Chapter 8: Blunt Talk

July 24, 1982, Chicago, Illinois

“Morning!” Shelly said, stretching as she woke up on Saturday morning.

“Morning!” Bianca agreed, also stretching.

The girls had spent the night with me in my bed, which was something of a rarity, but not something to which I would ever object.

“Morning!”

“Breakfast?” Bianca asked.

“Sounds good to me,” I replied.

The three of us got out of bed, showered, dressed, and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast.

“No teasing or innuendo around Violet when she’s here today, please,” I requested. “She and I are just friends, and she’s very sensitive about anything to do with sex.”

“We’re actually going out for the day,” Shelly said. “We’re hitting the beach again. You like the tan lines!”

I smiled, “Very much!”

“What time will you be home tonight?” Bianca asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “Why?”

“Just curious,” Bianca replied. “Do you know when Bev will arrive?”

“She’s planning to leave Goshen early next Saturday morning, so I figure around 2:00pm with stops to feed Heather and for Bev to stretch her legs. She’ll head home the following Saturday.”

“Will she sleep in your room?”

“Yes, and either way,” I replied. “If she doesn’t want to share a bed, I’ll sleep on the couch. At some point, I’ll get a sleeper sofa for the attic room so we can use it as a guest room, but that has to wait until I buy other things I need.”

“Are you going to get the Apple II?” Bianca asked.

“That’s the plan for next month,” I replied. “The Chrysler stock is about to hit the target Matheson set, so I won’t need the money I’ve saved towards a car. I’ll have replenished my reserve by the end of this month, so that isn’t a concern, either. And unless either of you objects, I’ll delay furniture for the computer.”

“No objections,” Bianca replied. “I hope it’ll be OK for me to use the computer.”

“Of course that’ll be OK!”

“Cool.”

“Are you guys doing anything tonight?”

“There’s a jazz concert at Northwestern. We’re meeting Sally and a few other girls there.”

We finished breakfast, then went for a walk around the neighborhood, returning just before Violet arrived. I introduced Violet to Shelly and Bianca, who were leaving for the beach, and after they left, Violet and I went up to the attic bedroom to play Pac-Man on my Atari 800.

“Both those girls are really pretty,” Violet said.

“They are,” I agreed.

“Does Huifen know about them?”

“They’re all friends,” I replied. “I met them all at the same time.”

“And your friend from Ohio?”

“Bev knows I’m sharing a house with two girls, but she’s never met them.”

“Have you decided what do to about Bev?”

“Talk to her,” I replied. “That really is all I can do. We’ll have a week together to figure things out.”

“So you might be engaged in two weeks?” Violet asked as the red ghost got me, ending my turn.

“That’s not outside the realm of possibilities, but I think it’s highly unlikely. Is that something that concerns you?”

Violet shrugged as she narrowly avoided the pink ghost and gobbled the fruit below the ‘holding pen’ for the ghosts. She didn’t say anything and seemed to be focused on the game. She cleared the last dot and moved to the next level, which meant she was WAY ahead of me, which wasn’t surprising. She almost completed the next level before being caught, and it was my turn again.

“I’m afraid I’ll lose you,” Violet said quietly as my turn began.

“We’ll still be friends no matter what happens,” I said.

“I guess,” Violet replied, sounding unsure.

As I thought about it while trying to not have my Pac-Man eaten by ghosts, I understood why Violet would be nervous, because if I did get together with Bev, I’d have a family, and that would take up significant amounts of my time. Even forgetting the crazy amount of sex I was having, being tied down with a family at nineteen was not appealing. I loved Bev and wanted what was best for her and Heather; the problem was, I wasn’t sure that what was best for them was best for me.

I was thinking too much and not really focusing on the game, and was caught by the orange ghost, ending my turn, making it Violet’s turn. I continued thinking about my situation, and it wasn’t just Bev. I was positive I wasn’t ready to settle down with anyone, including Huifen. Not doing that provided time and options — if I didn’t make a commitment to anyone, then Bev and I had more time to figure out if we should be together.

That left Huifen, and she’d already decided moving in wasn’t the right thing to do, so perhaps simply dating regularly would work for her, which would lessen the pressure of having to decide on a future with Bev. Of course, delaying could lead one or both of them to decide to find another guy or just happen to meet another guy. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that was a risk I had to take. Nineteen was just too young to be tied down.

“You really don’t have anything to worry about,” I said, trying to sound soothing and reassuring.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Violet seemed to relax and handily beat me at Pac-Man. We switched to Star Raiders and we were more evenly matched as Violet hadn’t played it any more than I had. When we finished the game, we went downstairs to get a drink, then decided to walk to a diner near the Howard L stop for lunch.

“I told Doctor Lochner I didn’t think I needed to see her every week,” Violet said as we walked. “She objected, but in the end, she agreed to once every two weeks.”

“No matter what she wants, in the end, it’s your decision,” I said. “You decide if you want to see her, just as you decide if you want to take a full course load and if you want me as your friend.”

“I’m always happy when I’m with you!” Violet exclaimed. “I’m looking forward to starting the class together next month.”

“Me, too.”

“I think we’ll have to go to the computer lab, rather than the coffee shop, though.”

“I think so, too.”

“I wish you still lived close,” she said. “It took over an hour to get here today.”

“Once I have a car, it’ll be a bit easier,” I replied. “Then I won’t have to rely on the CTA to get home after class, and it’s much quicker to drive to UICC, except at rush hour. But I’ll drive to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it’s a really quick drive from the Loop. If you wanted, we could have dinner together before class.”

“Cool!” Violet exclaimed. “I’d love that!”

We had a nice lunch, then headed back to the house to play Pac-Man and Star Raiders until it was time for Violet to go home.

“I’ll take the L with you,” I said. “I’m meeting my friends at a pub near Comiskey for dinner and beers. I just need to change.”

“OK,” Violet agreed.

I changed from shorts and a t-shirt into jeans and a polo shirt, then went back downstairs. Violet and I left the house, walked to the L, and boarded a train for the Loop. We changed trains at Lake, and I rode with her to her stop, then walked her home. Once she was safely inside, I walked to Lily’s house and knocked on the back door.

“Jonathan?!” Lily exclaimed in surprise when she opened the door. “What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at Shinnick’s Pub!”

“I was hanging out with Violet today, playing video games, and I decided to come early so I could walk her home.”

“We have more than an hour before we need to leave,” Lily said. “Want to come in?”

“Sure.”

She let me into the house, then shut the door behind me.

“Mom is out until later,” Lily said. “If you’re interested, we could go up to my room and fuck!”

“I am interested,” I replied.

“Then let’s not waste any time!” Lily declared, taking my hand and practically dragging me up the stairs to her room. Forty minutes later, we got out of bed and went across the hall to take a shower.

“I wish we’d had longer,” Lily said as I soaped her body. “Twice isn’t enough!”

“And it would have been zero if I hadn’t decided to accompany Violet home!” I countered.

“Mom won’t be home until around 11:00pm, so maybe we can come back here and fuck after dinner!”

“You certainly have a new outlook on life,” I said, gently soaping her tight butt.

“Well,” Lily smirked, grasping my flaccid shaft, “I enjoy THIS way more than sitting in church!”

“I would hope so!” I chuckled.

“And I sure can’t confess to a priest that I like doing THIS!” she exclaimed, dropping to her knees and taking my glans into her mouth.

“We’re going to be late!” I protested half-heartedly.

She didn’t stop until I’d spurted into her mouth and she’d swallowed. She stood, we French kissed, then quickly washed, dried, and dressed. We walked as quickly as we could to the L stop and were lucky to get on a train which was just arriving at the station. Even so, we ended up arriving at the pub about ten minutes late.

“Hi, Lily!” Costas said.

“Hi!” she replied.

He stood up, and they hugged. Seeing them reunited and reconciled made me happy, and I hoped Mrs. Andros would see her way to reconcile as well. We sat down in the two remaining chairs, Lily next to Costas and me next to Kristy, who was next to Jack.

“Are we going to see Stuart and Tom anytime soon?” I asked Dustin.

“Doubtful,” Dustin replied. “Their shifts seem to coincide with the times the rest of us can get together.”

“Maybe when football season starts, I’ll have everyone over to my place,” I said. “We’ll just find out which Sunday Tom and Stuart are free and plan for that day.”

“Who are Tom and Stuart?” Jack asked.

“Firemen,” I replied. “Well, Tom is a paramedic. I met Stuart when he nearly ran me over on his bike. They were both working, waiting to go to the Academy when we met. We saw a lot of each other until they graduated and were assigned to fire companies. Tom was married last month, which is also a reason he has less time.”

“Before you arrived, we were discussing what to do after dinner,” Costas said. “We agreed on seeing Young Doctors in Love.”

“What do you think, Lily?” I asked.

She leaned close and whispered in my ear, “So long as you promise to fuck me after the movie!”

“We’re in,” I said, wondering how I’d keep my promise to her.

We had a really good time talking and eating burgers and chips, and drinking beer. Trevor knew the pub’s manager, and that meant we didn’t get carded, even though Lily was eighteen, and Jack, Kristy, and I were all nineteen. After we finished eating, we headed into the Loop to see the movie, which was an absolutely hilarious spoof of TV medical shows. I hadn’t watched very many, but I still found the gags funny without the context everyone else seemed to have. When the movie ended, Lily and I took the L to University Village.

“What’s your plan?” I asked as we walked towards Lily’s house.

“The new tenant doesn’t move in until Saturday. We can fuck in the apartment. I put clean sheets on the bed just in case!”

“And your plan for the future?” I asked.

“To have fun, get my degree, get a job, and eventually get married. But not until I graduate from college. Until then, I’m going to have fun.”

“That’s quite the change from the girl I met a year ago.”

“And you’ve changed a lot from the guy who moved into the apartment a year ago.”

“True,” I agreed.

“Neither of us is ready to settle down, despite what I thought on my eighteenth birthday. And who knows what will happen in four years? I hope you’ll call me and ask me out again, or at least want to fuck occasionally.”

“I do!” I confirmed. “It seems as if you have a good plan; just don’t go too crazy.”

“Too crazy?”

“A friend of mine decided the best approach to college was to get drunk and have sex with a guy she picked up at a party every Friday night for her first two years of college. Not good for her grades, nor for her psyche.”

“That’s a bit extreme!” Lily declared. “You’re not one of those guys with a double-standard, though, right?”

“Right. My concern is not the number of partners, but that she was drunk. And before you ask, you and I each drank one glass of beer, and you aren’t that lightweight!”

Lily laughed, “Not quite, though two might make me tipsy. Can I ask you something? You obviously don’t have to answer.”

I didn’t feel the need to respond to Lily the way I had Kasia.

“Sure,” I replied.

“You know what, let me ask this way — I know you’ve dated quite a few girls, but have you slept with more than ten?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No. Just a curiosity. You’re still the only guy I’ve been with, but I’m sure you understand why.”

“You had to adjust your thinking about it, and your new attitude is relatively recent. There was also the factor of you wanting to get back together.”

“Still true, by the way,” Lily said. “But I also know I’m no more ready to make a lifetime commitment than you are.”

When we arrived at the house, we went up to my old apartment and Lily let us in. It was basically exactly as Violet and I had left it after we’d finished painting and cleaning. Lily didn’t turn on the light, as that would have revealed we were in the apartment, and we quickly undressed and got into bed and began fooling around.

“That was awesome!” Lily exclaimed when we got out of bed about two hours later, after screwing, sixty-nine, and screwing again.

We took a quick joint shower, dressed, and then Lily gathered the sheets and towels she’d left in the apartment, and once we were outside, she locked the door. I walked her down to the back door of her house, we kissed, and I made my way to the L for the ride home.

July 25, 1982, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday, I slept late, had breakfast with Shelly and Bianca, read the newspaper and The Economist, then headed for the L to meet Violet outside Comiskey Park for the White Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I had a great time yesterday,” Violet said after we greeted each other.

“Me, too!”

“How was your night?”

“It was fun. After we ate, we saw Young Doctors in Love, a comedy spoof of TV medical shows.”

We went to the correct gate, Violet handed over the tickets, and we went to find our seats, which were in the upper deck, along the third base line. We bought hotdogs and Cokes from a vendor and settled in to wait for the game to begin.

“Would you like to come to dinner next Sunday?” I asked. “You can meet Bev and Heather.”

“How would I get home?”

“I can either borrow Bev’s or Bianca’s car and bring you home, or I could take the L with you.”

“I’d like that! What time should I be at your house?”

“Any time after 3:00pm is OK.”

“Cool! Can we get together one more time before class begins?”

“Sure. What did you want to do?”

“Do you think you could borrow your friend’s car and we could go to Chicago Botanical Gardens?”

“I’ll ask Bianca,” I said.

We stood for the National Anthem, and then the game began. The Sox gave up a run in the top of the first on a double and a single by the Blue Jays, but scored three of their own in the bottom of the first on a single, a walk, and then a home run to deep centerfield by Greg Luzinski. The Sox never lost the lead, though the Jays scored twice more, including a solo home run by Willie Upshaw in the top of the ninth, but the Sox retired the side after that, and won 5-3, having scored single runs in both the second and seventh innings.

When the game ended, we discussed what to do about dinner, and in the end, agreed to take the L back to University Village, then walk to Greek Town and eat at Diana’s, which Violet said had good food and reasonable prices.

After we were seated, I looked over the menu and saw all kinds of dishes I’d never tried before, which made my decision difficult. In the end, I chose to start with a Greek salad and Saganaki, and then decided on Moussaka as my main course. Everything was as awesome as Violet had promised, and the prices were very reasonable. As we always did, we split the check, then walked back along Halsted Street to University Village.

“I decided I want you to take over managing my investments,” Violet said. “Your advice has been excellent and I’ve increased the value significantly in just three months.”

I was doing that for Jeri, but we were using the fiction that it was my money, and we had a side agreement. If I suddenly put $90,000 into my account at Spurgeon, it would raise all kinds of questions.

“I can’t officially do that without a license,” I replied. “So we’ll need to keep doing what we’re doing now.”

“When could you take over?”

“Not until I take the license test.”

“Could you do that?”

I wondered if I could, and having an SEC license would be a good step to taking the shortcut I wanted to take.

“I’ve done all the studying. I’d need to ask Mr. Matheson, my mentor, if that would be possible, because some licenses require sponsorship from the firm. There are exceptions, for example, if I had a CPA license, but that’s actually more difficult for me to obtain right now, because of the education requirements. I have to talk to Mr. Matheson about something else tomorrow, so I’ll ask him about a Series 7 license as well.”

“Thanks! It’ll just be easier than having to write down your advice and talk to the guy who manages it now. He doesn’t agree with your strategy.”

“Neither did Mr. Matheson, and it’s going to cost him a car!” I chuckled.

“I saw that the price of the Chrysler stock is over the price he required.”

“It was on an intra-day high, but only the closing number matters for the wager. I expect it’ll be sometime in the next week or two. I’ll probably ask him to wait until the new model year cars are out, which is likely in September.”

“A convertible, right?”

“Yes. A burgundy Chrysler LeBaron with a five-speed transmission. I checked out the specs of the new model year and know exactly what I want.”

“It’s amazing that he’s just going to buy that for you!”

“It’s about ensuring loyalty and providing incentives. If things go the way I expect them to, I’ll make him a lot of money and make a lot for myself as well. He wants to make sure I do that.”

“He must make a lot of money.”

“Over a million dollars a year,” I replied.

“Wow! And you’ll make that kind of money?”

“Eventually, if I’m successful.”

At Violet’s house, she gave me a quick, chaste hug as she’d done for the past month or so.

“It’s OK to hug me back,” she said.

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

She hugged me again and this time I put my arms lightly around her. We only held the hug briefly, then she said ‘good night’ and went into the house. I turned and began walking towards the L station.