Chapter 7
The Heavy Spinners
(when Donna goes into the kitchen towards the end of Ch. 6)
Donna could not wait to take her cup of tea and go into the bathtub for a long hot bath, then she was going to put on an old baggy sweatshirt, jogging pants, and she was going to borrow Eric's old thick camping socks before taking refuge in her bed. Donna turned off the kettle when she heard a sound coming from Megan's basement bedroom. Not the sound of her wheelchair or her taking off her shoes and throwing them on the floor like she sometimes did. No, this was the sound of young, pleasure. Donna was furious as she made her way down the ramp, she was glad there were no stairs there anymore, because she would have certainly tripped at the speed that she was moving. She put on the lights and screamed at her only child.
"Megan, What in the HELL do you think you are doing?"
Hunter who always the shy and self conscious one of all the Forman-Hyde children had no desire for Donna to see him naked as he rolled off Megan and hoped that the light blanket was covering him. He covered Megan's top half with her top sheet.
"Mother, I am NOT about to apologize for making love with MY FIANCEE."
Donna was taken aback at first but tried not to be stunned by her daughter's news.
"Since when are YOU engaged?"
Hunter held Megan's tense hand, it felt like impenetrable rock.
Megan didn't mean to reveal their engagement secret but this woman got her so angry that it just came rolling out of her mouth like a shopping cart being pushed down a hill.
"Since Christmas."
"Where's the ring?" Donna questioned
"In my ears. Are you done yelling, Mother? The whole neighborhood can hear you."
Megan wondered where her father was that he wasn't down here telling them to both calm down to keep the peace?
"I haven't begun to yell at you, Megan. Hunter, I suggest you get your clothes back on and go back into the guestroom."
"No way! You can't tell him what to do!"
"Do you pay the bills for this house? I will not allow you to have sex in my house!"
"You are SUCH A HYPOCRITE! You and Dad didn't wait to be married—and you two smoked a lot of marijuana in this very basement!"
'And my dad still does' Hunter thought
"Don't you take that tone with me OR—"
"What? What are YOU going to do, Mom? Send me to Siberia?"
"If I could Megan, I would! Now, I want Hunter OUT of your bed!"
"NO! Hunter stays, YOU GO!"
"Excuse me, Megan? Are you defying me? I was ONLY going to ground you for ONE week due to your skipping school—BUT NOW you are lucky if you will ever see the outside again!"
"Yeah, I AM. I'm NOT a kid anymore! You don't get it! I love Hunter. You should be thrilled that I have a nice, caring fiancée."
"I am NOT thrilled that you were not honest with me and your father and Hunter's parents about your so called engagement!"
"So called engagement? We ARE engaged, you BITCH!"
Donna couldn't control herself as she slapped Megan hard across the face.
"Donna, please—" Hunter softly spoke; he didn't want to say anything that was going to add to their punishment.
Megan put her right hand to her face, as she tried to keep the top sheet over her body with her left hand.
"H-hunter, get out of my daughter's bed," Donna cleared her throat, "We will talk about this in the morning." She tried to calm herself down as she wondered where in the Hell was Eric?
"NO!" Megan on the other hand did NOT want to calm down and she certainly didn't want to have this intense argument stop only to continue as a polite cop out breakfast conversation.
'Dad, pass the milk, by the way your Wife is a bitch!'
"Megan, you are seriously trying my patience."
"You ARE NOT MY REAL MOTHER!" Okay, her biological mother was a complete and utter junkie who was the reason why she was in a wheelchair to begin with, but she was NOT about to back down from THIS WOMAN.
"Megan, maybe, I should go?" Hunter replied softly as he kissed her on the cheek.
"NO! It's not about what SHE wants, it's about what I WANT."
"I don't give a rat's ass what YOU WANT!" Donna tried to pretend that she wasn't stunned by her daughter's comments, but if that didn't get her the next
phrase she uttered would be the arrow that shot her in directly in her heart.
"I HATE YOU, MOM! I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, ANYMORE! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!" Megan screamed at her mother through her jagged tears as poor Hunter tried to sink in the covers as he held Megan's hand.
'Eric, where the f*** are you?'
Donna sighed, she was not going to cry in front of her daughter and give her the satisfaction that she knew she wanted to lord over her.
"Fine, Megan," Donna was done with their argument, she was starting to feel a pain in her stomach, "But know this, you are NOT putting off getting a job any longer, if you DON'T want me in your life then I will not financially support you anymore. And on your eighteenth birthday you are on your own and NO matter what your father says you WON'T be allowed to live here anymore. I can't stop your father from giving you any of his money, but you will NEVER see a dime from me again. And since this house is NOT in your name and neither are the bills upstairs—I only have one thing left to say. Hunter, I am going to turn around so you can get dressed and then you are going upstairs to the guestroom. Do I make myself CLEAR?"
Megan refused to reply. She nodded to Hunter that it was okay (but it really wasn't) for him to get dressed and leave.
"You guys didn't mean what you said?" Hunter asked, this was worse than any fight Tiffany had with Jackie and/or Hyde.
"I meant everything that I said." Donna and Megan replied in unison and they weren't even blood related. Imagine that.
So much for Donna's relaxing night with a cup of tea and a hot bath.
Sunday morning 4AM
Eric felt terrible that he was so late getting home; he didn't call Donna because he figured she'd be asleep. Him and Mark ate breakfast at the diner
and they spent the rest of the hours in Mark's motel room talking, not about anything in particular just conversations designed for each of them to get to know the other one better. (Author's note-That will be the beginning of Ch. 8) He drove Mark back to the house so he could get his car that he had parked across the street. He wasn't going to come in seeing as it was four in the morning, but Eric insisted that he come in for a little while, as he wanted to give him some photographs. Mark rarely showed his softer side to anyone of the same gender, but if Eric needed to give him a few snapshots so their father and son relationship could grow stronger then it was fine by him.
Eric put his key in the lock and opened the door to the familiar sight of darkness as when he and Donna returned home from Chicago a few hours ago. He put the lights on.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to come in?" Mark asked
"It's fine," Well, he was sure whatever happened between Megan and Donna was anything but fine and he would be hearing all of the details later. "Sit down, Mark." Eric said, now if only he could remember where the photo album that he wanted Mark to have was.
It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Super Psychotic middle aged Donna who flew down the stairs wrapped her robe.
"ERIC! Where in the f***ing Hell have YOU been?" It was at that moment that she noticed Mark sitting awkwardly on their sofa.
"With MY son. Donna where is the blue picture album with my Star Wars stickers on it?"
"Eric, I don't give a f*** where your photo album is right now. Come in the kitchen, we need to discuss a private family matter."
"Donna—" Eric started to say as Mark stood up.
"Thanks for tonight, Eric, I better go. I have to sleep for a few hours before driving back home."
"What about the pictures?"
'Damn you, Donna.'
"You have my number call me when you find them. Goodbye, Eric. Donna."
Eric escorted him out, the words that he wanted to say would have gone something like, "You ARE a part of this family now and I love you." and they would finally have a mutual hug with each other, but all that he could say was,
"Goodbye, Mark. Have a safe trip back, and I'll talk to you soon," Eric closed the door quietly as he continued to speak, "What you just said to Mark was unnecessary and rude."
She couldn't deal with the Mark issue right now. "I disowned Megan tonight."
"WHAT?! What did she do that was so horrible for you to come to that conclusion?"
Donna was about to go into a full play-by-play mode when a slightly drunk Hyde came through the front door.
"Hey, what's going on?" Eric and Donna were going to be arriving home sometime this afternoon why were they home early? He hoped nothing was wrong with the kids.
"How DARE you leave Megan and Hunter unsupervised like this?!"
"Forman, I thought we decided that you weren't going to tell Donna?" and for once it was Steven Hyde with his foot in his mouth.
"I didn't, man! You just did."
"You were out this late last night, too?"
"Are you my keeper all of a sudden, Donna?"
"I caught them IN THE ACT!"
"So?" Hyde replied
"What do you mean by so? Megan is too young to be in a serious relationship. Not that it matters since I disowned her bratty ass."
"Yes, let's get back to that, Donna, how did you come to that conclusion?"
Hyde sat in the Lazy Boy recliner.
"They lied to us about being engaged! That's what Hunter's Christmas present was to her, a pair of ENGAGEMENT earrings! If they were mature they wouldn't have felt it a need to keep it a secret. And it was Megan who reminded me that I am NOT her biological mother and that she wants nothing to do with ME! Hyde, how could YOU leave them alone like that?"
"So, they had sex? Big deal, Donna. All of us in this room had pre marital sex." Hyde replied
"Well, I think it's best if you take your son and go home now."
"Donna," Eric began
"Fine."
"Donna, no, Hyde, you can stay until it is time for you to go to the airport later on."
"Why are you all making me out to be the bad person in this?"
"You are not a bad person, honey," Eric replied, just a few hours ago he was talking to his son about the current state of rock music versus the bands he listened to when he was a teenager, and now he was back to angst central, "Of course, they're going to have sex, NOT that I want to ever think about that. How could we be angry at them for that, when we didn't wait? And maybe, it was wrong for Megan and Hunter to disguise their engagement, but they're good kids, Donna, you know that."
"Is my son NOT good enough for your daughter?" Hyde asked
"I never said I hated Hunter, Hyde. Megan is just too young to throw her life away. But, if she doesn't want me in her life anymore than I won't be. Incase you are interested, Eric, I told her that she has to definitely get a job now because I refuse to give her any more money and when she's eighteen she's gone. And you would have known all of this if you were in Megan's room helping me cope rather than playing long lost Daddy to your illegitimate son."
Eric felt as if he was punched in the stomach it felt as if she had used the derogatory term and had actually called Mark a bastard.
"F*** you, Donna." Eric replied
"You have turned into a crazy woman, Donna," Hyde replied as he stood up, "One thing is for sure though. If Megan needs a place to stay she will always be welcome in our house."
If Hyde had said that years ago, Eric might have punched in the mouth over it, but now he was inclined to agree with his best friend.
"If you two think you know so much, I'm going to bed—"
"And before you can send me to the sofa, I plan on sleeping there anyway. I wouldn't think of sharing a bed with you tonight. How dare you treat Mark like he is NOT a part of this family."
Eric walked ahead of Donna to get a blanket and a pillow before heading back to the couch. But who could sleep? Hyde followed behind Eric without any words as he went upstairs to his room. He quietly opened the door next to his room to make sure Hunter was asleep. He was, but the poor boy had a worry on his young face that he did not need. He closed the door as he stifled a yawn. He was tired however from the partying he did, he could pull all nighters when he was younger, but he was almost sixty and his body was going to pay for it when he woke up. Thank god, he wasn't flying the plane or he and Hunter would never make it back home. Eric tried to get comfortable on the sofa, but he kicked the blanket off and walked upstairs, he wouldn't be surprised if Donna locked the master bedroom door, he was slightly shocked when it was open.
"Donna, are you asleep? Okay, you don't have to talk to me, I just wanted to remind you to not forget to call your doctor on Monday."
No answer. "I know you are not sleeping, but good morning."
Eric said to the still body of his Wife in the bed before he left the room. It was almost time for the sun to rise but all the shades, blinds, and curtains were drawn as he forced his body into yet another stress induced sleep.
Mama said there'd be days like this?
10AM
Megan was surprised when she opened up her eyes, put on her glasses, and looked at her clock. She couldn't believe that she had slept until ten in the morning. She hoped that Hunter was all right. He was such a peaceful young man and she had every intention of seeing him when she was sure Donna was asleep, but she fell asleep herself and didn't get to defy her ex-mother even more.
'Ex-mother that's a good name for you!'
Megan yawned as she put in her hearing aid and proceeded to get dressed for the day. There was absolutely no way that Donna was going to keep her from Hunter. She needed to take a shower, as she felt scummy. She was going to put on something especially pretty for Hunter and to let her ex-mother know that she didn't own her. Megan wished that she had stood up to Donna sooner. It felt great to be finally rid of her.
'She's like a cancerous tumor.'
Megan put herself in her wheelchair as she went to her dresser to pick out her clothes for the day before heading into the shower, wishing Hunter was in there with her.
Hunter buttoned up his cobalt blue button down shirt as he looked at himself in the mirror. The one time he did not feel guilty over his car accident that made him temporarily crippled for a short while was earlier this morning, when he got dressed after Megan and Donna's intense fight, he was able to kiss her on the cheek, but he knew Megan wanted to go for the lips, but he did NOT want to egg Donna on, when he was able to run up the ramp and unwillingly go back to the guestroom. He wished he could have defended Megan better. He hated being at a loss for words. When Nash Winkler verbally harassed Megan at the dance it was Hunter who threw a punch to protect her. But what could he say to Donna? No parent wants to see their kids making out. He remembered the trouble they were in awhile back, when they first admitted their feelings to one another and were caught making out on the Forman's living room sofa. He hoped that Megan and Donna were not disowned from each other. Sometimes you say things you don't mean when you are in the heat of an argument. He remembered the pain everyone was in (except for Hannah) when Tiffany lived with Eric and Donna for a few months when she was going through a 'normal' teenage rebellion. He didn't want Megan OR Donna to be on the outs with each other. Maybe, just maybe, they could settle their differences this morning at the breakfast table. Hunter was old fashioned in some of his ways and always wanted to believe in the good of the world. He put on the aftershave that Megan liked before he headed downstairs, hoping that Donna (and she should because she's older!) and Megan would realize that they could work out their relationship problems if they wanted to. He wished he could've said something during the mother and daughter heated argument that would have made all of the difference. When Hunter noticed that Eric was sleeping in the sofa he walked down the rest of the stairs slowly. He couldn't wait to tell his physical therapist that he didn't need his cane anymore. He knew that to be Megan as the reason for his 'quick' recovery. He took a deep breath as he entered the kitchen, there was Donna sitting at the table, holding the teacup with her hands to give her slight warmth. He didn't know what he could possibly say to her other than the usual,
"Morning, Donna." he said as if were five years old again and had to be on best behavior because his mom and dad were having company.
"Hunter." Donna replied amicably
"Is it okay if I go downstairs to see Megan? You have my word we won't---"
Donna cut him off, "You can go."
Hunter wasn't going to analyze whether or not Donna's comments were genuine or on autopilot. He just wanted to make sure that Megan was all right. He walked down the ramp as Megan put the finishing touches of her perfume on.
"Good morning, Megan." Hunter said, as she moved her chair so he could sit on her lap and give her a sweet kiss.
"Good morning, Hunter. You don't have to worry about me, I'm okay. I thought about it earlier and Donna, my ex-mother, reminds me of a cancerous tumor that I had removed. I'm going to read the classifieds later. You can help me find an after school job."
Hunter no longer worked at Caroline's diner in his small and quaint Pennsylvania country town. They had to replace him after his car accident, his best friend Thomas offered him to take his job, but Hunter's character would not allow him to do that. His friend needed a job, just as much as he did. Jackie offered him a job at her salon, but Hunter declined as he didn't want to work for either of his parents and he didn't want to deal with salon clients who pay his mother a lot of money for facials and body massages. He put an application in at the mall record store. He hated what they called music these days, but a paycheck would be a paycheck. He hoped when he came back home that his mom would tell him that the manager called and left him a message that he's hired and he could start on Monday after school.
"Okay. I told your mom we wouldn't be doing anything, so we better go upstairs for breakfast. Maybe, you two can talk later?" Hunter kissed her on the cheek, and then stood up to give Megan a stroll up the ramp.
"Hunter, you were there. I don't want her in my life, anymore."
When Megan and Hunter came into the kitchen, there was a false image of what a modern American family looked like. A father reading the newspaper and mother who was obviously pretending that she wanted to cook. Hyde came in the kitchen as Hunter pushed Megan to her spot at the table. He squeezed her hand to silently say that he loved her, and she squeezed back, knowing what he meant and was grateful for the support.
"Morning, kids." Hyde and Eric said at the same time
Megan knew that Eric and Hyde saying 'kids' was totally different than if Donna had said it. The father's meant it like when you say to a bunch of people, "hey you guys" even when there are females present. Kids was just a general term. Whereas Donna saw them as literal kids, people incapable to make life's decisions. Donna couldn't do it, when she saw Eric put the toast in the toaster for Megan, she turned off the frying pan dumped the scrambled real eggs mixed with Egg Beaters in the big serving bowl, grabbed the serving spoon off the utensil hook, and stuck the spoon in the bowl. She didn't say a word as she went upstairs to the master bedroom, went in their bathroom, turned on the shower as hot as her body could stand it, threw her sleeping clothes in one big pile on the floor, and felt to see if there were any more suspicious lumps on either of her breasts.
If Megan, her wretched ex-daughter, didn't want her in her life anymore than so be it. Her mother stopped caring about her when she was about Megan's age when she ran off to California in the early morning hours. You can't force people to love you. So, why bother trying?
"Donna! Can you explain what just happened in the kitchen?" Eric asked over the hot, steamy water
"Sorry, Eric, I can't hear you." Donna replied.
'You're lying'.
Eric mouthed the words "I'm sorry" as he went to the toilet and flushed it before leaving the bathroom as Donna cursed at him.
Mama Kitty NEVER said there'd be days like this.