Chapter 29: Religious Differences

March 8, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“My dad was really pressuring me again,” Adi said after we left her house on Friday evening to walk to Giordano’s to meet our friends.

“I thought you had it under control,” I replied.

“I thought so, too. I tried to explain the problem, and he said if that was the case, we shouldn’t be dating.”

I groaned, “Well, with that cat out of the bag, I bet he’s going to stop us from seeing each other.”

“I think you’re right. I told him I’d talk to you, so he let me come out tonight. I like you, Jesse, and I don’t want to stop seeing you!”

“I don’t want to stop seeing you, either, but what you told your dad is true.”

“What does it take to become a member of your church?”

“For a Muslim? Two years of study and attending services regularly.”

“Why so long?”

“Because, and I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, Islam is considered a terrible heresy, which cannot be reconciled to Christian belief. You would have to completely reject all teachings of Muhammed, and of the Qur’an, and make a public confession of Jesus Christ as God, and you would need to publicly denounce Muhammad as a false teacher.”

“What do you mean by publicly?”

“In front of the whole church. And at that point, you could never, ever even visit a mosque again, no matter what.”

“Not even for a funeral or a wedding?”

“No. The concern would be that you didn’t truly convert.”

“And you believe those rules? And follow them?”

“I’m simply telling you what our bishop would require of a person converting from Islam. If you don’t do those things and promise those things, our bishop would never agree to receive you. And that’s the real problem. It doesn’t matter what I think, except that I want to marry in the church, and that requires the person I marry at least be Christian.”

“That sounds extreme,” Adi protested.

“Go to the mosque where my dad has friends, and where the Khans went, and they’ll say basically the same thing, only in reverse. Muslims and Orthodox Christians have a long history, and not a good one.”

“The Crusades?”

“Not even close! That was the Roman Catholics, and they even sacked Constantinople on one Crusade to try to force the Orthodox to bow to the Pope. The entire Middle East was Orthodox Christian for hundreds of years before Muhammed came on the scene, and Islam was mostly confined to Arabia at first. The Muslims attacked and attacked, and in the end, forcibly converted as many Orthodox as they could. Check out the history. It’s not pretty. And I’m not saying the Orthodox didn’t do bad stuff, just that it was the Muslims who attacked us at the start.”

“And you think all Muslims are responsible?”

“No, of course not! But there is what’s called ‘institutional memory’ in both our faiths that neither of us can change.”

“And you can’t go to a different church that didn’t have that?”

“I can’t change what I believe,” I said. “I know we’ve talked about me not following the teachings on sex, but you aren’t either. But I do believe in the core tenets of my faith, and I can’t give those up without betraying who I am. It’s the same reason you don’t want to convert, even though you aren’t ritually faithful. Do you think your dad is a believer? That he believes the Shahada?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And you believe it, too?”

“Yes.”

“The statements ‘I bear witness that none is worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’ and ‘I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father’ are totally and completely incompatible. They cannot be reconciled, the Baháʼís notwithstanding.”

“Who?”

“A faith founded in the 19th century in Persia, that teaches syncretism. But it’s not like my dad’s, which doesn’t seek to unify all faiths the way Baháʼís do.”

“So what do we do?”

“I’m not sure there is much we can do, especially if your dad decides we can’t see each other, even with the group.”

Adi stopped walking, and I turned and saw tears dripping down her face. I didn’t have a solution to the problem, and I couldn’t make it go away, especially now that she’d revealed the impediment to her dad. I took a step toward her, held out my arms and she melted into them, sobbing. I held her for five minutes before she stopped crying.

“Jesse,” she said plaintively, “can we forget dinner and the movie and go to your house? I want to be with you tonight and we might never get another chance.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, Jesse, please!”

I lowered my arms, took her hand, and led her back towards the house.

🎤 Steve

“Got a sec?” Hope asked from the door of the ‘Indian’ room.

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

I got up from the cushions where I was relaxing with my three wives and Hope and I went next door to my study.

“Where’s Tabitha?” I asked.

“She was exhausted and decided to go to bed. Between her over-the-top sexual initiation, very little sleep, and the emotions of losing her virginity and leaving home to run away and join the circus, that shouldn’t surprise you.”

“It doesn’t. How is she?”

Hope smirked, “Thoroughly fucked and thoroughly disoriented! But I think she’ll be fine. She has a crush on you, but she’ll get over it quickly enough.”

“You’re sure?”

Hope nodded, “Positive. She admitted the crush, but also said she understood exactly what last night and this morning were about. I think what she’s feeling is the same thing I feel — you’re very special, and because you were our first, you’ll always be special, no matter what. She doesn’t know you well enough yet to understand just how special you are. She has to get past the shock to her system you administered. It was one she wanted and needed, but she was slightly traumatized by what happened, even though she requested it and willingly participated.”

“Traumatized?”

“Hmm, how about ‘stunned’, ‘thrown for a loop’, or ‘overwhelmed’? But it’s a bit stronger than those terms, and I’m pretty sure you realize that.”

“I do, but I was positive it was the right thing to do.”

“Oh, it was. She needed a shock to her system, and you administered it. I know the type, and was friends with quite a few of them. Kara was one, though she didn’t need the same kind of shock because she wasn’t quite so fanatical as Tabitha was.”

“I’m going to make some calls about a job for her. Any suggestions?”

“Well, you can’t hire her because Liz would have your balls for breakfast, and not in a good way!”

I chuckled, “True.”

“I’d say, at first, you want something relatively relaxed. She has some serious adjustments to make to her new reality. There will be enough stress outside work that she won’t be able to handle anymore.”

I nodded, “That makes sense. She has some basic computer software skills, so I plan to get in touch with Ned Jenkins and ask for a favor. If he can’t, then I’ll call Megan at FJF and ask for a favor in their Chicago office.”

“Are you sure a law firm is right?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Starbucks is hiring, and she has three years of hospitality experience. Totally no stress — she walks to work, she works her shift, then she walks home. I can get her an interview and vouch for her. That’ll be enough to get her hired. Working there will let her meet people who are mostly mellow and friendly, make some friends, and become acclimated. In three to six months, you get her a job that pays enough for her to find a place of her own.”

“That makes sense. I kind of figured she’d be here for that timeframe.”

“May I give you some advice?” Hope asked.

“Always,” I said with a smile.

“Clear it with your wives and spend the next three nights fucking Tabitha silly, then end it, gently. Maybe you’re with her a few more times after that, but if you don’t at least begin breaking it off, you’ll be an impediment to Tabitha becoming her own person.”

“How will she react?”

“She’ll be fine. Trust me when I say you’ll really hurt her if you don’t break it off soon. The world will end for her if she decides she’s in love with you. Do NOT let that happen. Fuck her silly, then end it, and do NOT tell her you care for her. She can’t handle it. I can get her through a breakup now, and I can help her. You helped me, so now let me pay it forward.”

“I think that’s a good plan,” I replied, “but there’s one fly in the ointment. Have you heard of the Mann Act?”

“No.”

“It basically criminalizes taking someone across state lines and doing anything with them that would be illegal in either state. Neither Liz, Trish, nor I think it’s a problem, but out of an abundance of caution, I need to wait until after the FBI or CPD speak to Tabitha.”

“Busybodies are such a pain in the butt! I had my fill of them at Grace Church!”

“Kara, too. Anyway, I think your advice is good, and I’ll act on it.”

“One other thing,” Hope said with a smirk. “Did you enjoy your shower?”

I laughed, “I assumed your mom would tell you. She told me you gave her pointers.”

Hope smirked, “I learned how you liked it, and I conveyed the information!”

“My life is surreal!” I declared happily.

“As is the life of anyone around you!”

“I also heard you wrote to your grandfather.”

Hope smirked, “I don’t think I’ll be hearing from him or the Schoberts ever again.”

“Are you sure that was wise?”

“They wrote me another long letter begging me to give up my reprobate lifestyle. They want me to come home for ‘counseling’ and to ‘find a good, Christian man’ to marry.”

“I take it a simple ‘no, thank you’ wasn’t sufficient?”

“You know my grandfather! And you know what Grace Church teaches, even though he’s not there at this point.”

“OK. I have no problem with that, if you think it was the right approach.”

“It was! Let me go rescue Roger from your daughters, who are probably having their way with him!”

“In a few years, maybe,” I chuckled. “And thanks.”

“You’re welcome! I’ll take Tabitha to see my manager tomorrow morning.”

“I have breakfast with the guys, though that might change, depending on when the Sheriff calls to let me know the Feds are on their way.”

We hugged, exchanged a chaste kiss, and then I went back to the ‘Indian’ Room. A minute later, my three girls came to say ‘goodnight’, and after hugs and kisses, they headed upstairs.

“What did Hope have to say?” Kara asked.

“More or less what I had expected to be the case, though with a minor modification to my plan for getting Tabitha a job. Hope thinks she can get Tabitha hired at Starbucks, which is a low-stress job she can walk to. Once Tabitha is somewhat acclimated, then I’ll make the calls to get her a full-time office job.”

“That sounds wise.”

“Hope also suggested I get your agreement that I spend the next three nights with Tabitha, then break things off; well assuming that law enforcement shows up tomorrow. Liz and Trish advised an abundance of caution.”

“That does make sense.”

“Anyway, Hope is concerned Tabitha might decide she’s in love with me, and that would be a nightmare. But three nights of unbridled, raw sex — fucking for the pure pleasure of it — would not only be OK, but a good idea.”

“It would,” Kara agreed with a smirk. “Now, about the video cameras...”

I laughed, “You are SO bad!”

“I am! I do think Hope’s idea makes sense. Jess? Suzanne?”

“It does make sense,” Jessica said. “The sex, I mean, though the cameras...”

“I agree,” Suzanne confirmed with a smirk. “About the sex, of course!”

“You three are dangerous alone, but together...” I just shook my head.

“And you love it!” Kara declared. “What’s your plan for tonight?”

“I like to live dangerously,” I chuckled. “So, that’s up to the three of you.”

“Let’s all go to bed in the master bedroom,” Kara suggested. “You can make love to each of us!”

“Sounds good,” I agreed.

🎤 Jesse

“What happened?” Mom Two asked when I returned from driving Adi home, which I did to avoid having either of my moms drive us or walk with us.

“What do you mean?” I asked, hoping to avoid a discussion.

“Jesse, we’re not clueless,” Mom One countered. “You obviously skipped dinner and the movie because you were here when we came home after our dinner date, and Adi looked very unhappy when you two left so you could drive her home.”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” I said.

“Which is your right,” Mom Two said. “Sometimes talking about it helps, but also, sometimes parents need to know. What do you want us to say to Adi’s dad when he calls?”

I groaned, “If he had just let things go...”

“Come sit down and talk to us, Jesse,” Mom One said.

I decided I should, because Mom Two was probably right about Mussa calling to find out why Adi was so upset. I walked over and sat in the comfortable chair, while my moms cuddled on the couch.

“Adi and I like each other, but she’s Muslim and I’m Orthodox. That means we could never marry, even if we wanted to, unless one of us converted.”

“I hope you discussed that before you started sleeping together,” Mom One said.

“We did,” I replied. “It’s part of the reason for her not being my steady girlfriend.”

“Not to mention the «Filles du jour»,” Mom Two teased.

“That wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t a religious difference that seems impossible to overcome.”

“Why impossible?” Mom Two asked.

“I know you don’t particularly care for the Orthodox Church, and this isn’t going to help, but the rules for marrying require that my future wife at least be baptized in the name of the Trinity. That would mean Adi would have to convert, and that’s a long process, which includes denouncing Islam as a heresy and a public rejection of Muhammed as a prophet. And it usually requires two years of catechism and regular attendance at church. It’s nothing like it would be for either of you who were both baptized as babies. That would only take three to six months, sometimes less.”

“I won’t start the debate about religion,” Mom Two said, “because I know you believe the message, but you also don’t try to shove it down anyone’s throat.”

“Dad makes some good points about that,” I said. “As he says, you can’t argue anyone into church. Anyway, it’s an impossible impediment. A few weeks ago, when we went to the dance, Adi’s dad decided we were a couple and started talking about that. We both tried to explain that the dance wasn’t a ‘date’ in the sense we were pairing off, but he didn’t see it that way. He pressured Adi on the issue, and she told him about the religious differences and that I wanted to marry in my church and wasn’t going to budge.”

“He’s not as serious as the Khans, though, right?” Mom One asked.

“Actually, he is, but he doesn’t follow the prayer rule and doesn’t follow the clothing rules, but that isn’t abnormal in Malaysia. I guarantee he’d see Adi converting as a serious problem.”

“What did he think would happen?” Mom Two asked.

I smirked, “That, ultimately, pussy is persuasive!”

My moms laughed.

“He thought you would convert to get into Adi’s panties?” Mom One asked.

“Something like that,” I chuckled. “But I suspect his plan was that the pussy would come AFTER the marriage, not before!”

“Most dads are like that, yours notwithstanding.”

“Dad is NOT an example of anything normal! And,” I smirked, “neither are my moms!”

“I think this is where Steve says ‘Watch it, Little Duck!’” Mom Two declared.

“So what will you say to Adi’s dad if he calls?” I asked.

“That we don’t see any way this can be reconciled, because neither of you will abandon your faith. If he implies something ‘inappropriate’ happened, well, we have no official knowledge of what happens in your bedroom, so we’ll simply say we don’t know.”

“I don’t think Adi gave any clues about that, because she knows how he’ll react. If she had, he’d have already been at the door.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Mom One asked.

“Change my sheets and go to bed,” I replied. “I have a game tomorrow afternoon.”

“I meant about Adi.”

“Nothing, I guess. I’m pretty sure that she’s not going to be allowed to go out with the group.”

“OK. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“CeCe will be here for breakfast.”

“You’re seeing her a lot.”

I shrugged, “We get along really well. We’ll see what happens.”

“Good night.”

“Night,” I replied.

I went upstairs, stripped the sheets from the bed, put on fresh ones, then brushed my teeth, emptied my bladder, and went back to my room. I undressed, got into bed, and quickly fell asleep.

March 9, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

“Good morning,” Tabitha said, coming into the sunroom, where Dad and I were cuddling.

“Good morning,” Dad replied.

“Hi,” I said.

I snuggled closer because I didn’t want Dad to get up. I was getting my extra cuddles because he had been away for three days.

“Yuriko will have breakfast ready soon,” Dad said. “But I’m going to my usual breakfast with the men. When I get home, Kara and I will take the girls to karate. You should come along. Oh, and my attorney friends will be here for lunch. I haven’t heard from Sheriff Emmy yet, but I suspect I will at some point today.”

“Can I come in and sit with you?” Tabitha asked.

“Sure,” Dad replied.

Tabitha was intruding on MY time! I almost made a face, but realized that would make Dad unhappy. She sat down on the chaise next to us.

“How did you sleep?” Dad asked.

“Like a baby,” Tabitha replied.

“So,” I giggled, “you woke up every two hours to nurse and have your diaper changed?”

Tabitha laughed, and Dad just shook his head.

“Hmm,” Tabitha replied, “I never considered that!”

“Eat like a bird?” I asked. “They eat more than their body weight, but for people, it means eat very little.”

“I hadn’t considered that, either!”

“Or ‘cat nap’, which means a quick nap for us, but cats nap in the sun for hours!”

“Don’t mind my daughter,” Dad said. “She’s a pain in everyone’s butt!”

“Hey!” I protested.

Dad laughed and squeezed his arms to show me he loved me.

“Is it like this all the time?” Tabitha asked.

“Worse!” I giggled. “I’m being nice!”

“Well, what passes for ‘nice’, anyway,” Dad said.

“Dad...” I threatened.

“What? You’ll get up and stop cuddling? As if THAT would ever happen!”

“Grrr...”

“I’ve got your number, Pumpkin!” Dad declared.

“Birgit-chan, breakfast is ready,” Yuriko said. “And Tabitha-sama, please come to breakfast.”

I reluctantly got up because I knew I couldn’t get three extra minutes this morning because Dad had to leave. He kissed my forehead, I kissed his cheek, and then left the sunroom.

🎤 Steve

“She’s ... I’m not even sure how to describe her!”

I laughed, “Birgit is a force of nature! But she’s an example of what happens when you allow kids to be independent and assert themselves. You’ll see my other kids are mostly like that, though Michael is a bit reserved compared to the rest.”

“What did Yuriko call me?”

“She used ‘sama’ which means she’s giving you respect; for Birgit, she used ‘chan’ which shows endearment’. There’s a whole system of those in Japanese.”

“Do you speak Japanese?”

“Perhaps two hundred words or so, mostly related to karate, but some for common speech. I spent five weeks in Japan at a karate school. That’s where I first met Yuriko, but she was thirteen or so at the time.”

“Thirteen?!”

“No, not that,” I replied. “It’s a long story, and I need to leave for my bi-weekly breakfast with the guys. Before I forget, next Saturday will be Guys’ Night and Girls’ Night Out. Talk to Suzanne and she’ll fill you in.”

“Did Sheriff Emmy call?”

“Not yet. I need to run, but I’ll be back in time to go to karate class. There’s a calendar in the kitchen with everyone’s schedules. Kara or one of my girls can explain how to use it so you can let us know where you’ll be. Oh, and good luck this morning.”

Tabitha smiled, “Hope is really nice.”

“One more thing — until the situation settles, we can’t be together, because you need to be able to tell the police that we didn’t have sexual relations here in Chicago.”

“Why?”

“Federal laws can sometimes be used in cases where people who are unmarried cross state lines. It’s just an abundance of caution and nothing to worry about. Once that’s taken care of, we can spend a few nights together fucking like bunny rabbits!”

Tabitha giggled, “I want that!”

“Me, too.”

Tabitha and I left the sunroom. She went to the kitchen, and I retrieved my jacket and fedora, then went out the back door to the car. Twenty-five minutes later, I walked into Bucktown Bistro and sat in my usual place.

“Men,” Mike Knox declared when he walked in, “meet Julius Crane, the newest associate in the criminal defense division of McCarthy, Jenkins, and Fergusson. He starts on Monday, after several years in the PD’s office.”

“Also,” I added, “for those of you who don’t know, he’s married to Liz Carullo, NIKA’s corporate counsel.”

“Welcome!” all the men said.

“How long have you guys been meeting?” Julius asked. “Mike didn’t know.”

“Sixteen years,” Pete replied. “Though we had our first breakfasts at Lou Mitchell’s in the Loop. Our first group was Steve, Kurt, Dave, Nick Evans, Jamie, Chris Eggert, Jorge González, and me. We met Karl a few months later.”