"I'm worried." Linda said as she shut the door to their bedroom. They had
gone out after the soccer game and had just returned home.
"I know I bite, But I promise tonight I won't," Vince said looking serious.
Linda laughed as she hung her jacket in the closet. "Vince I'm trying to be serious. Can we talk here for a moment about this." Vince smiled and sat down on a chair by the window. "Okay, I'm in my serious mode here. What are you worried about?" He asked un-tied his shoe. "Vince I 'm worried about Eric, they way he kind of broke down today isn't really a good thing. He's holding every thing in he was truly up-set. Maybe we're throwing him into too much to soon." "Linda it's been over a year, I know our life is not the easiest thing to live. And maybe I've put on to much pressure. But what can I do?" He asked throwing his socks in the laundry basket. "You know I can't tell you what to do all the time." "But I like when you do especially when we're." "Vince, Focus, just a little bit longer, " she smiled. "All right, all right. I don't know. We never had this problem with Shane or Stephanie." He said sitting back on the chair. "This is a whole different situation. He's been thrown into a whole different world. He knew he never had to impress his mother, he knew she loved him, maybe he's trying to find an acceptance here, even after a year." He didn't say anything for a moment and just thought about what he could do. "I'll take care of it," he finally said. "What are you going to do?" She asked him sitting on the bed. "I'm not really sure, but something will come to me."
Eric got up for school, he hated going to school in Greenwich. Everybody dressed the same. The chino pants and the button down shirts, by god some of them wore those damn sweater vests. Eric shuddered at wearing something like that and for the last year, he tried to stick with the norm, but he had finally had enough of it. He went into the kitchen no one was up yet, this as a first. He knew that normally they went to the office after he left for school and with them not being up, he'd have no trouble with the way he dressed today. He was rather comfortable and felt like himself again. The cargo jeans with his orange vans on, he had on a shirt that said bad karma with a navy blue long sleeve underneath. He grabbed his Fox racing hoodie and left. He stepped onto the school property and was immediately greeted by a jumping Emily. "We dare to be different," she laughed. She had dressed somewhat the same only girlier like. "Why not." He said tightening the bandanna around his head and pulling his head phones up.
Linda walked passed Vince's secretary and walked into his office. "We have to go," she said sternly. "What did I do? It's only three o'clock." Vince asked he left his office at four thirty regularly. "No we have to go to the school, they have Eric in the office and they're holding him until we get there." "What happened?" Vince asked as he got up and gathered his things. "They won't say. Just that we have to go get him."
Vince and Linda walked into the office Emily was sitting there waiting for her parents. "You aunt is going to kill you when she hears about this," Vince said. "We didn't do anything seriously wrong." Emily said. "We'll be the judge of that," Linda said. They walked into the principal's office and Eric sat there waiting. Vince grinned when he saw him. Linda on the other hand didn't look too happy. "So what are we looking at?" Vince asked sitting down. "Eric if you could please step outside." Linda said. He got up and moved rather quickly. "So what happened?" Vince asked again. "Well here at the school we like to keep things under control and keep an eyes on all our students. Eric is a very important member of our athletic department." The principal started. "Bring on the point on why we're here," Vince said annoyed. "Vince let the man speak." Linda said correcting him. "Yes well any way, today we caught Eric and Emily skateboarding down the hall, and all though it's not written, it's not a loud. We also are concerned that the way he was dressed might have a negative impact on our other students. As you see most of our students dress formally. The way Eric was dressed might have them worried that he may cause trouble." "Are you saying that the way Eric dresses scares the other students? Or is it scaring you that you have two kids who dare to be different, not follow everyone else. WE don't put a block on Eric's creativity; we are certainly not going to put a block on his personality. What kind of neo-nazi school are you trying to run? Trying to kill those who are different. Taking away his indivuality will not work with me," Vince said angry that this guy was saying that Eric could be trouble cause of the way he dressed. "Mr. McMahon we like for our students to be who they are, we have great art programs and theater clubs. But what we ask is that they not wear who they are on their sleeve." The principal said. "Do you have Eric's skateboard?" Linda asked calmly. "Yes I do. You may have it." He said handing it to Linda. Linda stood up. "Well we see the problem and we'll fix it immediately. As of right now Eric will no longer be a part of you school, so you can take your conforming ways and stick it." Linda said turning on her heel and leaving. Vince was shocked and he laughed, "That's my wife." They walked out and Eric was sitting there waiting. "I'm sorry." He said looking down. "Don't be." Linda said walking by him, "also clean out your locker, I won't have you here." "What?" Eric asked surprised "I'm really sorry, please don't send me some where else." Linda stopped, "Eric, I won't have you in a school that feels threatened by who you are. If they have a problem with the way you dress, if they have a problem with who you are, they have a problem with us." "Oh okay." Eric said not sure of what had happened, he looked to Vince for an answer. "So what does this mean?" "It means your going to a different school where you can wear whatever the hell you want and not have a problem for it." Eric smiled and nodded his head. "Then why is it you looked rather pissed when you walked in" He asked Linda who seemed a lot better then before. "I didn't think it was something like that, I though it was something serious, I didn't give it a chance I do apologize." "Oh okay." He said.
They arrived back at the house and Shane was waiting inside for them. "Why did you leave early? No one knew what happened. I went to talk to you and you were gone. Your secretary said you left in a hurry." "We had to go to the school to pick up Eric." Vince said. "Dressed like that." Shane grinned, "What'd he do?" "What you mean what'd I do?" Eric asked. "The school normally doesn't accept clothes like that." Shane said. "Like what? You know I don't get you man. You say let's be friends, I knew you were bullshit when you said. You do nothing but give me a hard time, hassle me and why? Cause I'm different, cause I'm not and up tight ass like yourself." Eric said in defense of himself. "You're going to let him talk like that?" Shane asked his parents who were standing there. Vince just stood there. " So Lin, how about them Yankee's?" "There not doing so bad, George must be happy." Linda said following Vince into the kitchen. "I'm not going to deal with you, you ain't worth my time." Eric said walking away. "Worth the time, you're not worth anybodies time. You come up here acting like you belong." "I didn't ask to come up here. I didn't ask for a damn thing. I was happy where I was at." Eric said pissed off. "Yeah I heard all about that, what you some thug straight off the street. Tough guy eh? Not afraid to tell Vince that you could care less about him, coming here and bringing your attitude with you like your something big." "Yeah you got real big set there don't ya Shane. You can pick on the kid, who loses his mother, ya real big. Pick on the kid who all his life never thought he had a father and had to play the though guy to survive. You grew up on the streets outside that door. Real though growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut. I'm sure daddy made sure you never got a real ass kickin. Why don't you have your driver take you home. You don't belong anywhere near me." Eric said walking away. "The only one out of place here is you. You're not a McMahon, go back where you came from. You don't belong here, go find another guy to call daddy, I'm sure there are others besides Vince." Shane said "Whatever dude. Eric said going up stairs. "Linda I think you better inform you son it's time for him to go." Vince said from the doorway. "Shane." She started. "I heard him. At least now I know where I stand in this family." Shane said. "What happened to the son we raised? Cause what I just saw, was not him." Linda said. "I'm leaving." Shane said walking out the door. "Shane, you better learn that Eric is going no where. You better understand that he is your brother and he is just as much of a McMahon as you are. If you can't come to terms with that then I don't know if I want you to come around," Vince said standing his ground and letting it be known that Eric is his son no matter what.
Over the next week, Eric changed schools and had become really quiet not talking to anyone. Steph went with him on a trip to the mall and he still hadn't said anything. Normally he and Steph got a long well but he wasn't the same after his ordeal with Shane. "How'd it go Steph?" Vince asked when they returned home. "I don't know, I guess what Shane said really got to him, all he used were one word sentences." She said concerned about him, she had really grown to like him, especially now that he had chose to be himself. "That's all he does around here, your mother tried to talk to him. I tried talking to him and we got nothing," Vince said disappointed that Steph couldn't get through to him. "What happened at the mall?" "Well he had blond added to his hair, it looks cute. He was going for blue, but I talked him out of it and instead he got.a piercing." She said quietly. "A what? Where Steph?" Linda asked. "Its not some crazy piercing, it was his ear, three of them to be exact." Steph said inching away from her parents. "It doesn't look bad, I swear." "He is not to go anywhere with you again." Vince said.
They sat down for dinner and Eric just sat there eating in silence, on a good day he would talk all through the meal. Frankly Vince missed that. "You hair looks good," Linda said trying to get him to talk. "Thanks." He said without even looking up. "Let me see your ear," Vince said wanting to see. Eric turned his head so Vince could see the piercing. "Didn't that hurt?" "No." Eric said continuing to eat. "You plan on getting more?" Vince asked. "Yes." "You know Eric, this is a very one sided conversation here, can you at least say more then on or two words." "Sorry about that." He said. "Eric you can be excused if you'd like," Linda said.
"He'll get over it." Linda said after he left. "It doesn't look it, its starting from step one here. I could kill Shane for what he said." Vince said angrily. "Well we better do something quickly then. Not even Steph got to him, she gets to everybody." "I know that." Vince said, "let's hope nothing worse comes from this."
Linda laughed as she hung her jacket in the closet. "Vince I'm trying to be serious. Can we talk here for a moment about this." Vince smiled and sat down on a chair by the window. "Okay, I'm in my serious mode here. What are you worried about?" He asked un-tied his shoe. "Vince I 'm worried about Eric, they way he kind of broke down today isn't really a good thing. He's holding every thing in he was truly up-set. Maybe we're throwing him into too much to soon." "Linda it's been over a year, I know our life is not the easiest thing to live. And maybe I've put on to much pressure. But what can I do?" He asked throwing his socks in the laundry basket. "You know I can't tell you what to do all the time." "But I like when you do especially when we're." "Vince, Focus, just a little bit longer, " she smiled. "All right, all right. I don't know. We never had this problem with Shane or Stephanie." He said sitting back on the chair. "This is a whole different situation. He's been thrown into a whole different world. He knew he never had to impress his mother, he knew she loved him, maybe he's trying to find an acceptance here, even after a year." He didn't say anything for a moment and just thought about what he could do. "I'll take care of it," he finally said. "What are you going to do?" She asked him sitting on the bed. "I'm not really sure, but something will come to me."
Eric got up for school, he hated going to school in Greenwich. Everybody dressed the same. The chino pants and the button down shirts, by god some of them wore those damn sweater vests. Eric shuddered at wearing something like that and for the last year, he tried to stick with the norm, but he had finally had enough of it. He went into the kitchen no one was up yet, this as a first. He knew that normally they went to the office after he left for school and with them not being up, he'd have no trouble with the way he dressed today. He was rather comfortable and felt like himself again. The cargo jeans with his orange vans on, he had on a shirt that said bad karma with a navy blue long sleeve underneath. He grabbed his Fox racing hoodie and left. He stepped onto the school property and was immediately greeted by a jumping Emily. "We dare to be different," she laughed. She had dressed somewhat the same only girlier like. "Why not." He said tightening the bandanna around his head and pulling his head phones up.
Linda walked passed Vince's secretary and walked into his office. "We have to go," she said sternly. "What did I do? It's only three o'clock." Vince asked he left his office at four thirty regularly. "No we have to go to the school, they have Eric in the office and they're holding him until we get there." "What happened?" Vince asked as he got up and gathered his things. "They won't say. Just that we have to go get him."
Vince and Linda walked into the office Emily was sitting there waiting for her parents. "You aunt is going to kill you when she hears about this," Vince said. "We didn't do anything seriously wrong." Emily said. "We'll be the judge of that," Linda said. They walked into the principal's office and Eric sat there waiting. Vince grinned when he saw him. Linda on the other hand didn't look too happy. "So what are we looking at?" Vince asked sitting down. "Eric if you could please step outside." Linda said. He got up and moved rather quickly. "So what happened?" Vince asked again. "Well here at the school we like to keep things under control and keep an eyes on all our students. Eric is a very important member of our athletic department." The principal started. "Bring on the point on why we're here," Vince said annoyed. "Vince let the man speak." Linda said correcting him. "Yes well any way, today we caught Eric and Emily skateboarding down the hall, and all though it's not written, it's not a loud. We also are concerned that the way he was dressed might have a negative impact on our other students. As you see most of our students dress formally. The way Eric was dressed might have them worried that he may cause trouble." "Are you saying that the way Eric dresses scares the other students? Or is it scaring you that you have two kids who dare to be different, not follow everyone else. WE don't put a block on Eric's creativity; we are certainly not going to put a block on his personality. What kind of neo-nazi school are you trying to run? Trying to kill those who are different. Taking away his indivuality will not work with me," Vince said angry that this guy was saying that Eric could be trouble cause of the way he dressed. "Mr. McMahon we like for our students to be who they are, we have great art programs and theater clubs. But what we ask is that they not wear who they are on their sleeve." The principal said. "Do you have Eric's skateboard?" Linda asked calmly. "Yes I do. You may have it." He said handing it to Linda. Linda stood up. "Well we see the problem and we'll fix it immediately. As of right now Eric will no longer be a part of you school, so you can take your conforming ways and stick it." Linda said turning on her heel and leaving. Vince was shocked and he laughed, "That's my wife." They walked out and Eric was sitting there waiting. "I'm sorry." He said looking down. "Don't be." Linda said walking by him, "also clean out your locker, I won't have you here." "What?" Eric asked surprised "I'm really sorry, please don't send me some where else." Linda stopped, "Eric, I won't have you in a school that feels threatened by who you are. If they have a problem with the way you dress, if they have a problem with who you are, they have a problem with us." "Oh okay." Eric said not sure of what had happened, he looked to Vince for an answer. "So what does this mean?" "It means your going to a different school where you can wear whatever the hell you want and not have a problem for it." Eric smiled and nodded his head. "Then why is it you looked rather pissed when you walked in" He asked Linda who seemed a lot better then before. "I didn't think it was something like that, I though it was something serious, I didn't give it a chance I do apologize." "Oh okay." He said.
They arrived back at the house and Shane was waiting inside for them. "Why did you leave early? No one knew what happened. I went to talk to you and you were gone. Your secretary said you left in a hurry." "We had to go to the school to pick up Eric." Vince said. "Dressed like that." Shane grinned, "What'd he do?" "What you mean what'd I do?" Eric asked. "The school normally doesn't accept clothes like that." Shane said. "Like what? You know I don't get you man. You say let's be friends, I knew you were bullshit when you said. You do nothing but give me a hard time, hassle me and why? Cause I'm different, cause I'm not and up tight ass like yourself." Eric said in defense of himself. "You're going to let him talk like that?" Shane asked his parents who were standing there. Vince just stood there. " So Lin, how about them Yankee's?" "There not doing so bad, George must be happy." Linda said following Vince into the kitchen. "I'm not going to deal with you, you ain't worth my time." Eric said walking away. "Worth the time, you're not worth anybodies time. You come up here acting like you belong." "I didn't ask to come up here. I didn't ask for a damn thing. I was happy where I was at." Eric said pissed off. "Yeah I heard all about that, what you some thug straight off the street. Tough guy eh? Not afraid to tell Vince that you could care less about him, coming here and bringing your attitude with you like your something big." "Yeah you got real big set there don't ya Shane. You can pick on the kid, who loses his mother, ya real big. Pick on the kid who all his life never thought he had a father and had to play the though guy to survive. You grew up on the streets outside that door. Real though growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut. I'm sure daddy made sure you never got a real ass kickin. Why don't you have your driver take you home. You don't belong anywhere near me." Eric said walking away. "The only one out of place here is you. You're not a McMahon, go back where you came from. You don't belong here, go find another guy to call daddy, I'm sure there are others besides Vince." Shane said "Whatever dude. Eric said going up stairs. "Linda I think you better inform you son it's time for him to go." Vince said from the doorway. "Shane." She started. "I heard him. At least now I know where I stand in this family." Shane said. "What happened to the son we raised? Cause what I just saw, was not him." Linda said. "I'm leaving." Shane said walking out the door. "Shane, you better learn that Eric is going no where. You better understand that he is your brother and he is just as much of a McMahon as you are. If you can't come to terms with that then I don't know if I want you to come around," Vince said standing his ground and letting it be known that Eric is his son no matter what.
Over the next week, Eric changed schools and had become really quiet not talking to anyone. Steph went with him on a trip to the mall and he still hadn't said anything. Normally he and Steph got a long well but he wasn't the same after his ordeal with Shane. "How'd it go Steph?" Vince asked when they returned home. "I don't know, I guess what Shane said really got to him, all he used were one word sentences." She said concerned about him, she had really grown to like him, especially now that he had chose to be himself. "That's all he does around here, your mother tried to talk to him. I tried talking to him and we got nothing," Vince said disappointed that Steph couldn't get through to him. "What happened at the mall?" "Well he had blond added to his hair, it looks cute. He was going for blue, but I talked him out of it and instead he got.a piercing." She said quietly. "A what? Where Steph?" Linda asked. "Its not some crazy piercing, it was his ear, three of them to be exact." Steph said inching away from her parents. "It doesn't look bad, I swear." "He is not to go anywhere with you again." Vince said.
They sat down for dinner and Eric just sat there eating in silence, on a good day he would talk all through the meal. Frankly Vince missed that. "You hair looks good," Linda said trying to get him to talk. "Thanks." He said without even looking up. "Let me see your ear," Vince said wanting to see. Eric turned his head so Vince could see the piercing. "Didn't that hurt?" "No." Eric said continuing to eat. "You plan on getting more?" Vince asked. "Yes." "You know Eric, this is a very one sided conversation here, can you at least say more then on or two words." "Sorry about that." He said. "Eric you can be excused if you'd like," Linda said.
"He'll get over it." Linda said after he left. "It doesn't look it, its starting from step one here. I could kill Shane for what he said." Vince said angrily. "Well we better do something quickly then. Not even Steph got to him, she gets to everybody." "I know that." Vince said, "let's hope nothing worse comes from this."