Chapter 5 – You know it's you, Babe
September 19th 1979, 7pm
Santa Monica, California
The beach was full of people that night. There was a bright moon in the sky accompanied by plenty of twinkling stars.
Jackie, Donna & Midge were seated in the outdoor dining section of the Cabana Hut Café & Bar. There was a palpable vibrancy in the air and the girls were enjoying the balmy evening.
They were due to leave in a couple of days and they knew that a cold autumn awaited them back in Wisconsin.
Midge was talking about something funny that had happened at the ad agency where she worked when suddenly both she and Donna heard Jackie's audible gasp.
'Jackie, what's wrong' Donna turned to see what it was that Jackie was staring at in shock.
'Ohmigod!' Donna's voice held surprise, relief & happiness.
The young man standing by the far corner of the bar, in jeans and a zeppelin tee shirt had his piercing blue eyes fixed on the brunette at their table.
'Steven!' Jackie was on her feet and almost running in her haste to reach him.
He covered the last few yards separating them with quick strides and lifted her up in his arms as she reached him. Donna could see them through the crowd, kissing each other with all the desperation that both had been feeling those past weeks.
'Well, thank god we didn't have to wait a year to see them have a happy ending as well' she said to her mom who was looking at her rather than at Jackie and Hyde.
They saw Hyde raise a hand in acknowledgement at them before he led Jackie away from the crowd. The two started a slow walk toward the ocean, already appearing deep in conversation.
The tempo of the music changed and the couples on the wooden dance floor of the Bar switched to a slow waltz as the strains of 10CC's 'I'm Not in Love' started up.
Memories of prom night instantly took over and Donna stared off into the distance for a few minutes, not taking in a single word of what Midge was saying to her.
His hands sliding up her hips covered in blue silk. Her fingers caressing past the collar of his shirt to tangle in his hair.
His eyes moving from her lips back to her eyes again and again, the same question flashing in them each time.
'Donna' Her mother's gentle voice pulled her reluctantly out of her reverie.
'Sweetie, have you got an appointment with the Dean at UW for next week?'
This wasn't the first time they had gone over this conversation in the past week.
Her original acceptance at Madison had been well over a year ago, almost 2 years now in fact.
When she had asked for a stay to join a couple of semesters later due to 'family Issues', the admissions team had been empathetic and because of her stellar academic grades and impressive interview, they had easily given her the time she had asked for to come on board.
But as the semesters rolled by, could they be blamed if they doubted her commitment to a college degree? It was now or never.
Midge had been trying to convince her to meet the Dean about starting classes from the New Year.
'I haven't, mom…. I just can't imagine going to Madison without Eric, it was, like, our dream to go there together….we had everything packed and ready to go at one point ….' Her voice faded away as she realised she was rambling.
She sighed as the lyrics of the song continuing to play in the background weaved its way into their conversation.
'Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me…Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me …..'
'Ok ay then, why don't you and I go down to USC tomorrow, have a look at the campus and check out their Journalism department? '
'Honey' Midge continued as Donna did not reply
Don't put off college anymore….You won't be able to forgive yourself for it if you do and you'll end up blaming Eric for a decision you took '
Donna felt like putting her head into her hands when the new Styx song started playing next…..how could she feel so torn about what should be a simple enough decision ….
Her mother finally got her to agree that there was no harm in checking out USC the next day.
Midge was determined to see her daughter not put off college for yet another year. USC had something else going for it as well, she would be able to see Donna often again …
September 20th 1979, 7 am
KENYA, East Africa
At the exact same time that Donna was lying in bed awake, in the middle of the night, mulling over the discussion with Midge earlier that evening about USC, the sun was completing its ascent into the sky in Coastal East Africa.
It was a beautiful morning and Eric was thinking about Donna as he walked the distance from his residence to the town square where the primary school was located.
It was a couple of weeks since he had started work, and he found teaching both challenging but fulfilling.
The children that he taught were mostly between the ages seven and nine, but because they had started school much later, they were taught the syllabus of Grade 1.
Classes were only in the mornings and he had the afternoons off, which he usually used to prepare for the next day. There were two other teachers who taught at the small school, one with slightly older kids and the other one managed a kindergarten age group.
He had been a bit surprised to find that the all the youngsters who had driven down together from Nairobi were to share the same house, although it was a sprawling bungalow type residence with 5 bedrooms.
But he had gotten used to it over the past couple of weeks , and had admitted to himself, it was nice to have company in the dark evenings where there wasn't much to do but tune into the available English channels on the TV.
The others had started work as well – Matt and Cindy went into the local medical practice to assist whoever was the visiting doctor that week. Chris had a job with the local council offices . Sara had a local administrative job but her main duties were as the BRC rep for that area.
She appeared to do most of the cooking for all of them as well.
On his second or third day at the school, Eric had met Chris and Sara walking back to the house from the town square in the late afternoon and joined them.
He had talked a little about his day with the children and then had remarked on the fact that there were many more boys in his class than girls.
Sara had replied 'Well, there is still the problem of parents preferring not to educate their daughters and the NGO's have been fighting this discrimination for ages now. Of course, there is the even more serious problem of female infanticide that still occurs in villages here. Young female babies are killed as the parents only want male offspring'
She could see the boys were shocked by what she had said, and had quickly moved onto more cheerful topics.
Eric found the kids that he was teaching bright and eager to learn, the work was not hard , and every day the thought that he was a step closer to funding college made it easier to bear being away from home.
But he missed Donna terribly and constantly…..
He found that it was easier to get quickly through the day and his mind was focused on the kids when he was at school. But the nights were difficult…
He knew she would be back in Point Place in a day or two; her two week holiday at California was almost over.
Images of her running to him in a beach in California were still lingering in his mind as he entered the school that morning.
1 pm
He had just started the 15 minute walk back to the house when Sara's car pulled up beside him.
'Hop in; I'm headed back to the house too' Sara sounded her usual chirpy self.
She chatted for a few minutes about her morning at the local council, preparing and presenting paperwork on an obscure law that activist organisations had been trying to change for years now.
Eric was looking out the window – there was a powerful river visible beneath the bridge that they crossed every day.
'So Eric, I hear you have a girlfriend back home, and that the two of you are high school sweethearts…..I love a good love story, tell me more about her ?
Her tone was inviting rather than intrusive – and he didn't need much prompting to talk about Donna anyway.
It was amazing how much he managed to sum up in 10 minutes – that he had known Donna was the one since they were kids, how they had turned from friends to more at age 17, their engagement, her staying home from college because he had to stay back, their almost wedding …
'Idiot' Sara looked horrified and turned away from him for a few minutes as they got out of the car and into the house.
Great, he thought, here was someone who had worked in Africa for a couple of years now, and could talk about shocking human rights violations calmly, and even she was shocked that he hadn't shown up at his wedding.
Sara went straight to the kitchen to prepare a meal. She varied the menu each day, sometimes sticking to familiar dishes like sandwiches or a chicken casserole. But sometimes she used the fresh local ingredients to make recipes that were popular in East Africa.
She put some potatoes to boil along with rice in the steamer.
'Eric, she sounds amazing. And you say she's really into feminism? I think I'm falling in love with her too'
She was about to start chopping up some onions and tomatoes for the vegetable stew, when Eric took the knife and cutting board from her to help.
She started kneading flour for chapattis, which was a favourite bread locally though originally an Indian recipe.
'So, how come you decided to spend another year out here? '
She was slow to answer his question ….
'Well, I never really got to know my dad when I was growing up - all my holidays home from boarding school were spent with my mom and her family in London…..he invited me here a few times, when I was in High school …..but I always put it off, thinking there was time later ….and then one day mom called to tell me that he had died…..he was barely 50…'
'That's when I regretted missing all the chances to spend more time with him …so I came here , met his family …..took the initial year's assignment with BRC so I could spend longer out here and still work toward college …'
'He was born here in East Africa and lived his whole life here …..But his parents migrated from India…so I visited India too last summer to get better in touch with my roots …..Spent time at the town where my grandparents are from, and where I still have cousins and loads of family.
'It's been an amazing couple of years discovering this new side to my family tree ….very different and yet just as wonderful ' She always seemed to end conversations on an upbeat note no matter how serious the topic.
But he had heard the regret and guilt in her voice when she had talked about not coming over sooner to spend time with her dad …..How had he thought that with his issue of insufficient funds for college, he was the only almost 20 year old with big problems?
10 pm
Eric was lying in bed listening to music. He had just come to his room a short while ago, after his usual couple of hours in the shared living room in front of the one TV.
He had tried making his room as homey as possible; the framed photos of his parents and the one with him and Donna on Prom Night were on the table by his bed.
Also, on the bedside table was the notebook from Donna with her letters to him.
He moved into a sitting position at the knock on his door. Matt walked in closing the door behind him.
Eric smiled when he wordlessly started smoking up, 'Where did you manage to get that from?'
'Don't even ask, Dude…..just enjoy'
He couldn't help thinking about Hyde and the other guys as he inhaled…..it felt like ages now since their last Circle …..His mom had told him just a couple of days ago that Hyde was not yet back at Point Place and he knew the other two had moved to their new apartment in Chicago earlier that week.
The basement would be dark and empty right now …..
Matt broke the comfortable silence. 'Man, I don't know what's the deal with that Cindy chick….she seems to enjoy talking to you and Sara in the evenings, but she avoids me like the plague at the clinic during the day…..'
'Maybe it's because you're ….I don't know …weird?' Eric smiled.
Eric and Matt had formed an easy friendship; they shared time in front of the TV every evening. Usually, Sara and Cindy found their way over to around the TV set as well in the evenings, although the other guy Chris preferred to read in his room or go for solitary walks.
'Well, what with the two female roomies being ice queens, chances of me getting lucky soon are next to nil' Matt reclined on the single chair in the room which he had pulled up next to the bed.
'Sara seems nice enough' Eric ventured.
'Come on Dude, the only reason she's warmed up to you is she knows you're safe, you have a fiancée back home. I have it on good authority that Sara is completely frigid and will freeze off any guy who tries getting too close.'
'Hmm, good authority or personal experience?'
Matt explained then that he knew a guy who had been down here last year and was his golden source of all reliable information on Africa.
He then cheered up as he recollected his 'source' telling him that the visiting nurses who came down during the monthly medical camps were really 'friendly'…
September 22nd 1979, 8 am
California
Donna kissed her mom again and got into the back seat of the El Camino. Jackie was seated next to Hyde in the front.
'Bye again, California' She thought as they drove away.
Midge waved at the departing car and watched it fade out of sight. Her daughter, all grown up now, had looked simply gorgeous that morning. She had lost some weight since Eric's leaving and the slight gauntness had added a luminescence to her face.
She had been dressed in a red halter top and jeans and with her hair back to its usual rust colour; she had looked nothing less than striking.
As she walked back to her apartment, Midge thought about the look on Donna's face the previous day as they walked around the USC campus.
Thousands of people her age walking around with books in their hands – some serious, some devil-may-care, all of them enjoying being ensconced inside university life for the time being.
It had looked like a haven ….and Midge knew that only one thing was found wanting by her daughter, the love of her life wouldn't be there with her.
There must be some way to convince Donna to move ahead with college …..
Donna looked out the window and discreetly pretended not to see Hyde reach out and press Jackie's hand for a few seconds.
She had spoken to both Hyde and Jackie separately the previous day, wanting to know if everything was alright now.
Hyde had admitted to Jackie that he had felt so let down on seeing her with Kelso in Chicago that he had gone straight to Vegas where he had gotten drunk for two days straight. He had also truthfully owned up to sleeping with a stripper while he was drunk. He had then met this stripper a few times over the next couple of days before finally sobering up.
He had realised he was still in love with Jackie.
Jackie could see where her actions had led to Hyde running away to Vegas – but she was deeply disappointed that yet again, Hyde had slept with someone else out of anger.
Both of them seemed determined to make things work again but neither was willing to subject themselves or each other to so much hurt ever again.
No more Ultimatums, Jackie had agreed …..Actually she didn't want to rush into marriage right now either.
Never ever again would he turn to another girl to deal with a fight, Hyde had promised. And he meant it. He had gotten no real joy out of his time with either the nurse or the stripper ….and he hated himself for seeing the light go out in Jackie's eyes each time he did something like that.
Hyde still didn't know how he felt about seeing Jackie and Kelso hang out together again.
And they had agreed that he would support Jackie taking up a job or college even if it was far away from Wisconsin – they would make long distance work for them for the time being if they needed to.
As the miles sped by and Zeppelin continued crooning inside the car , the thought of Point Place, home and Mrs Forman's ' welcome back' hot meal cheered them up…..Donna kept her window open and enjoyed the feeling of the wind rustling through her hair.
1978
Point Place, Wisconsin
He had gone over with a casserole because Kitty had made him go. He hadn't been inside Donna's house since their breakup a couple of months ago. It still felt too raw, it still hurt ….
He had been completely taken by surprise when she had started kissing him and unbuttoning his shirt by the kitchen table.
Seconds later, she was pulling him upstairs and into her bedroom.
As she walked up the stairs, still pulling him behind her, she acknowledged to herself that she desperately needed him. It had started hours ago when she had woken up that morning and found her mom gone …. All she had wanted to do was run across to the house next door and wrap her arms around her ex-boyfriend and bury her face deep into his shoulder.
She wouldn't let this complicate things again – it would be just sex, a physical act for mutual pleasure and comfort.
As she drew him down onto her bed and started kissing him again, he was torn between wanting to be tender and comforting and letting himself be overwhelmed by the physical excitement running through him right then.
They had never been in her bed like this in broad daylight before – even when they had been together.
He tried slowing things down by pressing soft kisses against her jaw, but she turned her head and bit his lower lip and then sucked it in between her lips, stroking it with her tongue. She took the hand he had placed on her hip, to gently caress her, and moved it between her thighs.
He had meant to whisper comforting words to her, tell her she wasn't alone and that he would never stop being there for her – but her actions completely took over his senses. All he could think about was getting inside her and how it would feel to be there again.
He tried again to show her with his body how much he cherished her, but after the first gentle thrust inside her, she whispered in his ear that she didn't want him to be gentle.
It was hard to know how much of those last few minutes was raw lust and how much was the desperation at not being together the past few months. He pressed a hard kiss against her lips as they both came together.
He felt himself pulsing inside her, and knew that he wouldn't have been able to stop even if she had said she wasn't on the pill anymore.
They were still catching their breath when she turned toward him again, with soft kisses and caresses. He was on top of her again in seconds.
This time she didn't fight it, she allowed him to set the pace – enjoying his tender kisses and whispers in her ear.
She felt herself get wet again at the feel of his body pressing her down on the mattress.
But that wasn't nearly as surprising as the urge she suddenly felt to tell him that she loved him, that she always would…..
She bit her lip to stop the words as he gently pressed into her again.
He was kissing her neck and in her hair, keeping his thrusts deliciously slow and gentle.
To her dismay, not being able to say what she wanted to say so badly was upsetting her so much that two fat tears rolled down her cheeks, followed swiftly by more. She was crying silently.
He noticed, of course he did, and started murmuring words of comfort in her ear ….about how her mother would surely be back soon …thank god, he hadn't realised why she was really crying.
She thanked the fates for letting her have her best friend with her right now and responded to his hips moving against her by arching up against him.
Her only coherent thought as her body took over again ….would she ever be able to survive being without him?