[Hyde POV]
"Just keep the marks on the car. That's a patina." I told Tyrell as we were working on the Mustang.
I didn't go to school today, and focused all of my energy on the car. I also bought stuff for Megan's roof, but first, I'd need to show her the car still runs properly for her to accept my offer.
There were a lot of dilapidated houses in the town. But why would I help out a stranger when my worker also needed it.
"Make sure to record everything. There's a race on Saturday, right?" I asked Tyrell.
"Saturday? Are you sure?" He was taken aback.
"Pretty positive." I replied with a confident grin.
Megan's eyes sparkled slightly as she saw my confidence.
"Maybe this time, we'll tell the racer to keep it slow, as long as he finishes the race, that's all that matters." She mumbled.
In the afternoon, we all took a break together at a restaurant nearby.
"So, I guess, I'll take your offer." She replied.
"Nice." I grinned slightly. "You'll need to find another place to live for the next three to four months."
"Wh–What?" She was greatly taken aback by it.
"You can't live there during the construction. It's too dusty and too messy. It's better to live temporarily elsewhere."
"Oh." She exclaimed flatly. "Um, that's tough. Where should I move? My sisters… Well, two of them have already moved out. So, I only have the youngest with me."
"If you're looking for a two bedroom apartment, I have a place I don't use." I told her.
It was Victoria's previous apartment. The lease was still in my name, and I used that place as storage.
Megan and I went to check the apartment after lunch.
She gasped slightly as she saw the place. "It's so pretty." She touched the flowery curtain Victoria chose, and the bright yellow sofa.
"This is a girl's apartment." She muttered to herself. "It even has tv too."
"Yeah, the previous owner left without taking anything." I said. "The carpet is new, the sofa, the kitchen hood, all practically brand new."
Megan was hesitant at first, but she kept losing the argument against herself.
"The place is small, but it's near work. I can just walk…I can save up on heating costs."
"There's two bedrooms. If someone comes, they can sleep on the couch."
"The shower's pretty small, but the bathroom has a toilet, and I don't have to go to an outhouse anymore."
She kept mumbling for a long time. Finally, she decided, "Alright. I'll move in here temporarily."
"Alright. I'll keep your stuff in a storage unit. Just bring the ones you need over here."
I also picked up the stuff I kept there, such as the custom cups for the cafe, some employee garments, extra work boots, and so on.
"I'll keep my stuff at the storage unit too."
…
That evening, I went to check up on the 1 acre land I bought, with the two basketball courts on it.
The basketball court was refinished. The post was changed, the backboard and hoops were professional grade, and the black fence made it look luxurious.
The public bathroom was already erected there, needing some finishing touches.
"What's this?" Andy was confused when he saw me drop off some tiles from the truck.
It was hard for me to buy the tiles online. Especially since most of the online store stuff was risky.
I had to scour a couple countries to get the tiles. This was last week.
Finally, I bought some in Vietnam.
For 1000 square feet of tiles, it cost me 2000 bucks. 400 bucks after the multiplier.
The toilet cubicles cost 1000 bucks. So 200 bucks in 1977.
The toilets themselves were 50 bucks each. I bought seven of them, and paid only 70 bucks for all of them. Thirty with the urinals.
Anti-slip coating, waterproof coating, the sinks, all of it bring the cost of the public toilet to 5000 dollars. Adding some heaters, exhaust fans, and some decorations, the total cost of the materials I bought online was 6000 dollars.
Five construction workers worked on the toilet according to my design. They cost only around 3500 dollars for two weeks, 6 days per week on the job.
It was pretty cheap labor. The skilled technicians worked 2-5 days, and I paid them 1000 dollars for the electricity and plumbing for the public bathroom.
" There's even a handicapped stall for the bathrooms." Ron commented. "Isn't the guy who did this throwing money around? Why put mall bathroom here in the middle of nowhere?"
I shrugged and said, "Maybe he's really rich."
Ron added, "I guess that's the only conclusion left. But I'm not complaining since I have a job now."
"There's even a brick path around the court. And a picnic area. He's turning this place into a park." Andy said with an amazed sigh.
I checked up on the basketball court after talking with Andy and Ron. The court was already done, and there were kids checking it out every day, excited about the prospect of playing here.
However since the construction was still ongoing, they couldn't use the place yet.
"I kept giving back to the town. However, the town government is still out to get me." I sighed as I drove the truck home after delivering all of the stuff I bought.
There were government notices being sent to the trust I set up to care for the public park.
The first letter arrived three days after the floodlights were installed.
{Property Reassessment Notice.}
They claimed that the "significant improvements" to the land increased its taxable value. The empty lot they had sold off as a liability was suddenly worth three times more now that it had professional courts, fencing, lighting, and a public restroom.
The annual property tax shot up immensely. The one acre land, the property tax was 2% out of the 4000 dollars value, so it's 80 bucks.
Now, the value was around 25,000 dollars. The property tax was around 500 bucks.
"Even though it's not completed yet. The town government sure is bankrupt."
The second letter came a day later.
{Zoning Clarification Hearing.}
They wanted to determine whether the park now qualified as a "public recreational facility requiring special use authorization." Which was amusing, considering they had owned it as a recreational court for years before abandoning it.
Then came the complaints.
Light pollution. Teenagers gathering after dark. Potential loitering. Public nuisance.
I stressed out again. The park wasn't even open yet. It wasn't completed, but there's already a complaint about its usage.
They proposed a curfew. No lights after 8 p.m.
The irony was almost poetic. When they owned the place, the court had no lights, broken hoops, and rusted fencing. No one complained then. Because no one cared.
Now it was alive. And that bothered them.
Another notice followed.
They required a safety inspection for the restroom before issuing an occupancy approval. Fire-rated signage. Emergency lighting verification. Additional plumbing review. Even though the licensed electrician and plumber had already signed off.
They weren't blocking me. They were slowing me down.
Even the payphone became an issue.
I got a payphone service to open at the court.
A council member suggested that installing a public phone could "attract undesirable activity…" Such as, spying for the Russian.
"I know we're in the middle of the cold war and all. But what the fuck…"
They hinted that communications infrastructure might require municipal coordination. To protect the public.
And the water fountain? They suddenly needed water quality testing documentation.
My lawyers went to the town meeting to address the complaints.
They told the town council, the park was free.
That confused the town councilmen.
Because if I wasn't charging, then I wasn't operating a commercial facility. And if it wasn't commercial, their zoning argument weakened.
They tried another angle.
"If it's public access," one of them said, "then the town could assume maintenance responsibility."
Which meant surrendering control.
I declined that politely after the lawyer told me.
"Why should I give them control? So they can neglect it again?" I scoffed.
Instead, I transferred the property into a small private trust designated for community recreational use. The trust charter specified:
Free public access. No commercial activity. No transfer of control without trustee approval.
The reassessment still stood, of course. They could raise taxes.
So I did something simpler.
I prepaid five years of property tax in advance.
At the old valuation.
The clerk processed it before the reassessment adjustment was finalized.
"Thank you GPT."
The idea was from the AI chatbot.
It wasn't illegal. It was just… faster.
As for the floodlight curfew, I installed timers that shut the main lights off at 8:30 p.m. but left low-level solar perimeter lighting active all night. Enough for safety. Not enough to violate the proposed rule.
They couldn't argue against solar lamps. They weren't even connected to the grid.
The restroom inspections passed after minor "recommendations."
I added two illuminated exit signs and an extra fire extinguisher. Cheap solutions to loud objections.
The payphone? I structured it under a private service contract. The town had no authority over it unless they wanted to regulate every payphone in the county.
"I fucking hate Jackie's dad." I cursed slightly.
Even when I managed to shoot down the attacks, it cost me over one thousand dollars in lawyer fees.
…
When I came back to the basement later that night, I stared at Jackie the entire time.
"What?" She was annoyed as she caught me multiple times that night.
"Stop staring at my girl dude." Kelso scolded me angrily. "That's weird!"
Fez interjected, swooning as he stared at Jackie. "No, it's not weird at all. It's like the moon. You can never get bored looking at its beauty."
"Aww. Fez." Jackie melted slightly, and then she pinched Kelso.
"Ouch! What's that for?!" Kelso was shocked.
"That's for not saying romantic stuff like that to me Micheal!" Jackie said with her familiar annoying voice.
Donna crossed her arms and asked, "Hyde. What's wrong? Is the Mustang okay?"
Eric already told her about my troubles. He stared at me warily, fearing I would get mad.
I sighed and turned to the TV. "It's fine. But I don't think I can make it to Elvis. I need to finish it before Saturday."
"You can't make it to the King?" Eric was flabbergasted.
"There's Elvis's concert ticket?" Jackie was surprised. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Maybe it's because you and Kelso aren't invited." Donna snickered at them.
"But now, I have one free ticket since I'm not going." I said casually. "I'll give that to Jackie."
"YES!" Fez was excited. He stood up and celebrated.
"Wait, who's going?" Jackie asked.
"Mr and Mrs Forman. Me and Eric. Fez. And now, you." Donna explained to Jackie. "Frankly, you deserve the ticket." She added.
"Why?" Jackie was confused. Kelso was startled and immediately said, "Because you're really pretty?"
"Aww Micheal." Jackie melted. "And I just said you don't know how to be romantic."
"Ayy." Fez exclaimed with disgust.
Donna asked me, "Are you sure you're not going?"
"Yeah." I crossed my arms and leaned on the chair.
Kelso whined again, "Why am I always being left out now!?"
"You should look inward." Fez told him.
"No one can see their insides, Fez!" Kelso snapped at him.
"Maybe no one tried. I heard if you roll your eyes back enough, you can see your brain. But in your case, maybe it's just an empty space." I teased Kelso.
He turned to me angrily, "For your information. I tried that once. All I can see is pink."
"Pink?" I was confused. "Don't you mean black?"
"Pink? As in when you close your eyes but the sun still hits you, so you like, you can see your skin…?" Donna guessed.
"I don't know." Kelso replied easily and laughed.
I grimaced slightly and went to my room to get the tickets. As I came out, Red was in the basement, chasing everyone away as it was almost 10.
"Go home now. Get."
"Red, here's your ticket." I gave him the Elvis ticket. "One for Mrs Forman. Eric, this is the rest."
Two tickets to Red, four to Eric.
Eric was elated, "Thanks Hyde."
Red however, was grumbling. "Steven. I can't accept this."
"Why not?" I asked him, confused.
"Bob gave me the tickets to see an earlier concert in Milwaukee. Tomorrow." Red gave me the tickets back.
"My parents are going to the concert?" Donna was confused. "Did they buy it after I told them I got the tickets?"
"Knowing Bob… Yes, that's highly likely." I replied on Red's behalf.
"Great! There's two extra tickets. So we can all go!" Kelso grabbed my shoulder in excitement.
"Well, I still can't go. So I guess I'll give one ticket to Laurie." I said casually.
"Wait. No." Kelso was caught off guard, and his face paled slightly.
I smirked maliciously and said, "Why not? She went with us to Vanstock."
"Yes. That's true." Jackie exclaimed in realization. "I'm fine if she wants to go." Donna said, adding on to Kelso's misery.
Donna and I turned to Eric. He shrugged and said, "I should want to object to this, but the King is bigger than all of us."
"That settled it then." I said casually. "Laurie will join you."
Kelso mumbled underneath his breath, "Damn."
…
At the Fotohut. I was checking the books and talked to Linda at the same time.
"You want a day off on Thursday? Fine, Leo can cover for you." I told her.
Leo was startled when he heard it. He was playing a board game with me when we bumped into each other at the hut. He wanted to get some money from the register, and got caught by me.
"I can't do it man." Leo said slowly. "I have to go to a concert on Thursday." He added. "The King is coming to town."
"You're going to Elvis's concert too?" I was surprised.
"Elvis? No, I mean the King of England, man." He said as he took out some tickets from his back pocket and gave it to me.
I took it and read the ticket description. "Leo, this is for Elvis. Elvis Pressly concert."
"Really?" Leo was taken aback. "So I cannot meet the King of England?"
Linda narrowed her eyes skeptically, "Why would the King of England come to Green Bay Wisconsin?"
"Who knows man." Leo shrugged. "Hey Hyde man. Do you want the tickets man?"
"Huh?" I was confused. "You don't want to go to Elvis?"
"No. I hate that guy, man." Leo replied. "Do you want the tickets?"
"I mean… if you don't want it, then sure. I'll take it." I said and accepted the tickets from him.
I guess the universe wanted me to go to the concert. If I keep rejecting it, there may be some bad blood between me and the universe, and I don't want that.
"You can go with Lynn." Leo said, pointing at Linda.
"Wait, me?" Linda was taken aback. "I have to go to the dentist that Thursday."
"The concert starts at 4." I told her. "What's the dentist for? Cleaning or some issues?"
"Just some routine cleaning." She replied, blinking slowly and her face was turning hotter.
"Then, I guess we can go. I'll pick you up at your house at 3."
Linda's face turned red slightly. "Alright." She agreed.
I went to the auto shop and worked on the car all night long. I slept at the autoshop and was almost done with the Mustang when Megan came back into the shop.
"Hyde… Is it…" Her eyes shook in shock as she saw me revving up the car.
"It's back on business." I smiled , black smudge on my cheek and nose. My hand and my shirt were all dirty from the engine oil and lubes.
Megan became slightly emotional. "Thank you Sir." She said formally.
I grimaced and said, "Don't be formal with me. Now, Tyrell will do the finishing touches. I have some places to go, so I'll see you on Friday."
Megan nodded and I wiped my hand with a clean towel. "I need a shower." I mumbled.
"Oh, I have already started moving into the apartment." Megan said as I was gathering my stuff to go back home.
"Great. Do you need some help?" I asked.
"No, I can do that myself." She replied.
"Alright. I'll buy some stuff first. I'll start the renovation next week."
It was only Wednesday. I went to the cafe, and stopped by the print shop next to check up on the businesses.
Then, I finally went back home. Everyone was so excited to see Elvis tomorrow. I was really tired, so I went straight to bed.
…
Brown County Veteran Memorial Arena, Green Bay.
The place was packed with Elvis' fans. Some were wearing his hairstyle, and even mimicked the way he dressed.
Linda wore a blue and white striped shirt with leather jacket and short skirts. I wore my simple denim jacket, wooden beads necklace, and bell bottom jeans.
"Hyde!" Eric was startled when he saw me near where he parked his car. I was following him by putting an airtag on his car, which surprised him.
"Forman." I greeted casually.
"You said you aren't coming," He cursed. "You could've brought Kelso and Jackie with you. They were fighting the whole time in the car!"
I sighed and said, "Don't you think it's time for them to break up? They are making each other miserable, and us too."
We forgot about the matter as the concert started. People were cheering madly as Elvis went on stage, mostly middle aged housewives.
"Do you want some?" Linda offered me her blunt. I shook it off and said, "No thanks."
"Prude." She scoffed at me.
"No, I just don't want that cheap stuff." I said as I lit up my own blunt.
She looked at me with disbelief.
While I was enjoying the song, "My Way", Elvis's cover of a Frank Sinatra song, an idea lit up in my mind.
"I should get the rights to the song for the documentary."