Mimi
and Angel sat in the hallway of Mimi's little apartment, side by
side on the battered hardwood floor. It was too hot and sticky to
move. Angel was bored and bouncing a ball on the wall. It was tied by
a 10-foot long elastic to her wrist, so no matter what she did, it
flew right back to her hand. She bounced it hard on the floor,
watching the bright rainbow colors spin through the air and hit the
wood, then bounce up to hit the wall. They had been sitting this way
for hours, Mimi slouched against Angel's left arm, watching the
ball in its flight to the floor, up onto the wall, then back to
Angel's hand. Mimi finally straightened up, wiped the sweat from
her forehead, and tried to run her fingers through her tangled
hair.
"I met a guy last night."
"Honey, you meet guys
every night."
"This one was special."
"How special
could he have been? You didn't bring him home."
"It wasn't
like that, Miss Schunard. He was gay." Angel let her ball fly away
from her hand and turned to Mimi.
"Oooh, gay? Was he cute?"
"You
probably wouldn't think so."
"Why not?"
"He looked
like a nerd. But I thought he was cute."
"You like the nerdy
ones." Angel went back to bouncing the ball. On the floor, off the
wall, back into her hand.
"I like all kinds." Mimi yawned
lazily.
"What was so special about him?"
"I dunno, it was
just the way he talked. He was so smart. He told me all about Greece,
and how the Greeks were the ones who came up with the original
concept of modern thought. He just got back from Greece a couple of
weeks ago. He stripped naked and ran through the Parthenon." Angel
snorted.
"Yep, sounds pretty nerdy to me."
"Wish he
weren't gay. I'd totally go out with him." Mimi lay her head
back on Angel's shoulder and sighed. Angel continued bouncing her
ball. On the floor, off the wall, back into her hand.
