Chapter Two
Disclaimer: Rent isn't mine!
So, this is the second chapter already. It feels good to be working on something new. I feel like I know these characters like a family, so it's great being able to write about them.
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"Collins, wouldn't it be great to have children?" Angel said, setting a steaming cup of coffee in front of her lover, "Don't you think?"
"I guess so." He watched the steam curl and swirl before disappearing into the air. He didn't really know if he wanted kids. He didn't know if he'd be a good father. He'd had a sack of flour to care for in high school, but he'd dropped it after an hour and failed the assignment.
"You don't think so?" Angel said, sitting across from him at the table.
"I dunno. Would we be good parents?"
"Of course we would, sweetie."
"I still don't know…"
"Oh Tom, I don't want a baby… I just think it'd be nice."
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Collins stood and walked to the door. He hadn't seen anyone but the pizza delivery guy for months since Angel had died. He put his hand on the doorhandle and turned it slowly. He pulled it open.
On his doorstep stood a teenage girl with skin the same colour as his and black hair which had been braided into hundreds of tiny braids which she'd pulled off her face with a bright green ribbon. She wore a simple white shirt and jeans. She carried an overnight bag.
"Who are you?" Collins said.
"You're not how I expected you to be." She said, surveying him carefully.
"Who are you?" He repeated monotonously. He didn't want to see anyone. All he wanted to do was wallow and perhaps drink some more beer.
"Can I come in?"
"I don't care…Yeah, come in." He stepped aside and the girl walked past him. She put her bag on the floor next to the door and she sat on the sofa. Collins sat at the kitchen table and looked at her.
"Who are you?"
"Well… I think it's more a question of who you are."
"Me?"
"Do you remember a girl called Patrice Humphreys?" She said, "You went to college with her?"
"Patrice… Patty?"
"That's the one… Well I'm her daughter."
"Okay…" He had a strange feeling about her. He felt like he knew her already.
"Well, the thing is… I think I might also be your daughter."
"My d-daughter?"
"Yeah… You slept with my mother after a party…"
"Yeah, I did… But I was wearing a- " Collins' eyes widened as
he came to a realisation.
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"Shit!" Collins said from the bathroom.
"What?" Patty said from the bedroom where she was smoking a cigarette. She stood, bringing the sheet with her to preserve what modesty was left after what had just happened. She padded into the bathroom, a curious look on her face, "What happened, baby?" She rubbed his shoulders and brought her hands down over his chest.
"It broke."
"What broke?"
"The condom. It fucking broke."
"Shit!" She said.
"Nothing can happen… right? I mean, it's just once."
"Right…" Patty smiled and walked around to face him. She stood on her toes and kissed him on the lips, "Nothing can happen."
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"It broke didn't it?"
Collins nodded, "But nothing… she said nothing was going to happen."
"Well obviously it did."
He looked up at the girl who was probably his daughter. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do. Angel had always said it'd be nice to have a daughter or a son. "That party was a few weeks before graduation... I never saw her after we graduated… How's she doin'?"
"She's dead. That's why I'm here. I read a letter that she left me. It said to find my father. She listed a few men she'd slept with around that time. You were the last."
"Oh man…" Collins stood and began to pace. He walked to the sofa, turned around and walked back to the kitchen again.
"I'm Anna, by the way."
"Anna… Nice name."
"So you're my father."
"Yeah… I suppose I am… although, we should get you tested… just to make sure."
"I guess so…" She said.
Collins smiled, "This was what she wanted…"
"What who wanted?"
"Everyone has a story… If I'm your father, you should know mine." He sat down next to her on the sofa, "I was born in Harlem, moved to Alphabet City when I was four and have lived around this area ever since. I dated girls during college, but then I realised that I didn't really like girls… and then I met Angel. He rescued me from rotting in an alleyway after some bastards mugged me… and then I found out that he was a drag queen who had AIDS… like me-"
"You have AIDS?"
Collins nodded, "And we were together eleven months before he died… He died six months ago, and I haven't left this apartment since." Collins pulled a photograph out of the box of photos which still lay open on the table. He handed it to Anna, "This is me and him… On our only New Years Day…"
"She's very beautiful." Anna said quietly, realising that Collins needed someone who wasn't going to judge him.
"I know… I miss her."
There was a silence and Anna stared at the photo of Collins next to Angel. She stared at the photo of Collins. His face shone and he smiled widely. His eyes sparkled like the glittered dress that Angel wore. She looked up at the broken man that sat before her, his cheeks were hollow and his skin dull and pale. He looked as if he hadn't shaved in weeks and the light had left his eyes.
"You need to see your friends…" Anna said.
"First we need to figure you out, where are you staying?"
"As of yet, nowhere…I arrived here an hour ago…"
"You can sleep on the couch."
"Thank you."
"I have a friend at the AIDS clinic. I'm sure they can do a DNA test."
"And until then…"
"Then you stay here."
"Thank you."
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