Chapter 10: Dangerous

August 11, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

I went to church at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral and decided against going to Sunday School so that I could get home by 1:00pm. I ate lunch, then called Angelina.

"Sorry about yesterday," I replied. "But CeCe was visiting."

Angelina laughed, "And you aren't going to pass up your last chances with her! It was my own fault for not calling first. What are you doing this afternoon?"

"I didn't have any plans."

"I could come over, if that's OK."

"Sure."

"See you in ten minutes!"

We said 'goodbye' and hung up, and true to her word, Angelina arrived ten minutes later, and we went up to my room.

"The new cheerleaders are free tomorrow and want to check out the sauna," Angelina said as we cuddled together after fooling around for an hour.

"That should be OK," I replied. "After lunch?"

"Sure. How about if we show up around 1:00pm?"

"That sounds good."

"When will the group start going out on Fridays?"

"Once school starts, so after Labor Day. Your dad will be cool with you hanging out with us?"

"Mom made it clear that once I had my «quince», he had to stop treating me like a little kid! So yes, I can, and my curfew is 11:00pm."

"That works because the city curfew is 10:00pm. We're rarely out after that, but if we are, then we make arrangements with parents to get us."

"So dumb!" Angelina declared.

"Oh, I know," I replied. "But we can't even vote to change it, and too many people are afraid teens might actually grow up that they won't allow us the freedom we need."

"You should run for office!"

"Oh, hell no!" I exclaimed. "Not happening. You could not pay me enough to do that, and besides, people don't vote for candidates who tell the truth and who insist the government should interfere less and fewer things should be illegal. Telling people to mind their own fucking business is not a successful campaign strategy."

"Your dad would vote for that!"

I laughed, "As a concept, but for me? He wouldn't vote for me any more than I'd vote for him! Birgit, on the other hand, would be happy to have him be Supreme Ruler of the Universe, so long as he listened to her advice!"

"In other words, she wants to be Supreme Ruler of the Universe and would be OK if your dad were her proxy."

"Exactly."

I heard the phone ring and wasn't surprised when, a minute later, Mom Two knocked on the door and let me know Viktoria wanted to speak to me. I asked Mom Two to take a message and let Viktoria know I'd call her back.

"The girl from your old church?" Angelina asked.

"Yes. I'm sure she wants to see me, but she has to sneak to do it."

"Kind of like me until my «quince», well, and now about this. Dad would not approve!"

"Most dads wouldn't."

"But your dad won't have a problem with Birgit having a boyfriend, right?"

"No, he won't. But he's not most dads!"

"Does she have a boyfriend?"

I laughed, "I think Birgit will have 'boy toys', not boyfriends, until after she graduates from college. She's more like me and opposite Matthew and Stephie."

"No girlfriend until after college?"

"I said 'more like' not 'identical'," I countered. "But I'm not interested in a steady girlfriend during High School."

"So, you're going back to a different girl every day?"

"I didn't say that, either. But I want my freedom. You should, too! You're only fifteen, and I'm only sixteen. Let's just have fun and not worry too much about what's going to happen in ten years! Want to go again?"

"Yes!" Angelina exclaimed happily.

🎤 Michael

The game between the Mariners and White Sox didn't start out well, with the Mariners scoring in the first inning on a walk and two singles after two men were out, but the Sox came back in the bottom of the second with five runs on five straight hits — a pair of singles, a double, and two home runs. They got a sixth hit, a single, but that runner was stranded when the Mariners got three consecutive outs.

"I was worried when the Sox gave up a run in the first inning," Andi said when the third inning began. "But now I'm sure they'll win being up 5-1!"

"I wouldn't bet on that just yet," I said as John Olerud hit a two-run homer for Seattle to make the score 5-3.

"Ugh!" Andi groused. "The Sox pitching stinks!"

The Sox got one back in the bottom of the inning on a Jose Valentin home run, making it 6-3.

"Did you hear about the new computer club that's starting at school?" Andi asked.

"I had a call from Mr. Walthers asking if I would join," I said. "He called everyone in robotics and math club. I'm going to join."

"Me, too!" Andi declared, grabbing my arm.

The game settled down somewhat, though the Mariners scored a run in the seventh and a run in the ninth, but with two outs, the Sox put it away with a pop fly caught by second-baseman Willie Harris to end the game 6-5 without the Sox having to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

"This was fun!" Andi exclaimed as we left the stadium with her dad and Eduardo to have dinner in Greek Town.

🎤 Birgit

"Are you going to live in the dorms or here in the Condo?" I asked Rachel.

"The dorms!" she replied. "As much as I like living here, two toddlers full-time is a bit much. I mean, sure, they have their nanny during the day, but I have almost no privacy. Not that I'd want to go home, but if I could have lived at your house like I wanted, that would have been perfect."

"Why do you care what your mom thinks?" Tiffany asked.

"Because she could cause trouble for my dad," I quickly replied. "Even if Rachel is eighteen, her mom could claim they had sex before Rachel turned seventeen, and even if Dad and Rachel both deny it, it could still cause problems. According to Patricia, they could actually convict my dad just on Rachel's mom's word, even if Rachel denied it."

"What the fuck?!" Tiffany exclaimed. "How is that even possible?"

"Because the government has declared war on sex," Rachel replied. "Especially on teen sex. Which is why Suzanne talked to you about not saying anything about what you want to anyone and reminding you that you have to keep it secret."

"Ugh!" Tiffany exclaimed. "I want it NOW!"

"Then you need to find someone your age or a year older," Rachel replied.

"No thanks! I'll just have to wait a year."

"You shouldn't even talk to us about it," Rachel said. "Sure, it's safe here, but if you slip up, you won't get the best, most intense, most over-the-top, most expert deflowering experience you could ever have!"

Which was what I had wanted, I thought. And I missed it because I was too obvious about it. If nobody had known and I had gone to Dad privately, he might have. But once my moms knew, there was no way they'd ever allow it. I'd do it with him now, but it wouldn't be the same. I still needed to find an older guy, maybe one in college, who wouldn't freak out about me being a Freshman like Kevin had.

"Some guys won't even consider it if you're close in age," I groused. "There was a guy I asked to hang out with who's going to be a Senior, and he said 'no' because I'm fourteen. Like I'm a little girl or something!"

"At least you don't get that treatment at home," Rachel said. "I sure did, and Tiffany does."

"My mom chilled out a bit over the Summer," Tiffany said. "In fact, a lot."

I almost giggled because I was positive the reason Tiffany's mom had chilled out was that Dad had fucked her senseless!

"What are we doing for the rest of the afternoon?" I asked.

"What about Thai food?" Rachel suggested. "We could go to Star of Siam, then come back here to watch a movie before your dad picks you up."

"What movies do you have?" Tiffany asked.

"Just about anything you can think of that isn't porn!" Rachel declared.

"I want to see Eyes Wide Shut," Tiffany said. "Do you have it?"

"Yes. OK with you, Birgit?"

"Sure! Thai food and a movie with lots of sex! I'm in!"

My friends laughed as we got up from the couch so we could head to the restaurant.

🎤 Jesse

I called Viktoria late in the afternoon, hoping that her dad wouldn't answer the phone. I was happy when Viktoria answered.

"Hi, Jesse!" she exclaimed after I greeted her. "Can I see you this week?"

"I have hockey practice every morning," I replied. "We don't finish until 11:00am, and then I have to take Nicholas home."

"If I took the train, could I watch your practice?"

"I don't see why not," I replied. "It's open to anyone."

"And could you bring me home by 5:00pm?"

"We'd only have about two hours together by the time we had lunch and with the time it would take to drive you to Glen Ellyn."

"That's long enough for what I want!" she exclaimed.

"How about Tuesday?" I asked. "Will that work?"

"Yes! Tell me how to get to the ice rink, please!"

I explained how she could get there via Metra and the CTA, she said she'd arrive by 10:30am, and then we said 'goodbye'.

August 12, 2002, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

🎤 Steve

"I want you to speak to a neurologist who is doing research on post-concussion syndrome," Mary said when she and her medical student, Jianyu, finished my primary exam late on Monday morning.

"I set aside two days for you to poke and prod me!" I chuckled.

"This afternoon, you'll meet with Doctor Kirilenko, the neurologist, and have your MRI EEG. Tomorrow morning, we'll do your fasting blood panel, as well as a glucose tolerance test. Then you'll have a nuclear cardiac stress test, a cardiac ultrasound, and in the afternoon, a full-body electron beam CT scan and meet with Doctor Brown. You'll want to consult with me before you have any x-rays, including dental, in the near future, except in an emergency."

"I'll let my dentist know; I assume you'll send Doctor Kulczycki a complete set of results?"

"Yes. I'll make sure the x-rays are flagged."

"Sounds good."

"Shall we have lunch? Doctor Ross and Doctor Alston will join us, as will Naomi. I assume it's OK for Jianyu to join us."

"Yes, of course," I agreed.

"Don and I are expecting you to join us for dinner. I invited Alejandra and Trent, and Naomi and Greg will join us as well."

"I'm looking forward to it, and I'm glad you invited them."

[Chicago, Illinois]
🎤 Jesse

"Jesse, please meet Ebele, Ime, Estefana, and Robin," Angelina said, "our new Freshmen members of the cheer squad. Girls, this is Jesse, the captain of the hockey team."

I had just finished eating lunch after coming home from hockey practice.

"Hi!" I said to the four girls.

Ebele had very dark skin and was tall and athletic. Ime, who was a bit shorter than Ebele, had lighter skin and was curvier. Estefana was the shortest of the four and the prettiest, with beautiful brown eyes and long brown hair. Robin was a few inches shorter than me, had strawberry blonde hair in a French braid, and was the thinnest of the four.

"Hi!" all four girls exclaimed together.

"The girls want to check out the sauna," Angelina said. "Can we?"

"Sure. Let's go to the main house."

"I heard there's an elevator," Robin said.

"There is. In fact, why don't I give you a tour of my house and the main house?"

They agreed, so I showed them the coach house first, including the Duck's Nest in the basement.

"This is really just yours?" Estefana asked.

"Except for doing laundry, nobody else comes down here," I said. "And my moms completely honor my privacy."

"That's cool!" Ime declared. "My dad and mom are like prison guards at home! I can't have the door to my room closed except when I'm changing or sleeping, they monitor my computer, and nobody is even allowed upstairs except for our family."

After finishing the tour of the guest house, we went to the main house.

"Why do you live in the smaller house?" Ebele asked.

"Because I live with my moms, and they want to have their own family, separate from my dad. It's cool because my dad is right next door, but my moms make all their own decisions."

"I've seen your moms at hockey games," Robin said. "Which one is your real mom?"

"Both!" I declared firmly. "Mom One gave birth to me, but they've been a couple from before I was born."

And, I didn't add, they had both been with Dad when I was conceived.

"Sorry," Robin replied. "That's what I meant, and it came out wrong."

We rode the elevator up to the attic room, though we had to do it in two groups because three in the elevator was the absolute maximum, and two was normal. The tour worked its way down to the basement.

"Nobody is home?" Robin asked.

"My dad and aunts are at work, my sisters are out with their friends, and my brother is doing a community service project with his Scout troop. I'm not sure where Natalie and Suzanne are."

"Who are they?"

"Part of the family," I replied. "Not blood relatives, but they live here and are treated like part of the family."

Angelina knew more, but in keeping with the family policy of being circumspect, I was being careful about what I said.

"I also have two brothers who live in the suburbs," I continued.

"Your dad has kids with three women?" Estefana asked.

"By four," I replied. "Mom One for me; Aunt Kara for my sisters Birgit and Stephie; Aunt Jessica for my brother Albert and sister Ashley; and my Aunt Elyse for my brothers Matthew and Michael."

"Divorced and remarried so many times?" she asked.

"No. He's married to my Aunt Jessica, and that's his only legal marriage. His relationship with the other moms varies, but it's really none of my business."

"Strange," she observed.

"It's different, for sure, but we all get along great."

"And you really use the sauna naked?" Robin asked. "With mixed sexes?"

"Yes," I replied. "If anyone is uncomfortable with that, then everyone wears a bathing suit or wraps a towel around themselves."

"Hang on!" Ime protested. "You've been in the sauna naked with your sisters, moms, and aunts?"

"Yes. Nudity does not imply sex, no matter what society says."

"There is no way I'd let my brother see me naked!" Estefana declared. "Just no way!"

I shrugged, "It's no big deal, but that's why we have the rule that says if anyone is uncomfortable, everyone has to cover up. If you don't have bathing suits on under your shorts and T-shirts, then you can wrap towels around yourselves. We have huge towels that make it easy to do that. They're in the closet here, along with robes. You can change in the guest rooms. So, which is it?"

"Towels," Robin said firmly.

"Then that's what we'll do," I said.

About ten minutes later, after the rocks had heated, the six of us were sitting in the sauna with towels wrapped around us.

"I heard the entire softball team was in here, and they were all suspended because of it," Estefana said.

"Some parents freaked out," I replied. "And technically, I'm not supposed to let anyone be naked in the sauna without their parents' permission."

I hadn't been worried about the cheerleaders because I had been almost positive that four Freshman girls wouldn't just get naked in front of me, and that had proved to be true. Had they said they wanted to use it naked, I'd have raised the concern about parental consent for anyone under seventeen. I was still safe, generally speaking, until I turned eighteen, but there was always a risk of some overzealous prosecutor going after me or my dad.

"Oh, right, like my parents would be OK with even THIS!" Robin groused.

"Mine sure wouldn't!" Ime said. "My dad will only let me see female doctors."

"You realize how dumb that is, right?" I asked.

"I didn't say it was smart!" she protested. "Just saying how he thinks."

"You don't know the half of it," Ebele protested. "My grandmother wanted me to be cut the way women are back in Nigeria!"

"No way!" I protested. "Genital mutilation?"

"Called 'cutting'," she said. "My mom refused, and it caused a huge row between my mom and my grandmother, my dad's mom."

"That's crazy!" Robin protested. "People still do that?"

"In Nigeria, maybe half of all women have it done, usually sometime before they turn ten. Mom wouldn't even let grandma use a needle to stick me as a symbol."

"Why would anyone do that?" Estefana asked.

"Tradition and mistaken understanding of female anatomy," Ebele said. "And cultural beliefs that women who have not had it done are impure and unmarriageable."

"Do they really remove parts?" Robin asked.

"They really do," Ebele said. "My grandmother, that is my dad's mom, had her clitoris and part of her labia removed. My mom, though, only had a pinprick, just as her mother had. Jesse, are you circumcised?"

"No. And none of my brothers are. Why would anyone cut off part of their dick? I mean, if some god told me to do that, I'd have told him exactly where he could go and what he could do! I agree with you that NOBODY should have part of their body removed except if it's medically necessary. Well, plastic surgery would be OK, too, even if it were just cosmetic."

"What about a sex-change operation?" Ebele asked.

"I suppose an adult could make that determination for themselves," I replied. "But with circumcision or female genital mutilation, it's parents deciding for infants or young girls, I guess. That's just wrong."

"There was a situation about eight years ago when a woman from Nigeria avoided deportation from the US because she was afraid her daughters, who were American citizens, would be forced to undergo cutting," Ebele said. "My grandmother was angry; my mom was very happy. My grandmother was outraged when it was made completely illegal in the US in 1996."

"Well, you can be sure of one thing," I said. "Nobody is getting anywhere near that part of my body with a knife!"

The girls all laughed, and the conversation shifted to other topics.