Chapter 2

Saturday, at that time of year, at least in their household, meant that football was on TV when I arrived. Some people turn off the TV when a guest arrives. That's supposed to signal how important they think the guest is. In other situations, the TV is left on. That can mean one of two things. Either what's on TV is more important than the guest, or the guest is just accepted as an extension of the family, who will either watch or not, as his tastes determine.

In THIS household, it was none of the above. Randy and Kathy had a habit of choosing one of the games that was being televised, and then each one supported a different team. I was to find out later that this went back a long way, and had a very practical basis. The most basic reason for doing this was that there was always a 'winner' after the game was over. That meant that one of them was happy, and had bragging rights. THAT meant that one of them was 'unhappy', which meant that he or she needed cheering up.

The cheering up happened in the bedroom.

They did it with football, and basketball, and ice skating and beach volleyball. They had cable, and had at least three sports channels. They weren't really into sports, though. What they were into was sex. Sports just facilitated the sex. It was a game that had served them very well.

But as I said, I didn't find out about that until later. In fact, I was there for the fourth time when, after a game in which Kathy's team had won a crushing victory, handed me a soda and said "We'll be right back. We have to do something." She dragged a moaning Randy to the bedroom, and fifteen minutes later they came out, flushed and happy. That was when I learned about that particular tradition of theirs.

I don't mean to jump around, but that helps you understand the way in which they lived their lives, which will help you understand some other things that happened before that, and which was important later on.

Anyway, that first time, Kathy made grilled cheese sandwiches and bean and bacon soup, which she put in these oversized coffee cups, and she served it to us on TV trays with cold bottled beer, and we all sat around and watched the Eagles get trashed by the Bears and talked about the commercials and stupid stuff like that. In other words, we just had fun hanging out.

The second time I went over, we played cards... Hearts, in this case. I didn't realize the importance of it then, but that was another kind of competition in which there was a winner and a loser, and somebody was 'unhappy' when it was all over.

It was also the first time that things began moving like a locomotive, inching forward, and soon to be moving heavily faster, until it would end up as a racing thing, impossible to stop before it had gone much farther than... well, more about that later.

When you play cards you talk. I wasn't interviewing this couple for my Master's project, but I HAD been interviewing couples for months. I guess it was just habit to ask them some of the same questions.

"So how did you two meet?" I asked, leading diamonds for the third time and expecting to see the queen of spades slam down on the table, accompanied by a crow of "Take THAT!"

"We grew up together," said Kathy, playing a lower diamond.

Randy threw the queen, but didn't crow about it. I should have realized that meant something, but didn't.

"Really?" I asked, scooping in the cards.

I led the queen of clubs, which I had saved. I was trying to shoot the moon, and was trying to distract them with talk. The queen of diamonds was still out there, though, and I needed somebody to sluff that card, to take them all, because all I had left in diamonds was a seven.

"What were you... neighbors?" I asked.

Randy unloaded the card I was looking for.

"Something like that," he said, glancing over at Kathy with what I immediately recognized as a warning look. It was pretty obvious to me that he didn't want to talk about it, and that made me curious.

Kathy dropped the ten of hearts on the pile. I was elated. I had the queen, king and ace in my hand.

"We've known each other since we were little," she said, watching me pull in the trick.

The way she said it fed my curiosity. Most people would have launched into an account of how they had become attracted to each other, maybe after being disgusted with the whole idea. That happens in a lot of cases when two people grow up together. First they are playmates. Then, just before puberty strikes, they can't stand each other. Puberty has a tendency to turn things around, though, often with some funny or interesting stories attached. They didn't talk about that, though, and that made me even more curious.

I led the queen of hearts.

"So it wasn't love at first sight?" I suggested.

"He's going for it," said Randy. He played the four of hearts.

"I knew I was in love with him when I was ten," said Kathy, dropping the eight of hearts on the pile.

I struck hard, leading the king and then the ace. Randy sluffed diamonds. Only Kathy and I had hearts left. I tried to remember how many had been played, but couldn't. I had been trying to distract them, and had distracted myself in the process. I reached for the tricks I had.

"No looking, Bob," chided Kathy.

"Come on, they're my tricks," I said.

"No looking, Bob," she said firmly.

We dueled with hearts and I got her with each one until all I had left was the two of hearts and that seven of diamonds I had forgotten all about. If she had another heart, I was toast. I tossed out the seven of diamonds.

She took that trick with the nine of diamonds and the last trick with the five of clubs. She ended up with one heart - and I got twenty-five points.

"How did THAT happen?" I asked, amazed.

"You weren't paying attention," said Kathy smiling widely. "You were too busy poking into our background."

I paid attention after that. We teamed up against Randy, and he lost the game. He took it pretty well, from my point of view. Of course I had no idea that she would make him feel all better as soon as I left.

Had I known that, I might not have paid so much attention to the cards. I don't mean to say that I lusted after her, or anything. Kathy was one of those women whose features were just a hint off kilter, when compared to a "better looking" woman. By that I only mean that her eyes were a skosh wider than optimal, and that her pug nose might have looked more appropriate on a girl of thirteen, instead of the twenty-four years old she was. Her hips were maybe just a little too wide to be in complete synchronization with her breasts, which were probably in the range of being 32, with a C cup. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown than her eyebrows, which were dark enough to call attention to themselves on her face. Her smile was a little crooked, almost like she'd had a stroke or something. One corner of her mouth turned up, and the other stayed right where it was. It made her smile look sardonic.

But she was attractive in a hundred ways that made her looks superfluous. Her always-positive attitude and her interest in almost anything made her fun to be around. And any time it's fun to be around a woman, you can't help but think of... other ways... she might be fun. It's a guy thing.

Anyway, I didn't probe any more that day. It wasn't until the third time we got together, and it was plain that we all had simply added to our circle of friends, that I asked some more questions. On that day, when I arrived, Randy was working on the garbage disposal, which seemed to have gone belly-up. Kathy was watching him, and asking questions and offering advice. I was snacking on some summer sausage that, along with chunks of cheese, were on the counter.