Prologue
I pan the empty loft, letting my camera focus on the bare walls and floors. Unbelievable that a few days ago, these rooms were occupied and vivacious with a family, my family, a group of friends that loved and cared about each other. Now, I sit on a folding chair alone.
Sunday
"Rise and shine!" A loud clanging racket enters my dream and startles me awake.
"What the… Benny?" I barely make out his profile with my tightly shut eyes. "Benny, we're sleeping." I roll over and wrap my arms around Maureen. She lies undisturbed, fast asleep.
Suddenly the blankets are ripped off of me and I hear cursing from across the room. It was Roger's voice. Without lifting my head or opening my eyes I greet Roger. "Hey stranger, what are you doing home?"
"Trying to fucking sleep." Benny again begins his tirade, banging pots and pans in my ear. "Come on guys, I got breakfast and I want to talk to all of you!"
"Leave us alone…"
He must have gotten the point because the room falls silent for a few moments and I fall back asleep. Suddenly an annoyed booming voice carries through the loft, Collins. I hear the two of them in the kitchen and the smell of bacon permeates into my room and I finally relent and join them.
Walking out in my boxer shorts I rub my fingers through my messy hair and feel my face for the growth, deciding if I need to bother shaving later on. "Ok, Benny, what do you want, and for Heaven's sake, what time is it?"
"It's ten, not that early. And I want to wait until everyone is up, I have important news to tell everyone."
I stumble into the kitchen and grab a piece of bacon from the plate. "This news couldn't wait until a more decent hour?"
"No, I have to be somewhere later, go wake up Roger and Maureen, breakfast is almost ready."
I laugh, there is no way I would or could wake either of them up. Collins volunteers and disappears into my room. I collapse on the couch, not wanting to be verbally abused by either of them so early in the morning. Surprisingly, Roger follows Collins out and Maureen is quick behind. Bounding off the couch I kiss Maureen good-morning, and greet Roger.
"Hey, long time no see, what brings you home?"
He shrugs, "Eh, April pissed me off last night so I decided to come home."
"Are you going to stick around for awhile? We could hang out today." I start getting a little excited, Roger and I haven't spent any time together lately. His girlfriend, April and I don't get along, and he chooses to spend a lot of time with her.
"Yeah sure, sounds good." He pulls out a cigarette and lights it. We all look at him, he knows we don't want him smoking in the loft. "Fine, fine, I'll be outside." He goes to grab his worn leather jacket, but Benny grabs it from him.
"No Roger, breakfast is almost done and I want to talk to you." Roger sneaks one last drag and snuffs out the butt on the milk crates that stand in place of a coffee table. He walks back over to the kitchen and sits next to Collins at the counter. I pull Maureen close to me, but she pulls away a little. We haven't been getting along lately, but I pretend everything is fine.
Benny slides plates filled with eggs and bacon to all of us. Collins is the first to speak up. "Ok, we are all awake and here, what is the big news."
Benny looks seriously at all of us. "I'm getting married." We all look at him blankly, my mind races, did he even have a girlfriend? "I proposed to her last night, and she said yes."
"Who?" Maureen speaks her first syllable of the morning.
"Allison." We all keep our blank expressions. "Allison Gray."
"The landlord's daughter?" I ask him confused. She had been here one time with her father to pick up the rent. She seemed stuck up and very uncomfortable in our less then modest surroundings. I recall that a roach went scurrying by her and she screamed and carried on racing down the stairs and not stepping inside until Harry, one of the homeless guys in the lot next door started talking to her. She stood in the stairwell counting the minutes until her father came back to rescue her, her Donna Karen dress clashing with the gray concrete walls of our building.
"You mean Muffy?" Roger coined that name for her after that one visit.
"Allison." Benny sternly corrects him, "And yes. She and I have been seeing each other for a few months now, and the time seems right. I can't just keep on living with all of you, I need to start my life you know? But don't worry, you're golden. You can all stay in the loft. I talked with her father last night, and I offered to buy the building from him. You all can stay here rent free for as long as you need to."
"Golden, huh? Sounds too good to be true." Collins always has a way of speaking my thoughts. "I'm sorry Benny, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, and that's great, congratulations. When is the big day?"
"Well, three weeks, that's why I had to get you all up this morning, we have lots of planning to do. And I'm moving out today."
"Today… damn. That's fast." I hop off the stool and pour myself some orange juice. "Where are you going to live?"
"In another of her father's buildings, still in the East Village. It is newer and better kept than this place. Allison isn't really happy about it, but I need to be close by to the new business."
"New business?" Roger and I say together.
"Yeah, CyberArts." We nod already knowing about Benny's grand plan for building a cyber studio, we just never thought it would actually happen. "I also bought the lot next door, and that is where we are going to build."
"The lot next door?" Maureen jumps away from the counter. "But what about the homeless that live there?"
"They will be taken care of away, don't worry Maureen, this is a good thing. We will actually be able to make money doing what we love."
"Yeah, but at whose expense?" I ask him, walking over to Maureen and trying to comfort her.
We all sit in silence for a few minutes. Finally Collins chides in, "So three weeks, guess I'll be having to go buy a suit of some sort, huh?" He walks behind Benny and pats him on the shoulder.
"Well, actually, no." We all look at him. "Look guys, I'm sorry, but Allison's family is paying for everything, and it more of a social event for them, and well, I can't have you guys there. You understand, right?"
Roger stands up. "Sure Benny, we understand, you're a sellout, pretty simple." He goes and grabs his guitar, "I'm outta here." Without missing a step he grabs his jacket and heads out the door.
I get up to follow him, Collins tries to stop me but I shimmy around him and go down the stairs. "Roger, wait up for a sec." I grab his arm which he shakes away from me, "I thought we were going to do something today."
"I changed my mind ok? I should really find April and see what she is up to." I see the absent look in his eyes.
"What and get high, right? Roger, come on."
"Just let me be Mark, ok?" He turns around and walks off.
I think I'm the only one that really knows the extent of Roger's drug use. I have tried talking to the others, but I can't say it out loud. Truth is, I don't want to admit that we're losing him, that I'm losing him. I run up the stairs to the loft can hear Maureen and Benny fighting from the stairwell. I walk in silently and watch them.
Benny is busy packing his things while Maureen is screaming at him about the plight of the homeless and selling out, and Benny is defending himself. Collins interjects only to try and bring peace, but I know he is angry with Benny as well. I just collapse on the hard sofa and stare at the floor.