Chapter 24
Tock
Point Place, Wisconsin
June 17, 1977 (Friday)
Author's Note: This short description was supposed to be the intro to "Chapter 2" back when this story was
starting to get extra long and I decided to make it a multi chaptered one. So here is a Short Description:
Eric kept to the house. Kitty and Red were supportive of this at first, but felt he should be in school with
Jackie and Hyde. They brought his schoolwork home for him. Red was seeking legal council that Price Mart
fired him on illegal grounds.
Hyde quit the Fotohut and got a job at the Hub. Kitty was working her fingers to the bone and Hyde and Red
could sense if she didn't take care of herself she was going to wind up in the hospital. Sometimes, Hyde can
tell that Jackie sometimes twitches around him. What follows is the aftermath of their entanglement with
James Steven Hyde & a bit of dark humor that causes everyone to forget about their troubles for awhile.
First an unlikely visitor shows up on the Forman doorstep.
"Fuck," Red sighed, "It just keeps getting better. Come in."
"Is Steven home?"
"No, he works after school."
Red wasn't sociable like his wife was, so he wasn't about to break out the soda pop and snack mix.
He looked at his watch and decided to wait for Steven in the driveway. Eric would be okay, he was doing what
he did every day before supper; he had a nap after Jackie dropped off his homework. She got involved in the
yearbook staff, art class, as well as her cheerleading duties. She had to keep busy.
"Oh Fuck," Hyde sighed like Red had done 20 minutes ago, "I'll take care of it. Thanks, Red." He slapped his
shoulder.
"Hi, Steven."
"Let's go in the kitchen, Bud. I'll give you a chance to say your peace, and then you can leave, like you did when
you came back into my life…..and that was after you were here for a year!"
"I'm sorry about that, Steven, I'm sorry about a lot of things in my life."
"Why didn't you or Edna tell me about my twin?"
"We gave him up for adoption. How about a drink? A non-alcoholic drink."
"There's the sink..." Hyde pointed behind him
Bud got up, he deserved it, and he opened the cupboard and took out a glass and drank the tepid tap water.
"Like I was so wanted…" Hyde did wonder what everyone's life would be like if it was his brother who was kept
and he was the one put up for adoption. James Steven was a psycho he probably would have grown up to do
the exact same things regardless.
"Your mother and I made a lot of mistakes…" he let his voice trail off not realizing how that pause sounded to
the young man who had survived what he thought was the worst of it in front of him.
"Thanks a lot for that."
"That's not what I meant, Steven. I wasn't talking about you. I was an alcoholic, but I've been off the sauce for
a year. I go to AA meetings and I live in Madison….I have an extra room…."
"No fucking way."
"I can't believe Edna's gone…whatever you think about your Mother Steven, she tried….she had dreams that I
crushed…."
"No, no, I crushed her dreams of fame." Let's get the blame right he thought.
The management at the Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Show at Wisconsin in the Wisconsin-Dells didn't like their
water-skiing ladies to be pregnant.
No way was Hyde going to immortalize Edna in death like some people were prone to do. She was a terrible
mother, and sometimes he did feel a pity sort of love for her, but it didn't change facts. The verbal abuse,
sometimes being smacked around by various uncles, the way they lived in filth, the days he went hungry, bill
collectors always coming around. Just because she didn't deserve to be raped and murdered by her psycho twin
son didn't change the facts that Edna was a terrible mother.
"I can see we better stop for today. If you want to get in touch I'm in the book. Bye, Steven. And I'm sorry about
the loss of your friends."
How long was Bud Hyde in the area again that he could be in the phone directory?
And why was it that doppelganger spared his life?
Bud thought the better of trying to hug his son and he left as quietly as he came when Red answered the door.
When Bud was gone Red came into the kitchen as he saw Hyde crack open a can of cold beer. He still couldn't
tell the man that was the real father figure to him what he had to. It just didn't seem right to Hyde.
Kitty made the food on Sunday's so all Red had to do was take the item out and reheat it.
"I better put the mac and cheese in the oven."
Hyde thought the only ones who were going to really eat it were Eric and Kitty.
Jackie
Jackie couldn't make out with her boyfriend whose psychotic twin brother took his place for months. Hyde hated
being in this back room, but he didn't want Mrs. Forman to catch them doing anything when she wanted to do
an emergency pre-soak on her uniform. Jackie had her hands on his dresser, the old set of drawers that used to
belong to Laurie, he came up from behind her and put his arms around her waist and they looked at each
other's reflection in the mirror in front of them.
"Why didn't you tell me that your father came to visit you?"
"How did you know about that?"
"I overheard Mr. Forman tell Mrs. Forman."
"I didn't think I needed to tell you that…Bud means nothing to me."
She couldn't help it…they had the same face…
She did it again.
She flinched.
"Who are you seeing in that reflection?"
She broke from his touch.
"Steven, I'm sorry. It's difficult. I know it's you. I was there when Red shot your brother."
"Don't call him that."
"What am I supposed to call him? I was there when it happened."
"It's me….I'm still me."
"I know that. It's my body doing it…..I'm going to go upstairs and see if Eric wants to go for a walk. We are
supposed to encourage him."
"Don't play the Forman card with me, Jackie."
James Steven was getting exactly what he wanted. That's why he chose to go down with a smile on his face.
"Well come upstairs with me instead of arguing."
Eric's Room
Eric was where he wanted to be. In his safe little bed with the covers up to his neck. He didn't have nightmares
about the spiders anymore. Red said the police killed them when they rescued him. He had a picture of Donna
on his nightstand that was provided by his mother, he had it face down. Now he never wanted to leave his
house.
It was secure here, as long as His mother, father, Hyde, or Jackie were here. He didn't want them to leave him
alone.
"Hi, Eric," Jackie came in trying to be upbeat for his benefit, "Do you want to come for a walk with me and
Steven?"
"No. I mean no, thanks. I finished my homework; the books are on my desk. I think it's useless, but it helps
break up the day."
"Forman, you know I hate to walk, but it's better than being in here all the time."
It was hard to look at Hyde….he had same face
Hyde knew he was doing it as well. "Damn it! I can't help it that we were identical twins! I don't want to deal
with either one of you right now!" He stormed out of the room and back to the basement where he could sit in
his favorite chair and watch TV.
Basement
Hyde found himself where Jackie was earlier; he opened up the drawer and took out his Swiss Army Knife and
opened it up, with the dull side of the blade and in soft pretend motions he went down the side of his cheek.
Maybe, he needed to turn it over to the sharp side to make himself look different than his evil dead twin brother
so that the people who should know better would be seeing the correct face.
Eric's Room
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything…"
"I know what you're going through, Eric. I can't help it, either. I know that he's Steven Hyde, your best friend
and my soul mate, but sometimes I see his face and I can't help thinking about his evil twin. Steven has to know
that we care about him."
"Tell him that."
"I will. Are you sure you don't want to go outside for a walk?"
"No, thanks, Jackie. I'm not safe outside."
Basement
"I'm sorry, Steven." Jackie said before she landed on the bottom step. He chose not to answer her.
"Fine. I'll sit on the couch and watch TV with you. No wait; I know what you're going
through. I can't help it, either. I know that you're Steven Hyde, Eric's best friend and my
soul mate, but sometimes when I look at your face and into your eyes, I can't help
thinking about your evil twin. You have to know that I love you."
He stood up, "Not when you say garbage like that! I'm going upstairs, don't follow me."
Kitty was coming downstairs at the same time.
"Now, Steven, I'm in no mood, we're all recovering the best that we can, don't you close off Jackie or anyone
else! Jackie only is telling you her true feelings."
Kitty wasn't moving so Hyde turned around and went back to his chair.
"I'm still not talking."
"Steven, I'm human! I can't help it….I know you're Steven Hyde, okay? It's that knowing that there was another
person out there with your face, knowing that you had a twin brother, who was a psycho….it's hard…..we lost
Donna, Michael, and Fez….and we'd all be dead if it weren't for Mr. Forman."
…and Laurie
Why was it so difficult to tell Red? He already knew the answer to that question. Kitty let them talk as she went
to the washing machine, Hyde got up and sat next to his girlfriend.
"It just makes me feel lousy that you and Forman feel the need to flinch and twitch in my presence." He put his
arm around her. It wasn't the same…making out with her, cuddling with her, he couldn't even make love to her…
it wasn't the same.
"I'm doing the best that I can, we all are." She rested her head in his chest.
"Please remember to pick your battles." Kitty reminded as she walked back upstairs.
Jackie fell asleep on Hyde's shoulder as Eric came downstairs it was better than being holed up in his room, he
sat on Hyde's chair.
"Hey, Forman."
"Hi, Hyde…" He whispered noticing Jackie sleeping.
"Listen, I'm sorry about before….."
"Don't worry about it. It's cool."
This next section may be offensive to some ends with Eric's italicized
and bolded quote.
Special Thanks to Marla's Lost for encouraging me to put it up.
I wanted to give Eric a psychological breakthrough and the bolded punch line at the
end was what I was aiming for.
3 Days Later
Eric was walking back and forth on the front porch. His Dad wasn't home. Hyde was at work. What were they
doing? He couldn't bring his foot down the small row of stairs and onto the sidewalk, yet he needed to get to
Hyde in person. His whole body felt itchy like those spiders were back, but he was coherent enough to realize
otherwise. He thought he needed to go to the Hub. And he had to hurry. He took the leap. He didn't want
anything more to happen to them.
He had no choice but to go.
Hyde was surprised to see Eric out of breath and obviously afraid to be in a public place. He came in through the
employees back entrance. Eric looked like he wanted out of his own skin.
"Hy…"
"What's wrong, Forman?"
"they're…oh god….you have to come home…it's awful…"
Hyde could tell it was an emergency, the manager said it was okay for him to leave, as everyone knew thanks to
the media coverage what had happened.
Eric waited until they were in the El Camino, which Hyde was desperately trying to find
a buyer for. He hated that, that scum drove this car. He didn't want to drive this car, but it
was all he had at the moment as he continued to surpress all of his emotions.
His car.
"They're what?"
Then it clicked. His brother must have left some of his tainted work behind. When Hyde and Eric arrived back in
the Forman living room, Hyde couldn't believe what he saw.
Jackie and Kitty were making out, unaware that they were with the other one, assuming that they were with
their significant others.
There was a bottle of wine between them that was half-consumed on the coffee table.
When Jackie started to unbutton Kitty's blouse he knew he had to act fast.
"Forman I could use your help, you take Jackie…." Because if Kitty did what Hyde knew she was going to do, it
better not be on her actual son. He was already traumatized enough thanks to that son of a -
Kitty wrapped her arms around Hyde and she tried to kiss him calling him by Red's name….this must have been
the drug he gave Donna, only they seemed to have taken it in a massive amount. If Jackie kissed Forman, Hyde
would have to explain to him later that it was okay, she wasn't herself.
Eric fumbled but got Jackie on his body, she kissed him on the lips and moaned Hyde's name in his shoulder.
He was going to put her in the bathtub fully clothed and put the shower on full blast.
Kitchen
Hyde took the small kitchen hose from the sink and blasted (as gently as he could) in the face with a
steady stream of cold water.
"Wh…at….?" She rubbed her eyes, her head hurt like hell, what was going on?
"Mrs. Forman, are you all right?"
Hyde asked, the hard part was going to be telling her what she had done.
Bathroom
"I WHAT?" Jackie was ashamed and buried her face in the white towel.
"You weren't yourself. You kissed me on the way up the stairs too. But you did call me Steven."
"Oh, Eric! I can't face your mother!…" She rubbed her temples, "Do you have any aspirin for my headache?"
Eric wondered if it was wrong to think that he did quite enjoy the feel of her kiss.
Kitchen
"I'm taking that bottle of wine to the hospital for…I was making out with Jackie?"
"Yes…but to be fair you did call me Red when you tried to…" Hyde couldn't finish it, this woman was like a mother
to him. A better mother than Edna could ever have hoped to be, he wasn't going to canonize her just because
she died a horrible death.
"The last thing I remember was offering Jackie a small glass of wine while we watched TV. "
"I believe HE poisoned it….I bet this is what was in Donna's system when she died….He told me he tainted your
tea once."
"I can't face Jackie…"
"You'll be proud of Forman, he ran to the Hub to get me. I could tell he was still scared because he wasn't ready
to be in public at all, but he went outside."
The door swung open and Eric held Jackie's hand until Hyde took over, he was her boyfriend.
"Mrs. Forman, I'm…. my head hurts so bad…I'm so sorry…"
"Jackie, I love you like a daughter…and my headache is just as pounding…I'm sorry too."
"It wasn't either of your faults…it was him!" Hyde replied frustrated
Red came in through the back door and immediately could tell that something was up, especially when he saw
the puddle of water on the floor and Jackie and Kitty looked like they just came out of the washing machine. He
put the grocery bags on the kitchen table.
"What's going on?"
Hyde decided to be the one to tell him and about how Forman went outside to get him today, Eric was slightly
miffed, he could have done that himself. He didn't need to be coddled.
"Well, Kitty, I can tell you all of the booze in this house is going!"
Except the beer.
"Not all of it Red…"
"Just the ones with a broken seal…. and we will take that wine to a lab…"
Eric looked at his father was about to do something he hasn't been able to do in months and that was to laugh
and not be able to stop.
"What's so funny?" Red asked
"I was just thinking….what if it was you and Hyde that shared that bottle of wine
instead!"
That did it everyone started to laugh. It was too surreal not to see the humor in an otherwise bleak situation.
Kitty walked up to her son and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. Eric was starting to come back to the
living side of things. God certainly worked in mysterious ways.
It was so good to see him laugh. It was good to see everyone laughing, even Hyde allowed himself to have a
small chuckle over it.
They all had a long way to go, and there would be more challenges to come, most certainly for the rest of their
lives, but they all were going to get there.
All they had was each other and their family unit would never be broken.
Author' Note For Newbies: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this
story so far. This message is for any newbies who have discovered this story. I
appreciate your feedback. It wasn't sudden when Hyde met Holly. He was away
from the Forman family for 8 years before he met her, the odds of Holly knowing
Kitty was an association of her mother knowing Kitty when they went to nursing
school. It was the plot I chose to start the reunion scenes between Hyde and Kitty.
With Jackie passed away and Hyde not deserving to be alone for the rest of his life
an OC was needed.
Holly was the vehicle that made the reunion of Hyde and Kitty (and soon Eric)
possible after his self-imposed almost decade absence. Now, I'll admit I had a little
fun with putting in "Aunt Marsha Sullivan" from season 8 and stuck her in for
for the people who are trivia buffs and love those sort of show references
sprinkled into their fan fiction. Hyde hadn't had any true romantic feelings for
anyone since Jackie and is dealing with surviving (as so are Kitty and Eric) a
horrible tragedy. The 1987/future chapters are the aftermath that follows.
I thank everyone for their interest.
Thanks again to Marla's Lost and nannygirl for their assistance. Read their stories, they're
awesome.