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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛᴜʀᴋᴇʏ ᴅᴀʏ ꒱


❝ YOU LECTURED ME ON
HOW IT WAS A PARASITE,
NOT A PLANT ❞

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"I'm sure you're all aware of the conflict in Burundi which is now spilling over into Rwanda and Uganda," Mr. Feeny said in the front of the classroom.

Bent over her notes, Juliet did her best to tune out the boys' conversation as Cory gave their teacher a disbelieving look. "He's making these names up."

"He's finally out of stuff to teach," Shawn agreed. She rolled her eyes and made a mental note to smack him later for disturbing her learning.

Mr. Feeny continued: "the Burundian conflict centers on class differences between the poorer Hutus and the richer Tutsis."

"We're gonna have to put a bag over him and drag him out of the room."

"Sure, that way we save his dignity," Cory added.

"Class differences, the strife between the have and the have-nots, a perennial source of misery on our planet. Another source of misery, I expect each of you to do a paper on this topic during Thanksgiving break," their teacher informed them, making everyone groan.

"He's trying to drag us down with him," Cory whispered. She'd smack him too, for that matter.

"But before we break for the holiday, I want to congratulate you all on this year's food drive," Mr. Feeny announced. "I mean, you've shown real generosity and selflessness. That said, this year's winners are Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter."

The boys got up and did a little dance out of enthusiasm. "Oh yeah!"

Juliet watched their performance and shook her head in amusement. What a couple of goofballs.

"Mr. Feeny, this is so unfair. They just keep turning in the same cans year after year," Topanga protested.

"Hey, my family gives them to the food bank, the food bank gives them to my family, my family gives them back to the food bank. It's life in the food bank chain," Shawn explained cheerfully.

"So, what'd we win, Mr. Feeny?" Cory asked.

"You've won a turkey."

"Oh," came their disappointed answer. The curly-haired boy passed their prize to Shawn.

"And a box of stuffing."

"Ooh," they said again, this time with more excitement.

The bell rang and Juliet quickly packed away her books before she stood. Mr. Feeny called after the departing students: "have a wonderful holiday and don't forget that paper!"

As she passed him, the redhead grinned at their teacher. "Oops, I forgot."

"Miss Capelwood, the day you don't turn in an assignment is the day I retire," Mr. Feeny told her lightly.

"Then you better be expecting to work a good long time," she replied brightly, "happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Feeny."

"You as well, Miss Capelwood."

She caught up to the boys as they were arguing about their prizes. "Well, of course you want stuffing. Everyone wants stuffing. Stuffing's the best part," Cory was saying.

"Just flip for it," Juliet suggested.

"I don't want to lose."

"But you might win," Shawn pointed out.

"But, you see, if I lose then I don't get stuffing."

"What if you just get more stuffing?" Juliet asked, "I always give Shawn my share."

Cory gave her a confused look. "You visit Shawn just to give him stuffing?"

"No, we have Thanksgiving together," she explained, "my mom usually worked extra long since those who couldn't cook went to the diner for their meal." She shrugged. "I then spent Thanksgiving with the Hunters so I wouldn't have to be alone." The redhead smiled in sudden amusement and turned to the dark-haired boy. "Remember that one year when you tried to convince me that mistletoe was a two-holiday tradition?"

Shawn chuckled." Oh yeah. I told you that it would save on plant waste. I tried to appeal to your environmental interests."

"And how did that work out for you?" she teased him.

"Not very well. You lectured me on how it was a parasite and not a plant."

"And speaking of lecture, that reminds me." Juliet reached up to first smack Cory on the back of the head, then Shawn.

"Hey!" both boys exclaimed, rubbing the spot where she'd hit. "What was that for?" Shawn asked.

"That was for distracting me during class," she explained, "now, back to the stuffing problem."

"If we get more stuffing I'll want that too," Cory answered her previous question.

"You can't have everything, Cor," the redhead scolded him, "where would you put it all?"

"In my mouth," he replied as if it should have been obvious. Juliet sighed. He continued: "what I'm getting at is that we all have stuffing together."

"But it's Thanksgiving," Shawn pointed out. "I gotta be with my family. At least I'll get Julie's stuffing."

"Well, me too."

"My mom might actually be able to take off work this year," she added hopefully.

"I still get your stuffing, right?" Shawn asked.

"'Course, Shawnie."

"Don't you see? That's perfect. We can have Thanksgiving together," Cory told them.

"But our families barely know each other. My parents only know Julie and I'm not even sure if my dad knows her real name," Shawn said.

"Of course he knows my real name," the redhead protested, ". . .he does, right?"

"Well, what better time for him to learn it while our families get acquainted?" Cory suggested.

"Okay, okay. It'll be the first Hunter-Matthews-Capelwood Thanksgiving dinner."

"It's gonna be great," the curly-haired boy promised.

🌎🌎🌎

"Um, mom," Juliet started later that evening, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, darling," Daly answered, "what's up?"

"Well, Cory, Shawn and I had an idea of what we could do for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if you'll be taking off work—"

"I will be," her mother answered, "it'll be the first one we get to spend together."

"That's the thing. . . er, seeing as how I always spent Thanksgiving with Shawn, I didn't see why we should break tradition and instead have dinner with the Hunters and the Matthews," she explained.

The red-haired woman frowned. "Well, I'd immediately agree to the Hunters as long as we're not imposing, but are you sure the Matthews would be a good fit? I know Cory's your friend but I've never really spoken to his parents."

"Of course they're a good fit," Juliet argued, "they're Cory's family. I don't know why we waited so long to do this."

"I was always working," Daly reminded her, "and besides, the haves and have-nots don't usually mix well. That's why I won't be inviting your father to this."

The redhead's face fell. "Oh. I was hoping he'd get to meet Shawn. And Cory," she added, "Shawn and Cory."

"He will," the woman reassured her. "I just don't think a holiday is a good time. If you're set on this, I'll come with you. I'm just not sure it's a very good idea. No offence, darling."

🌎🌎🌎

On Thanksgiving day, Juliet helped her mom prepare two vegetable sides of carrots and green beans, both presented in clean, plain ceramic. They made their way over to the trailer park and arrived at the Hunter's home ten minutes later. The red-haired woman knocked on the door to announce their arrival. Chet opened it and Juliet saw his face immediately switch into an expression of relief. "Daly, Shawnie's wife! How nice of you to come to our humble Thanskgivin' dinner. Come in, come in!"

He stood aside to let them pass and the two exchanged greetings on the way. Virna came from the kitchen to welcome both Capelwoods with a hug as she took the two dishes from them. "Let's see what we have here. Some delicious lookin' green beans and very orangey carrots. This will be a lovely accompaniment to our meal."

Chet shook his head at his wife's words. "You'll have to excuse her. Virna's been in a right tizzy since she'd heard the Matthews were coming."

Having heard the arrival of guests, Shawn made his way to the front of the trailer. He relaxed when he saw that the Capelwoods had arrived first. "Hey, Julie."

"Hi Shawnie," she said, quickly making moving out of the way of the adults to stand next to him. "It's already a train wreck."

"As expected." He sighed. "I don't know why we thought this was a good idea. Aren't you supposed to stop Cory and me from doing things like this?"

"And since when have you listened to me?" the redhead asked with a huff. "Besides, the idea was good in theory."

"It should have stayed that way," he remarked.

It was only a short while later that another knock came on the door and Juliet followed Shawn to answer it. The boy opened the door to reveal the Matthews. "Hi. How you doing? Come on in."

As they entered the trailer, Alan approached Chet. "Chet, I brought you this really nice bottle of wine."

"Well thank you, Alan, but as it happens we had a very good wine planned for this evening's festivities. Excellent wine, a whole box of it right in the refrigerator," Shawn's father answered.

"Oh, well, in that case, we don't need to drink this. We'll drink yours and save this one."

Chet took the bottle from him. "No, no, no, no. If you went to the trouble of bringing us wine the least we can do is drink yours and not ours."

Virna took it from him. "You know what would be just special? What do you say we pour both our wines in a big bowl and add some bananas and oranges and have ourselves some friendship Sangria?"

"Nobody wants that, Virna," her husband whispered.

"I'll help make it," Daly volunteered, looking for a way out. "We can make it with those fun umbrellas."

"Thank you, Daly," the other woman told her gratefully before she turned to Chet. "Now, you go get them. They're in the drawer." She picked up a plate off the nearby table. "This is a gruyere and pecan log with a selection of crackers. It's one of the items I most enjoy from the good people at Hickory Farms."

"Oh, I would love some. Thank you, Virna. Looks great," Amy said, exchanging dishes.

"I know it's not as fancy as what you would have served at your home—"

"No, no, it's exactly what I would have served," she interrupted.

"No, you're just saying that. You would have served the Port Wine Cheddar in the ceramic crock."

Daly leaned over to her daughter and whispered, "I told you this would be bad."

"It still has time to get better," Juliet answered quietly.

"Or worse." The woman straightened as Virna exclaimed: "I should have bought the crock. I'm pretty sure Hickory Farms is still open. I'll buy the crock."

"Virna," Daly called after her, "Virna, stop." She pulled the woman over to the side in an effort to calm her down.

Cory opened the door and breezed in, trying to lessen the tension in the room. "Hey. How are we all doing? Great or really great?" He joined his two friends. "Jules, Shawn, how could you let this thing fall apart before I even get here?"

"It's bigger than us, Cory," Shawn answered.

"I tried," Juliet added, "my mom's talking to Shawn's mom now."

"Okay. Well, it's up to us to hold this thing together."

Shawn gave him an amused look. "Lose the purse and I'll take you seriously."

"But it goes with my shoes," he said with disappointment.

"No, it doesn't," the redhead told him, "it obviously goes better with mine."

"Now you're just talkin' nonsense," Cory replied and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

A knock sounded at the door and Eric quickly said, "well, that's my lift. Thanks for having me, seriously."

Alan stopped him. "Nobody's getting off this island, Gilligan."

Chet answered the door and spoke to the person outside before he turned back to the gathered families. "Y'all party on. Don't let my absence be a damper on the evening's soiree."

🌎🌎🌎

Cory, Shawn and Juliet sat on the couches in front of the TV as the evening grew worse, the obvious friction painful to watch.

"I have Cheez Whiz, Rice Chex and an olive with a pimento on it. Please," Virna said.

"I told you this was a great idea," Cory told them.

"It's an episode of COPS waiting to happen."

"At least my mom and Virna are getting along," Juliet observed.

"You know, Chet's been gone an awful long time. Do you think there's any kind of problem?" Amy asked.

"Oh, no. I'm sure it's nothing," Daly answered, "these town meetings are like parties, they go on all night."

"And I would just like to apologize for my previously erratic behavior," Virna added, "I just hope we can get back to our uneventful wikki wikki Hawaiian luau."

Chet finally returned. "Well, I hope y'all enjoyed your dinner and thanks for coming and, well, let's do this again next year at some neutral third-party air force base."

"Dad, we haven't eaten yet," Shawn objected.

"Of course we haven't eaten. Why, our guests have just arrived," he said nervously, "but this is the small talk part of the evening so y'all talk, we'll talk. Everybody talk, talk. Outside." He gestured for Daly to follow as he pulled Shawn, Juliet and his wife out.

🌎🌎🌎

As Chet told them about the "interesting" meeting he'd just had, Cory, Eric and Morgan came outside. Shawn's father gave them an anxious look. "Well, hello. What are y'all doing out here, outside, where you can be seen through a scope?"

"Well, we're taking Morgan over to Herman's trailer," Eric explained.

"Okay, okay. That'll be fine. Shawnie, why don't you and your wife go with them and show them how we locals like to walk real low to the ground? And travel in pairs? You know, for fun."

"I'm sorry," Shawn said to Cory.

"I'm sorry, too."

"I expected better from us," Juliet added quietly.

"Well, you heard the man. Travel in pairs." Shawn held out his hand to the redhead.

"As long as it's for safety in numbers I suppose," she agreed, interlocking her fingers with his. She carefully avoided meeting his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't notice the telltale color that had risen to her cheeks.

🌎🌎🌎

They had arrived at the Stecchino's trailer safely and were now helping Frankie and Herman set the table. It was much easier to think— and breathe— away from the discord brought on by their parents and Juliet was glad she'd agreed to come.

"Shawn, I'm really sorry about this whole thing. I mean, my parents have just been acting like jerks," Cory said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry my mom was being cliquey," the redhead added, "if she talked with your mom more she might've felt more included."

"Yeah, well, my parents didn't exactly go out of their way to make them feel welcome," Shawn agreed, "I guess this whole thing was just a mistake."

"You know, why can't they just hang out together?"

Frankie came out carrying the turkey and answered, "adults are not narrow-minded by nature. They can, however, be set in their ways."

"I am but a callow youth, yet it seems to me a shame they should be set in the way of disliking each other," Herman observed.

"They come from different worlds. Think of them as the Hutus and the Tutsis, living with prejudice and hatred passed on from parent to child because it is what they've grown accustomed to."

"Oh," Juliet realized, "my mom did mention something about the haves and have-nots."

"You know, are we the only two people on this whole planet who don't know who the Hutus and Tutsis are?" Cory asked.

Shawn shrugged. "Julie's always been smarter than us so that's no surprise there."

The redhead smiled modestly as the curly-haired boy continued: "you know guys, for once I think our ignorance may be working for us."

"What, you mean if we knew better we wouldn't be friends?"

"Yeah," the redhead said, "if it weren't for that stuck-up girl in kindergarten I might not have gone to sit next to Shawnie."

"I'm glad we don't know better," the dark-haired boy agreed.

"Me too," Cory added.

"Well, our table is in order. It is time to proceed with our holiday repast," Frankie announced as he sat.

"Are you guys sure this is okay?" Cory asked.

"There is always room for more at our table," Herman answered.

As they took their seats, Juliet made sure to quickly claim one next to Shawn. Her excuse was that it would be easier to transfer her stuffing to his plate. (Only Frankie, Herman and the boy himself seemed to believe her.)

"It is our Thanksgiving custom to go around the table and let each person say what they are thankful for," Frankie explained.

"Then we eat?" Eric said hopefully.

"Then we eat."

"I'm thankful for that. Next," the eldest Matthews said. When no one accepted that answer, he continued: "more? Okay. Um, I'm also thankful to be having Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and sister and all of my friends. And that I'm taping the game. Next."

"I'm thankful for these guests and that we've been blessed with enough food to share wit them," Frankie stated. "Herman?"

"I'm thankful to be sitting next to this delicate blossom who has won my heart," his brother answered. "Dearest?"

"I am, for once, thankful to be sitting at the kids' table. Juliet?"

"I'm thankful for everything these past few years have brought me, especially my dad and his family and for what the future holds," she replied, "Shawnie?"

"I'm thankful that you and Cory are my friends," he said.

Cory finished with: "and I guess I'm thankful that my parents taught me to like people for who they are even if they weren't lucky enough to be raised that way themselves."

As they began to eat, their parents approached the table. "Y'all got room for us?" Daly asked.

"Yeah, there's always room for more at our table," Cory answered.

As the husbands searched for chairs to give their wives, Juliet leaned to the right as Shawn got up. Her eyes followed him curiously as he procured a chair as well. He set it down closer to her end of the table before he offered it to her mom.

🌎🌎🌎

After Thanksgiving break was over, everyone turned their papers in and waited for Mr. Feeny to finish grading them. He was handing them back a few days later, walking through the aisles as he said, "by and large, your papers were above average." He passed over Shawn and returned Juliet's. "Excellent work as always, Miss Capelwood."

"What, don't I get mine?" Shawn asked, "did you recycle it already?" Mr. Feeny gestured for him to join him in the front, causing the boy to complain: "can't just fail me privately. You gotta Braveheart me up here."

"I simply wondered if you would mind reading your paper to the class, starting here," his teacher answered, pointing to a spot on the page.

"Okay," he agreed, "'this past week, I spent Thanksgiving with the Hutus and the Tutsis, which was a real surprise to me because I live in Philadelphia and I thought that kind of prejudice based on class differences only happened in undeveloped countries.'" He paused. "Is that enough? I'm getting vertigo from facing this way in the room."

"No, no. Go on."

He continued: "'but I discovered that even in my very own civilized country, people can be just as undeveloped and just as cruel. But more importantly, and the thing that gives me hope, is that as long as the children are educated about the dangers of prejudice and intolerance, then perhaps there will be a reason for Thanksgiving in the future.'"

Mr. Feeny took back his paper. "That's the best work you've ever done, Mr. Hunter. Um, C-minus?"

"Alright," Shawn agreed.

"No," he corrected him, writing on the paper. "A-plus." He looked up to see Shawn's surprised expression. "I'm just as shocked as you are."

As he made his way back to his seat, he met Juliet's eyes and froze in his tracks. She looked so impressed. That was even better than the A-plus he'd just earned and to top off the best grade he'd ever gotten, she pushed herself out of her seat and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

As he returned the gesture he heard her whisper: "I'm so proud of you." 

[written mar. 2021]
[edited may 2022]