Chapter 16: A First Takeoff

August 27, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

"You're going to Washington this weekend, right?" Nicholas asked as I drove to hockey practice on Tuesday morning.

"Yes. I leave on Friday evening, and I'll be back on Monday morning so I can be at my dad's Labor Day party. I think this is the last time I'll be in DC, though."

"Why? I thought you really liked Larisa!"

"I do! But her mom has a teaching position at Harvard starting in January, so if I visit them, it will be in Boston, not DC."

"Oh! Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What?"

"Do you think your dad and my mom are going to make up?"

I shrugged, "I have no idea. I think it's really up to your mom."

"Why are they fighting over Mom's book?"

"Because she wants to change it to basically say the opposite of what it says now, and that upset my dad."

"But it's her book!"

"Actually, I think she had to sign away her rights to it to have it published. That's what my moms said, anyway. She's not telling you not to hang out with me or Albert, right?"

"No."

"Then don't worry about it. Let them have their spat, and you focus on hockey! I want to win the statewide tournament before I graduate!"

We arrived at the rink, grabbed our gear from the back of the SUV, and headed inside to the locker room.

🎤 Michael

"Morning, Mike! Morning, Andi!" Mr. Perez said when we walked into the school building.

"Morning, Mr. Perez!" we both said.

"You're the first two to arrive."

"Eduardo dropped us off on the way to see a client," I said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have had a ride."

"And my mom is picking us up at the end of the day," Andi added.

"OK."

"Hi, Mr. Perez!" Manuel called out, coming into the 'bot shop' as we called the room we used to work on our bot.

Joe came in right after him, and Mr. Perez greeted both guys. The last to arrive was Lydia, a girl who had moved from Arizona and who wanted to join the robotics team.

"First," Mr. Perez said, "we'll disassemble last year's bot. We can re-use most of the parts. Mike, I received the electrical plans and the circuit boards from your aunt yesterday."

"She called me last night to let me know they were delivered," I replied.

Aunt Jennifer had volunteered to create the circuit boards we needed, something which was permitted by the rules, as our other option was to buy something 'off the shelf', but she had designed something that met our specific requirements.

"And I have the parts we need for the re-designed body. The gears, servos, and wheels from the old bot will be re-used. I have the new parts for the lifter. Mike and Andi, you disassemble the old bot; Manuel, you disassemble the old controller; Joe and Lydia, you work with me on cleaning and lubricating the parts and checking for damage."

I retrieved the toolkit, and Andi and I got to work.

🎤 Birgit

"What's that?" Peter asked.

"My personal massager!" I giggled. "It's very personal!"

"What do you mean?"

I turned it on and held it against his palm.

"Feel that?" I asked.

He nodded. I turned it off, then handed it to him. He looked confused and watched as I quickly undressed. When I was naked, I grasped his wrist and gently moved his arm until the tip of the vibrator was against the flesh that covered my button.

"Turn it on, and you turn ME on!" I giggled.

"Whoa!" he gasped.

"It can go inside, too!"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously! Didn't you read that section in Aunt Bethany's book?"

"Uhm, no, because it was in the section about girls doing stuff with themselves."

"You can say 'masturbating'! But also, there was stuff in the section about what two girls can do. Did you skip that?"

"Uh, yeah, and the one about what gay guys do. I don't even want to think about it!"

"I bet you'll like watching me with Julie!" I declared.

"I guess," Peter replied.

"Would you do it with me and another guy?"

"That would be really weird," Peter said. "And there is no way I'm touching another guy! Gross!"

I almost rolled my eyes but didn't. I understood not wanting to do it, but it wasn't gross.

"You wouldn't have to touch the other guy! I could do it with you at the same time!"

"How?"

"Mouth and pussy, of course!" I giggled.

Or butt and pussy, but I didn't want to scare Peter away.

"And," I teased, "guess where I could put the personal massager!"

"You wouldn't!" he gasped, figuring it out.

"Not if you told me not to do it."

"Don't. Can't we just have regular sex?"

"Yes, of course! Get naked!"

Peter put the vibrator on the nightstand and started taking off his clothes.

🎤 Steve

"I have all the paperwork from the bankruptcy court," Liz said, coming into my office late on Tuesday morning. "I'll have it scanned into the system, then put it in the offsite archives unless you want to read them first."

"If there is drier reading than a final decree in a bankruptcy case, I'm not sure what it would be! Did we get the assignment of copyrights from the bank?"

"Yes. We can truly put this one to bed. The rest is up to the criminal courts, and we don't have any part in any of that at this point, given the Brauns are pleading out and the charges against Clay are for attempted murder."

"Anything else I need to worry about?"

"Besides the crazy blonde who usually sits next to you?"

"I HEARD THAT!" Penny exclaimed, coming back into the office.

"Liz is not wrong," I chuckled.

"Steve?" Kimmy said over the intercom. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have Doctor Krajick on the line."

I rolled my eyes because if Bethany had used her title speaking to Kimmy, that meant she wasn't calling to reconcile.

"I'll take it in the «yōshitsu» room so Penny doesn't have to leave."

"I'll head back to my office," Liz said.

She left, and I went to the «yōshitsu» room and shut the door. A few seconds later, the phone buzzed, and I picked up the handset.

"Steve Adams."

"Steve, it's Bethany. Do you have a moment?"

"Yes," I replied, having to fight to avoid reflexively adding 'Sweetheart'.

"What will it take for you to allow me to revise my book?"

"Your way or my way?"

"My way," Bethany said.

"There is nothing on this planet that will convince me to allow you to wreck the most sex-positive book for teenagers I've ever read. Nothing."

"Thinking has evolved on that."

"Prudish American thinking. I'd call it 'devolved'. You lived in Sweden for a year, for Pete's sake!"

"You simply won't accept that cultural differences are important."

"That's both true and not true. While there are cultural differences, ours should move towards theirs. Your book, in its current incarnation, strikes exactly the right balance, and I'll be damned if I'll let it be changed to match your 'evolved' ideas about consent, which are actually a regression. As I said in Michigan, your 'evolved' thinking precludes anyone except two naïve virgins born on the exact same day and year from ever having sex."

"That's a slippery-slope argument, and you know it!"

"And that's a claim made by people who do not want to admit the logical conclusions drawn about their positions, which they cannot defend. Let me ask you this — setting aside the law, could Birgit, at fourteen, ask a man in his thirties to deflower her?"

"Of course not!"

"Late twenties?"

"No."

"Remember who we're talking about here," I said. "A teen who is better informed about sex and sexuality than most adults. How about a college kid?"

"The age disparity is a problem."

"Uh-huh. High School Senior, who's the class stud?"

"Possibly, but it would be a bad idea."

"Bullshit! Do you honestly think it would be healthy for Birgit to be with a fumbling, clueless boy for her first time?"

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"No, I'm not. I asked you a question which you didn't answer. Let me approach it from a different direction. Describe an appropriate lover for Birgit's deflowering, assuming it hasn't already happened."

"As if she wouldn't tell you!"

"You'd be surprised," I replied. "But answer the question."

"Someone of the appropriate age with similar life experience."

"So, as I said, basically someone born on May 28, 1988, who was raised the same way I raised her. An empty set. If the guy were younger or had less experience, you'd say he couldn't consent. If he were older and had more experience, you'd say she couldn't consent. Maybe 'exact birthdate' is extreme, but it's not far off! Under your standard, I raped you, Bethany, because you could NOT consent to have sex with the class stud."

"That's not fair!" Bethany exclaimed angrily.

"And that's not a denial, either. In your mind, I raped Kara and close to two hundred other girls, and Jennie McGrath raped me because I couldn't consent as a relatively clueless virgin to the widowed twenty-three-year-old woman. There is no escaping those conclusions. And this is NOT about me wanting to have sex with teenagers. My thinking there has evolved, though not for the reasons yours has, nor does it involve me believing they aren't able to consent to sex."

"Right. Because you'd EVER accept a position that posited that was wrong."

"Again, you'd be surprised. But you don't care because you have your mind made up, and you've decided that teens should not have sex, and, in fact, logically, neither should college students if one is experienced and the other is not. That's nuts, Bethany, plain and simple.

"I'm sorry Samantha wasted her money and contacts to get you the fellowship because you didn't learn a damned thing. So my answer is 'no', and my 'no' to you is final. I won't lift a finger to change your publisher's mind, and I'll continue to buy and distribute those books far and wide. If and when you come to your senses, call me. Until then, take care of yourself."

There was silence for about ten seconds, so I replaced the handset, left the «yōshitsu» room, and returned to my desk. Twenty-five minutes later, Kimmy let me know Kathy Jaeger was on the line, so once again, I went to the «yōshitsu» room to take the call.

"Hi, Red!" I exclaimed.

"Hi, Steve. Before I get to the real reason for my call, you shocked me!"

I laughed, "Well, Kristin made a good, logical argument!"

"And you're OK with it?"

"Given no other guy will ever see that, yeah, actually, I am! But neither you nor your husband are off the hook for yours!"

"You're too much!"

"That shouldn't be news. How is Bethany?"

"Angry and upset. If she's telling the truth, you were pretty rough on her."

"I was. I used the one word that I knew would pierce her right into her soul."

"That's what upset her so much."

"You know I wasn't wrong, even if I was terribly insensitive. But you know what she'd say about Kristin, despite the fact that Kristin approached me, arranged it, and spent a year teasing me before it happened!"

"Oh, I know! Trust me! Kristin kept me very well informed. And I'm jealous! At fifteen, she's done something I've never done!"

"Not my problem!" I chuckled. "Take that up with your husband!"

"I still can't believe you let two fifteen-year-old girls do that to you!"

"How long have you known me, Kathy?"

"Never mind!" she replied, laughing softly.

"I hope you aren't calling to get me to change my mind about the book."

"Heavens, no! I agree with you completely about the book. It's the word you used. Bethany is sure to tell Tom, and he's not going to take it well."

I took a deep breath and let it out, then said, "Something I should have considered before I said it to her. I was frustrated because I wasn't getting through to her and she dismissed everything she learned in Sweden as 'cultural differences'."

"Oh, I know, and I totally understand; Tom won't."

"There isn't much I can do about it at this point except wait for him to call or show up at my door. I could apologize to Bethany for using the word, but the concept is sound, and she needs to understand the implications of her views. Maybe nobody else will call her out for her bullshit, but I sure will."

"I hear you."

"And please tell me she doesn't know about Kristin."

"Kristin certainly didn't tell her, and I haven't."

"Neither have I, and the Neighborhood Watch wouldn't."

Kathy laughed, "Birgit, right?"

"And Ashley, though Ashley is crafty, while Birgit is obvious."

"Watch out for the crafty one!" Kathy declared mirthfully.

"Tell me about it!" I chuckled. "Anyway, hopefully, Tom will understand."

"Hopefully. See you on Monday at the party!"

"See you then."

I hung up and went back to my desk, knowing that at some point in the next day or two, I'd have a confrontation with Tom, something I did not relish.

🎤 Jesse

"We're looking solid," I said to the guys as Pete, Jack, Freddie, Tomás, DeShawn, Nicholas, and I chowed down on pizza at Bacino's, where we all went after hockey practice.

"Think we're ready for Saint Rita in two weeks?" Pete asked.

"We should be," I replied. "The team is coming together pretty well."

"It's different without Tim, Lee, and Kwame," Freddie said. "But we have some good replacements right here at the table!"

"What was Coach talking to you about, Pete?" Tomás asked.

"Which games I'll play. I start twice during the regular season. This year against De La Salle and Brother Rice."

"Have you ever needed a backup, Jesse?" DeShawn asked.

"So far, no injuries or sickness, though I did get a rest in the third period of the game last year against Fenwick when we were up six goals. Something similar happened during Freshman year when Jerry came in after we scored five in the first against Chicago Latin."

"Can I ask what happened last year?" DeShawn inquired.

"Exactly what coach said," I replied. "We lost focus, took six penalties in the first period, and never recovered. And they weren't bullshit penalties, either. We had two five-on-three disadvantages, and that was the difference. Then they trapped us, and we couldn't get a goal."

"That's why Coach is so keen on beating the trap," Pete said.

"The NHL is considering ditching the two-line pass rule," I said. "That would basically kill the effectiveness of the neutral-zone trap because you could pass from your defensive zone across the red line. Originally, you couldn't ever pass forward, but that changed in 1927 when you could make a forward pass in your zone and the neutral zone but not in the offensive zone.

"It changed again in 1929 when they allowed forward passes in all zones, but you had to carry the puck across the opponent's blue line. The center line wasn't introduced until 1944 when you were allowed to pass over your own blue line up to the center line. That's when the two-line pass rule came into effect. We need to ditch it to stop teams playing the trap because it makes for boring hockey."

"I thought goalies liked fewer shots," DeShawn said.

"I hate boring hockey even more!" I declared. "Watching a game where a team is trapping is like watching paint dry!"

"Who do you think wins the Cup?"

"The fucking Devils by fucking playing their fucking trap!" I growled. "The Ducks should have a good year. The Penguins will suck! They might be the worst team in the league this year!"

"Why are you so happy about that?" Tomás asked.

"Jesse's dad is a huge Penguins fan!" Nicholas declared. "Huge! So when they stink, Jesse is delighted!"

"What he said!" I grinned.

We finished our pizza, then Nicholas and I headed home.

🎤 Birgit

Peter left after lunch, and I went to Lilibeth's house to hang out with her, Libby, and Rachel.

"Only a few days of Summer vacation left," Libby complained.

"I like school," I said. "My complaint is that most of my friends won't be in the same school!"

"That would be true even if you went to Kenwood Academy, right?" Libby asked.

"Not quite so bad, but half the girls are going to parochial schools like Maria. Rachel, did you find an apartment yet?"

"Samantha found one for me, and I could actually move in on September 1st, but because I'm not eighteen, it's better to stay at Samantha's. I'll start decorating and stuff, and you girls can help."

"Cool!" I exclaimed.

"You need a big bed!" Libby exclaimed.

Rachel laughed, "Already planned! A queen! Plenty of room for me and Javon!"

"He's moving in with you, right?" Libby asked.

"Yes. He started at Chicago Theological Seminary yesterday."

"He's going to be a pastor?" Lilibeth asked.

"No," Rachel replied. "He's going to get a PhD in theology and teach and write."

The doorbell rang, and Lilibeth went to answer it and returned with Tiffany and Naomi.

"We're all here," Libby declared. "Let's go for ice cream!"

Unsurprisingly, nobody objected.

🎤 Steve

A visibly angry Tom was waiting for me on the porch when my wives, daughters, and I returned from the dojo on Tuesday evening. I invited him to my study and offered him a drink, which he refused.

"What you said to Bethany was totally out of line," he said, balling his fists.

I was positive that if I wasn't a karate instructor, he would have tried to hit me.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do or say," I replied. "She called me, not the other way around. I characterized my actions based on her theory. I didn't accuse her."

"Steve, you can't say that to her! You, of all people, ought to know that!"

"Did Bethany tell you she didn't deny what I said?" I asked.

"No."

"It's true. She said it wasn't 'fair', but in the past she'd have adamantly rejected the idea. Claiming my statement wasn't fair was an admission it was accurate. I think the only thing left to do at this point is to refuse to speak to her. I didn't call her, and I haven't tried to speak to her."

"I think you owe her an apology," Tom said firmly.

"To what end?" I asked. "She won't accept it. She believes I have a single agenda, and that agenda is the only reason I object to what she's saying. That's not true, and it has never been true. As I told her when she made that claim and others, that she'd be surprised. The thing is, she didn't even ask, which she would have done in the past. I can say the words, but she'll know they aren't heartfelt, and even if they were, she'd reject them unless I admitted she was correct, which I can never do."