncle decided to crack down, Lisa wasn’t going to change. The thing that confused me was that Jeri seemed very sweet, and she was nearly three years older than Lisa. Why she was friends with Lisa, or even put up with her, made no sense at all. I was curious, but I suspected I’d never have a chance to ask Jeri about it, and, in the end, it really didn’t matter.

What did matter was that I didn’t want to take Lisa’s abuse, and that meant not coming to dinner at my uncle’s house. I didn’t know what problems that might cause, but I couldn’t subject Lily to Lisa, and if I had a choice between spending Sunday afternoons with my uncle or Lily, Lily would win hands down. The last thing I wanted to do was mess up my first real ‘romantic’ relationship, even if we hadn’t said ‘I love you’ to each other.

“I apologize for my cousin,” I said to Lily.

She just nodded and my uncle said nothing. We ended up sitting quietly until Wendy came back about five minutes later and apologized to both of us for Lisa’s behavior. She invited Lily and me to help make dinner, and we gladly accepted. My uncle picked up the newspaper as we left the living room.

“I really am sorry about Lisa,” Aunt Wendy said. “She’s out of control.”

“And getting worse,” I said, then thought better of it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Actually, you should. So should Alec. If Lisa doesn’t shape up, she’s going to get herself into serious trouble at some point; trouble Alec won’t be able to fix.”

I had a sneaking suspicion she was right, and even if she wasn’t, being around Lisa was the most aggravating thing in my life, even more than the BS story Monroe had told. Given Aunt Wendy’s opinion, and what she’d just said, I felt I could say something, though with Lily being in the kitchen, I had to be careful.

“To be honest,” I said carefully, “she ruins these Sunday dinners and I’m starting to dread coming here.”

“I was afraid of that,” Aunt Wendy said.

“And if she says anything negative about Lily. which I’m sure she will, I won’t keep quiet about it.”

“Nor should you.”

“But,” I continued, “I don’t want to start a fight or create a worse situation, nor force Uncle Alec to take sides, because you know what he’ll decide.”

“I do,” Aunt Wendy sighed. “For today, please just ignore her, no matter what she says. Then later, after you leave, I’ll have a private word with Alec and let him know you won’t be coming to dinner in the future and why.”

“I really don’t want to anger or upset him.”

“He’ll understand,” Aunt Wendy replied. “He won’t like it, but it won’t be the first time Lisa has caused trouble like this. Well, not with a relative, but with the son of a friend. They no longer visit.”

“I don’t understand her,” I said, shaking my head. “If she can do anything she wants, why treat people like crap? Hell, Mr. Spurgeon’s six-year-old daughter behaves more maturely than Lisa.”

“You met Samantha?” Aunt Wendy asked.

“She was hanging out at the office one day over the Summer. Why?”

“Noel and Valerie let her get away with murder, too, though she’s actually very sweet.”

I could hear the unsaid ‘unlike Lisa’ in Aunt Wendy’s voice.

“So is Jeri,” I replied. “And I honestly do not get why she’d hang around Lisa.”

“It’s a long story, but the short version is that Jeri’s parents are overbearing and controlling, and Lisa and Natalie are the only friends of which her mother approves.”

“Seriously?”

“Do you know who she is?”

“Beyond Lisa’s friend, no.”

“She’s the daughter of Margaret Lundgren, who runs the Lundgren Foundation, something started by Margaret’s parents. I think you can guess who is in charge of the family given Margaret didn’t change her name when she married, and her daughter has her last name.”

I shrugged, “I have my mom’s name, so that doesn’t seem weird to me.”

“No, I guess it wouldn’t. Anyway, every moment of Jeri’s life is managed to groom her to take over the Foundation. She started attending meetings of the Board of Directors this year.”

“She’s fifteen!” I protested.

“You know Alec and I are very well off, right? Well, the Lundgrens and Spurgeons are in a whole other realm, in which we only dip our toes on occasion. Alec met Noel Spurgeon at a fundraiser for the Foundation and they hit it off. Alec was only invited because he was the one who handled the financial arrangements for purchasing a building for the Foundation.”

I shrugged, “I guess, to me, once you have a certain amount of money it really no longer matters how much.”

“Oh, it does. And how you made it, too. Alec and I are ‘new money’ in that we made it ourselves. The Lundgrens are ‘old money’ because it was their parents and grandparents who made it. Neither of the Lundgrens work beyond managing the money and the Foundation they inherited. You know how Alec and I started.”

“Pregnant,” I chuckled.

“Brat!” Aunt Wendy laughed. “But yes, that’s true. And don’t get me wrong, please. I love Lisa very much; I’m just worried about her.”

And with very good cause, I thought.

“So, how can we help?”

Lily and I were tasked with making the salad, slicing bread, and doing other minor tasks which kept us busy until right before dinner. Lily and I set the table just before everything was ready, while Aunt Wendy went to talk to Lisa in hopes of heading off another bitchy display.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Lily asked.

“If I understand correctly, ‘girlfriend suggestions’ are like ‘opinions’ from the Supreme Court — to be obeyed with no possible appeal!”

Lily laughed, “I’m not like that and you know it!”

“No, you aren’t. What’s your suggestion?”

“Don’t say anything to Jeri.”

“I won’t initiate a conversation, but I can’t be rude, even if it means Lisa flips out.”

“No, I suppose not, But try your best, OK?”

“Yes, Dear,” I replied deadpan.

Lily smacked me softly on the arm, “You are a brat!”

“I try!” I grinned.

Lily laughed, gave me a quick kiss, then we finished setting the table just as Wendy came into the dining room.

“Let’s get the food on the table and then we’ll call them in,” she said. “Hopefully, Lisa will behave.”

Miraculously, Lisa did behave through the meal, but when dessert was served, everything went off the rails.

“Jonathan,” Jeri said, “I heard your birthday is this week. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

“SHUT UP!” Lisa ordered.

“Lisa, you’re dismissed,” Aunt Wendy said firmly. “You and Jeri can have pie and ice cream later.”

“Mom!” Lisa protested.

“Honey,” Alec interjected, looking at his wife, “we always eat as a family.”

Wendy frowned but didn’t say anything more. Lisa glared at me, but looked smug, obviously certain that her dad would let her get away with murder. Probably literally. We finished our pie, ice cream, and coffee, and then I volunteered to help clean up. Lily joined me in clearing the table and stayed in the kitchen while I dried dishes.

Once we finished, I asked my uncle to take Lily and me home, using the excuse she needed to do homework. My uncle didn’t object or protest, so we left the townhouse after saying ‘goodbye’ to Aunt Wendy, and got into my uncle’s Mercedes for the drive back to University Village. Once again, my uncle made small talk with Lily, and I sat quietly.