Mimi wrapped her arms around Roger. She knew who April was, and what had happened to her.
"Wait, April?" the girl asked. "As in April Carson?" Roger nodded. He was too shocked to say anything at the moment.
"Yeah, how do you know her?" asked Collins.
"She's my Mother." That was the last straw for Roger. He stormed off wordlessly towards the loft. Sighing, Mimi followed after him.
"What's your name sweetie?" Joanne asked.
"Selah Carson. Did I say something wrong?" Selah questioned as she nodded in the direction of Roger.
"Don't worry about him," Mark replied. "Why don't you come back to our place, it appears as if we have a lot of things to talk about." Selah shrugged, and followed the Bohemians.
Meanwhile, Mimi ran after Roger calling his name. Halfway back to the loft, he had started heading back towards the Life. Finally, Mimi caught up with him. She grabbed his arm, and spun him around.
"Will you slow down and talk to me!?" demanded Mimi. Roger sighed, and faced the dancer.
"What's there to talk about!?" Mimi wrapped her arms around Roger's neck. "That girl is April's daughter! I had finally gotten past April Carson, and I'm greeted with this!" Mimi stroked Roger's rough cheek. A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Mimi's mind.
"She's not yours…is she?" she asked quietly. Roger quickly shook his head.
"She's too young, and we never had any kids, promise. That girl looks like she's about twelve or thirteen, so April would have been…" Roger paused to do a quick calculation in his head. "Fourteen or fifteen when she was born. April and I didn't meet until we were both eighteen." Letting out a breath of relief, Mimi buried her face in Roger's chest.
"Okay, good." Roger kissed the top of Mimi's head. "We should head back to the loft, that little girl obviously doesn't know about April." Roger sighed, and took Mimi's hand. Now, they had the heartbreaking task of telling a young girl about her Mother's suicide.
Selah followed the Bohemians back to the loft. Nobody said anything the whole way there. Mark slid the door open, and went inside.
"Make yourself at home," the filmmaker said as he dumped his camera bag on the table. Selah sat down on the couch, and looked around somewhat uncomfortably. Normally she would never trust complete strangers in New York City, but there something about their reactions upon seeing her. Judging by some of their faces, Selah figured that they knew her Mother. Selah knew that she was a mini version of her Mother, she had been told that for as long as she could remember.
"Can you tell me about my Mom?" she asked rather hopefully. Collins sat down next to Selah on the couch.
"We should wait until Roger gets back. He'll want to talk to you some," replied the anarchist.
"Roger?"
"The man that stormed off," Maureen explained quietly as she sat down on Joanne's lap. Joanne kissed her lover's cheek, and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"You doing okay Honeybear?" she whispered in the diva's ear. Maureen nodded as Joanne tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Maureen closed her eyes, and rested her head on Joanne's shoulder.
When the loft door slid open, everyone looked up. In walked Roger and Mimi hand in hand. Roger smiled weakly when he saw Selah.
"Hey," he said to everyone as he went over and got a beer out of the refrigerator. "What did you say your name was?"
"Selah Carson." Roger hoisted himself up on the table, and sat cross-legged with his beer resting in front of him. He nodded as he took a long drink and set the bottle back down.
"And April's your Mother?" Roger hadn't really even looked at his friends after greeting them. All that mattered was getting the facts straight from Selah.
"So I've been told, but I don't know for sure. She ran away to here after I was born."
"Where are you from?" Mark asked. April had never talked about where she was from; she would always change the subject.
"Rochester. I took a bus here to find my Mother. Do you guys know where she is?" The Bohemians all looked at each other.
"How much do you know about April?" asked Collins.
"Enough to know that she's here in Alphabet City. I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't I be the one asking the questions?" Collins chuckled.
"We want to make sure we're talking about the same person before we start telling you about your Mother."
Maureen stood up abruptly and exclaimed, "This is obviously April's daughter Collins! Just stop beating around the bush and come out with it!" Joanne got up, and pulled the diva close in hops of calming her down. Selah was now becoming scared. It was clear that everyone knew something that she didn't.
Roger got up, and sat on the round coffee table across from Selah. Nobody said anything at first. Roger sighed.
"I dated your Mom about five years ago. There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just be honest. Your Mother and I were junkies. She lived here for a while. Once, we used a tainted needle, and got AIDS. I'm sorry to tell you this, but your Mother's dead." Selah stared at her lap. A few tears slid down her cheeks.
After a few seconds, she asked quietly, "Was it AIDS? Did she die from AIDS?" Roger and Mark looked at each other.
"No honey, she uh, she…she killed herself." Now, Selah couldn't take it anymore. Sobbing, she fell forward into Roger's arms. The rocker rubbed the distraught girl's back in hopes of calming her down. Joanne took Maureen's hand, and lead her towards the door.
"We're going to get going guys. Sorry to just run, but I've got court tomorrow," the lawyer said. The Bohemians said goodbye to the two girls as they left.
Angel and Collins left about half an hour after Maureen and Joanne. Selah had calmed down a great deal, but was still upset.
"Were are you staying sweetie?" Mimi asked. Selah shrugged. She had figured that she'd sleep on another park bench again.
"The park?" she replied, rather uncertain about herself.
"Where you can get raped!?" Mimi exclaimed. "Like hell you are! You can stay here with us." Selah stood up and grabbed her backpack.
"That's where I've been the past few days, and I've been fine. My Mother's dead, there's nothing left to find out." Mimi stood up and grabbed Selah's arm.
"What about your Father? Please don't go out on the streets. If something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself."
"Fine, I'll stay." Selah broke free of Mimi's grip and flopped back down on the couch. "As for my Father, I don't know anything but he was a fling from when my Mom came to the City to visit a friend for a week. As far as I know, he has no clue about me." Roger came into the room, and sat on one of the secondhand chairs that littered the loft.
"So you're staying?" he asked Selah. She nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I'll sleep on the couch."
"You can take my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch," Mark offered from where he was editing together some film.
"No, I'll be fine on the couch. I don't want to put anyone out, and it's a step up from a park bench." Mark sighed. He wasn't in the mood to argue.
"Does whoever you're living with know where you are?" Mimi asked. Selah chewed on her bottom lip.
"No, my Aunt and Uncle don't know that I'm here. I left them a note though, so that should count for something!"
"Oh honey, you can't do that! Your Aunt and Uncle must be worried sick about you. First thing in the morning, I want you to call them." Selah crossed her arms, and leaned back.
"Fine, whatever, I'll call them tomorrow." Satisfied, Mimi got up to get some blankets and a pillow for their new guest.
A/N: LONG chapter, but the next one's short. I have to go to school now, but I'll update again soon (if I feel like it!) I have up to chapter 5 (and part of 6) written, I hope to be completely done by Monday. Until next time, much love! Oh, and her name's pronounced, "Say-lah" for anyone who didn't know!
Tina101