Within New York's Marble Cemetery, the Bohemians kept a respectful distance as Old Man Cleveland knelt by a grave. Now that the older Latino had cleaned up and shaved his beard, his resemblance to their old friend, Angel, which Mark had noticed during their initial meeting a week ago, was even more evident.
After a long moment, Maureen stepped over to his side, placing a comforting hand on the pained Latino's shoulder.
"I know this won't make it easier for you," she whispered, feeling great sympathy for him, "but…Angel was a very good friend of ours, and she...I mean he…I mean…whatever. Anyway, you couldn't have met a better person."
"If it's any consolation," Mark added, "Angel did mention you more than once. And... it never sounded like she…he…hated you. He just kept on hoping that you were still alive somewhere."
"Thank you," Old Man Cleveland sighed heavily, lightly running his fingers over his lost son's name. A minute later, he stood back up again and started to walk off.
"Mr. Cleveland?" Rodolfo called after him. "Oh, I mean, Mr. Schunard. What are you going to do now?"
"Well," Mr. Schunard replied, smiling back at his young friend. "I suppose my daughter is still out there. I'll probably return to Cleveland, where we once lived. Hopefully, when I'm there, I'll be able to find out where she's living now." Rodolfo bit his lip, glancing down at his feet. He'd remembered when Mr. Schunard had told them why he'd started answering to the name 'Old Man Cleveland', in order to constantly remind himself about the mistake he'd made when he lived in Cleveland, Ohio with his son and daughter. Even now, Rodolfo couldn't understand how he could have forced himself to remember that constantly.
"Will we ever see you again?" Zack asked.
"Maybe," Mr. Schunard shrugged. "Once I get my life back in order, I'll try to come back to New York and see how you kids are doing." Before leaving, Mr. Schunard looked back at the adult Bohemians one last time. "Thank you all for helping me find my son again. I'm glad he had you as friends."
After Mr. Schunard had left Marble Cemetery, the Bohemians slowly started to walk off as well.
"I wish there could have been more we could do for him," Joanne said, bowing her head.
"So do I," Mark agreed. "All the trouble he went through to keep the boys safe, and we can't properly reunite him with Angel."
"I just hope he manages to patch things up with his daughter," Emily added. "He deserves some happiness. He really was like a guardian angel to the kids out there."
Rodolfo had been following his family silently, his thoughts focused on Mr. Schunard and how he wished he could have expressed his gratitude and sympathy for him in words. However, when he heard his aunt say the words 'guardian angel', he froze on the spot, suddenly remembering something important.
"Uncle Mark, Aunt Emily?" Rodolfo sputtered, his eyes growing wide in an instant.
"Rodolfo?" Mark turned back in concern. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I…I just remembered," Rodolfo spoke softly. "There was something I had to tell you guys. Auntie Maureen and Aunt Joanne, too."
"What is it?" Joanne asked.
"Remember that time a few years ago, when I ran away from home?" Rodolfo asked. "There's something I didn't tell you about that. I didn't come home by myself. You see, I was in the park, by Bethesda Fountain, and I met this street drummer. He was the one who talked me into coming back home again."
"A street drummer?" Maureen's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Well, I guess he was a street drummer," Rodolfo shrugged. "He was using an empty pickle tub as a drum when I met him." Immediately, the adult Bohemians shared a shocked, stunned glance.
"It was a pickle tub?" Mark asked in a strained voice. "Are…are you sure about that?"
"Yeah," Rodolfo nodded. "Why?"
"No reason," Emily replied. "Go on Rodolfo. Is there something else?"
"Well, yeah. I met that street drummer again down in Los Angeles. In fact, he was the one who saved me down in the subway tunnels.
"Anyway, he told me to tell you guys something. I still don't understand, but he sounded as if it was very important." For a brief moment, the adult Bohemians were silent, taking in what Rodolfo was telling them. Finally, Mark managed to find his voice.
"And…what did the street drummer say?"
"He said…he said a storm was coming," Rodolfo announced.
"Was that all?"
"Yeah. Like I said, it didn't make much sense. But he wanted me to tell you, so…I guess I'd better.
"Thank you, Rodolfo," Emily whispered. "Now…how about you and Zack go off to see Kris, okay? I'm sure there's a movie playing that you'd be interested in."
"All right," Rodolfo nodded, accepting the movie ticket money Emily gave him. Without another word, he and Zack hurried off, leaving the adult Bohemians nearly frozen in shock.
"We should have known," Mark's voice suddenly cracked with emotion. "After all this time, Angel's still watching over us."
"But what did that mean, anyway?" Maureen cried, nearly pouting in frustration. "A storm is coming? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Actually," Joanne spoke up. "It does sort of sound familiar."
"It does?" Everyone turned to her in surprise.
"Well, a long time ago, back when we were all fighting, around the time Angel died," Joanne explained, "Mimi and I got together for dinner once, so we could give each other some moral support. Naturally, she was upset about Angel's hospitalization and her fights with Roger, and, well, I'm sure everyone here remembers that rocky period between Maureen and me.
"During that conversation, Mimi told me that Angel used to have a phrase for periods like that; the points in life when it doesn't seem like things could get any worse. Angel used to call those moments 'storms.'"
"So…" Emily blinked, "Does that mean…Angel was trying to tell us that…our family's going to face something like that again?"
"Maybe," Joanne replied. "I don't think it'll be quite like that particular time. Maureen and I do have arguments sometimes, but it's never as bad as it was back then. And I can't see you and Mark having the same kind of problems Mimi and Roger were facing, Emily. But I still think Angel might be warning us that there's going to be some bad times for us soon."
"I think you're right," Mark agreed, visibly concerned. "What worries me is why Angel wanted to warn us."
"What kind of question is that?" Maureen cried. "Why wouldn't Angel want to warn us? She was our friend, remember?"
"I know that," Mark nodded. "The thing is, we've already faced a lot of hard times and survived. The fact that Angel's warning us now makes me think that maybe this 'storm' is something a lot worse." Mark's observation was met with a chilling silence.
"I'm not worried," Emily finally announced. "Well, not really. As long as we stay together as a family, I can't see how we won't be able to get through whatever's coming."
"I'm with Emily," Maureen grinned confidently. "What could possibly be worse that that time when our family nearly died?" Instead of replying, Mark and Joanne mirrored Maureen's smile. However, they could not shake a nagging doubt that Emily and Maureen's certainty and confidence would be short-lived.
AN: Great job to HarryPotterRENThead, TwilighterRenthead, EB91, and LifeIsTooQuick for correctly guessing Old Man Cleveland's true identity. As promised, virtual ice cream sundaes all around. I hope everyone enjoyed this penultimate story in the Boho Kids story arc. Be on the look out for the conclusion You Can't Burn the Past to the Ground, which will be up sometime on Monday.
