Why am I out here today? My GOD it's freezing. I would have hated to come out in drag today. Jesus it's freezing, I can barely feel my pickle tub. But, I can't complain. Five bucks for only an hour is pretty good for such cold weather. Maybe because it's Christmas Eve, that must be it. People are so sweet. However, no matter how cold it is, it's even colder in my apartment, so I have to keep going. As I continue to drum, I heard a loud beeping sound close to me. I look up. My eyes grow as I see the largest, whitest limo parked right infront of me. The heavily tinted window rolled down, and a woman's face emerged. She was blonde, very springy, but neat hair. Her lipstick was heavy, and she wore a white mink jacket. What was this woman doing in this side of town? She looked at me from over her expensive sunglasses, which to this day I can't understand. It's December. I stood up, and with her index finger, motioned me over to her. I was a bit nervous, but I walked over to her limo, and knelt down a bit to face her properly.
"I've been listening to your drumming for a while darling, you're very good." She told me with a high-class smile. What a sweetie.
"Thank you." I told her, and grinned. She looked at me over, which didn't make me feel that uncomfortable. I get that kind of look a lot.
"Could you be a dear and do me a favor? You look like you could use some money." She told me.
"Well…I guess so…" I started, wondering what she could possibly want.
"Of course you do! Now hop in." She said, and opened the door to her limo. I looked at her curiously, wondering what could possibly posses someone to ask a street drummer to step into their limo. Nonetheless, when would I ever get a chance to sit in a limo? I grabbed my bag and pickle tub, and stepped into her limo. She scooted over so I could get in. I shut the door behind me, and a rush of warm air healed my fingers. I smiled, and looked around. It was huge, just like I thought it would be. "Would you like something to drink dear? You look like you could use a nice warm drink. Coffee, tea?" She offered me. I smiled at her. She was really too kind.
"Thank you…some tea would be lovely." I told her. I felt guilty, I didn't know this woman, and she had already done a lot for me. She smiled, and reached in the side of the door next to her, and took out a mug. Holding it, she poured hot water from a small kettle, and dropped a teabag in there. She handed it to me, and I held it tightly. It felt good in my hands. I took a sip, and looked up at her smiling. "Thank you again." I told her, and she shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. Now, for that favor I want to ask of you." She said, and took her glasses off. I could tell why she wore them now. Even with all that make-up on, I could still see huge bags under her eyes. "For the past year I've been having trouble sleeping. I barely get any, because of a nasty little addition to my apartment building." She told me, and sighed.
"A baby?" I asked her, and she shook her head.
"No. I can deal with that sort of thing. No, not a child. My neighbor's dog. An akita by the name Evita. Or at least that's what my neighbor's wife shouts out of her door when she leaves for the day." She said, and growled under her breath. "This damn dog won't shut up. It barks day and night. I have complained too many times for this to be acceptable." She told me, and I nodded. I completely agreed with her. She shouldn't have to stay up all night because her neighbor's dog was barking. Poor dear. "So, that's where you come in."
"What can I do?" I asked her, confused at how I could possibly be a part of this.
"You can drum your little heart out, that's what you can do." She said, and flashed me another grin. My face squished in confusion. How on earth would that help? I thought she wanted quiet. She giggled at my expression. "Oh darling, you don't know? Well, I want you to go out near their window, and play as loud and as fast as you can. I want you to break that dog to insanity so it'll be permanently silent." She told me with a sly face. My eyes grew wide.
"You-you want me to drum until a dog goes insane?" I asked her, and she shook her head.
"I want you to drum until it barks itself to death." She told me, and I gave her a wild look. "But, before you can disagree to this favor, I want to tell you what I'm offering you." She told me, and took out her purse from under the seat. She opened it, and I saw a large bundle of money let out of the top. "One grand." She said simply, and my mouth dropped. "Now, I doubt you can say no to that kind of deal sweetie." She told me, and closed the purse back up, and put it in my pickle tub, not accepting a 'no'. I looked at her, and she extended her hand. "Do we have a deal?" She asked. I sighed, and swallowed. My hand reached hers, and shook it.
"Deal." I told her, not knowing if I regretted this or not. I would soon find out, because when she let go of her hand, the limo stopped. Wait, where we moving? I must not have paid enough attention. Where were we? Not very far, I hadn't been here a while. She pressed a button on her door, and the window closest to me opened. She pointed out the window. I could immediately here a barking, yapping kind of bark small dogs make. I looked out the window. Outside was a nice looking apartment building, or at least, nicer than my own, which was absolutely horrid. At the top, must have been the penthouse, was a window that was ajar, and I could see the small ginger pooch hanging out of it, barking it's head off.
"That's the little demon I want put away." She told me, and I sighed, looking at her.
"I still don't understand how drumming is going to do anything to this dog but make it continue barking." I told her, and frowned slightly.
"Trust me darling,
it'll work out just fine. I'll be back in a few hours, and I
expect to see that dog dead when I do." She told me, and I sighed.
I put my hand on the door handle, and opened it. I gave her one last
glance. "You'll be fine." She told me. I turned back and got
out of the car. I went to shut the door, but she spoke. "And
this…is our little secret." She told me, and she looked into my
eyes. I looked at her, and nodded.
"Alright." I told her, and
shut the door to her limo. I stood up straight, my pickle tub in arm.
The limo drove off slowly, and I turned to the building. The dog,
Evita, was still barking.
"Poor woman…no wonder she can't sleep." I said, and sighed, cringing at the high-pitched yaps the dog let out. I was across the street from the building, so that I could see the window and dog clearly. I sat myself down, my bag cushioning me. I placed the pickle tub inbetween my legs, and began to drum. I could hear the dog's barks get louder and angrier. I played to its voice. The faster she barked, the faster I played. The louder she barked, the louder I played. My drumming crescendo ended when I heard a howl and a yelp replaced by the barks. I looked up at the building. The dog was gone. My eyes averted every which way. What made it yelp like that? Was it an owner that grabbed the dog? Did they see me? I looked down right across the street, and there was my answer. A mound of ginger fur lay at the entrance of the apartment building. My eyes widened. The dog fell and had died. I killed a dog. For money. By drumming.
SHIT.
I bolted out of sight as quick I my legs would work. The last thing I wanted to happen was someone calling the cops on me because of a dead dog. New York wasn't on my side. I would never get out of that kind of a mess. I continued to run, and found a familiar alleyway. I heard someone. I tapped on my pickle tub, trying to ignore it. My heart was racing, hoping no one had witnessed what I just committed. I climbed a fire escape, and began to play my pickle tub. I hear someone again, and I stopped for a second, and looked around. No one was there. So, I began to play again, but I heard a groan, and I stopped. I put my pickle tub down on one of the steps, and stood up. I grabbed a pole and hung out the escape to see where these sounds were coming from. To my left is where I saw him.
He sat huddled, wiping his face, shivering. It was blood that he was wiping from his face. I hopped down from where I was, and looked at him. He looked scared and hurt, so I didn't want to frighten him, so I walked over slowly, and looked down at him. He saw me, and looked up. He winced lightly. He looked like he was beat up pretty good.
"You okay honey?" I asked him softly, and knelt down next to him. He backed off from me only an inch, because he winced in pain.
"I don't think so." He told me. His voice cracked, and I frowned. Poor baby, out here for who knows how long, bleeding away, and probably freezing. I grabbed my handkerchief from my pocket, and tried to wipe away some blood from him, and he quickly backed off. Cleary this man did not want me to touch him. I sighed at him.
"What happened to you?" I asked, not wanting to just leave this guy on the street to bleed to death.
"Mugged. Not like I had anything much to take. I've got no money, I just got here. So they took my goddamn coat." He told me, and took a sleeve to his nose. He seemed very hostile, and that hostility wasn't going to get him any better. I sighed, and stood up, holding out my hand. He looked at it for a second, and then back up at my face. His brown eyes became a little more trusting, and with a free hand, he took mine. "Thanks." He said, as I lifted him off the ground. I had to hold him up for a second, well; actually, I wanted to hold him for a second. I'm pretty sure he was stable, I'm not sure why I did it, but he didn't seem to mind. When he got himself steady to my liking, I let go of him.
"I'm Angel, Angel Dumott Schunard." I told him, and smiled lightly, looking back into his brown eyes. I would have to tell my friend how gorgeous they were later. He smiled, showing me a lovely row of white teeth, and my eyes left his eyes, and my heart melted when I saw that gorgeous smile.
"I'm Collins…umm…Tom. My name's Tom Collins, but my friends just call me Collins." He said and shrugged.
"Well, I hope that I'll be able to call you Collins." I told him, and smirked. Thankfully, he laughed at what I said. All right, I'm not one to judge, considering my stand on the subject, my when I looked at that face, my gaydar just went flying. It didn't make the situation better though. So, now I was nervous. I was flirting with a beautiful man, but he's gay. Now the flirting, for pretty much the first time in my life, means something.
"I'd prefer it. Last time someone called my Tom, my dad was yelling at me." He chuckled, and I smiled. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your drumming. You're pretty good." He told me, and I couldn't help but feel my cheeks get hot. I must have been blushing purple.
"Don't worry sweetie, it's not like it was your fault you were mugged and left in the alley to die." I told him and smiled. "Come over to my place and we can get you warmed up and clean. You look like you could use a few bandages too." I told him, and he blushed lightly.
"Well, I don't want to get in your way, and I came here to visit my friends, they're probably worried sick." He told me. I shook my head. I wasn't just going to let him out of my sight like that. I wanted to make sure he'd be fine.
"I'm not letting you refuse my offer." I told him in a mocking grounded way. He laughed.
"I guess I don't have a choice. Thank you very much…Angel." He told me, and smiled.
"It's my pleasure Collins." I said, and I think I squeaked. How could I have helped it? His growl of a voice saying my name just made me too weak. "Come on, my apartment isn't too far away." I told him, and we began to walk down the block to my apartment.