September 5 1977
It was Mark Cohen's first day of grade 7. As he walked into the classroom, he saw a boy with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes siting in the corner. Something about him made Mark want to take the seat next to him. The boy looked up at the nerdy looking kid that just sat down next to him. Mark smiled, but he just put his head down and started counting the stripes on his desk. Mark wondered if he had done something wrong. Something to make the boy angry at him. So, Mark tried to introduce himself.
" Hi. I'm Mark Cohen" The boy made no effort to show that he even heard Mark say anything. Mark sighed. He had given up hope that he would make friends with the mysterious boy, or even know his name. But then,
" Roger. Roger Davis."
Mark smiled. Had he finally made a friend? " Mark and Roger. Has a nice ring to it." Mark thought to himself. Mark was going to ask Roger if he wanted to sit with him at lunch, but before he could say anything, the teacher walked in.
When the lunch bell finally rang, the first thing Mark did was turn to Roger and ask if he wanted to sit with him. Roger simply nodded. Which Mark toke as a sign of commitment to their friendship.
" Cohen… You're Jewish right?" asked Roger. It toke Mark a few seconds to realize that Roger was actually talking to him. Roger hadn't said a word sense they sat down.
" Yeah, I am. Why?"
" Are you the guy that Nanette Himlefarb learned to Tango with?"
" Yep. That's me."
Roger immediately started laughing.
" What?"
" Nothing..."
Mark and Roger continued talking, and eventually figured out that they live two streets away from each other. When school was over, they decided to walk home together.
From that day forward, they would always be known as Mark and Roger.
October 29 1977
" What should we be for Halloween?" asked Mark.
" We?" Roger replied.
" Yes we. We're best friends. We have to be something together!"
" Sorry Mark. I don't do Halloween."
" Of course you don't." Mark huffed.
" I've Just never understood what's so great about it."
" Free candy!" Mark shouted.
" What if we stay at my house and watch scary movies?"
" Like what?"
" Psycho?"
" Are you kidding? My parents would kill me!"
" They don't have to know..."
December 24 1977
" So Mark, I know you don't celebrate Christmas or anything… But, I got you a present." said Roger, who was clearly uncomfortable. Roger definitely didn't do gift giving, so this was either some cruel joke, or a way to show Mark that Roger really did care about him. Roger handed Mark a scarf with white and blue stripes.
" Who are you, and what did you do with Roger?" Mark laughed.
Mark put the scarf on, and decided that even if he and Roger didn't stay friends for ever, he would still wear this scarf every time it was necessary.
" Wanna go kill some snowmen?" asked Roger excitedly.
" Do I?"
" Let's go get some baseball bats from my garage."
January 17 1978
The school year was half over, so naturally, Mark and Roger started making their plans for the summer.
" How about we walk too New York city?" Mark suggested.
" We could look for our future apartment."
" You want to walk all the way to New York?" asked Roger.
" Yes." Mark confidently replied.
" Keep dreaming Cohen. We're not getting out of this dump until we're eighteen." Roger sighed.
" Do you have any other ideas?"
" Yes. We spend July Making our self the neighborhood tough guys, then spend all of August sleeping."
That sounded like a good plan to Mark, aside from the fact that Roger, already was the neighborhood tough guy. Mark hoped that Roger already knew about what the other people in the Scarsdale were saying about him, but Mark thought it would be better to hear it from him, instead of some other kid.
" Roger, you do know what other people are saying about you, right?"
Roger smirked, " Yeah, I've heard somethings. They call me a juvenile delinquent."
" But, they also say that you're turning out just like your fath-"
" Don't say it!" Roger shouted.
Mark had never really asked Roger about his dad. He knew his mom, she was a small quiet woman who didn't have much of a presence. But, she seemed nice enough. Mark had never heard anything about Roger's dad. It was clear that Roger didn't want to talk about it, so Mark left it alone for now.
February 19 1978
" Hey, mom? Can I ask you something?"
" Of course. What?"
" Why didn't you leave him sooner?"
" What are you talking about?"
" I'm talking about Dad! Why didn't you leave him sooner!"
" I'm not talking about this with you Roger!"
" Why not? I deserve to know!"
" Roger enough!"
His mother was almost in tears. Roger headed out the front door.
He went to the only place he could think of.
Mark's house.
Mark's mother opened the door.
" Oh! Roger! You must be freezing! Here, come inside."
It was nine o'clock and minus 30. Even if Mrs. Cohen didn't like Mark being friends with a Davis, Roger was a nice enough boy, whom she couldn't let freeze to death.
" Mark! Roger's here!" Mrs. Cohen called up the stairs. She was very familiar with the stories of Roger's neglectful parents, or mother, since his father was in jail. So, she figured she should let Roger spend the night.
" I think school will probably be canceled tomorrow because of the snow, so you can stay here tonight, and we can go get some of your things tomorrow." Ms. Cohen knew that she could send Roger home in the morning, but she had a feeling that, that would end with him roaming the streets in freezing cold weather all day. Which she could not let happen. She was prepared for Roger to stay here for a week. He appeared to be upset when he arrived, but she wasn't going to say anything.
That was a theme within the Cohens thought process. Not saying anything.
In the three hours that Mark and Roger were in Mark's bedroom, there was a major breakthrough in their friendship. Roger finally confined in Mark.
Roger walking in, closed that door behind him, and collapsed to the ground. His body wracked with sobs. Mark walked over to him, and put his arms around Roger, trying to calm him down.
" Hey, I'm here Roger. You're okay." Mark whispered.
When Roger's sobbing finally turned into a small whimper, Mark decided to ask what was going on.
" What's wrong Roger?"
" I don't want to talk about it."
" Okay." Mark sighed. Roger never wanted to talk about it.
" Maybe next time." Mark mumbled.
April 6 1978
It was raining. April was the rainiest month in Scarsdale, it always has been.
Roger sat alone in his bedroom. Mark had gone home for the night, so Roger sat alone in the dark corner of his bedroom, listening to the sound of the rain drops gently landing on the street and his window. He listened to the beat of the rain drops on the window.
Sounds of pianos and guitars started appearing in his mind
" Daaaa boom baa duuuuuum" Roger started quietly singing along with the rain drops.
He quickly got out an old notebook and wrote down what his mind had just come up with. Then, he got the idea to write down some lyrics to the tune. The school councilor had told him that he had a bad habit of bottling up his emotions, so maybe he could turn them into songs.
June 27 1978
" Well Mark, we made it." said Roger with a smile on his face.
" Yeah, we made it." said Mark. Mark couldn't believe he'd only known Roger for a year. He felt like he'd known him forever.
" Wanna look at the year book?" Mark suggested.
" No. It will probably say that I was most likely to end up in prison." Roger laughed. They never looked at that year book.
But, little did they know that the year book said nothing about Roger going to prison.
But, it did say something about Mark and Roger being voted most likely to be best friends for the rest of their lives.