I took a sip of beer again, trying to think my way through what he'd just said. Finally I asked him, "Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager?"
"What?" He asked.
"Do you remember what it was like to be sixteen years old and to have hormones surging through you day and night. Do you remember being able to think of nothing but sex? What it felt like? When you'd get it? Who you'd get it with?"
He swallowed nervously and then nodded. "Yes, I do."
"That's what I'm going through right now." I told him. "About two years ago I figured out a way to seduce girls easily. Never mind how I did it, but I did. I found that I could have sex pretty much with whatever girl I wanted to. Now put yourself into the shoes of a fifteen year old and ask yourself if you would be able to disregard that gift if you had it."
"Of course not." He admitted. "But…"
"Nina was never a part of that." I told him again. "I never tried to use this on Nina. Nina is my friend, do you understand? Even now, when I'm deeply in love with her, I do not use this gift on her. To do so would cheapen the relationship, would make it less than it really is. I have done nothing more than kiss your daughter Mr. Blackmore and I've only done that at her initiation.
"But that's not all. I've given up this gift for Nina. I don't do it anymore. I have the same hormones surging through my body, I have the same desires as any other sixteen going on seventeen-year-old. I could pick up that phone right now and in less than an hour I could have some girl over here that would fuck my brains out. But I don't do it. Do you know why?"
"No."
"Because of Nina." I said. "I love her Mr. Blackmore. I feel about her the same way you felt about your wife. I want to marry her some day, do you understand? I don't know how to make this any more plain to you than that, but that is the fact."
He set his empty beer bottle down on the table and sighed. "Like I said young man," He told me. "You SOUND very convincing. But how can I take the chance that you're what you say you are? How can I gamble with my daughter's life?"
"You're not really doing that." I said, finishing off the last of my own beer. "Nina is seventeen. She's an adult in all but legal status. She's decided that I am the boy for her. She loves me as much as I love her. One way or the other we're going to be together. One way or the other I'm going to marry her someday, and someday soon I'd imagine. You can try to keep us apart but it would be futile. Once she turns eighteen, and that happens in five more months, she can do whatever she wants to do. You can threaten her and try to intimidate her to stay away from me if you want. If you do that, one of two things will happen. She'll either listen to you and dump me or listen to me and dump you. Either way she is going to be filled with resentment. If she goes with me, she'll resent me for taking her away from her parents, if she goes with you she's going to resent you for taking her away from me. With either equation she loses.
"I'm not asking you to open your arms to me and welcome me into your family just yet. All I'm asking is that you acknowledge that Nina has a say in this matter. Right now she's saying she wants to be with me. The same equation holds true here. If you allow it, or at least accept it, one of two things will happen. One, I'll dump her at some point in the future and break her heart. That's something I can do with or without your consent however. If it's with your consent, at least you'll have the luxury of saying, "I told you so" to her, right? At least you won't lose your daughter in the process. Or we can continue our relationship to the point where I know it's heading. We can get married someday, Nina can get her medical degree and I can get my business degree and we can have a pleasant relationship with our in-laws on both sides. That's what I want Mr. Blackmore.
"Nina's a big girl, let her make her own decision, for better or for worse, on her own."
He stared for a long time, his brain working over what I'd said. I hoped I'd given him the logic he needed to make the right decision. I had every intention of pursuing Nina to the conclusion of our relationship but, as I'd pointed out, the road would be much bumpier if decided to keep up the resistance.
"I'll let her see you." He finally said quietly.
It took a minute for that to sink in. When it did, a grin spread across my face. "Thank you." I told him.
"I don't know WHAT I'm going to tell Mary, but I find you make a good argument." He smiled a little. "I guess my little girl is growing up some and I guess it's time to let her spread her wings, for better or for worse as you say."
"I agree." I told him.
"But if you hurt her." He warned, pointing a finger at me. "I'll make what Jeff Zand did to Bob Simpson look like a mother's kiss compared to what I'll do to you."
I chuckled. "I'll consider myself duly warned." I answered.
Al Steiner-July 30, 1999 Chapter 11 ->
Chapter 11
Dad came home shortly after Mr. Blackmore left. I'd cleaned up the beer bottles and carried the remainder of the twelve-pack back up to my room and re-stashed it in my closet. I thought about telling Dad that I'd received tentative permission to resume my relationship with Nina but eventually decided to keep silent about it. After all, he might change his mind. People did that. I figured I'd give it a few days and see how things went before I made any mention.
I considered calling in sick for my job at the pizza joint that night. I'd been up most of the night worrying about the reunion with Nina and the beer I'd drank with Mr. Blackmore certainly hadn't helped my fatigue. But in the end my work ethic wouldn't allow me to call in on my first scheduled day back after my injury. I showered up and drug myself in.
My manager was very pleased to see me return and offered some of the same comments that Mindy had earlier that day. He became very displeased however when I told him that I'd been recommended for hiring at the hospital and that, in all likelihood, January 25 would be my last day working for him.
"That's really too bad Bill." He said sadly. "You're one of the best workers I've ever had here. Like you said when I originally interviewed you, you're not a typical teenager. I'd even offer to give you a raise if I thought it would help keep you but unfortunately I can't afford to match six dollars an hour."
I told him I understood and that I appreciated him hiring me and giving me a chance to prove myself and blah, blah, blah. I kept my amusement at his pathetic attempt to lure me to stay longer to myself. In truth I never much liked the man. He was a shameless exploiter of teenaged labor and he'd never bothered to offer me a raise before. But I also believed in not burning my bridges behind me. If things didn't work out at the hospital for whatever bizarre reason, I knew he'd hire me back in an instant. If I went in and wrote my resignation in urine on his wall, he might not be so inclined.
I was exhausted by the time I got off that night. When I got home I barely was able to remove my clothes before I fell into bed. Less than a minute later I was fast asleep; the first good night of sleep I'd had in a while.
The next morning I waited near the front of the school again. This day the sky had cleared of snow clouds and the wind had returned. The air temperature was a chilling eleven degrees at that time of the morning. The wind chill factor was probably somewhere below zero. You gotta love Spokane in the winter. I shivered and shook and felt the tears that were streaming from my eyes freezing on my cheeks. Finally I spotted Mrs. Blackmore pulling to the curb. Nina hopped out and headed for the school while her mother pulled quickly away and headed off.