Chapter Six
Donna sat with Jackie on the Forman's front porch. She rubbed her hands across the top of her jeans while thinking about what she should say. She had made a couple false starts at a conversation, but Jackie quickly stopped her.
"Donna are you trying to say something?"
"Yeah. Ok, Jackie here's the thing. You and Epstein… Well I feel things are moving a bit too fast. And according to the other guys, Epstein has a bad track record when it comes to dating. You're not the first girl he had fallen in love with. I mean, Vinnie even told me he was once wiling to move to Nebraska to be with their teacher's sister-in-law."
"Eeeeeewww!"
"Exactly. And now he's claiming he's in love with you and he wants to move here. And the two of you had only met this summer."
Jackie frowned slightly, not wanting to admit Donna was right. "Yeah." She smiled a little. "But isn't it romantic he came all this way to be with me?"
"Well… yeah! But listen. You both are still in high school. And by the looks of things, he is going to be in high school for next ten years."
"So what's your point?"
"My point is, you are both too young and have only been together a short time. If you move in together now, it would only be a disaster. For one thing, he's poor. It took all the money he had saved up just to take a bus here. If you move in together, who's going to pay the rent? Who's going to support you the way that you want? Jackie, you'll have to get a job."
Jackie grimaced "Eeew! Donna I can't live with a poor person! I need someone who can take care of me. And buy me stuff. And lavish me in a life of luxury!"
"Yeah and being with Epstein will get you the opposite of that. You'll be lucky if the two of you aren't living on the street in a month. In fact this is what I see for your future with Epstein."
Jackie's face was nearly frozen as her teeth chattered. Snow blew around her and the wind whistled. A ratty shawl covered her shoulders. She shivered and pulled it tighter around her, smiling at the person standing beside her.
Epstein stood next to her, shivering as well. He adjusted his scarf and rubbed his hands together. As he did this, he gave Jackie a hopeful grin. Near their feet was a tin can and a sign begging for money so that they could eat.
A couple people walked by them, dropping something into the can. Excitement befell Jackie and Epstein before they dove for the can. Epstein grabbed the can and dropped the contents into his lap. Nothing but a single nickel and a button fell from the can.
Epstein and Jackie both frown in disgust. Epstein took to his feet, ready to fight the person who tossed them the button, but Jackie stopped him. They embraced each other and then looked up hopefully as the next group of people start to walk toward them. They smiled and motion toward the can, pleading for change.
Fez, dressed in a tux, walked over to them. He pulled out his wallet, which was bursting with cash. He took out a single well-worn dollar bill and slipped it into the can. He then patted both Jackie and Epstein on the head before walking away. Jackie and Epstein snatched up the can and tore the dollar from it. As they held the dollar, they appeared completely overjoyed.
"Oh my God. Oh my God, Donna. I can't live on the street! The street is dirty and littered with bums!"
"Yeah and you'll be one of them."
"Eeeew! No I can't have that, Donna. No, Donna, thank you for opening my eyes."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I have to talk to Juan."
Jackie patted Donna's leg and then stood up. She then walked away in search of Epstein. Donna stood as well and followed her.
"Jackie wait!" Donna called causing Jackie to stop walking. "Hold on. I, um, I kind of need to talk to you some more. But you can't tell anyone."
Jackie spun around, a smile on her face. "Ooh Donna do you have dirt? Tell me, tell me!"
A sinking feeling suddenly came over Donna and it showed on her face. "I think I change my mind."
Jackie frowned "Oh this sounds bad." Her expression brightened some with intrigue. "Well now you have to tell me!"
"Ok Jackie, promise me you won't tell anybody."
"I promise. What is it?"
"Well… Jackie… Oh I'm just going to say it. When I was working in Brooklyn… Freddie and I sort of…"
"You sort of what?" Jackie gasped "Donna did you shoplift? I knew it!"
"No! No. Jackie listen. This has been eating me up inside since I came back home. Freddie and I kissed."
Jackie gasped, shocked. "You kissed?"
Donna quickly shushed her. Jackie lowered her voice to a near whisper.
"You kissed? And you didn't tell me sooner?"
"Well you didn't tell me you've been dating Epstein this whole time."
"You're right. I know. So," she smirked "what was it like?"
"The kiss? Well It was… Freddie is a great kisser, what can I say?"
"Better than Eric?"
Donna frowned. "Oh God yeah! There's no comparison."
"How many times did you kiss him?"
"I dunno. Not like we counted. It was a few times." She hesitated. "We made out a couple times and things got a little heated."
"Donna!" Jackie lowered her voice to a whisper again, this time with an accusatory tone "Did you two have sex?"
"What? Jackie no!" Donna sighed. "Most we did was make out. Nothing… nothing below the waist."
"Oh my God Donna!" Jackie's tone became must more amused. "This is exciting! Hey! If I marry Juan and you marry Freddie we would be like sisters-in-law!" She clapped her hands. "Yay!"
"Jackie they're not brothers."
"Well Juan has so many siblings, you don't know that for sure."
"One of his brothers could actually be a brother?" Donna joked.
"Right. It could happen! I mean, look at Steven. His father's black."
"So because Hyde's father is black, that means Freddie's mother could be a Puerto Rican? Or Jewish?"
"Now you're getting it, Donna!"
"Well, even if they happened to be brothers, you and I aren't going to marry them."
"Play along, Donna!"
Donna laughed. "Jackie, you're crazy." She looked up and saw a few of the guys, one of them Epstein, coming up from the basement. "Listen, we'll talk more about this later. I'm going to go see Eric."
Donna walked away, heading down to the basement. Epstein walked away from the other guys and went over to Jackie. As they stood with each other, they went right into their thoughts, in perfect unison.
"We need to talk."
"Listen, Jackie. I, ah, I've been thinkin'. About us."
"I've been thinking too. Well, actually, Donna and I were just talking and she had me realize some things."
"Right." Epstein nodded. "Mr. and Mrs. Forman made me do some thinkin' as well. And, ah, the other guys pretty much told me I was crazy and stupid for wanting to move here, got me thinkin' some more."
They were silent for a moment before continuing, again in unison.
"I think we should break up."
"I'm not movin' here."
They looked at each other puzzled. Once again, they spoke at the same time.
"Wait. What?"
Epstein motioned to her. "You first."
"Juan, I think we should break up." Jackie confessed, a little uneasily. "As nice it is to be with you in person, and as nice as our relationship has been, albeit being long distance…. I just don't think it would be a good idea for us to continue being together."
Epstein looked down in silence as he thought about what she said. "That's, ah, that's probably for the best since I'm not movin' here after all. But, why can't we still be together?"
"Let me put it this way. Juan, I expect a certain kind of future. One that you simply would never be able to provide for me."
Epstein frowned "What are you getting at?"
"I was born rich, and I need someone equally rich to support me ad lavish me in gifts."
"Hey now I brought you my most prized possession. If that ain't love then I don't know what is."
"Juan you gave me a dirty old baseball card."
"Hey that card could be worth a lot of money one day!"
"It wasn't even yours! You stole it from Arnold!"
"Bah! Details!"
They looked at each other, sadly but in understanding. Moving in closer, they wrapped their arms around each other.
"Well I guess this is goodbye." Epstein said
"Yeah, I guess so."
He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. "Hey, I'll just have you know, all this, that we had, it was all real."
She grinned softly. "I know." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll miss it." She turned her eyes up to look at his face. "I'll miss you."
"Hey, hey. Let's not make this sad. Listen, in another time, another place, maybe we'll get together again and it'll be able to work out."
She grinned. "Yeah. Yeah I'd like that."
Epstein placed a finger beneath her chin, lifting it up a little. He leaned in and kissed her sweet and smooth. The kiss may have said "goodbye" but it wasn't sad. In a way, they both knew their romance wasn't one built to last. It was, however, one they both would come to cherish as they would one day look back on their younger days.
…
The Sweathogs hung out in the hallway waiting for the very last possible moment to enter the classroom. As they hung out and talked, everything seemed like normal. But that didn't stop curious minds to bring up the subject of Epstein and Jackie.
"So Epstein," Vinnie started. "You and Jackie somehow were together all summer and nobody knew about it."
Epstein nodded. "Yeah. What of it?"
"How did you go steady with someone several states away and not let any of us in on it?" Freddie asked. "So there any reason you didn't want us to know?"
"Nah, no reason really." Epstein shrugged "I guess having it on the down low sorta made things more exciting. More, ah, more romantic, y'know?"
"But little Juan," Horshack spoke up. "How did you manage to keep a long distance relationship this whole time?"
"Simple. We talked on the phone a lot and we wrote letters." He smirked a little. "See, I ain't just a master of excuse notes. I'm also a master at love letters."
"Well ain't you Mr. Romantic?" Vinnie said. "And my best move is having the girl meet me behind the billboard on 81st street."
"And that's why you ain't ever been in a real relationship, Vinnie." Epstein stood up. "See the girls, they love romance. They eat it up. It's what keeps them stickin' around and it's what gives you more opportunities for makin' it." He finished with a crude hand gesture and a small laugh.
Gabe stood in the doorway of his classroom. He cleared his throat to get the students' attention. "Conducting business in the hallway again, gentlemen? And I see your chairman of the board is back!"
Epstein turned to face his friends, confused. "What, what is he talking about?"
"Man, I don't ever know what he's talking about." Freddie said, waving Gabe off.
"So, gentlemen it is past time for class to start. I would really enjoy it if the four of you were to actually come in and join the rest of class."
"Yeah, yeah we're comin'." Epstein said, walking towards the room. "Nice seein' you again, Mr. Kotter."
"Same to you, Epstein. By the way, how was your trip?"
"Well, ah, y'know. It was good, but like all good things it had to come to an end. I really liked it out there, Mr. Kotter. But, ah, let's just say, I got my head back on straight and figured out where I really belong."
"Good for you, Epstein. I'm glad to hear that. And I'm glad to have you back."
"I'm glad to be back. And, ah, I don't see any chances of me strayin' again in the future. I was born in Brooklyn, I'm gonna die in Brooklyn."
"Hey you think I could get Laurie to come visit me here?" Vinnie asked "Because I could go for another round with her."
"Not sure if she'd be willin' to go all that way." Epstein remarked. "Besides, there's plenty of guys in Wisconsin that would have her in a heartbeat."
"Besides, from the way I hear it, even if she did come all the way here to see you, then you'd die. Ain't no messin'n with a chick whose daddy fought in two wars." Freddie shook his head. "I'm surprised you managed to get with her in the first place with Red around."
"It wasn't easy. But it was worth it." Vinnie smiled, causing Horshack to laugh. "Cut it!"
Horshack stopped laughing immediately, ending with a small cough.
"Alright," Gabe said, ushering them towards the door, "time to get in class. You can save your talk about… romantic conquests for later."
The Sweathogs began walking past Gabe, entering the classroom. Gabe watched them enter and then he shook his head before looking away to talk to himself.
"Looks like everything is back to normal."
He turned to head into the classroom, only to have the door shut in his face.
"Definitely back to normal." He shook his head and entered the room, confident that this Wisconsin adventure was going to be the last of its kind for any of his students.