Chapter 22

Saturday, August 7, 1999

It was barely getting light in the eastern sky when Jason's phone went off. He'd been expecting the call; he walked over to the kitchen phone, picked it up, and said, "Good morning, Vicky."

"You ready?" she replied softly -- obviously to keep from waking her parents up in the house across the back yards.

"I'll be over in a minute," he replied, and hung up the phone. He threw a couple light switches and grabbed the small duffle bag that was all the gear he was taking on this trip. As he headed out the back across the dew-covered grass as he saw her come out the back door and head for the white Stratus sitting in the driveway, carrying a couple of coffee mugs. He was about ready to offer to drive the first leg when he saw her open the left front door and get in, so he headed for the right side and got in as she was arranging the mugs in the cupholder.

Last night they'd helped Kevin and Emily pack gear for their long western trip -- not that there was a lot to pack, since they could carry but little on the bikes, and Kevin was carrying more than half on his bigger bike. The need to keep it down had led them to dig into the accumulation of backpacking gear lying around Jason's house. The tiny tent Emily and Jason were taking had been on the Appalachian Trail with Duane for over a month this spring, and he'd be getting it back in a few more weeks after this interesting and unexpected side trip west. That really hadn't taken much time, but some time was used sitting around and talking about their trips until it was later than it should have been, considering all four of them planned to get up with the birds this morning and head in their separate directions.

"Just so you know," she said as she started the car, "My period started this morning."

"Lovely timing to have to deal with it on a trip," he smiled, not getting the implication.

"For once, I'm glad to see it," she sighed as she backed out of the driveway. "I thought it was the wrong time of the month, but I took a big dose of estrogen as soon as I got home Thursday morning just to be on the safe side."

Now, he got it, with relief. "I'm sorry," he said as she put the car into "Drive" and headed down the street. "That came down pretty quick. I should have gotten out a condom, but I didn't think of it. I'm not sure if there were any around the house anyway, unless Duane had some stashed away somewhere."

"I should have thought about it, too," she said seriously. "But when it happened Wednesday night it just never entered my mind. I went off the pill after I left Augie to try to do something about my weight, and I guess it worked a little. I got the estrogen just in case something like the other evening came up some time. At least I got that right. I was going to see the doctor about an IUD yesterday, but I couldn't get free from work. Maybe next week."

"Vicky," he said softly. "Wednesday night was wonderful, but I've been wondering if we should have let it happen."

"I've been wondering too," she smiled. "The fact remains it did happen. I enjoyed it a lot, and I know you did too." She turned and gave him a grin. "I won't object if the right time should happen to come and it happens again. In fact, I'm looking forward to it." A serious look came across her face as she continued. "Jason, whatever happens, I will not let myself present you with a Jody situation. Ever. We got away with it this time. In the future, we're both going to be more careful, whatever else happens or doesn't happen."

"Thank you, Vicky," he said, understanding her concern. "But that was sort of what I meant."

"I realize that," she said, slowing to make the turn onto Main Street. "Jason, one of several things I took out of Wednesday evening besides the pure joy of making love to you was the fact that I haven't had anything approaching that good since John. Maybe not even then, since you and I care for each other while John and I were just fucking. What I'm saying is that I was reminded of what I've been missing. I deeply thank you for reminding me of that, and I'd find it hard to let go. Having said that, my understanding is it's going to be a month before an IUD can take hold. You were the one who taught me two layers of protection are better than one, so I won't mind if we put the next time off that long."

"Sounds fair to me," he replied. "We probably need to back off and think about it anyway, but I'll tell you, Vicky, it reminded me of what I've been missing, too. You may think it's been a while for you, but it's been longer for me."

"Since Christine was well?" she asked quietly.

He was silent for a moment, phrasing his answer. "Christine was never well, at least never while I knew her," he replied. "That didn't keep her from being a warm and loving person who I cared for deeply. We could never be very physically active, but that didn't keep us from enjoying it very late into her illness. It ... it couldn't heal her, but it could make her feel better for a while."

Now it was her turn to be silent and phrase a comment as they sped out of the edge of town, past the Chicago, and made the turn onto the southbound on-ramp, not far behind a pair of bikers. They were going up the on-ramp before she managed to say, "I guess it was always my impression that the two of you weren't very close."

"I believe most people thought that," he said. "You have to remember that, in addition to never being quite well, Christine was a rather shy and quiet person, not a very public person, especially about showing her feelings. That didn't keep her from being a warm and loving person in private." He let out a sigh and searched for words again as Vicky got up to speed, maybe a little faster than she needed to in order to catch up with the bikers -- from a distance, it looked like they were on Harleys, carrying gear, and might be Kevin and Emily. "It was very good while it lasted." He was silent for a moment more before he added, "Even right down to the end. I guess I must have reflected her desire to keep things private."

"I'm sorry," she replied, getting closer to the bikers ahead. "I guess I never quite realized that. I always liked her, but I know I never got real close to her."

"No, probably not," he replied, a little easier now. "Probably only Duane and I did. You wouldn't have seen anything but the public side of her. I probably married her for the wrong reasons, looking for help in raising Duane, but it worked out. I was lucky to have her for the short time we had together."

By now, they were drawing close enough to the bikers ahead of them to be sure they were Kevin and Emily. Vicky kept moving and pulled the Stratus up alongside them and got a little wave from each of them, then went on to pass and pull into the right lane in front of them. "Sure would be nice to be going along with them," she said, changing the subject.

"It's an awful long way on a bike," he commented. "I only took a couple long trips like that, years and years ago, back before Jody. I'm afraid I'd have to take it pretty easy, but it's not that bad if you take the back roads and stop fairly often."

"I'd love to do it," she smiled. "But that trip is for them, and there was no way I could have gotten off work that long this summer, anyway. Oh, well, maybe another year. I'd like to do a long trip like that at least once."

"It won't hurt for you to have another year of riding practice before we did something like that," he grinned. "But yeah, I'd like to take a long one with you another year, too. Maybe Sturgis, or maybe somewhere else if we go with Kevin and Emily."

Bradford lies only a few miles north of the Indiana state line, and the interchange for the Indiana Turnpike is not very far south of it. In only a few minutes they were off of I-67 and heading down the ramp to the toll booths. There was a wide area for truck parking before reaching them; Vicky pulled the Stratus off into it, and the two Harleys pulled up alongside, one on each side as she rolled the windows down. "Hey, you two," she yelled out her window into the rumbling of the idling bikes, "Have a good trip, now!"

Emily pulled up her face shield to reply from her side. "Same to you. Sure wish you were going with us."

"We were just talking about doing it another year," Vicky smiled.

"Sounds good," Emily grinned. "Have a good trip and we'll see you in a week."

"Take plenty of pictures!" she replied. "We'll see you then!" She rolled up the windows and headed up to the toll booths, as their friends got their face shields back down and accelerated after them. She made a brief stop at the toll booth to pick up a ticket; as they headed up the on-ramp for the eastbound lane, they could look back and see their friends take the turn for the trip to the west.

The traffic was heavier than it had been on I-67 -- it almost always was -- and it took a moment to get established in it, but once she did, she commented, "I take it you never did a trip like that with Christine."

"No, never," he said conversationally. "She rode around on the back of the '56 with me a few times, just around town or out in the country a little, but that was early on. She was fragile, and it scared her, so we quit doing it. I didn't ride much for years after that."

"I guess I knew that," she replied. She always seemed like a nice person, what I knew of her. How'd you wind up with her, anyway? I mean, I was just a little kid, I don't remember."

"Duane," he shrugged. "I couldn't leave him with my folks all the time, they were working too. That was back in the days when I had to work shifts all over the place, and there were times none of us could be home, so I went looking for someone to sit for him. She was a sister of a guy who used to work at the plant with me, and the three of us just grew closer. We never even dated much, we just fit together. To make a long story short, she knew she wasn't healthy and suspected even then that she'd never be able to have kids, but Duane filled that hole in her life while she lasted. As far as he's concerned, she's his real mother, not Jody. He never knew anyone else. It was a shame we were never able to have kids, but it worked all the way around better than it had any right to. Like I said a few minutes ago, I married her for all the wrong reasons, but I guess I got lucky anyway."