Chapter 8
Lust
Point Place, Wisconsin
April 5, 1977 (Friday)
12:00 a.m.
Donna buttoned up her blue coat, even though it was April, the nights were still chilly as she headed up the
rocky path. She knew exactly where Hyde was. Of course, he wasn't going to publicly grieve with the rest of
them, that's just how he was. They all should have realized that. There was a rumor going around that Fez was
suicidal, but Donna thought that was insane. Fez loved life. He loved coming to America and being a foreign
exchange student. He enjoyed hanging out with his friends, eating heaps of candy, and trying to be a suave
and silky ladies' man, which might have gone against Donna's feminist principles, but he was still a good guy, if
slightly goofy, well thanks to the gang of friends he hung out with. They were all in shock over Fez' passing.
For him to have OD'd on drugs was so out of his character that it concerned her, but she didn't want to worry
her friends about that detail.
For some of them it was the first time they experienced a loss, or a loss of a friend their age. Donna knew she
would find Hyde at the water tower. They would always have the best and private conversations up here,
where they could trade stories without any judgment or ridicule. It's not that she couldn't have deep
conversations with Eric, it's just that, and she loved him dearly, he was too limited, too sheltered, even though
Red was strict, he still loved his children. He just expected more out of them than either the aimless Eric or
promiscuous Laurie could give him. Donna noticed Hyde staring into outer space, probably being lost in his deep
thoughts and silently grieving over the loss of his friend. They might not have known Fez as long as they have
all known each other, but he was still part of the gang. Donna sat next to him and playfully punched his upper
arm.
"Hey….."
Where does she get off hitting me like that?
He really could use a joint; the twin absolutely hated that circle time. They were all so lame and he couldn't
stand it. Was his brother's intent to make them see things in a different way? Eric was a wimp no matter how
you sliced it. Whether he was "influenced" by Steven Hyde or Donna Pinciotti. It was all fake. The way he
wanted to be the unofficial leader of the group, by doing that, he was no better than the rest of them.
He was still a hypocrite under the guise of coolness and Zen, Steven Hyde was quite the literal example of
smoke and mirrors.
"Hey, Donna, do you want a beer?"
What he really wanted to do was to throw her off the water tower, tear off her clothes,
have her way with her, and then bash her skull in against the rocks. That couldn't happen
tonight, so he figured what better way than to continue with linking their chain of trust.
"Sure. How are you? I can't believe Fez is gone."
She pulled the tab off the can, she certainly could use a drink.
"I'm okay."
He felt the knife inside the pocket of his brown plaid jacket.
What he couldn't believe was the hypocrisy of the Forman's. Red always had a xenophobic put down for the
foreign kid and yet he took charge because his host parents were typical Bible thumping deceivers and didn't
want to do a thing. Kitty organized a viewing for them and his school friends (only one other person who wasn't
part of the basement gang showed up, he heard), before the authorities shipped his body back to his home
country for burial. If Hyde weren't such a loner, he'd have stayed to watch the spectacle. But he needed to stay
focused. They were all so dim. He couldn't believe it, every single one of them from the ex-Navy man Red to the
semi-narcissistic doofus Kelso.
They all thought the world revolved around each and everyone of them.
It was the typical middle class American mindset. They would only help others, but only if it somehow fed into
their enormous egos.
Did his brother really think he was all that special?
No. Kitty took him in because she wanted the pat on the back for doing something wonderful.
It was all her ego. They were disgusting. He wanted to kill them all.
"I know. Fez was so young. I feel bad for his family back home."
"Whatever."
Why was Hyde being terse with her? After a few beers he would usually reveal something, even
the circle was different, Donna couldn't place her finger on it. Hyde really didn't joke around with them like he
used to, he just seemed to be an observer to what the rest of them were doing.
"Are you sure you're okay, Hyde?" Donna asked
"I'm fine. Words aren't going to bring back our dead friend."
Is this the swill that she wanted to hear? Jesus H. Christ. He looked at his watch; he didn't have to worry about
paying a nighttime visit to his brother as the medicine, he had stolen from Nurse Kitty, would make him
unresponsive for a few hours at least. He stood up, he didn't want to break curfew tonight, but he had news for
Red that was soon going to change. Sometimes, he could come in as he pleased depending on what time Red
went to sleep, as Kitty and the wonderwimp had their set bedtimes. He knew the kids would get a break from
most of their behaviors during the grieving process, how nice of the adults, but what happened next month
when he chose the next person from the friend's list?
Would they develop their backbones then?
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
Donna couldn't believe she was going to ask this, it must have been a condition of her sadness from losing Fez;
she was more of a secure person than this.
She was going to sound like Eric.
"Hyde, are you mad at me?"
The light switch triggered on and he slowly sat back down.
"Why would I be mad at you, Donna?"
He put his hand on her knee.
The doppelganger knew all about the early days of Hyde pining over Donna. It always paid to case a house
before putting your plan into motion and reading his lame secret diaries were also a help.
"I know you're not much of conversationalist, but you aren't usually so abrupt with me."
"Look Donna," he took his hand off her knee and placed his arm around her shoulder, "I'm sorry. This is hard for
me too. You'd be wise to let Red and Kitty know about this."
"Sure. I'm sorry, Hyde," she rested her head on his shoulder, he felt hard, "Really."
"Ssh, Donna. I didn't mean to imply that we weren't friends, you mean a great deal to me."
He moved closer to see what would happen and placed his lips on hers. Would she accept the kiss? Would she
care about her feelings for Eric? Would she care about stabbing her reluctant best friend Jackie in the back? She
put her hands on his shoulders and brought their bodies closer.
Where's that conscience you all have?
"Oh, H-hyde," she pulled away," there it was, "I'm sorry. I'm with Eric and I love him. And you're with Jackie! We
can't…."
She stood up, her face a mix of forbidden lust and shame.
"Donna…" he replied softly
"We're just mourning the loss of our friend….I learned about it in school…..Let's not tell Jackie or Eric, okay? It
was just a friendship kiss, yeah."
It was slightly amusing watching her backpedal. She said her clumsy goodbyes and left him alone at the water
tower as she found him.
Oh, Eric, your girlfriend is quite the whore.
And in honor of our foreign friend, I will take advantage one day.