[Hyde POV]
Inside the small office I gave her near my autoshop. It has a window, a desk, some racks, and a couch inside the office.
"I have here the initial plan for the autoshow. Here–" Leslie gave me a stack of papers on the couch, putting it on the coffee table.
I stopped her slightly. "You did all of these by hand?" I asked, slightly surprised.
She nodded and said, "I don't have any typewriters. Besides, they slow me down."
"I see." I read her plans and said, "10,000 people? Are you sure?"
By this time, I was considering giving her an old school type laptop. Without the internet, she couldn't access the future stuff anyway.
Just an old laptop with all of the Microsoft softwares– Excel, Powerpoint, Word, and etc. Then, a printer.
I was really troubled with coming to a decision. What if the stuff got stolen? Or it came into contact with the authorities? How would I explain the origin of the stuff?
"Yes. Do you know the last festival held around here? It was in Sheboygan, three years ago." Leslie replied. She noticed my furrowed eyebrows and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"I don't know, but go on." I snapped out of my thoughts and focused on her.
"It's a festival to show a cow with a Texas shaped patch on its fur." She was a bit skeptical, but let it go since I was her boss.
"Oh. That. What about it?" I remembered about it slightly. I didn't go, but I think Mrs Forman did.
"Seven thousand people came to see it." Leslie said seriously. "There's a lack of interesting things around here. I checked the attendance of auto shows in Kenosha and Green Bay. All of it exceeded 5000 people."
I widened my eyes slightly in shock.
"You think our town can do that?" I asked.
"With proper marketing…. yes. The town people are bored out of their mind." Leslie replied. "I assume it will exceed 10,000 people with the car show. Especially with your audience base."
The fifth episode of the show had aired, and the people watching it had reached 200,000 people while it premiered. I even got syndication deals from other stations.
I received a check for the Trans Am vs Celica and also for the Channel 5 show. Combined, I made a total of 50,000 dollars from it.
"Hey, people are bored out of their minds, right?" I asked with a smirk, leaning forward slightly.
She nodded, slightly guarded.
"What if, instead of just a car show,... we invite … musicians too?"
"Make it an actual festival?" She widened her eyes, startled.
She lowered her head, bit her nail on her thumb and thought seriously. "The permit approval will need to be submitted in two days for us to actually be able to do it on the date."
"Can we?" I asked with a smirk. "Invite some musicians like Blondie, or the band Cheap Trick. Not the household name bands. Just aspiring ones, since it's cheaper."
My smile grew wider. Leslie's frown became tighter.
"I'll contact the artists. The auto show and the music festival… we should apply for 20,000-30,000 people for the permit."
"I'll leave you to it. The budget is 50,000 dollars. Use it wisely. Wait. 75 thousand. I can film it, and pedal it to the tv stations."
She bit her tongue slightly. "Really?" She asked with bewildered eyes. "You're spending 75,000 just like that? You can buy two houses with that money."
"I made around 300,000 dollars last week."
She went blank for a while.
I wasn't trying to brag. She would be handling my accounts since she has the accounting certificate. So she'd know it sooner or later.
"By the way, I have two sensitive things to talk to you about. But, I'm going to need you to sign an NDA first."
"NDA?" Leslie raised an eyebrow. "Do I have too?"
"It'll make your work go faster once you adapt to it. But I can't do that, since the government won't let me do it without the NDA."
"Goverment? I–"
"Top brass. Military stuff. Although, it's not used for destruction." I added.
She furrowed her eyebrows and asked again, "So… You worked with the government?"
"Not really. A partnership. You have a choice, so don't feel pressured. You're going to use it for budgeting and planning the event. That's all."
"Oh." She relaxed slightly. "Alright. I'll do it."
"Great." I showed a toothy grin.
"What's next?" She asked. "You said, two…"
"Oh, the other one, you don't need to sign an NDA for this. It's just a European drug I want to run by you."
"Drug?" Her face paled slightly.
I laughed a bit and said dismissively, "Not the mind altering kind. It's just birth control."
I took out the stuff I bought last night and put it on the table. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "What's different with this birth control?"
"It has lower hormones, so it won't cause mood swings, increase appetite, make people fat and all. I thought of giving it to my friend, but it's a sensitive thing, so I don't know how to approach it."
"Oh, it's personal sensitive, not corporate sensitive." She relaxed and picked up the drug.
"If it's low dosage, will it still work?" She asked.
"It works." I told her. "It's sold in European pharmacies."
She nodded slightly. "So, you want to give this to your friend? But afraid of her reaction?"
"Imagine this. I went to her, and she beat me up by the way. I told her, 'Take this, the old ones are making you more moody and emotionally unstable'. Do you think she will hit me, or, say thanks?"
"She will hit you. Definitely." Leslie smiled slightly.
"Now you see my predicament."
I contacted my lawyer and she signed the NDA. Before that, I scared her a bit by saying if this went out, her entire family could be eliminated by the government.
She could only use it in the office, and put it in the safe there after she was done. She agreed to the conditions. Then, I gave her a used laptop from 2017.
"A computer?"
I smiled at her naivety.
"Better. It's an all in one workstation."
Even in 1977, there was a computer around. But it has green screen text, limited storage, no mouse, and it was pretty useless. It didn't even have spreadsheets yet. That would come in 1979.
I took 6 hours to teach Leslie the basics of Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, even teaching her how to print using the laptop.
Her reaction went from intrigue, to mind explosion.
Leslie was an extremely great adapter. She learned everything necessary without any awkwardness at all.
By the end of the day, she already completed the permit request, printed it out, and went to submit it to the town government.
"If this becomes a problem, I only have the system to depend on. It will rewrite the plot again, making me return to the exact moment I offer the laptop to Leslie… Hopefully."
Before I left, I asked her, "By the way, are your brothers fine now?"
"They… are still demotivated." Leslie's eyes flashed concern.
Her two brothers, the ones I'd met in Dustin's house, went to prison for 6 months for aggravated assault charges.
The full story was, they weren't being paid by the foreman for their contractor job. They worked very hard to build a new complex in Kenosha, but the head contractor siphoned off their money and bought a boat.
They realized it and confronted him. The head contractor insulted their family and honor. Not only them, he insulted everyone there.
That's when the two brothers decided to break his legs with a crowbar.
They were arrested, the head contractor got away with corruption, and Leslie had to bail them out of jail.
The two of them were greatly demotivated by the system, and with the record, it was hard for them to apply for jobs. The market was really competitive now that the auto plant had closed down.
"They can't get a job in construction since word got out about them beating up Foreman." I muttered.
I picked up Dustin from school, even though I didn't go to one. As I parked my car there, a few kids went crazy and were admiring it even though it was only a Chevelle.
In the small town, a muscle car was hard to come across with.
"Hey Dustin, is there any hot teacher in your school?" I asked the kid as he got into the car.
"Huh? Well… I don't think so. They are all old." He replied.
"That's too bad." I shook my head slightly. "Do you have any homework?"
"No." He replied.
"Alright then. Let's go to the arcade."
He brightened up as he heard it.
I sent Dustin back home after playing around for a bit, and I met with the two Uncles.
"Hey, I heard you two are contractors." I asked.
"We were." the older one replied. "Not anymore."
"Can I ask for your help with something?" I asked casually.
The younger one sighed and said, "What?"
"Can you come with me to the abandoned house?" I pointed to the west.
"Hmm?"
Both of them followed Dustin and I to my previous house.
"You can't get in there." Ron, the older one said gruffly. He has long hair and a huge mustache, but no beard. He also has a beer gut.
"It's fine. This is my house."
"House? Did you buy it for flipping?" Andy, the younger one, asked with shock.
"I did buy it. But not for flipping. You know the kid who disappeared?"
Both of them nodded.
Dustin smiled childishly and said, "That's him."
"Wait. You are the one who went missing?" Ron was shocked.
"I didn't really go missing. I went to live with my friends since my mom abandoned me."
"Oh." Ron exclaimed, his eyes were full of pity. "So, why did you buy the house?"
Andy asked curiously. "It's in a pretty terrible shape. You're going to need to rip off the old roof. There's water damage everywhere. The floor seems to be rotting."
Andy was already inspecting the house instinctively.
I smiled inwardly and said, "Well. I have lived here since I was 8 years old. This is my first house. Before this house, I lived in a trailer."
"So. You're like us." Andy began relating his life with me. I learned about their life from Leslie.
All three of them were born in a really poor family. All of them have different fathers. They lived in the street for a year with their mother while they were teenagers.
But they worked hard, saved up, and everyone worked to make their lives better. The two of them even sent their little sister to college with their money.
It was finally time for them to be living like normal people, but then, the incident happened. Now, they even ruined their sister's life, which made them really depressed.
"Yeah. So, I'm going to be 18 in a couple of months. I'll need to move out from my friend's house. I'm going to live here."
I turned to them and said seriously.
"But I'm going to make the place better first. I have no idea how to do that. Will you help me?"
They glanced at each other. And they nodded as an answer. They didn't even think about getting paid for the job.
"Great." I smiled in satisfaction. "We'll do that once I close the deal on the house. For now, I have some other job… if you're interested."
Ron and Andy exchanged glances with each other.
"What kind of job?" Ron asked.
"Basketball court." I replied.
…
I hired people for the basketball court revamp and decided to take a timelapse video of the entire thing, so I had to go there each day. It was finally Saturday, so I wanted to sleep in.
However, I woke up to a loud bang that shook the entire house. There was a part of the tv show filming that I missed.
Eric reacted the same way, and we met as I came up the stairs.
"What's the noise?" I asked him.
"Don't know. It came from my parent's room." He replied.
I barged into the room with Eric. He opened the door. And as soon as it opened, I saw the rafters hanging over the bed, a lot of it fell on the floor and there was insulation everywhere.
Both of us saw a naked Mrs Forman.
"AHHH!" Eric and I shouted in horror.
"Get the hell out of here!" Red yelled at us.
"My eyes! MY EYES!" Eric exclaimed, covering his eyes. I pulled his robe and dragged him out of the room.
…
"So today is Red's birthday. Did you boys buy a present for him? I told you about this two days ago." Mrs Forman said as she made breakfast for us.
Eric had already repressed the memory deep inside his mind. I did the same thing.
"No, but I know what to buy him now." Eric smiled.
"Oh well. He's up on the roof now, so you still have some time to pick it up." Mrs Forman said with a gleeful smile. "Make sure to be home at 11."
"How about you Steven?" Mrs Forman asked me.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I have ordered something for him, but it's not here yet. So I guess I'll grab something else for him."
I was a bit distracted since I was reading the synopsis of the show on IMDb. For some reason, the synopsis there was long, and really confusing.
The synopsis summary: >It's Red's birthday, Bob and Midge are both dating other people and Eric is upset Donna talked to Hyde about her parent's problems instead of talking to him.
>Red's birthday starts with a collapsing bedroom ceiling, then practical presents, but the worst is still to come: dinner with the Pinciottis, who bring separate dates as they are constantly fighting, by notice-board, in language unfit for Donna while Hyde 'would appreciate it'; yet they decide to have sex in the car, which makes Kitty hornily jealous.
>Eric stresses like a drama queen because Donna talks to Hyde, not him, about her family problems. Fez shows Kelso how to make up the feudal age courting way, then uses the helmet the basement boys made Kelso wear 'for being so dumb'.
'What the hell is this synopsis? Did Kitty see Bob and Midge have sex? Why is she horny? Eric's a drama queen?-- Well to be fair, he is quite a drama queen.'
"What did you get?" Eric asked.
"A set of power tools." I replied.
"Oh!" Mrs Forman exclaimed disappointedly. "He could've used it today."
"I know." I agreed with her.
Eric left to go to the hardware store, and I went to the Pinciottis since I was feeling lazy, and wanted to find out how the drama would happen, only to stumble into the recorded scene.
"Hey, man." I greeted Donna. She was in the kitchen, doing homework.
"Hey, what's up?" She greeted me back with a head jut.
"Well, it's Red's birthday and I gotta get him a present, so… Where do your parents keep their booze?" I placed my hand on my belt buckle as I spoke, pursing my lips slightly.
Donna laughed, "Pretty much everywhere." She pointed at the cabinet with her pencil.
"Cool." I went to the cabinet, beside the fridge and took out two liquor bottles.
"Okay. Red Forman, you know him, you love him. What do you think, blueberry brandy or peach schnapps?" I showed her the options.
"Hmm… Definitely the schnapps." She answered seriously, before giggling as the image of Red drinking the booze hit her.
"My thoughts exactly." I put the schnapp on the kitchen counter. Then, I considered putting the other booze back into the cabinet, but since I was already there…
"Eh, this one's for me." I put the liquor bottle into my jeans.
Midge stormed into the kitchen, which made me hide the booze underneath the kitchen island, holding it away from her line of sight.
"Oh, I see your father left me another message. God, he's an ass!" Midge said with exasperation and annoyance. She walked to the kitchen and wrote ASS on the whiteboard.
"Hello, Mom? I have company!" Donna was flabbergasted and embarrassed as Midge was showing their family issue to me, a stranger.
Midge turned to me, standing extremely close, "Oh, I didn't see you there, Steven. Isn't Bob an ass?"
"He sure is." I agreed with her. She nodded, feeling listened to and left.
"Okay, um, my parents are freaks and I'm sorry you had to see that." Donna exclaimed with annoyance, and a little sadness behind her voice. I walked to the front of the door, and quickly turned as I heard Bob coming in.
"Oh yeah!" Bob came into the kitchen as Midge left and saw the board.
"Donna, I don't want you to be reading this!" Bob wrote BITCH on the board, underneath the ASS.
"Dad! Hyde's here!" Donna said with exasperation and tiredness.
"Well, you can read it 'cause you'll appreciate it." Bob said to me and pointed at Donna. "But not you."
He stormed off in a jiff.
I walked next to her on the kitchen table, hearing her exclaiming, "This sucks."
"Well, you wanna talk about it?" I stood behind the chair and waited for an answer.
"No." She replied, but her face was uncertain. She kept tapping her pencil nervously.
"You know, they want to date other people." She blurted out.
"Your mom's dating?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Mmm-hmm."
"So where am I? Do I have a shot?" I joked.
She burst into laughter. She said facetiously, "Oh, could you please date my mom? That would make my life so much better, Hyde."
"Hey, call me Dad." I sat down in front of her, crossing my arms together.
"Yeah, but you know what the worst part is?" She asked,
"Watching your parents split up and knowing there's not a damn thing you can do about it." I finished her thought.
"Exactly. And you know what else? My mom moved out of their bedroom, into the guest room."
She was really depressed. I guess it wasn't the pills that made her moody. It was her life being a total mess that caused everything.
"Yeah, it sucked when my dad split." I related to her, since my dad left the family when I was 8 years old.
"But I can honestly say that my parents' divorce made me the man I am today." I added.
"Oh, man, am I going to go crazy and think the government's out to get me, too?" She laughed.
"The government is out to get you." I said seriously. "Watergate. Vietnam! Did you learn nothing?!"
(Read up to chapter 100 on my patreon.
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