Chapter 49: Florida Again

March 25, 1984

Clearwater, Florida

It was a clear Sunday afternoon, albeit a not particularly warm one. Indeed, it was quite cool for late March in this part of the world. But some of the most characteristic sounds of spring were well in evidence: the sound of a wooden bat making contact with a cowhide-encased ball, and the distinctive splat of the ball hitting a leather glove.

All of this, of course, was part of my girlfriend's Christmas gift from three months ago. Inez and I had flown down to Tampa the previous day, our first day of spring break. We'd spent the night in a hotel; incredibly enough, neither of our respective sets of parents had grilled us about this. Inez had turned twenty-one a mere three days ago, and while my own twenty-first birthday was still more than two months away, I guess I was close enough to that milestone for Mom and Dad to grant me full adult status. We hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and it wasn't due to insomnia. We'd dragged ourselves out of bed around mid-morning, showered (together, of course), and enjoyed a leisurely late breakfast at a nearby pancake house. Then, we headed for our destination: Jack Russell Stadium in nearby Clearwater. The occasion, of course, was a preseason baseball game between the Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds.

Needless to say, I had never before attended a spring training game, and neither had Inez. The cozy, intimate setting and the scaled-down ballpark amenities made for a completely novel experience. Inez, who had no horse in this particular race – the Yankees cap perched atop her head spoke to that – nonetheless was enough of a fan of the game of baseball to thoroughly enjoy the day. As for me, the fact that my team ended up losing the game did little to spoil the outing. Just like all spring training games, it was meaningless, at least in the sense of winning or losing. It was the experience – and the company – that counted most.

After the game, we had dinner at an nearby upscale seafood place. I insisted on footing the bill. Money was becoming less and less of a concern for me; our band was really beginning to rake in the dough. I'd set aside some of that income, and begun to selectively play the stock market. My pre-knowledge, of course, came in handy here. Again, becoming filthy rich was not my aim in life, but I definitely wanted to ensure that I reached a point where I'd never have to worry about finances. Not only me, but my loved ones as well.

We went back to the hotel, and lounged out by the pool for awhile. But we didn't stay up late, for we wanted to get an early start the next day.

March 26, 1984

"Every time I'm tempted to start with the older woman jokes," teased Inez, "I remember how old you really are."

"Too bad that my chronological age is no help when it comes to renting a car," I said with a laugh.

In keeping with the "money is no object" theme we'd adopted for this little vacation, we'd elected to rent a car for the trip to Inez's place near Miami. Most rental car agencies in this time period set a minimum age limit of twenty-one, which meant that my girlfriend would have to be the one to sign out the vehicle. And when it came to actually operating the vehicle, I was likewise deemed underage.

"The drive to Miami is over four hours," Inez pointed out as soon as we got inside our rental car, a Chevy Cavalier. "Does this mean I'll have to do it all myself? I'm not crazy about long-distance driving."

"Let's just chance it. I'll take the wheel once we get into the rural areas. I'll watch my speed, and keep an eye out for cops." And make sure I don't get into an accident, I said to myself. It would indeed be a journey through a barren stretch of land; there is possibly no similarly-sized area in the eastern United States that is more desolate than the inland sections of south Florida. On top of that, the present-day freeway connection between the Tampa and Miami areas, I-75, had not yet been completed in 1984. We would be traveling on US 41, a simple two-lane road in many places, cutting through the heart of the Everglades.

"If we get in an accident, or break down," I kidded, "I'll be more worried about the crocodiles than the cops." It wasn't long before we pulled over, and I took my place in the driver's seat. Continuing onward, we got to talking. Something about the unfamiliar setting, plus the sense of isolation, emboldened me to open up about a topic I'd only briefly touched on with Inez up to that point: my two marriages in the other timeline.

"I really think that what happened with Melissa, my first wife, was what caused me to become so jaded about relationships later on," I theorized. "I was young, and I was actually very idealistic at that stage. I was working ridiculously long hours. Melissa had a tendency to be impulsive. Looking back at it now, there were red flags. But I didn't see them; I was naive enough to believe that we were forever. When she told me one day that she was leaving me, I was blindsided. It had a huge effect on me. That experience caused me to build a wall around myself, one that didn't come down until I was well into this life." I smiled at Inez.

Flashing a brilliant smile of her own, my sweetie expressed curiosity about something. "How long of a gap in time did you have between relationships? When did you get involved with your second wife?"

I had to marvel at her intuition. "It happened with lightning speed. I met Michelle literally a few weeks after Melissa dumped me. It was way too soon – a classic case of rebound. Within six months after I met Michelle, we were engaged. It still amazes me that that marriage lasted six years."

"What was wrong with the marriage?" Inez asked.

"We had different goals in life, for one. The big issue was children. At that stage of life, I didn't want any kids. I told her that in the beginning. In spite of that, she couldn't wait to get pregnant, and let me know at every opportunity. I held firm on that issue, and as you can imagine, it created a lot of tension. The last couple of years were really bad. We hardly spoke to each other."

Inez offered up an enigmatic smile; I had a comment to throw into the discussion. "What's really strange – and, in a way, special – is that right now, I'm talking to you as my other self, the me in the other timeline. And it doesn't seem uncomfortable or awkward or anything."

"You're just being yourself, sweetie," she pointed out. "It's not that complicated. Don't think of yourself as two different people. It's like I told you before. You're an almost-twenty-one-year-old, with a little special knowledge, even though I might like to tease you sometimes about being a middle-aged man." She laughed infectiously, as I laughed with her. Then, she grew serious, and had another inquiry to put forward.

"Do you still feel the same way about children? You don't want any in the future?"

She was venturing into touchy territory here; my mind was flooded with the recollection of the whole Kaci situation. At that moment, I became aware of something. Since I'd exchanged those letters with Kaci, that memory no longer carried the sting it once did. I made the decision, then and there, to tell another person something I was certain I'd carry with me to the grave. I proceeded to relate the entire Kaci story to my girlfriend, leaving out nothing. In typical fashion, she took it all in stride.

"And that," I said at the end, "is why the topic of kids is a touchy one for me. But since I made amends with Kaci, it's nowhere near as touchy as it used to be. What I'm really trying to say here is that I have an open mind about the future, and that includes the possibility of kids."

We drove on in silence for a short while. The scenery transitioned over to thick, ground-hugging foliage on both sides of the road, occasionally broken up with shallow ponds and narrow waterways; we'd entered the Everglades. It was Inez who finally spoke.

"When Julia dumped you, it must have reminded you of what your first wife did."

"In a way, yes," I replied, "but it was different too. Although the relationship with Julia was pretty serious, it wasn't a marriage. The expectations were different. Plus, I had an amazing support system in place after Julia broke up with me," I said with a smile.

Inez favored me with a tight smile of her own, one I'd come to know well. Whenever I saw that look on her face, I knew that she was on a mission to glean my innermost thoughts.

"Looking back on that relationship with Julia ... do you think it taught you anything?"

"It taught me a lot. I learned that I actually could have a serious, loving relationship. All those years of interpersonal conflict, over two lifetimes, much of which was my own fault ... it had forced me to conclude I'd never have anything but casual dealings with women. I was wrong about that, and I discovered that I actually preferred a committed one-on-one relationship. But the thing is, I believe that Fate had different plans for Julia. She was destined to wind up with Roy again, just like in the other life. And it looks like Fate had something else in mind for me, too." I shot a glance over at my sweetie; those lovely brown eyes of hers were dancing.

"You think so?" she uttered softly.

"I know so."

We didn't go straight to Inez's house. It was early afternoon, and we knew that her parents were at work. We decided to surprise them, and headed directly to her dad's shipping warehouse. Lupe, working the front desk in the office, let out a shriek of joy when she saw us. Javier came right out and greeted us. He introduced us to the other employees, many of whom Inez already knew. We didn't stay long; we headed over to Inez's place and hung out by ourselves for the rest of the afternoon. Javier and Lupe managed to close up shop a little early, which allowed Lupe to prepare a delicious dinner for the four of us.

Later in the evening, Mike Delgado came over to visit. After greeting him heartily, I asked him where his sister was.

"Jenny's spring break was last week, so she's back at the university," he explained.

"Aah. I didn't think about that."

"How long are you two staying here?"

"We're flying back north on Sunday," I informed him.

"You'll probably see her on Friday night, then. There's plenty of time. She knows you're here, and she said she was definitely coming down for the weekend."

"Friday?" Inez said with a grin. "You know we have to go salsa dancing again."

March 29, 1984

We'd spent two relaxing days primarily at Inez's place in the company of her mom and dad. And although both of us would have been content to spend the remainder of our visit in the same fashion, today and tomorrow would be spent socializing with peers.

Javier, not knowing about our intentions, had touched on this. "Why don't the two of you go out and do something together? We love having you here, but you're only young once."

That's not always true, I did not say. We proceeded to fill him in on our plans. We were, after all, college students on spring break. And we were only a forty-five minute drive from what was pretty much the spring break capital of the USA in the early and mid-eighties: Fort Lauderdale.

Neither Inez nor I was much into the party scene, and if there had not been extenuating circumstances, we would have been quite content to ride out the remainder of our Florida visit with Javier and Lupe. But it turned out that a few close friends of ours from up north (and even one family member!) had been enticed to fly down to Florida for spring break. And as long as we were in the area...

Derek had been the mastermind here. He made plans to spend a portion of the week in Fort Lauderdale, and tried to persuade his three housemates to join him. The ever-studious Paul said no right away. So did the terminally quiet Greg. But Derek found a willing sidekick in Dave, who immediately suggested to his girlfriend that she join him.

Only problem was, when Eileen ran that idea past Mom and Dad, they'd unsurprisingly shot her down. Spending a few days with her boyfriend in the den of sin that was spring break in Fort Lauderdale? Not hardly. But my sister was persistent. She pointed out that Inez and I were already down there, and scaled down her request to only include one overnight. Our parents relented, as long as that overnight was spent at Inez's place. Dave went along with it, and they naturally made arrangements to travel together.

Derek, meanwhile, met less opposition in his quest to bring along his new girlfriend. Annie's parents had given her some grief, but she held firm and got her way. Derek and Annie had actually arrived in town the previous evening; he'd gotten two hotel rooms to placate Annie's folks, but it was obvious that one of them would remain vacant.

And so, that Thursday morning, Inez and I borrowed Lupe's car, and headed for the airport to pick up my sister and her boyfriend.

On the way, Inez asked me, "Do you know if Holly said anything to Annie about her little secret?" Holly had come out to two more people, the girlfriends of the first two she'd told: Inez and Mayra.

"She hasn't said anything to anyone but the four of us. I'm sure of that."

Before long, we were at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, and in this pre-9/11 world, we were able to walk clear up to the terminal to meet Eileen and Dave as soon as they deplaned.

"Fancy meeting you here," Dave grinned as soon as he laid eyes on us. I was tickled pink that the two of them were able to make it down here. Inez, if anything, was even more so.

We were out of the airport in no time, and from there, it was a short drive to the hotel, located a few blocks from the beach. Derek and Annie were just lounging around in one of their rooms, located up on the fifth floor; a few newly-acquired friends of theirs were also present. By now, it was early afternoon, and Derek passed around bottles of ice-cold beer. Each of us took one. I couldn't help but monitor Dave's beer consumption out of the corner of my eye; old habits die hard. I watched as he slowly nursed his beer. When it was finally gone, he put down the bottle and didn't ask for another.

Maybe it was high time for me to stop worrying about Dave.

Derek was into photography; he'd brought an expensive camera with him. He took several shots of all of us, and then he zeroed in on his own personal favorite model: Annie. They went out on the balcony, and Derek painstakingly took a number of pictures, searching for "just the right pose."