Joanne slipped her shoes on and grabbed her purse off the kitchen table. She had to run to the grocery store.
"Honeybear, I'm leaving!" she called. "Do you need anything?"
"Some aspirin please," Maureen replied from the bedroom.
"I thought that we had a full bottle of it."
"Uh, no. We only
have one or two pills left. Could you pick up a bottle of it
please?"
"Sure." Joanne could have sworn that there were
more than a few pills left in the bottle they had. "I love you."
"Love you too." Joanne shouldered her purse and left for the store.
When Joanne got back from the store, she found Maureen in the bathroom fixing her hair. She kissed her lover's cheek softly.
"Collins called," Maureen said. "We're meeting at the Life in about two hours." Maureen turned around. "Which gives us some time to spend together." Joanne gave Maureen a tender kiss.
"Sounds good to me." Maureen pressed her lips against Joanne's, and they stumbled over to the bed.
The second they were done, Maureen got up and rushed to the bathroom. Confused, Joanne sat up with a sheet held up to her chest. Maureen had been pretty pale and shaky the entire time.
"Honeybear, are you okay?"
"Yeah, uh…never better. We should probably get ready to go." Joanne got up and began to dig around for something to wear. Maureen came out of the bathroom and pulled on her clothes.
"Do you want to stay in? You look pretty pale."
"No, I'm fine." Joanne gave Maureen a kiss.
"Okay," she said slowly. "The aspirin you wanted is on the dresser. I'll be in the other room." Joanne gave Maureen another kiss and left.
The second Joanne left the room; Maureen grabbed her bag of pills from its hiding space and poured half of the new bottle into it. Once she was done, she put the bottle on the counter in the bathroom. She slipped seven pills in her pocket before putting the baggie and going out to be with Joanne, only stuffing her stash under the blankets.
An hour later, Joanne went to the bathroom to grab her watch. She found the bottle she had bought earlier on the counter. When she picked it up, she was confused about why it was half empty. Joanne stopped to think. Maureen's voice shattered her thoughts.
"Pookie, let's go! We're already late!" Joanne grabbed her watch and dashed out of the bedroom. She wanted to avoid with a fight with Maureen at the moment.
After the Life, the Bohemians were on their way to the loft. Maureen needed a hit so badly. She started shaking, and beads of sweat began to form on her brow.
"You okay, Mo?" Roger asked. Maureen stopped.
"I'm fine," she snapped through clenched teeth. The rest of the Bohemians stopped. "I wish people would stop asking me that!"
"We're worried about you!"
"Well, don't be! I'm a big girl. I don't need a babysitter!" Roger put his hand on Maureen's shoulder.
"We're trying to help."
"Don't touch me," Maureen growled. Before anyone could react, Maureen brought her hand across Roger's cheek. She then broke free from Roger and ran down the street. Joanne dashed down the street after her. Mimi rushed over to Roger.
"Let me see your cheek," she ordered. Roger pulled away.
"Not now; we need to go help Joanne." Roger took Mimi's hand, and the Bohemians all rushed to Maureen and Joanne's apartment.
Joanne cautiously opened the door to her apartment. She followed the path of Maureen's belongings to the bathroom. When she opened the door, she was shocked to find Maureen about to swallow a handful of pills.
"What are you
doing!?" Joanne cried. Maureen jumped. "Are you crazy!?"
"Get
away from me," Maureen grumbled. Joanne grabbed Maureen's arms
when she went to take the pills. "Get the hell off of me! Let me
go!" Maureen screamed. Joanne pried Maureen's hand open and
dumped the aspirin into the sink.
"Are you crazy!?" Joanne repeated. Maureen shoved Joanne away and scrambled out of the bathroom.
When the Bohemians got to Maureen and Joanne's apartment, Maureen was huddled on the floor against the wall sobbing while Joanne was yelling at her. Angel knelt down on the floor next to Maureen and wrapped her arms around her.
"Jo, what's wrong?" Collins asked.
"Ask Maureen," Joanne spat. Collins sighed. He wasn't in the mood to play these games. Maureen continued to cry. "She's been taking pills, lots of pills; that's why she's been acting so weird." Maureen felt everyone's eyes on her as they comprehended Joanne's words.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed over and over again. Angel rubbed her back.
"I know, honey, I know," she whispered in her ear.
"This is unbelievable," Joanne muttered. "I can't live like this. You're a fucking drug-addict." Maureen got up and threw her arms around Joanne.
"No, please don't leave me! I need you." Joanne held Maureen at arm's length.
"How many pills did you take?" she demanded in a constricted voice.
"Eight," Maureen replied quietly.
"Are you trying to kill yourself!? Is that your goal, to die!?" Joanne pushed Maureen away and ran to the bedroom. Mimi rushed after her.
Joanne was sitting on Maureen's side of the bed crying. Mimi sat down next to her and pulled her into a comforting embrace.
"I feel so blind," Joanne said through tears. "She was doing all this shit right under my nose."
"Don't blame yourself. Maureen needs you to be strong for her sake right now." Joanne shifted uncomfortably. She felt something under the blankets. It was lumpy and difficult to tell if she sat the right way. "What's wrong?" Joanne reached under the comforter and produced Maureen's stash. There had to be at least a hundred or so pills. "Oh Lord," Mimi breathed. Joanne got to her feet. "Jo, honey, don't lose your temper."
"I'm putting a permanent end to this death wish," Joanne said gravely. Mimi got to her feet and followed her out to the other room.
Maureen was leaning against Collins with his arms wrapped around her when Joanne came out of the bedroom. She looked up when she heard Joanne. Joanne dumped the baggie of pills on the floor. All the Bohemians watched her and Maureen, as if waiting for some answers. Maureen shrank away from Joanne towards Collins.
"If you want your precious pills, then fine, but you have hour to get out."
"Joanne!" Mark cried.
"If you want to get clean, then you can stay."
Without missing a beat, Maureen said, "I want to get clean. I want to stay here; I want to be with you." Maureen broke free from Collins and leaned against Joanne. "Don't leave me, I need you." Joanne's heart melted.
"I won't leave you, I promise." Maureen relaxed in Joanne's arms. Roger spoke up.
"You know, Maureen, this isn't going to be easy. Especially for you." Maureen nodded.
"I don't care, I need help. I want to get clean."