"So you think he might get caught smoking pot again?" I asked.
"It's possible." Tracy said. "And the possibility is the strongest at this point in time. He is in the greatest danger of relapse right now."
"And Nina?" I asked.
"Nina." Tracy said. "She has also been pulled back in line by the short peak in the system. She has also been left alive due to no lethal event. Things are as they should be with her right now, at least in your previous reality. Here we have the curious effect that the longer she stays in the pattern the harder it will be to pull her from it. If you do manage to pull her from it somehow, than she will be like Mike and myself. She will initially be easily repulsed by your affections. One small slip up on your part in the early days and she will be right back where she started. If you do manage to win her back, you'll need to be careful." She glared at me. "Damn careful, do you understand?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"And then there's Anita." Tracy said next.
"The exception to the rule." I agreed.
"Actually, she's not an exception." Tracy told me. "She fits right in with the rest of it."
"How so?" I wanted to know.
"With Anita, the stress began on the day you first had sex with her. It came to a peak on the day that her intended boyfriend asked her out. If you asked her, I bet she would tell you that when this gentleman asked her out she felt a curious impulse to say yes, that she felt a strange attraction for him even though she felt she was in love with and committed to you. He probably even asked her out a few times after that, each time with her feeling the same compulsion to say yes, but each time that compulsion getting weaker.
"With Anita, the stress was just as great as with everyone else. The difference here is that her feelings for you were able to override the natural compulsion." She shook her head. "You must really be something special little brother. You've managed to fuck over fate Itself."
"And so," I summarized, "The longer that Anita does not go out with this guy," I started.
"The less likely it is she ever will." Tracy finished.
I took another long swallow of beer. "So you're saying," I said, "That in the case of both Nina and Anita, I need to act quickly."
"Very quickly." She affirmed.
"And you?"
She smiled. "Now that I know what I'm dealing with here, I think I'll be able to take care of myself."
"I hope so Tracy." I told her. "Because you are still the most important thing. The day I came back I vowed to myself that if I accomplished nothing else, that I would not let you die. I've done that so far. And now, I want you to be able to piss on my grave, do you understand?"
She laughed. "Little brother, I plan to squat and let loose a fuckin' torrent on your grave."
Tracy flew back to California Sunday morning. There was no sense of dread as I watched her plane rotate off the runway and streak into the overcast sky, headed west. There was only a sense of hope.
Monday afternoon I crunched through the fresh layer of snow on Anita's walkway, leaving virgin footprints behind me. My mind was set as I looked at her door, at the solid surface that I was about to pound upon, alerting her to my presence at her domicile for the first time since our horrid discussion.
Mother had told me quite shortly that Anita had called AGAIN, asking that I come over and change the oil in her car. This time I agreed, knowing it was time to fully extricate myself from this situation. I was not looking forward to what I had to do but I intended to do it. I'd been faced with similar situations as a paramedic, having to do distasteful tasks, though never had they had the emotional quality this encounter promised.
Resolved to my task, I raised my fist and knocked on her door firmly.
It was less than ten seconds before it swung open and Anita herself, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt appeared to me on the other side.
"Billy!" She said, her face beaming. "Come in! I knew you'd come back."
"I'll stay out on the porch Anita." I told her firmly. "What I have to say won't take but a minute."
Her face clouded, trying to retain some of the hope it showed when she first saw me. "What do you mean?"
"Anita," I said. "I'll make this short and to the point. Our relationship is over. Over and done. I'm sorry I ended it so abruptly and I'm sorry I hurt you, but it is over. You need to stop calling my house and asking for me to come over and do chores for you."
"Billy, I was just trying to stay friends with you." She told me, fresh hurt marring her features. "Don't you want to still be friends?"
"You know that being friends after a sexual relationship is not possible." I told her. "That is not why you're calling. You're hoping I'll come over and resume where we left off. I will not do that. You need to stop it. You're making my mother very suspicious and if you push much harder the consequences are going to unpleasant."
She became indignant. "Well maybe your mother SHOULD know about what happened between us. Maybe I should just tell her."
I shook my head, disgusted with both her and with myself for bringing her to this point, this desperation. "Think about that for a second Anita." I told her. "Do you think that if you tell my mother about our relationship she's going to order me to come over here and marry you? Is that what you really think? Well I'm here to tell you that if you tell my mother anything it will be the worst mistake you'll ever make in your life. Mom will be very offended by it and she will not be directing her offense at me. You are the adult in this situation and in case you forgot, I am a minor.
"I imagine Mom would probably call the cops about this and you would end up with a criminal charge of some sort. You may not be convicted of anything but you would almost certainly have your children taken away from you. Is that what you want?"
Though the shock that overcame her expression was painful to watch, it was also a relief. I had managed to break through to her, to get a point across.
"Your mother wouldn't do that." She protested, but weakly.
"To tell you the truth Anita, I don't really want to find out. I didn't come over here to torment you and despite what you probably think, I don't hate you. I just need you to acknowledge that our relationship is at an end. That it's over. I don't want you to get into trouble Anita, I just want you to leave me alone."
She gulped, tears running down her face. "I'll leave you alone." She whispered, barely audibly.
"What was that?" I asked.
"I said I'll leave you alone." She nearly shouted. "Are you happy?"
"No Anita." I answered. "I'm not. But I'm glad you agreed with me."
This time I was able to get away before the sound of her sobs reached my ears.
Before she left Tracy was royally chewed out by my mother for not calling or writing more often. She left us with a promise to phone at least once a week. It had been three weeks since she'd left and so far she'd kept up with her promise well. As to how long that would last was anyone's guess.
I was home alone when she called on Wednesday evening, a week prior to Christmas vacation.
"Hey Bill." She said cheerfully. As before I could hear girlish revelry going on in the background. "Just making my obligatory weekly call so that Mom doesn't cut off my funding."
"Well, you wasted a call." I told her. "There out at Dad's school's Christmas party. They probably won't be home until midnight or so."
Tracy giggled. "And when they do get home, Dad will be drunk and Mom will be ragging on him about having too much to drink and swearing that she's not going to take him to next year's party."
"Gee," I mocked, knowing that Tracy was correct. "You sound like you've lived through this before."
"Oh, I might've witnessed something like that a time or two." She agreed. "So how's things with you?"
"Well," I said. "I think I have the Anita problem stabilized. She's not calling here anymore, hasn't since I had that little talk with her."