Yeah, the 6 month rule was bullshit, but not so bad if you "stepped" when school was out like I did. Scott was a pretty good friend of mine and if memory serves correctly, he was actually the first "7 Step Refresher." In a way, I was partly responsible. We had gone to the midnight movies to see "Dawn of the Dead," the 1979 version and some neighborhood friends of his were in the rows in front and behind of where we were sitting. During the movie, they had sparked up a powerhitter to keep the smell down and put us in the position where we had to pass it from one row to the other back and forth. It was a fucked up thing to put us through, and after the movie, I confronted this girl from Scott's neighborhood about it. I was kinda pissed, because they all knew the shit we had been through with Straight and I did'nt appreciate the danger they had put us in, I mean I was fully capable of killing a motherfucker before ever going back to group. Anyway, some other friends were in the other theatre watching "The Warriors," and it let out while I was in the parking lot yelling at Scott and his friends. Some goody two shoes ratted us out and nothing much happened. A short while later, Scott started this bullshit about having nightmares in order to get a prescription for some kinda "sleep aid." It stayed a secret from staff for a long fuckin time, but bad grades, or some other shit put the spotlight on him and once the prescription thing came out, Scott was no longer with us.
As far as the 6 month rule was concerned, I just did the smartest thing I could think of. I went out with girls from outside the program and so far off the fuckin radar that nothing mattered. I hung out with an honors chick that looked like Katherine Ross and rode horses with her on a weekly basis as soon as school started back.
She had red hair like my step mom, and the few times I was seen talking to her by the Straighties, I simply told them she was my cousin. I mean fuck it, that was the going thing among alot of us. We sure had some hot ass looking "cousins" ya know? I never got crazy with it. I was freinds with a lot of girls and never hit them up for sex, I did'nt see any challenge in it really. I simply waited for them to make the first move and several girls did. One of the "Assertiveness Training" girls was Kim Hyde, who went on to staff up in Cincinnatti I heard. She damn near raped a dude 2 years younger in her mom's Malibu. Where she made the mistake was that they did'nt know any good spots to make out, and were retarted enough to be going at it like rabbits in a wooded area less than 200 yards from the Old Gandy Straight Building.
Needless to say, Kim Hyde was the very first 7 Step StartOver in program history and it happened I believe in September or October of 1980, no wait, Jim Hudson was at the Halloween Dance so it musta been November. There were countless others that got caught, but luckily, most of us were smart enough to stay the hell away from "program girls." All the rule did was to keep me from getting married at a young and tender age. Program girls were the only ones a guy could really talk to. I mean I missed the unique intimacy of a program girl, and even secretly dated Jeri Ann Spencer when she was on staff, but it just got too risky. At least I was able to talk her into going into the Air Force. Quite frankly, there were'nt all that many program girls that I felt attracted to. The bond shared between the guys and girls was just too fucking intense. I mean, I just knew that I would wind up married to a girl I was'nt even sure I loved. When my old high school football playing buddy got married to Liz Cassidy, that did it for me. I swore off program girls for good after that.
I'll never forget the time I visited them in their small apartment off 66th Street near the Drivers License Office. Steve came in after pulling a 24 hour shift digging trenches and laying television cable along US 19. His face was blasted by the sun, his sweatcaked hair stuck out like a maniac and his eyes were like dead marbles. He sat down in an armchair and Liz handed him his infant son Micheal and went in the kitchen to get him a glass of iced tea. He was out like a light before she even got back. That guy busted his ass more than an entire chain gang put together. To this day, I don't know if the marriage held together or not.
All in all, I think the 6 month rule was a good thing, and them crazy fuckers actually implemented this 4th and 5th phase co-ed permission shit, something that we never would have dreamed of in my program. I guess Ms. Bonney can elaborate on that one.
