Chapter 28 -- San Francisco
A Ruthie and Mike settled into their routine as a couple over the next week. They spent two days setting up and repositioning furniture until the place was the way they wanted it. Anyone observing them might have found it amusing to see that they worked wearing nothing but shoes to protect their feet, but already Ruthie had declared the apartment a "clothes-free zone."
The student center coffee shop was closed for a couple of weeks, which meant that Ruthie was temporarily out of work. She would start up again during the summer semester. She was not planning on taking summer classes and would try to save as much as possible for the fall.
She would be modeling as well, because the art instructor she had worked for in the spring had taken a liking to her and promised to get her as much work in the art department as possible. She already had two assignments lined up for modeling: one with a community college special "art appreciation day" exhibition and the other posing for a photographer from the department.
Ruthie had a falling-out with her father when she told him that she was living with her boyfriend because she wanted to stay in California. Jake Burns was very displeased that his daughter had spurned his plans for her to study in Lincoln and help him take care of Jake Jr. When Ruthie asked him if he could just send her the money that he would have used to pay for community college classes in Lincoln, he snapped:
"That money's for you to get your ass here, not for you to shack-up with some liberal pot-head hippy on the 'Left Coast'. When you come to your senses, call me."
And with that, Jake hung up.
Ruthie's conversations with her mother were no better. Dona Lisette was not pleased at all to learn that she had moved in with Mike without first getting married. Ruthie tried to explain that she had no other alternative. The response was a lecture telling her that because she chose to forsake God, God had forsaken her and that was why she needed to live in sin. Ruthie replied:
"Well, you never gave up on God, and he sure didn't do much for you, did he?"
Ruthie waited for a response, but then realized her mother had hung up on her. She didn't try to call back.
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At the end of their first week living away from the university, Mike had a suggestion for something he knew Ruthie very much would enjoy doing. He showed her a website that featured an annual foot race that crossed the entire city of San Francisco. It was a huge event in which thousands of runners participated, but it seemed that the majority of the people were not serious about racing. Instead the event was more like a mobile Mardi Gras celebration, with many of the runners wearing strange costumes, and some runners wearing no costumes at all.
Yes indeed, the race was clothing optional and each year a couple of hundred participants ran or walked the entire course completely naked. At first Ruthie thought Mike was joking, but he showed her several pictures of naked runners to convince her that he was not joking at all. A lot of the naked participants were from a nudist group and wore yellow caps, but being part of the official nude group was not necessary.
"So what do you think? Is this something you'd like to do?"
"I'd love it! You're serious? We're going?"
"We're going. Put aside any modesty you might have left, 'cause all of San Francisco is gonna get to see us."
Ruthie hugged him. She then checked her camera to make sure she had spare batteries and plenty of space on her picture card.
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They left Davenport at 3:00 in the morning on the day of the race. Ruthie, as was usual for her whenever she drove with her boyfriend in the middle of the night, did not bother to get dressed and instead folded a dress and carried in her hand. Until it got light outside, she planned to ride naked in Mike's car and would slip the dress over her head at sunrise. In the darkness she skipped naked across the deserted parking lot. Mike was wearing nothing more than shorts and a loose t-shirt, items he could take off as soon as they were near the starting point of the race.
Mike knew that he had to plan ahead, because parking would be unavailable anywhere close to downtown San Francisco on a day in which 500,000 spectators and race participants would be crowding the streets along the eight-mile route. So, unfortunately, they had to park well outside the downtown area and take a bus into the city. When the sun came up and Ruthie put on her dress, her heart pounded at the thought that the next time she took it off it would be in downtown San Francisco in front of thousands of other people. She could hardly wait.