Wisp

Chapter 04

"December 28th, twelve thirty AM, Eastern Standard Time. Observe as we crack out the old illegal wood burning stove again." Mark had decided to start filming again. He couldn't sleep, he was sure Winnie couldn't. The temperature in the loft had dropped below freezing. The fire helped to keep them warm, but it was still impossibly cold.

Winnie was huddled on the couch, five blankets wrapped around her. "Does this happen a lot?" She asked, her voice muffled by the blanket she'd pulled over her face to keep her nose warm.

Mark nodded. "Unfortunately so. The place is shit but it's home and has been so for so long that it'd kill me to leave. Besides, I have nowhere to go. So, Winnie Wielkopolski, tell me about yourself."

She blushed, pulling the blanket away from her face. "What should I say? There isn't much to me."

"Anything. Your middle name, favorite animal, favorite film, anything."

"Well," Winnie began. "My middle name is Whisper."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mum had a friend named Whisper when she was younger. It turns out that my mum's schizophrenic and that she was a figment of her imagination but I still like it." Winnie felt a little shy talking to Mark about this but she figured he could be trusted. "And, um, I like dogs… When I was younger, I loved Marilyn Monroe."

Mark nodded in approval. "The most common subject of wet dreams in the world. The blond bombshell. Did you know that her face is trademarked?"

Winnie shook her head. "No, I didn't know that. I had a bunch of Marilyn posters in my room back home. I kind of wish I'd brought them with me, but I didn't exactly have a choice."

Mark wrote down a note on his mental checklist to go to a cheap poster shop he knew of and find her a Marilyn poster. "I used to have this fixation with Bettie Page."

"The naughty girl-next-door. Face like an angel, clothes like a dominatrix. Kinky."

"No one around here's heard of her!" Mark complained. "I'm so glad you have. Roger had no idea who she was. I went out and got him a picture. I caught him masturbating once while staring at it."

Winnie grinned. "Gross. And like you never have."

"I never said that."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "So you and Roger are really close, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess we are. He's my best friend, after all. Did you ever have a best friend?"

Winnie shrugged. "Well, no. I was never really one for friends. I mean, I knew a couple potheads who knew what it was like for me at home so they always shared a joint with me when I wanted. But that was it." She snorted. "I was so pathetic I wasn't even friends with the other nerds in my grade."

"Ah, the nerds. I was one. AV club and everything."

Winnie nearly laughed. "So, what do you do with all your footage? I saw you at the Life the other night and you were just filming random people."

"I make films. Documentaries, you could say. I made one last year. Over the course of a year. Christmas to Christmas. It was…eventful."

"Can I… Can I see it sometime?"

Mark smiled. "Really, you want to?" Winnie nodded. "Well, yeah, sure. I mean, it's not genius or anything, but, well, you'll see. Anyway, this has been a burning question… What really did bring you to Alphabet City?"

"A stranger named Angel." Winnie smiled softly, remember the stranger's kindness. "She picked me up off my feet after someone stole my coat, dusted me off and brought me to the Life. Then she disappeared."

Mark froze and chose that moment to switch off the camera. "Angel?"

"Mimi said you had a friend named Angel. That she died."

Mark nodded absently. "Yeah, Angel. You'll see her when you watch my film. Angel was great. A real angel… Hey, are you cold?"

Winnie realized just how much she was shivering and nodded. "Are you?"

Mark shrugged. "Well, sort of."

"I mean, I have the blankets and your coat…"

"Do you know that sharing body heat is the best way to warm up?" Winnie shook her head. "Mind sharing a few blankets?"

"Not at all." Winnie held up a few blankets so Mark could crawl under them. She snuggled up against him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Winnie?"

"Mmm?"

"You're happy here, right?"

Winnie tilted her head, staring up at him with those big green eyes. "Well, I've only been here a day. But so far, yes… Even though it's so cold, it's still warmer than my past residences." She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, right? I meant it figuratively not literally."

Mark nodded. "I understand. You think too much, Miss Winnie. I'm going to let you use my shoulder as a pillow tonight, OK?  Get some sleep."

"Thanks, Mark…" Winnie murmured, already starting to doze off.

Mark huddle under the blanket with her. She was still shivering a bit, so was he. But she wasn't shaking as much as she usually was. God, it was fucking cold… The stove did little to heat up the room unless he stood right next to it. It just provided some much needed light. How he wished to have a little granny radiator in the corner… One that actually worked. There was an old one in Roger's room. But that was broken before they even had moved in.

There might be one in Collins' old room… Mark noted in his mental checklist to check for it tomorrow.

"Mark?"

Mark's head snapped up. He'd just started to doze off. He lifted his head to see Roger in the doorway. "Hey Roger. You should be resting."

"Is the power out again?"

Mark nodded.

Roger mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'yuppie motherfucker' but Mark chose to ignore it.

"Are you cold?"

"Fuck yeah."

Mark motioned for him to sit next to him on the couch and pulled the blanket over him. Roger snuggled against him, leaning his head against Mark's free shoulder.

"Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry I've been such a dick the past few days. I'm just kind of stressed."

"I know.

"She's really dying…"

"I know."

"She can't die."

"We all will sometime."

Roger sighed. "But why does she have to now?"

"A mystery of life. The eternal question. Go to sleep. You need rest so you can get better to visit Mimi tomorrow."

"Visit Mimi…" Roger murmured.

Within minutes Roger was fast asleep, snoring softly. Only with Roger was snoring endearing. Maureen snored. She woke up a neighbor once. Mark hated sleeping in the same room with her sometimes because he could never get to sleep. But Roger's was just soft, not booming. It almost sounded like wheezing. Mark ruffled Roger's dirty blond hair.

He missed having his best friend, well…normal.

On his right, Winnie was whistling slightly. Mark sighed. Now he wasn't going to be able to get to sleep. He peeked at the clock on the wall. "December 28th, two AM, Eastern Standard Time. Zoom in on Mark, stuck in the realm of the living while his companions drift into the realm of sweet sleep," He whispered. Too bad he couldn't get up to get his camera. There was nothing to film, but he could have found something.

He felt Winnie stir beside him, but she just shifted positions a bit. She still leaned on his shoulder. Mark Cohen: the world's only living pillow.

Well, it was time for the living pillow to get some sleep for himself…

*          *          *

"December 31st, eleven PM, Eastern Standard Time. Pan left on Mimi's apartment. It's New Year's Eve and we're losing our Mimi…"

Mark's eyes were starting to fill with tears. He always felt self-conscious about crying. So many people had told him never to cry… His father, bullies at school, April…

Mimi had been allowed to leave the hospital. A Hospice nurse was on the way. Mimi was losing the fight. Mimi was pale. Mimi's breathing was labored. Mimi wanted to give a last word to all her friends.

Maureen and Joanne stood at the foot of the bed, treating each other with faux affection. Mimi never had found out that they were on the rocks again, this time maybe the last and they felt it was better that she didn't know. Roger knelt beside her, nuzzling her thin shoulder like a sad puppy. Winnie hid in the corner, Collins paced, Mark filmed.

He didn't know when to stop filming. It was so rude… He just couldn't stop himself. He'd filmed Angel when he died and it nearly killed him to watch the footage. He'd burned it. And now Mimi… But the reactions of everyone were so compelling.

He had to stop himself. With shaking hands, he turned off the camera and set it down on the floor next to Winnie.

"I love you," Mimi whispered to Roger.

"God, Mimi, I love you so much… Don't leave me, please! Mimi chica…" Roger began to sob.

"I'm not gone yet, Roger. I don't only admit that I love you when I'm dying, you know," She chuckled a bit. "Sorry. Black hospital humor. The nurses got me hooked." She looked around at everyone in the room. "Maureen, Joanne… You love each other. You know you do. You had a fight, I can tell. And don't lie," She glared at Maureen. "You're too different and in that way you're perfect for each other."

"Honey, are you scared?" Maureen asked, gripping Mimi's hand.

Mimi nodded weakly. "Yeah, kinda. Mark? Don't hide behind the camera. Live life. Don't just watch it. Live it. Collins, you're perfect… Don't change. Put your mind to helping little people like me. Winnie… Oh, don't hide in the corner, chica. I hadn't forgotten about you."

Winnie blushed and pushed herself up, stepping forward towards the bed. "I-I was just trying to stay out of the way…"

Mimi silenced her with a peaceful smile. "Never in the way," She sighed. "Remember all that we discussed during those late, lonely nights? I know that I don't know you well and that you don't know me well. But I consider you my friend. And chica, go for it." She winked and Winnie's face immediately flushed red.

"Roger…God, I love you so much…" She began to cry, her breathing becoming more and more labored. "I don't want to leave you."

Roger had been crying for what seemed like forever before that. "Don't leave me, chica. Stay…" He leaned down and kissed her one final time. Then her hands went limp and she sank back into the pillow, her eyes closed. Roger wailed. Everything was silent except for his anguished wails.

Somewhere in the night, a girl screamed. But it wasn't a scream of fear or pain. It was of happiness and freedom.

"It's over," Mark whispered, turning his back so that no one could see him cry.