Chapter 70: A Force of Nature

June 16, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

Luisa arrived just as we finished eating lunch, and we went to my study, where I shut the door, then sat in one of the side-by-side wingback chairs.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“I want to ask a question, and I want a one-word answer, either ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

I was reasonably certain what the question was going to be, and why she was asking for a one-word answer. When I’d been at her apartment, she’d been prepared to have sex, but I had, in effect, talked her out of it. I strongly suspected that she’d decided she wanted to go through with it, but was concerned that I’d ask questions that would bring about the same result as her previous attempt.

My concern, of course, was why she was doing it, and I still had a nagging suspicion that she felt compelled by what amounted to peer pressure, even if it wasn’t intentional or overt. What I really had to decide was if I would accept her decision, knowing it might not be for a reason of which I approved. The thing that weighed even more heavily on my mind was what I’d finally admitted to Michelle — that I wasn’t treating her properly as an independent adult if I subjected her to my decision.

Of course, I could decide not to do it, for whatever reason, but, in the end, I had to respect Luisa’s decision, just as I’d respected Natalie’s, Nicole’s, Marissa’s, Tabitha’s, Rachel’s, and a host of others’ decisions over the years. It was my own hangup about wanting the girls to be absolutely sure that was the problem, and I knew the source of that problem. It was a direct result of girls approaching me, which, with very few exceptions, they were absolutely sure about what they wanted.

All of that led me to the question of whether or not I felt compelled to say ‘yes’. Luisa was very pretty, had a nearly perfect ‘Steve type’ body, was a virgin, and was very nice. She was twenty, and that was, in my estimation, the new likely ‘sweet spot’, with the possible exception of some select ‘cousins’.

“I can do that,” I replied.

“You seemed deep in thought.”

“I talk myself to death at times!” I replied with a smile.

Luisa laughed, “At least you’re consistent!”

“I try. Go on, ask your question.”

“Will you take me to bed? Today?”

“That’s two questions,” I replied.

Luisa rolled her eyes, “Are you always pedantic?”

“Yes.”

“Consistency again. Well?”

I was SO tempted to say that it was a deep subject, but I didn’t want to totally exasperate her. It had been a minor error to be my usual pedantic self, but I couldn’t help it any more than Jesse or Birgit could help being who they were. Or Ashley, though, who she was becoming was something of a surprise given how she’d behaved until the last six months to a year.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Can we go to my apartment?”

“We have about ninety minutes before Philosophy Club, so we’ll use most of the time walking to and from your apartment.”

“We need more than ten minutes?” Luisa asked.

An amber warning light flashed, and I was concerned that my analysis had been incorrect.

“I think you better tell me what you want,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“My usual practice is to block out anywhere from two to four hours, or even longer, so there’s no rush, there’s plenty of time for foreplay, and time to do it more than once, if that’s what the young woman wants, which it often is, and time for a joint shower. Ninety minutes would suffice for that. It sounds as if you had a different idea.”

“We’re talking again,” she said, sounding somewhat exasperated.

“Yes, but this is a key point that we need to resolve beforehand. How did you expect this to go?”

“We go to my apartment, get in bed, do it, then get out of bed, and come back.”

And she didn’t say, but I could read in her eyes, that she’d just lie there and ‘let me’ do it to her. And that was not something I was interested in, not even a tiny bit. My experience with Kathy Will in High School had made it abundantly clear that was not for me. The question was, how to say that to Luisa without doing too much emotional damage, though I suspected some was unavoidable.

“That’s not my style,” I said. “And not something I want to do.”

“What?!” she gasped. “You go to bed with basically anyone who asks!”

“I am open to that request from just about anyone, though there are restrictions. But in my mind ‘going to bed’ is not ‘get in bed, do it, get out of bed’ with the girl being passive. If you want me to go to bed with you, then you need to be an active participant. If not, then my answer has to be ‘no’.”

Luisa frowned, then got up, walked to the door, opened it, and left the study. I got up and followed her and watched her leave the house. I was positive I’d hurt her, but I didn’t see that I had another choice. I went to the ‘Indian’ room where Jackson, Holly, Suzanne, and Natalie were sitting in the basket chairs or lounging on the floor pillows.

“What happened?” Suzanne asked.

“Nothing good, that’s for sure,” I said.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Holly said. “I’ll let the Inner Circle discuss it, because I suspect there will be fallout. I’ll go find Rachel and Estrella.”

She left, closing the door behind her.

“Back in High School,” I began, “and Suzanne knows this story because the person involved told her about it, I had a situation where a girl asked me to have sex. Her idea was to strip, spread her legs, and let the guy fuck her, while she just laid there passively. I didn’t realize that until I had started, and when I tried to encourage her to move, she told me to basically just do it and cum. That was so foreign to me that I pulled out, got dressed, and left her. That resulted in her screaming ‘Fuck you, Steve Adams’ at me in the school cafeteria. After talking to Luisa today, that’s what I saw was about to happen. I explained I couldn’t do it with a girl who was just passively lying there and she left.”

“Weird,” Natalie observed. “Girls usually come to you looking for an over-the-top experience, and you provide.”

“And, on occasion, disappoint them when it hasn’t lived up to the image they had of what it would be like and how they would feel afterwards.”

“OK to name names?” Natalie asked.

“Judiciously, but better not to, without a very good reason.”

“OK. One girl, about three years ago, who talked to me about it afterwards. She’d built it up to be such a big thing emotionally, and even though it was pleasurable, it was a letdown.”

“Exactly. And there have been a few of those over the years. But there was only one incident like the one I described from High School and I doubt I could even get hard in that kind of situation.”

“TMI!” Jackson chuckled.

“Right,” Suzanne said mirthfully, “because we never have frank discussions about sex in this group! And you didn’t go to Cindi for expert instruction while your girlfriend went to Steve for the same thing!”

“That did happen,” Jackson said with a smile, “but talking about Steve’s erections is a bit much!”

“It was actually a purported lack of erection!” Natalie smirked. “And I actually believe that. You can cover your ears now, Jackson, if you want, but Suzanne will probably confirm there are two ways Steve usually gets hard, and both involve oral sex. His preferred way is actually cunnilingus, but fellatio will do in a pinch.”

I laughed, “In a pinch?”

“Deny you enjoy eating pussy more than almost anything else!”

“Can’t deny the truth with you and Suzanne here!”

“I do have to agree that’s very enjoyable,” Jackson grinned. “Deliciously reinvigorating nectar of the gods!”

“And you didn’t even cover your ears!” Natalie teased, causing Jackson to roll his eyes.

“My concern now,” I said, “is that Luisa won’t come back to Philosophy Club, and that she’s in some amount of emotional distress.”

“Who is she close to?” Jackson asked.

“Nobody, really,” Suzanne said. “Elena, her friend, dropped out of the rap sessions because she had a conflict. Maybe Holly or Trish would be a good choice. Do you have Luisa’s phone number?”

“I do,” I replied. “I have everyone’s in case I need to cancel.”

“Let me take this,” Suzanne said. “I’ll make sure someone talks to her.”

“Carefully. She was very concerned about anybody knowing.”

“Well, she horribly miscalculated on that because the substitute Neighborhood Watch made a Birgit-esque comment after taking the phone call.”

“Of course she did!” I chuckled. “This wouldn’t be Cirque de Steve if someone didn’t fill in for the Empress of the Universe while she was in Vermont!”

“Have you heard from her?” Jackson inquired.

“Are you kidding?” Suzanne asked, shaking her head. “She calls every day, like clockwork, and Steve drops whatever he’s doing to take her call. She’s not the only one who thinks she’s in charge!”

“I love my daughter! So sue me!”

My three friends laughed and then we left the ‘Indian’ room to prepare for Philosophy Club.

[Rochester, Minnesota] 🎤 Jesse

“How was your run?” Scarlett asked when I went to her room after showering.

“I was invigorated!” I grinned.

“Maybe I should suggest adding that to the training regimen!” Scarlett smirked. “Each player is assigned a ‘personal trainer’ to ensure they perform at peak levels!”

“Which is how you get it by the parents,” I chuckled. “They think ‘personal trainer’ and you mean ‘hockey groupie’!”

“Hockey players are Krystal’s preferred partners!”

“And you?”

“One very specific hockey player! The one who needs to get his clothes off, lick me, then screw me silly!”

“I’ve created a monster!” I chuckled as I started undressing.

About forty-five minutes later, after having licked Scarlett and screwed her silly, we cuddled together.

“Lights out at 11:00pm?” she asked.

“You do realize you can have sex in the dark, right?” I teased.

“Brat!” Scarlett exclaimed, smacking my arm. “I meant to go to sleep!”

“That would be best, yes. Want to try it with you on top next time?”

“Ride you like a horsey?” Scarlett teased.

“No whips, please! And no spurs!”

“Bummer!” Scarlett said mirthfully. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“How much of the stuff in the book have you done?”

“Most of the male-female stuff,” I replied.

“Including, uhm, multiple partners?”

“A threesome? Yes.”

“Butt?”

“Anal? Yes. On my fourteenth birthday!”

“SERIOUSLY?!” Scarlett gasped.

“Seriously. Oral, though the first time lasted about five seconds, vaginal, and anal.”

“Five seconds?”

“I was fourteen, horny, and an older woman had just put her mouth on me! I lost it almost instantly! That hasn’t happened since. The same thing happened to my dad, though he said it was two seconds, not five!”

“So you’re better than your dad?” Scarlett teased.

According to Angelina, I was, but there was no way I could answer that question because that was a secret that had to be kept, even if Scarlett and I somehow became a couple in the future.

“And just how would I know the answer to THAT?” I asked.

“I thought you had frank talks about sex!”

“Yeah, but in general, not specifics! And besides, all that matters is that I please the girl I’m with, not what anyone else does! The same is true for my dad. You had zero complaints!”

“Only that we had to sleep!”

“OK, legitimate complaints!”

“That is a legitimate complaint! Tell me you didn’t want to keep going!”

“I did, but sometimes practicality has to win out over desire.”

“I suppose...” Scarlett replied, moving to lie on top of me.

We started kissing but were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Do I answer it?” Scarlett asked. “I’d hate to get caught.”

“I think you have to,” I replied.

She got out of bed and put on a robe while I pulled the sheets over me. There was no use trying to hide what we were doing because the room certainly would smell like sex, and the bed was messed up, so even dressing wouldn’t help. I could only hope it wasn’t one of the coaches. Scarlett opened the door a bit, then surprised me when she opened it further and pulled a crying Krystal into the room.

“What happened?” Scarlett asked.

“He...” Krystal sobbed and buried her face in her hands.

Scarlett took Krystal in her arms and held her while she cried. I had a pretty good idea what had happened, and if I was right, Bill had better hope the cops got to him before I did. I also knew I needed to leave the room so the girls could talk. I managed to reach my briefs and pulled them on, keeping the sheet over me. My polo was next, and then I pushed the sheet away, pulled on my pants, socks, and loafers.

“I’ll take a walk and be back in fifteen minutes,” I said.

Scarlett nodded, and I left the room, choosing to go down the stairwell to the ground floor rather than go back to my room. That was the last place I wanted to be if what I’d thought had happened, happened. I realized it could be a case of regret after the fact, but I didn’t think the look on Krystal’s face was one of regret.

I walked around campus for fifteen minutes, then went back to the dorm and up the stairs to Scarlett’s room. I knocked on the door and she let me in. Krystal was lying on the second bed, a blanket over her, sobbing softly.

“How bad?” I asked quietly.

“Bad,” Scarlett whispered. “He convinced her to take off her pants and panties so he could lick her, which he did, but he went further. She told him to stop, and he didn’t.”

“Motherfucker!” I growled in a low, angry voice.

“I think we have to call the police,” she said.

“I think so, too. I’ll call from the payphone. You should make your bed and spray some air freshener, if you have it.”

“I have some incense in one of my boxes. Go call.”

I was livid and thought about just going back to my room and providing ‘rough justice’ for Bill, but that wouldn’t solve any problems and would get me in trouble. I left the room, walked down the corridor to the payphones, picked up a handset, and dialed 9-1-1.

“I want to report a rape,” I said.

“No. I’m calling for my friend whose friend said she was raped. My friend is with the victim now.”

“Jesse Block. J-E-S-S-E B-L-O-C-K. I’m attending a hockey camp and we’re at the U of M dorm. The victim is in room 311.”

“Probably in Room 208. He’s my roommate. His name is Bill Clay.”

“Six feet, about one-eighty, sandy blonde hair, muscular, blue eyes.”

It took two minutes for the first LEO to arrive, a single male Rochester Police Officer. I let the 9-1-1 operator know he was there, then hung up and hurried over to the elevator.

“I called this in,” I said.

“You know the attacker?”

“Yes. She accused Bill Clay, my roommate. We’re in room 208.”

“Do you have your key?”

“I do.”

“Do I have permission to enter the room and search it?”

I thought quickly about what Dad would do, and in THIS kind of case, he’d absolutely cooperate in any and every way possible because of what had happened with Mom One and Aunt Bethany, and had almost happened with Michelle.

“Yes,” I replied, handing him the key.

“Stay here, please. I should have backup in just a minute. And a female officer is on her way.”

His radio squawked, and he asked the other officer to meet him outside Room 208, then went down the stairs. I waited in the hallway until two female plainclothes detectives arrived and I took them to Scarlett’s room. The paramedics arrived a minute later, and I did the same for them. I didn’t feel I should be in the room, so I sat down in the hallway, as the first cop had told me to wait.

I reconsidered that and went back to the phones, but this time used the ‘house’ phone and dialed 777.

“Hi, I’m with the hockey camp and the police are here investigating an alleged rape by one of the players.”

“Jesse Block, and I’m in the hallway near room 311.”

“Yes, and the paramedics, too.”

“Thanks.”

I hung up and went to sit near Scarlett’s room. It was going to be an extremely long night, and not the one I’d hoped for.

[Apple Orchard Bed-and-Breakfast near Montpelier, Vermont] 🎤 Birgit

“Mom, Dad,” Marcella said, “you’ve seen Birgit around. She’s a friend of the owners, visiting from Chicago. We’re going to take a walk and hang out.”

“OK, Honey,” Mr. Drake said. “Be in your room by 11:00pm, please. We’re going down for breakfast at 6:00am then leaving for the City right after. You need to be packed before breakfast.”

“OK, Daddy,” Marcella replied.

“Have fun, girls,” Mrs. Drake said.

“Thanks,” I replied.

We left the room and headed outside. It wouldn’t be dark for a couple of hours, and wouldn’t be pitch black until after 10:00pm. That meant someone might interrupt us in the clearing, but I knew from past experience that almost nobody went for walks in the woods at night. I only did because I knew the path really well, and knew about the clearing, which was a bit off the path. Marcella had discovered it, just as I had, and that meant someone else might.

“What do you want to do?” I asked.

“The clearing is really nice and peaceful,” she said. “We could go there.”

I nodded and started towards the path, with Marcella following about a step behind. Once we reached the edge of the woods, she caught up and I felt her hand brush mine. I didn’t hesitate to take it, and we walked hand-in-hand along the path to the spot where we could move through the trees into the small clearing. We sat down close to each other, but not quite touching, and continued to hold hands.