Author's Note: It's been a little while. I hope this is worth the wait. More drama goes down than I originally expected.

Cruel Summer

-chapter eight-

Eric's Kitchen, June 20, 4:13pm

"Hi, honey," greeted Kitty when Eric walked into the kitchen through the sliding door. Red had told her the story about how Eric had lost her necklace, but she was over it. Somewhat. "How was work?"

Horrible. Work was simply horrible. It was magnificently terrible and took a turn for the worst when little Timmy threw up all over himself. Again. He wanted to yell all this and more, but instead, he ignored his mother's question.

Setting his hat on the table, he sat, staring into nothingness.

Red turned a page of his newspaper. "Eric, your mother asked you a question. How was…" he trailed off as he strained not to laugh, gazing at Eric's work uniform.

It consisted of a khaki shirt that was required to be neatly tucked in at all times. Right now, Eric was busy tearing the button up shirt out of his snugly fit shorts that stopped well above the knee. Around his neck was a hunter green scarf with a golden pin on it, baring a cross. To finish the outfit, he wore a khaki hat on his head during all hours of work.

This outfit had been beneficial to Eric on many occasions, providing a reason for him to make fun of Fez. But that was when Fez had been wearing it, not him. That was when Fez had been working with his foreign exchange parents at Bible camp, not him. Of course, Fez had been "nice enough" to give Eric his position, telling his foreign exchange parents that Eric had "always wanted to work with children."

What a bunch of crap. Now, Eric hated children. He couldn't stand them. All the Tina's, with their constant questions and the Ethan's, always beating on the other kids that reminded Eric so much of himself when he was younger, and the little Timmy's who made throwing up and/or urinating on himself a daily ritual.

Everyday, he wanted to die.

But he had to do it if he ever wanted to earn enough money to pay for another necklace for his mother. He owed it to her and Red. I must be growing up, he thought to himself.

"…work?" Red finally spat out, not being able to control his laughter.

"Oh Red, don't laugh," scolded Kitty, popping a roast into the oven. "I think it's sweet. He's helping children."

"That's the last thing we need," said Red, "another generation of Eric dumbasses. Do you know how badly he's going to screw these kids up?"

"Stop it, Red."

 "I'm serious, Kitty. These kids are young enough to remember everyone they ever spend time with, including Eric. What if one of them becomes president, or something? That'll surely be the end of us all."

"Dad, you're not going to be around for that long," noted Eric.

The phone rang and Kitty went to pick it up.

"Yes, I will," said Red, looking at Eric sternly. "I'm living forever."

"Psst, Eric!" Kitty whispered loudly, hand on the receiver. Clearly from the look on her face, it could be seen that she was happy. "Come here!"

Eric looked at her, strangely. "Mom, why are you whispering?"

"Because! It's Donna!"

Eric was on his feet and to the phone in an instant. "Donna?" he repeated, also whispering.

Kitty nodded enthusiastically.

Before taking the phone from her, he fixed his hair and dusted off his clothes. Then, he accepted the phone and leaned against the wall, saying as smoothly as he could muster, "Hello, Donna."

Kitty stood behind him, grinning ear from ear.

"Hey Eric," replied Donna.

He wasn't sure, but it sound as if there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Is there something wrong?" At these words, Kitty backed up, her smile shrinking.

 "No, no…" said Donna. There was silence as Eric waited to see if she would finish her sentence. "Yes," she finally said. "Eric, I have something to tell you."

Oh no, thought Eric. He knew Donna but he had never heard this in her voice before. Almost by instinct, he knew that what she was about to tell him would not be good. "What is it?"

"I…" There it was again. That silence. That heavy, heavy silence. Eric had met it only a few moments ago, but already he could confidently say that he did not like it. "I cheated on you."

There it was. It was like the f-bomb had just been dropped in a silent room of old women suffering from bad heart conditions. Eric could already feel himself going into cardiac arrest.

"Eric?" called Donna when he did not respond.

But he did not answer. Instead he dropped the phone, leaving the kitchen and heading for the dark cave otherwise known as his room.

"Ready?" Hyde asked Kelso before entering the Hub.

"Ready," confirmed Kelso. When they entered the Hub, his eyes immediately flitted around the place, searching for Fez. And Reese. He could not wait to kick his ass!

But as he looked around, he spotted a butt. It was not just any butt; it was a female's butt. It was not just any female's butt; it was a hot female's butt. Its owner was leaning against the front counter. Kelso swiftly walked over, trying to be as slick as possible even though she could not see him.

What is he doing, wondered Hyde when he saw Kelso walk away from him. He followed, curious.

When Kelso reached the counter, he put his arm against the wall, leaning against it and casting a shadow over the girl. "Why, hello there."

The girl turned around, startled at first and then smiled. She was a black girl and moderately tall, reaching to about Kelso's shoulder. "Can I help you?" she smirked.

Hyde opened his mouth upon seeing who it was and then thought better of it. He decided to watch from a table a little ways a way as not to be seen right away.

"Well," began Kelso. "You're pretty hot and so am I and it's pretty hot out there," he pointed outside, "so do you want to make out?"

She stared up at him for a few moments and then began laughing.

Kelso frowned. Why was she laughing? It was a simple question. Maybe she was confused.

"Oh, you're serious," she said when she saw that he did not join in her laughter.

Offended, Kelso sputtered, "Yeah, I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be serious?" He moved aside, turning enough so that she could see Hyde as Kelso gestured to him. With his thumb, he pointed behind him where she was standing and mouthed, "She thinks I'm not serious."

"Hey, Hyde," she greeted, seeing him. She walked to the table and sat down.

Kelso followed. "Wait, you know him?"

Before Hyde could answer, Fez walked out of the bathroom. "Oh, hello Kelso. Hyde. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to kick Reese's ass!"

"Wait a minute. "We?"" said Hyde. "Don't bring "we" into this. It was your meathead idea."

"Why would you want to kick Reese's ass?" asked Fez.

"Yeah, why would you want to kick my ass?" asked Reese.

"No, not you, pretty girl," said Kelso. "Fez's friend." He sighed. Girls could be a little on the dumb side sometimes.

She stood up, facing him and putting her hands on her hips.

Yes, I'm about to earn twenty dollars, thought Hyde, excitedly.

"I am Reese."

Kelso looked at her for a minute and then chuckled. "No," he said.

"Yes."

"But Reese is a boy's name."

She extended her hand for him to shake. "It's actually Teresa."

"Te-res-a? You actually want me to believe that?" he asked, turning down her hand.

"Why not?"

"Because…" he strained to think of an answer. "Fez, please step into my office," he requested. He put his arm around Fez after they had stepped away from the table and turned their backs. "What the hell is that?" he demanded loudly, pointing at the table.

"What?" asked Fez, puzzled.

"Girl! Girl! Not guy, girl!"

"What did you expect? Did you really think that I would try to borrow Hyde's car to impress a guy? Pssh, yeah right. If you have a stick and balls, you're walking, buddy."

"Wait, Hyde let you borrow his car? To pick up," he glanced over his shoulder at the table where Reese was looking at the two strangely and Hyde was smiling, "that? That is it! I have had enough! I am putting my foot down!"

"Well, can you put your foot down somewhere else? You're hurting my foot."

"Oh," said Kelso, looking down and seeing that he was stepping on Fez's foot. "Sorry." He and Fez walked over to the table. "This is not over, Te-res-a," warned Kelso, shaking his fist. "It's only beginning. And you want to know why?"

"Do I have an option?" she asked.

"Because I'm putting my foot down!" he answered for her. With that, he turned and stormed out of the Hub.

Reese turned to look at Hyde, raising her eyebrow.

Fez sat down. "Do not worry," he said to Reese, putting a hand over hers. "It is not your fault. He hasn't gotten any in a long while."

Hyde walked into the basement through the side door, a smile plastered on his face. Even though he hadn't gotten his money from Kelso yet, the thought of what had happened at the Hub was enjoyable on its own.

When he entered the basement, he noticed three things. One, Jackie was there sitting wordlessly on the couch. Two, she was gripping Mrs. Forman's hand. Three, Mrs. Forman was in tears. The first thought that came to Hyde's mind was that she must have been going through some menopausal drama, so he did not think anything of it. Until she stood up and hugged him.

He stood there, unmoving, staring at Jackie. She stared back at him, still not saying anything.

Something was wrong here.

"Steven," said Kitty. Her voice was barely there and her red eyes were hardly opened as she looked up at him. She gently rubbed his arm. "Steven, your mother is dead."

Review Corner

kenzimone: You guessed right!

L.J: I feel like I didn't portray Kelso as well as I could have. I'll let you be the judge.

Candy.7: Thank you, that's really an amazing thing for you to say.

concertina: Yeah, I see it as Donna got kissed, (not she kissed someone else) but she still feels guilty, dig? And I'm not so sure about Fez having a new lady…it might turn out to be different than you thought.

Heather: Thanks for the review.

End Note: Let me know what you thought. All feedback is encouraged.

March 18, 2003

Copyright, theMuse