Family Values

February 18th, 2012
Saturday
The Top of the Hub, Boston, MA
5:30 P.M.

They decided to go to the Top of the Hub and treat Felicia to a nice dinner. Donna always had a small fear of heights. Whenever they went out to eat there she felt dizzy when she finally reached the top and stepped out of the elevator. She leaned onto Greg’s shoulder to steady herself.

“Humans were not meant to be up this high.” said Donna, seeing the Boston city lights below them.

“You need to get out more.” said Felicia. While they waited in line to be seated Greg was instantly recognized by some fans. While he signed some autographs Donna and Felicia stood back watching.

“You should get in there,” said Felicia. “Make yourself known.”

“I’ll let him talk with his fans,” said Donna. “Why would I want to get in the middle?”

“If I was you I would,” said Felicia. Donna waited for the crowd to disperse before going back over. Greg didn’t mind being approached by fans and was smiling when he said goodbye to the last fan.

“Do you get sick of be approached so much?” asked Felicia.

“Not at all,” said Greg. “Boston’s fans are extremely nice and respectful.” Felicia was eating up everything Greg was saying, her blue eyes wide with excitement. They finally reached the front of the line and were seated at a table by the window. Donna got dizzy again looking down at the city below them. She looked back up at Felicia sitting across from her and too a deep breath.

“I have never been up here before,” said Felicia in amazement. “I always saw the Prudential Center from our apartment in Charlestown dreaming of being able to go to the top and look down at the city.” It was true. Donna remembered standing in their bedroom looking out the window at the tall buildings in Boston.

Fourteen year old Donna sat at the kitchen table doing her homework. She was having trouble understanding the new math problems her teacher had assigned and was in full concentration when she heard Felicia call her name, breaking the silence.

“Donna!” she yelled. Donna sighed in frustration and yelled back

“What?!”

“Come see this!” Donna debated on whether or not to get up and go see what her sister wanted to stay at the table and continue homework. “DONNA!” yelled Felicia even louder. Sighing in frustration again Donna got up and decided to go see what her sister wanted. They were alone that night, their parents were at work still, and their brothers were out with friends.

Felicia wasn’t hard to find. Their apartment was tiny. A small kitchen, a small boxed in living room area, and a narrow short hallway with three doorways, one leading to her parents room, one leading to their small bathroom, and the last leading to the largest bedroom where Donna and her five other siblings slept. The girls got one side where they both slept in the same bed and on the other side there were two beds and one beat up couch where her four brothers slept.

When she walked in she saw Felicia standing by the window with her face pressed to the glass, looking out.

“What do you want, I’m doing homework?” asked Donna.

“Look at the Prudential Center tonight.” Donna looked out the window and saw the tall buildings standing high above the city. The Prudential Center was all lit up. The top was shining brightly with the colors of red, white, and blue. It looked striking next to the dark night sky.

“That is beautiful,” said Donna.

“I heard there’s a restaurant up there,” said Felicia. “At the very top, but it’s really fancy and expensive.”

“Maybe one day we’ll get enough money to eat there.” said Donna.

“I wish we could go now and see what its like.” said Felicia. Donna shrugged and said

“Keep dreaming.”

“So what are you going to get?” asked Greg. Felicia was hidden behind the menu.

“I don’t know,” said Donna. “We haven’t been here in a long time.”

“Let’s get the caviar,” said Felicia excitedly.

“Ew,” said Donna. “Have you ever even tasted caviar? It’s fish eggs.”

“It’s exactly 100 dollars!” said Felicia.

“You just want it for the glamour of spending that much money,” said Donna.

“No,” said Felicia. “I wanna try new things.” Donna rolled her eyes.

“So what kind of doctor are you?” asked Greg.

“Childrens doctor,” said Felicia, not looking up from her menu. “I’ve only been working for a year so I haven’t made much yet but I’ll get there.”

“You both liked the medical field,” said Greg to Donna. “You’re a nurse and she’s a doctor.”

“Donna wanted to be a doctor,” said Felicia. “But she didn’t get the grades for it.” Donna flared up instantly.

“I wanted to be a nurse more then a doctor.”

“I remember you telling me that you wanted to be a doctor.” said Felicia.

“I was considering it,” said Donna. “I decided on nursing.” Felicia shrugged which made Donna even angrier. “And I had good grades! I got all A’s and B’s in high school.” She felt Greg squeeze her hand under the table. She looked up at him and saw him giving her a warning look. She took a deep breath and remembered what Lisa had told her. She couldn’t let herself get out of control. She looked at Felicia who had gone back to looking at the menu. It was going to be a long next few months.
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