Chapter 79: New Friends

July 2, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

“Let me show you the house,” I said to Lilibeth when she arrived late on Tuesday morning.

We started by taking the elevator, which always blew people’s minds.

“So cool!” Lilibeth exclaimed. “We just have stairs that pull down from the ceiling to get up to the attic.”

“The attic room is finished, and we use it for dancing at parties. My parents throw the absolute best parties. You’ll see on Thursday.”

“How many people our age?”

“At least thirty kids between ten and sixteen,” I replied. “But we mingle with the adults because everyone is mature and my dad doesn’t distinguish between teenagers and up. We’re all adults in his mind, and my siblings and I get to run our own lives. Most of his friends treat their kids the same way.”

“That’s pretty cool,” she said as we stepped off the elevator. “Can you use this room?”

“Yes. I’ve had parties up here, and we’ve also used it for hanging out, playing games, and listening to music.”

I showed her the bedrooms, then the ground floor, then finally the basement.

“Wicked cool house!” Lilibeth said.

“Thanks. Hannah said you’re renting.”

“Yes. My dad’s company rented the house for us. We rented ours in Natick. We’ll move back when my dad’s assignment is done, but that could be more than two years.”

“And you’re going back to Boston when you graduate no matter what, right?”

“Yes. I know you’re just starting High School, but do you know what you want to do?”

“Most likely chemical engineering, and I’ll go to UofC. Well, I’ll go there no matter what I study because my mom is a professor there, which means I pay a seriously reduced tuition.”

“Why chemical engineering?”

“Mom is a chemistry professor, and I like chemistry, but I don’t think I want to teach. Chemical engineers do research and work in industry. What about you?”

“I’m thinking business, finance, or accounting.”

“My brother Jesse is probably going to study business, and I think Boston College is one of the schools he’s thinking about because he plays ice hockey.”

“BC has an awesome team, so that makes sense.”

“Do you play any sports?”

“Soccer. You?”

“I’m a brown belt in karate, and after I turn fifteen, I’ll test for my black belt.”

“Whoa!”

“My dad is a senior instructor, and holds 6th Dan; my mom holds 1st Dan; my other mom is a purple belt, but should get her brown belt soon. And my sisters are purple belts.”

“Have you ever used your karate?”

I smirked, “Only on a creepy old guy who thought he could have sex with me! When he put his hand on my shoulder, I kicked him in the nuts. The paramedics had to take him away!”

“What happened?”

“I testified against him and he went to jail.”

“Where did that happen?”

“Water Tower Place. I was there with my sisters and some of our friends.”

“Your parents didn’t freak out?”

“No. Why would they? I handled it. Dad believes I can make my own decisions about sex, and if the guy had been good looking and in good shape, you never know!”

“A guy that old?!” Lilibeth gasped.

“Why not? Having an older, experienced guy the first time would make it awesome! You heard what Rachel said. Her guy was about twenty years older than she was.”

“That just seems weird. I can’t imagine being with a woman in her late thirties!”

“Even if she could make you feel really, really good and knew exactly what to do to get you off?”

“Are you sure you’re fourteen?” Lilibeth asked. “You sound like my sister’s friends who are in college!”

“Blame my parents! They started treating us as what Dad called ‘independent individuals with self-determination’ from the time we were little. I’ve known about sex since I was a toddler. Did you ever read a book called Smart Teens; Smart Choices?”

“No. What’s that?”

“A book my Aunt Bethany — well, not really my aunt, but we call her that — wrote for teenagers that discusses puberty, relationships, sex, birth control, and STIs. It’s a great book and everyone should read it. I read it before it was published when I was nine.”

“You read a sex book at nine?”

“Why not? It’s not like it’s a big secret that boys and girls are different and it’s super-obvious what goes where, though the book covers pretty much anything you can think of doing.”

“What about gays and lesbians?”

“Yes, of course! That’s normal, even if society has its head up its butt about it! Teenagers having sex is normal, too, but society doesn’t think so. Dad says they’re trying to make teenagers into infants, and I think he’s right. But our friends aren’t like that. You’ll see on Thursday that even my youngest sister’s friends, who are all around ten or eleven, are totally cool, act adult, and know all about sex.”

“And your dad really has two wives?”

“Three, very soon! They’re adding a third to their marriage on Sunday.”

“Am I allowed to ask how that works?”

“You mean, do they all have sex together? Yes. I know my moms have sex sometimes when my dad isn’t here, but they don’t do that too often. Mostly they like to cuddle.”

“You’re so open about it!”

“That’s the way it is here. Sex is considered normal and OK and part of life. I could take someone to my room and nobody would say a word, though Dad might check to make sure I followed the two rules — birth control and both of us having had an STI test. I’m on the Pill, so birth control is covered. It’s just a matter of having the guy, or girl for that matter, have an STI test before doing anything more than kissing.”

“You’re bisexual, right?”

I shrugged, “I like boys and I really want to fuck! But I was curious enough to kiss a girl and touch outside our clothes.”

“And you’d do it again?” Lilibeth asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “But that girl is in New York and her parents don’t accept that she’s lesbian. She’s like you — no interest in boys at all.”

“So you got an STI test and the Pill at fourteen?”

“Thirteen,” I replied. “Not too long before my fourteenth birthday. I had hoped to be able to have sex for the first time that day, but it didn’t work out!”

Lilibeth laughed, “It seems as if the universe is trying to frustrate you!”

“No kidding! I have plans to go camping with a guy I know in Sweden. I told my friends the island where we’re going to be will probably tip over or there will be a freak storm or whatever! Loki and I are going to have words! Anyway, let’s get some lunch and figure out what to do.”

“OK!”

🎤 Jesse

“I’m sorry I hung up,” Macrina said when she called around noon on Tuesday. “I was frustrated. Will you accept my apology?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I totally get why you’re frustrated, but I’m not sure how to solve the problem because you live in the burbs and I live in the city, and my schedule is basically dictated by school and hockey.”

“What are you doing today?”

“After you hung up on me, I made plans with my brothers and some friends to watch a tape of the Brazil/Germany World Cup final match that Eduardo taped for us. I’m heading there in a few minutes. Then I’m hanging out with another friend.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“I don’t have any plans right now.”

“Could you come out here? My parents will both be at work.”

“I could. I just need to confirm with Dad that I can use Aunt Jessica’s car. He’ll most likely say ‘yes’, but it’s possible she might need it for something. I can call you after we watch the football match.”

“You mean soccer, right?”

“Yes.”

“After tomorrow you’re basically busy until you leave for Europe, right?”

“Yes. I’ll be back on the last day of the month, so we’ll talk the first week in August, though, remember, there are hockey tryouts and practice which start the following week.”

“I know,” Macrina sighed. “I wish you lived closer!”

The refrain from several girls I knew.

“We have to play the cards we’re dealt in that regard,” I said. “Unless your parents decide to move into the city.”

“There’s no way that’s going to happen! They think the city is full of criminals and that if I come into the city, I’ll be raped and murdered!”

“It’s not nearly that bad,” I replied. “The areas by the projects are bad, but they’re tearing those down, which should make a big difference.”

“Not to my parents. Every time they see a report on the local news, they mention how dangerous the city is.”

“Then they need to stop watching the local news! The mentality is ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ or basically anything frightening gets played up. But most of it happens in certain specific areas of the city. Kenwood and Hyde Park are really safe, unless you’re a Freshman girl at UofC whose parents expect you to remain a virgin!”

Macrina laughed, “I think your house is just as dangerous in that regard!”

“Could be,” I chuckled, thinking Dad’s house was FAR worse. “What time tomorrow?”

“How about 9:30am? That way, I’m positive they’ll be at work.”

“OK. See you then!”

We said ‘goodbye’, I hung up, then put on my shoes and walked quickly to the main house where Matthew was just putting the tape into the VCR. We’d waited an extra day in hopes that Peter and Nicky would be back, but they were still in Cincinnati.

“Who are we waiting for?” Albert asked.

“Tim, Kwame, and Jack,” I said. “They should be here any minute.”

“The commentary is in Spanish,” Matthew said. “Eduardo recorded it from his Spanish-language channel while he was watching.”

“We don’t need any commentary,” Albert declared. “But Jesse can translate, I’m sure.”

I smirked, “Well, when they say ‘Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool’ it means someone scored!”

All the guys laughed, and I heard a knock at the back door. I went to open it and let the guys in. My three friends, plus Albert, Matthew, Michael, Nicholas, Andy, and I, all settled down to watch and Matthew pressed ‘Play’ on the remote. It was a hard-fought first half, and neither team scored, which we all felt was to Germany’s advantage, because they’d won their most recent matches 1-0, and most of their fourteen goals had come against the Saudis when they’d scored eight.

In the second half, though, Germany couldn’t stop Ronaldo, who scored twice, once at 67’ and once at 79’, to give the Brazilians their fifth World Cup, the most of any national side. Ronaldo won the Golden Boot as well, with a total of eight goals across all his matches during this World Cup. The Silver Boot was a tie between Germany’s Miroslav Klose and Brazil’s Rivaldo. Between Ronaldo and Rivaldo, they had scored only one fewer goal than the entire German side combined.

“The next one is in 2006, right?” Andy asked.

“Yes,” Matthew replied. “In Germany, so we should be able to see games live. Hopefully there will be better coverage, but we can always watch on Eduardo’s Spanish sports channels we have on cable.”

“Let’s go get ice cream,” Kwame suggested.

There were no objections, so we all trooped out of the house to head to the ice cream shop.

🎤 Birgit

“Sorry about my brothers and their friends being so loud!” I said. “I didn’t know they were going to watch that game today because it was played two days ago.”

“I only had my older sister, so I never had to put up with boys in the house,” Lilibeth said. “Well, except when she was dating and would have a guy over. And once we came up to your room, shut the door, and put on music, we only heard them twice when Brazil scored.”

“You watched?”

“No, but I saw the report in the newspaper. They were playing in Japan, so the time difference plus the lack of coverage here made it tough. I bet they got that tape from either a specialized soccer channel or a Spanish-language channel.”

“What position do you play?”

“Forward. I’m a striker.”

“That’s the position that scores the most goals, right?”

“Yes. That’s basically my job — get the ball into the net.”

“Did you want to choose the next CD?” I asked when No!, by They Might Be Giants, ended.

“How about Flogging Molly?” Lilibeth asked.

“I know what that means!” I declared. “But I don’t have any of their albums. I do have Barenaked Ladies and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies!”

In my dreams for that one!

Lilibeth laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. I saw the album on Amazon and bought it just for the name alone! Of course, I have Madonna and Prince, though it’s their songs, not their names!”

“Are you obsessed with sex?”

“Duh!” I giggled. “What normal teenager isn’t?”

“You wouldn’t have a copy of that book you mentioned, would you?”

“Dad has a case of them in his study. It’s the revised edition, too, though there aren’t many changes, just some clarifications and then new information on STIs. I can give you a copy for free.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you allowed to go into the city? We could go to Water Tower Place and the shops on North Michigan Avenue.”

“I’d have to ask my mom. OK if we walk over and talk to her?”

“Sure.”

“Then let me get the book for you and we can go ask your mom then head into the city.”

🎤 Steve

“I take it you read about the mid-air collision over Germany involving a cargo plane and a chartered passenger jet,” Elyse said.

“I did,” I replied. “It’s hard to understand how two commercial aircraft could collide over Europe. Between air-traffic control and onboard collision warning systems, either the pilots or ATC had to have screwed up badly.”

“I agree.”

The intercom buzzed, interrupting us.

“I have Jacob Goldberg for you, Steve,” Kimmy said.

Elyse left, and I had Kimmy put Jacob through.

“Hi, Jacob.”

“Hi, Steve. The brain trust agreed we should file the bankruptcy petition immediately, due to the automatic stay that would be granted for EB. We’ll still file the dismissal motions, as the action against all other parties except EB won’t receive an automatic stay, but would be stayed pending resolution of the ownership of the copyrights.”

“I’ll leave it to the experts,” I said. “You have my approval to file.”

“OK. I’ll let McCarthy/Jenkins know, and they’ll get the dismissal motions filed as well. Were you served?”

“Neither NIKA nor I have been served. Did you receive service for SKJ or Patent Partners?”

“No. EB was served this morning, via our local counsel in Maryland, and it appears that Braun was as well. I’d expect to be served today. There’s nothing special in the claims, and they match what their counsel told me over the phone. Basically, they want their million and I’d say they don’t really care about the IP.”

“That’s no surprise, given it’s effectively worthless.”

“We’ll take care of everything.”

“Thanks, Jacob.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up.

“Problems?” Penny asked.

“No. Just the usual legal games. A bank is about to lose a million bucks they lent to Braun and they aren’t happy.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo for the bank! Serves them right!”

“I certainly won’t lose a wink of sleep over it, and my comment to the bank is when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas! They’re trying a bank shot, but it has no basis in law or equity, and I swatted away almost identical claims by Braun himself years ago over the whole Lone Star debacle. This finally puts an end to that sorry story seven years later!”

“So that’s it, then, right? The Brauns are toast?”

“They’ll both be serving lengthy prison sentences with some Federal and some State time, all because Clay beat up his girlfriend in order to avoid being caught.”

“I hate when stuff like this happens, not just because it was bad for Clay’s girlfriend or even for NIKA, but because we end up putting even more security measures in place. I remember back at the beginning, when everyone had access to everything. Then that asshole Jefferson fucked us good for BLS. I mean, in the end, it worked out to our advantage, but that was the start of the extra security, which now includes cameras and logging everything we do!”

“Including going into the ladies’ room,” I chuckled.

“WHAT?!” Penny exclaimed in outrage.

“How do you get into the washroom?”

“With my key ca ... never mind! I’m a dope!”

“You said it, not me!” I chuckled. “But only Bob has access to that logging system. Only Sam, Brenda, and Brock have access to system logs, and only Sam or Brenda can do scans, which require two people to authenticate the workstation configured to do that. And it’s all encrypted with 128-bit encryption, so good luck to the government if they ever seize the computers.”

“Can’t the government make you tell them the passphrase?”

“No. If it were written down, they could get a warrant for it, but it’s not written down and if it’s used, we change the passphrase.”

There was actually a master passphrase which WAS written down, but the envelope which contained it was in the possession of a certain ex-KGB friend. Only she knew where it was, and only she and I knew of its existence, along with several other important documents and records which I might need in the future, but which I did not want anyone to know even existed. And if there was one person on the planet who would never, ever sell me out or speak under pressure, it was Katya.

“Do you ever wish we’d stayed small?”

“I’ve had that thought from time to time,” I replied, “but in the end, I think this is all worth it. I’m happy with what we’ve built, and now that I’m completely out of the management game, even happier!”

“Yeah, right!” Penny said, shaking her head. “Something will come up! It always does! Loki will make sure of it!”

“Even so, he keeps life interesting! Shall we get back to this re-engineering and re-factoring of the backend?”