It was the night before Roger was supposed to come home. Angela stood in the kitchen making her a bowl of cereal. Mimi came into the room.
"Mamá, me asustan sobre el papá que viene a casa. Él va a ser tan enojado en mí," Angela confessed. Mom, I'm nervous about Dad coming home. He's going to be so mad at me.
"No preocoparte, mija, papá no sera enojado en ti. Debes hablar quizá con él, él podrías ser bueno para ti ambos," Mimi assured. Don't worry, mija, Dad isn't mad at you. Talk to him, it could be good for both of you.
"Pero estoy asustado." But I'm scared.
"No necesitas estar asustado, yo hablarás con él antes de que él hable con ti." You don't need to worry. I'll talk to him before he talks to you.
"Realamente?" Really?
"Por supuesto, confiarme en, yo saben hablar con tu padre. Él tiene una cabeza gruesa, pero él escuchará siempre mí, me confía en." Trust me; I know how to talk to your Father. He has a thick head, but he always listens to me, trust me.
"Agradece a mama." Thanks Mom. Mimi kissed Angela's temple.
"De nada." You're welcome. Angela grabbed her bowl of cereal and sat at the table. She was still worried about confronting her Father.
Later that night, Angela was lying in bed trying to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Groaning, she rolled out of bed and carefully opened the door to her parents' room.
"Mom?" she asked quietly. Mimi rolled over to face the doorway. "I can't sleep."
"Come sleep with me then." Angela lay down on Roger's side of the bed. "Night Angela."
"Night Mommy," Angela mumbled as she pulled the quilt around her shoulders and closed her eyes.
Roger quietly opened the front door. He put his suitcase and guitar by the front door. He wanted to surprise Mimi. Roger carefully opened the door to his room only to find two sleeping forms in bed. At first he was furious until he realized that it was Angela. Roger went over and kissed Mimi's lips softly. A smile played across her lips as she opened her eyes.
"You're home!" she exclaimed.
"Shh, Angie's asleep." Mimi sat up.
"Let's go out in the other room, I want to talk to you about something." Mimi entwined her fingers with Roger's, and they went out to the family room together.
Roger sat on the couch and pulled Mimi onto his lap. He began to kiss his wife and slid his hand under her shirt. Mimi shivered under Roger's touch and broke off the kiss.
"Roger, baby, we really should talk." Roger nuzzled Mimi's neck and squeezed her ass. "Roger!"
"Sorry, I couldn't
resist." Mimi blushed. "I missed you."
"I missed you
too." Mimi ran her fingers through Roger's long hair. "I need
to talk to you about Angela." Roger sighed.
"I'm not even home
ten minutes and you want to talk about this already?"
"Roger,
Angela is afraid of you." Roger froze.
"Afraid of me?"
Mimi nodded. "How…why?"
"She's afraid of your temper.
Angela's afraid that now that you're home, you'll let loose all
your anger about this whole situation."
"So, what do you want
me to do?"
"Talk to her…calmly. Take her out for the day,
and don't loose your temper!" Roger pecked Mimi on the
lips.
"Don't worry, I won't," he assured. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed…oh, that's right, our teenager's fast asleep in our room, forcing me to sleep here on the couch." Mimi kissed Roger's cheek.
"I love you,
baby."
"I know which is why you're sleeping here on the
couch with me." Mimi gawked.
"No way! I'm sleeping in bed." Roger tightened his grip around Mimi's waist.
"Like hell you are. I just spent six weeks away from you; you, Mimi Davis, are sleeping on the couch with me." Roger shifted so he was lying down on his back. The couch was pretty wide, so Mimi could lie on her side between Roger and the back of the couch with her head on his chest. Soon, they were both asleep.
When Angela got up the next morning, she found Roger sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. The teenager froze when she saw her Father. He wasn't supposed to be home until later! Roger looked up.
"Hey Angela," he said. Angela grabbed a small box off the counter and popped a pill into her mouth. "What, are you mad at me?" Angela shook her head.
"Where's Mom?" she asked.
"Asleep on the
couch, so keep it down. You know how she can be if you disturb her
beauty sleep."
"I heard that!" Mimi announced from the
couch. Roger rolled his eyes. Angela smiled.
"Angela, how about you and I go down to Tompkins Square Park and talk?" Roger suggested. Angela shrugged.
"I dunno, I guess," she replied quietly.
"Where do you want to go? You pick, anywhere in Manhattan." Angela chewed on her bottom lip.
"Can we go to the Natural History Museum?" She sounded like a small child.
"Let me shower and we'll leave." Roger got up and retreated to the bathroom. Angela went to go get dressed.
An hour later, Roger and Angela were walking down the street to the Natural History Museum. Angela was in a pair of tattered jeans, a baggy gray hoodie and a faded denim jacket. She and Roger mounted the steps to the museum and went inside. Once Roger paid, he and Angela began to walk around.
"How was the tour?" Angela asked while they were looking at the caveman exhibit. Roger shrugged.
"Okay, I guess. I still want you to come on tour with me one summer." Angela sighed.
"I don't think that that's going to happen," she said sadly.
"Of course it will. We'll wait a few years. Some kids grow up on a tour bus, a summer will be good." Angela looked at Roger.
"Really?"
"Yeah,
I never go back on my word." Angela snorted. "What's that
snort about?"
"Disney World? Does that ring a bell?"
"Damn, I was hoping that you had forgotten about that."
"Yeah, right, you wish." Angela and Roger moved on to the next exhibit. "Hey Dad, not that I don't appreciate this grand day out, but why do I have the feeling that you want to talk about what's going on?"
"Because I do. I'll wait until we're done here." Angela smiled gratefully. She wasn't ready to talk yet.
Once Angela and Roger were done, they bough hotdogs from a street vender and began to walk back to Alphabet City.
"Angie, when I found out, I was so mad," Roger started. Angela stared at her feet as she walked. "I couldn't believe it, my little girl, pregnant. I locked myself in my room for hours. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but I didn't. I cried, I actually cried."
"I'm sorry Daddy." Roger shook his head.
"Don't be, this isn't your fault." Angela opened her mouth in protest. "No, let me explain. Have I ever told you about April?" Angela shook her head. "She was my girlfriend; about twenty years ago…I can't believe that it's been that long. Anyway, we were junkies…heroin junkies that shared a needle. We got AIDS. April slit her wrists and left me a note telling me about the AIDS. I got clean. I met your Mom when I was twenty two, and she was nineteen, one year later. Then, your Mom was a junkie. I pushed her away at first, but I couldn't resist her. We fell in love. I guess you know the rest." Angela nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"We were, but every year on your birthday your Mom and I would want to wait another year. Did I ever tell you about the first time Mom and I kissed?" Angela shook her head.
"No, what
happened?"
"I was at home, the loft, playing my guitar. She
climbs through the fire escape window, across that big metal table
Uncle Mark still has and kissed me full on the lips!"
Angela smiled. "I was so mad! Mom was living the lifestyle
I had just gotten out of."
"I can only imagine. No offense Dad, but you're not one to just take a trip down memory lane." Roger draped his arm over Angela's shoulders.
"There was something about your Mom. Deep down inside, I knew that she was the one the second I saw her. I didn't listen to my gut feeling and almost pushed her away forever. I could have ruined both our lives. I was stubborn, just like you are. Don't make a stupid mistake like I almost did. Think long and hard about what you want to do about this baby." Angela chewed on her bottom lip; a habit she got from Mimi.
"I want to keep this baby," she told Roger. She looked up at him. "Is that okay?"
"We'll support you no matter what." Angela rested her head against Roger, and they walked the rest of the way home in silence.
Mimi was washing dishes when Roger and Angela finally got home. There were no tears, that was a good thing.
"Kara called," Mimi informed her daughter. Nodding, Angela went to go call her friend. Roger picked up the dishrag and began to dry dishes. "How'd it go?"
"Good, we talked and everything. She wants to keep the baby." Mimi nodded. She turned off the water and faced Roger.
"What are we going to do, Roger? We still don't now what happened to Angela on the streets. She came back high and pregnant!" Roger wrapped his arms around Mimi and rested his head on top of her head.
"I want to try one more time; Angela's my daughter." Roger rubbed Mimi's back and kissed the top of her head.
Angela lay across her bed with her phone up to her ear, waiting for Kara to pick up. Finally, Kara picked up the other end.
"Hello?"
"Did you call me?" Angela asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to see how you've been. We haven't talked in ages." Angela rolled onto her back.
"I know. I've
talked to Darren everyday though."
"Yeah, I know."
"Hey,
tomorrow's Friday, right?"
"Yeah, all day."
"Maybe you and Darren can come over for a little while. I can ask my Mom to cook. My Dad's gonna be out with his friends, so it'll just be us."
"Let me check with my Mom."
"Yeah, I have to check too. Be right back."
"Same." Angela put her phone on her bed next to her and got up to go ask her parents.
Angela found her parents busy making out in the kitchen. She loved how they still acted like newlyweds after nearly twenty years of marriage. Angela picked up a thick cookbook and dropped it on the counter. Roger and Mimi broke apart.
"Can Kara and Darren come over tomorrow evening?" Angela asked. Mimi and Roger looked at each other.
"Sure sweetie," Mimi replied.
"I'll be out, can you handle three teenagers?" asked Roger.
"Remember Angela's
thirteenth birthday?" Roger shook his head. "Well I do.
Eight thirteen year olds on a sugar high and you at the loft!
I think I can manage," Mimi said matter-of-factly. She turned to
face Angela. "I take it they'll want to be fed?"
"Thanks
Mom! Oh, as you were." Angela rushed back to her room, a smile
plastered across her face.
Mimi broke free of Roger and began to put the dishes away. Meanwhile, Roger got a beer out of the refrigerator.
"She hasn't been like that in weeks. I can't remember the last time I saw her that happy," Mimi said as she put a stack of plates away. She turned around to face Roger. "Maybe we can do this after all," she said in almost a relieved tone.