"You're gonna go to college?" Maureen asked as they sat in the Life Cafe drinking beer.
"Yeah, why is that so hard for you to believe?" he asked looking over at her with his arm around Fiona's shoulders.
"I just never pegged you as a college boy. That's all I'm saying." she said lifting her glass.
"I'm not gonna be a college boy. I'm just going for one course." he said taking a sip of his beer.
"I just think it's gonna be weird, that's all. I've known you a long time and the last thing I expected from you was to enroll in college." she said looking up at him.
"Why? Because I'm a failed rock star with no real future." he asked getting up and walking over to the juke box.
"That's not what I meant Fee. I just..." she started looking over at Fiona.
"I know Maureen. I'll go talk to him." Fiona said before getting up and going to him. "Down boy. I don't think that's what Maureen meant." she said wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I know. I just never thought about going to college and she's acting like I'm an idiot who can't do anything." he said looking over at her.
"No one thinks you're an idiot Roger. Actually, aside from Collins, you're the smartest guy I know. It takes a lot to write songs like you do. Plus you have street smarts that no one else has. You can pick out a thug a mile away." she smiled looking up at him.
"Yeah well, I grew up in the Bronx. It doesn't take a genius to know a hood when you see one." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, my point is, you are a really smart man. Don't let Maureen's ribbing get to you. No one thinks you're stupid. Actually, you know what you want to do with your life. You've always known. I envy you actually." she said looking up at him.
"Why? Fee, you're taking philosophy. That takes a lot of intelligence." he smiled looking down at her.
"Yeah, but look at me. I got involved with a mobster and I almost married him. I was with him for over a year, not realizing he was a mobster. I've seen the Godfather and Goodfellas. I should have known, but I didn't. I thought since he bought me beautiful things and brought me to nice restaurants, that he was a great guy. All I needed was a poor musician to love me the way I should have been loved." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"I do love you Fee. I may not be able to give you everything Jake did, but I do love you." he smiled looking down at her.
"I know Roger. And I love you. Just the way you are." she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her tight.
"Come on. I owe Maureen an apology for the way I acted." he said looking down at her.
"OK Baby." she smiled as they walked over to the table.
"OK Baby, I'm gonna be right out here when you're done, OK?" Roger smiled looking down at Fiona as they stood outside her philosophy class.
"You're not gonna come in and watch Collins at work?" she asked smiling up at him.
"I don't think Collins would appreciate me snoring through his class again today. He kind of bitches about it a lot." he laughed caressing her face.
"Point taken. I'll see you after class." she laughed leaning up to kiss him.
"I love you Fee." he smiled looking down at her.
"I love you too Roger, but you don't have to wait out here through the whole class. You can go get coffee at the student union or something. I'll find you there." she smiled looking up at him.
"Nah, I'm fine out here. I have an assignment to finish for music tech anyway." he smiled reaching down to caress her face.
"OK Baby. I'll see you after class." she smiled going into the classroom.
"Why is your boyfriend always up your ass?" a young girl asked looking over at Fiona as she put her book bag down next to her desk.
"It's a safety issue. He's not possessive or anything, really." she smiled looking up at her.
"He's like, your body guard?" she asked looking down at her.
"Yeah. Something like that." she laughed looking up at her.
"Are you famous or something?" she asked looking down at her.
"No, I'm not. It's complicated. I'd rather not talk about it. If you don't mind." she said looking up at her.
"OK. Sorry." she said sitting down as Collins entered the classroom and began teaching. As Roger sat on the bench outside the classroom he looked around and didn't notice anyone around, so he dug into his book bag for his music book. He had to write a song using a childhood memory and he was having a lot of difficulty with it. He sat there for 10 minutes before he decided to get a cup of coffee from the student union like Fiona suggested. He hoped a cup of coffee would help him figure out what to write about. Just as he exited the building someone hit him on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Where's your boyfriend?" the girl from class asked Fiona as they left the class room.
"I don't know. It's not like Roger not to be sitting right here." she said as she went towards the exit door. Just as she was about to open it, she saw his black knap sack laying on the ground outside the door and his book was on the ground. She recognized it because she picked it out for him. She turned around and rushed back to the class room. As she closed the door behind her, Collins looked up seeing the fear on her face.
"What's the matter Babygirl? Where's Roger?" he asked looking up at her.
"I don't know. His back pack is laying on the ground outside. What if they found him and took him to try to get to me?" she asked looking up at him starting to cry.
"Calm down Babygirl. Did you see him outside?" he asked rushing over to her.
"No. I didn't even go outside. I saw Roger's book bag on the ground and came here." she said looking over at him.
"OK, you did good Babygirl. Um, I'm gonna go outside and get his book bag. You stay here. I'm gonna close the door behind me. Don't open it for anyone, do you hear me? I have a key. You'll be safe here." he said leaning down to kiss her head.
"What if something happened to him Collins? I never wanted to put him in danger and now I have. What if they kill him? Oh my God Collins." she cried looking up at him.
"It'll be OK Babygirl. We'll find him. I swear. He's gonna be OK." he said looking down at her.
"Just go Collins. We have to find him." she said looking up at him.
"Stay here. I'm gonna go check the student union. Maybe he went for a cup of coffee." he said looking down at her.
"You know that's not true Collins. Jake found him. One of his guys saw him with me that day. We out ran the guy, but he saw Roger. I knew I should have left that day. But I let him talk me out of it because of my feelings for him. Dammit, now they have him and they're gonna torture him until he tells them where I am. Which you know he's never gonna do because he's a stubborn ass." she cried as she walked around the classroom ranting.
"Babygirl calm down. I'm gonna go see if I can find him. Stay here." he said looking down at her.
"Thank you Collins. Find him. Please find him for me." she said looking up at him.
"I will Babygirl. Don't worry about it. I'll find him." he said hugging her tight before rushing out of the classroom locking the door. She paced around the classroom running her fingers through her hair. It was growing out from when she cut it 6 months ago to disguise herself. She was so worried about Roger. What if something happened to him? How was she gonna be able to live with herself knowing she put his life in danger like that. She walked over to the phone on Collins' desk and called Mark.
"Mark, it's me. They got him. They found me, but they took Roger." she cried sitting on Collin' desk.
"What do you mean they got him? Who got him? What are you talking about?" he asked confused by what she was telling him.
"Jake or one of his guys. They took Roger. I was in class and he was waiting outside the classroom for me and when I came out he was gone. They're gonna kill him. We have to find him. I have to go to Jake and make him let him go." she cried collapsing onto the floor.
"No you're not Fee. Where's Collins?" he asked standing up from his chair.
"He went out looking for him and locked me in the classroom, but he's not gonna find him. Jake won't let him. He's got him somewhere and he's gonna torture him until he tells him where I am. And he never will. He'd rather have Jake kill him than tell him where I am. What the hell are we gonna do Mark?" she cried sitting on the floor.
"Babygirl, open the door. It's me. Hurry up." Collins yelled pounding on the door.
"Oh my God. He's back. I gotta go." she yelled hanging up the phone before getting up to run to the door to open it.
"Babygirl, he was in an alley across campus." he told her out of breath as he helped a bloodied Roger into the classroom.
"Oh my God Roger. What happened?" she asked reaching for him as Collins pushed her away.
"Fee no." Roger managed moving away from her. "The blood." he moaned holding his stomach. He looked really bad. He had cuts on his face and lip and there was blood all over his clothes.
"What happened Baby?" she asked wiping her eyes as they entered the classroom.
"Jake's guys. They grabbed me while I was going to get coffee about 10 minutes after your class started and they took me to an alley. They kept hitting me, asking me where you were." he said as Collins put him in a chair.
"Oh my God. What did you tell them?" she asked looking over at him, keeping her distance.
"I told them to go to hell. There was no way I was telling them where you were. No way." he groaned looking over at her.
"They could have killed you Roger. Do you realize that?" she asked looking over at him as she paced around the classroom.
"I don't care Fee. There's no way I'm letting them get to you." he groaned leaning over gripping his ribs.
"We have to get you to a hospital Roger. You could have broken ribs and you look like you need stitches. Among other things." Collins said looking down at him.
"What about Fee? Someone has to get her home." he groaned looking up at him.
"No way. I'm going with you and you're not winning this argument Roger. Not this time." she yelled looking over at him.
"But Fee..." he started looking over at her.
"Enough Roger. I'm taking care of you now. We're calling the police and telling them everything. And you are pressing assault charges." she yelled looking down at him as Collins helped him up.
"OK Fee. You win. I can't argue with you right now." he said getting up wincing in pain.
"No you're not. Now, let's go." she said looking down at him surprised that he agreed so easily.
