Chapter 8
*//
"Oooh Marky, you made it! Congratulations sweetheart!" Maureen squealed, kissing Mark on the cheek. Word about Mark's new internship had spread quickly, and Maureen had arranged a party of sorts at the Life Café for the same night as his interview with Christina. Maureen and Benny, however, were the only two people sitting in the near abandoned booth in the corner of the crowded restaurant. "I wanted it to be a surprise, but apparently some people can't get here on time," she pouted, glaring at Benny.
"What did I do? I made it on time," Benny laughed, taking a sip of his beer.
"Don't worry about it, Mo." Mark took a seat on the end of the table.
"So Mark, you've finally got a real job. I knew you'd make it eventually," Benny said, sarcastically applauding him.
"Thanks. So where's the rest of the gang?" Mark asked curiously. It wasn't like any of them to miss out on a good party, especially when they were all under the assumption that Benny was paying. "Am I the only one that received the cryptic message asking me to meet you here?"
"Probably," Benny muttered under his breath. Maureen sharply elbowed him in his side. Just at that moment, Collins and Lisa walked in, both armed with shopping bags.
"Hey guys," Lisa greeted cheerfully, sliding in next to Benny. Collins took a seat next to her, smirking the entire time. Mark raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Something was definitely up.
"Where'd you go, Lisa?" Maureen asked, eyeing the shopping bags carefully.
"Collins had off today, and we were both tired of sitting around our apartments, so he took me shopping. I put some of David's money to good use," Lisa rolled her eyes. "I needed some maternity clothes anyway, since my pants don't exactly fit anymore, and I picked up some things for the baby. Bottles, pacifiers, diapers, just to get me started I guess. Collins had a blast," she giggled.
"That I did." He noted the strange stares and shrugged. "What? Some of those baby clothes are adorable."
"You'd make a great father, Collins," Maureen smiled, patting him on the arm. Collins only smiled and laughed.
"Could you imagine Angel as a parent? That kid would be the best dressed toddler in town," Benny added.
"This is true." Maureen giggled. "I miss her so much sometimes, especially when I'm out shopping. I'll see something she would have loved and want to bring it home to her, but then I remember that I can't because she's not here." Collins took Maureen's hand and squeezed it gently.
"We're all moving on the best we can," he comforted.
"Especially you, Collins," Lisa smiled brightly.
"What does she mean?" Maureen inquired, leaning in closer to listen in.
"Well, okay—since I can't get out of it now!" he chuckled. Everyone around the table was now awaiting his answer. "I've been dating this guy, Dan, since Christmas I guess? I met him back in October, right after Angel died, at a Life Support meeting. He just lost his partner to AIDS a few months before I lost Angel, so we had that in common. He was just always there when I needed someone to talk to, and we spent New Year's Eve together and it's been great ever since then. He's an interior designer, a favorite among all the rich uptown couples and celebrities."
"Are you two serious yet?" Maureen added nosily.
"Jeez Maureen, leave Collins alone!" Mark teased her.
"Serious enough that he's moving in to my apartment next week," Collins answered, laughing.
"AND WE HAVEN'T MET HIM YET? Thomas Collins where are your manners?" Maureen squealed a little too loudly. A few people even turned around to stare at her.
"Yeah, and how come we haven't met the infamous Chad yet? I'm starting to think he doesn't exist," Mark said. Maureen turned a few shades of red and glared at him.
"Well—at least I'm getting some!" Maureen shot back. Mark rolled his eyes.
"Wow, because we all needed to know that," he laughed.
"Okay children, simmer down," Collins interrupted.
"Oh Mark, congratulations by the way!" Lisa said, abruptly trying to change the topic. She ran over and threw her arms around Mark.
"Yeah, congrats," Collins added, hugging Mark as well.
"Aww, it's a Kodak moment!" Maureen laughed. She pulled out her camera and snapped a photo of Lisa and Collins with their arms around Mark, who looked petrified.
"What can I get you guys?" A waitress had appeared at the end of the table, ordering pad in hand.
"Pina Colada."
"Beer."
"Wine AND Beer!" Maureen corrected Mark.
"I'll have a strawberry daiquiri," Lisa joked.
"Excuse me? I don't think so. You're pregnant and underage," Mark smirked at her.
"Yeah, make that a cherry coke instead," Lisa stuck out her tongue at Mark. "You're no fun."
"Hence why I'm your big brother," Mark added sarcastically.
"Who said you could start the party without us?" Roger voiced. He and Mimi had just walked in.
"Who said you were invited?" Lisa asked.
"Watch it, you," Roger growled, motioning for Mark to move over. He pulled Mimi onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey Rog, how about getting me a beer?" Lisa begged him.
"If you're nice to me for the rest of the night I'll think about it," Roger grinned, but changed his mind when Mark kicked him. "I mean…no. The voice of reason says no," Mimi giggled and buried her face in his chest.
The party progressed for the rest of the night. It was the first time in a long time that they had all gotten along so well. Even Roger and Benny were joking around like old friends, but every once in awhile Mimi would notice the look of jealousy on Roger's face and end up pulling him a little bit closer to her. Lisa and Benny seemed to hit it off the best out of everyone. Benny kept making Lisa laugh every few minutes, much to Roger's annoyance.
"At least someone finds him funny. Just wait until he starts overcharging her for rent," Roger whispered.
"Behave," Mimi reprimanded him.
"Sorry, I forgot. You seem to be the number one Benny fan lately," Roger spat, downing another shot. The waitress had brought about twenty shot glasses out, filled with a mix of cherry coke and 151, and they seemed to be going fast. Roger had already racked up four empty glasses. Mimi ignored his comment, but took the opportunity to slide of his lap instead.
"Anyway, Joanne phoned me last week to tell me that she's moving to Boston. She was offered a better job with a well to do law firm in the city. She's already packed, but she wanted to stop by to say her goodbyes and everything. I think her flight leaves Tuesday morning," Collins said, trying to change the subject.
"Hmmph," Maureen pouted.
"C'mon Maureen, don't tell me you're still fighting with her. You know you miss her, Chad or no Chad." Mark teased.
"Well I don't. I'm quite happy with Chad, thank you very much!"
"Before Maureen scratches all our eyes out, I know some of us have a few surprises of our own," he coughed, pointing to himself.
"Or just you, Benny," Roger said bitterly. Mimi sighed and decided to take her chances with a shot, pregnant or not. "You can't have that!" Roger shouted angrily, pulling it away from her. Instead, he drank it.
"I think you should slow down on the drinks, buddy," Collins said. He slid the tray of shot glasses towards his end of the table.
"I think I'm in charge of how much I drink," Roger replied testily. Mark could tell Roger was starting to get drunk by the way he was mouthing off to everyone.
"No, actually, I really think you've had enough," Mimi added.
"Whatever." Roger slunk back in his seat and rested his hands behind his head. Noticing the tension in the air, Benny cleared his throat once again.
"Anyway, well…Alison and I are getting a divorce," Benny continued.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry to hear that," Maureen comforted. "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be."
"Yeah. I didn't get along with her father that well anyway. The only thing he was good for was his money," he laughed. "She's leaving me some settlement money, so I'm going to furnish that two bedroom apartment on the first floor. I already moved out and everything," he finished.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, we're here for you, no matter how much of a pain in the ass you can be sometimes," Mark joked.
"Thanks. That means a lot," Benny replied. Mimi stood up suddenly and motioned in the opposite direction.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom. I'll be right back," she said. Mark took this opportunity to go off on Roger.
"What the fuck is up your ass lately? You need to let this Benny shit go and be there for her! I don't care how jealous you are of him or what happened between them, but it's in the past. You have her and your baby now to think about. She doesn't need to be stressed out over stupid shit like this," Mark whispered, lowering his voice so that Benny and the others wouldn't hear.
"I know, okay Mark? So just lay the fuck off," Roger growled back.
"What's going on over there? Is that Mimi? What's she doing laying on the ground?" Maureen questioned stupidly. A crowd had formed near the bar, some of the members murmuring to themselves.
"FUCK! MIMI!" Roger yelled, jumping over the back of the booth. Mark was hot on his heels, followed by the rest of their group. Roger practically dived through the crowd and knelt over Mimi's motionless body, cradling her head in his lap. "Someone call 911!" he shouted. Mark and Maureen were attempting to push the crowd back away from Mimi and Roger.
"I'm already on it," Benny replied. He was talking frantically on his cell phone, while Collins wrapped his arm around Lisa.
"Mimi, wake up. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Just please wake up," Roger cried. Mark rested a hand on his shoulder and kept looking back and forth between the doors, hoping the paramedics would arrive as soon as possible. Roger took off his leather jacket and draped it over Mimi's petite body.
All they could do was pray.
*//
The ambulance arrived twenty minutes later, greeted by a very pissed off Roger and Collins.
"She's HIV positive and somewhere between seven and eight weeks pregnant," Mark said, relying the information to the nearest paramedic. She's twenty years old," he added.
Roger was now sitting distraught in a corner, clutching on to the nearest person's hand, which just so happened to belong to Lisa.
"They're taking her now. Go with her," Mark commanded. Roger just nodded his head and numbly followed the paramedics outside. "We'll meet you there. It'll be okay, Rog."
Benny, Collins, Maureen, Mark, and Lisa drove to the hospital in Benny's transportation of choice, his Range Rover. The ride was completely silent, except for the occasional prayer from Collins.
"She has to be okay. I don't know—I don't know what to do without her," Maureen spoke softly, starting to cry silently. Mark turned around from the front seat and took her hand.
"Don't think that way Mo. It'll be okay," Mark said. Benny stopped in front of the emergency room entrance.
"Get out here. I'll find somewhere to park and meet you all inside," Benny stated. Everyone rushed out, Mark in the lead. He scanned the waiting room for Roger, and when he didn't find him as easily as he hoped, he rushed up to the admit desk.
"I'm looking for someone that was just brought in unconscious. Her name's Mimi Marquez," Mark asked, breathless.
"Accompanied by a tall, blonde, arrogant young man?"
"Yeah."
"That way. Trauma five," she pointed. Mark nodded and jogged down the hall. Roger was sitting on a chair, his head cradled in his hands. His eyes were red and puffy, and when he saw Mark he just looked up and didn't say anything. Mark bent down in front of him and wrapped his arms around him. Roger just started crying into his shoulder.
"It's not your fault," Maureen said. She sat down in a chair opposite him and rubbed his back while Mark continued hugging him.
"They won't tell me anything. God Mark, why won't they tell me anything!" Roger sobbed.
"She's in good hands," Collins comforted.
*//
Thirty minutes passed by. Benny had finally shown up, and was busy trying to find out any information for Roger, but had recently given up hope. Maureen was currently leading everyone in a sad attempt at campfire songs, which were getting at least a few smiles out of everyone but Roger. Around midnight, a female doctor finally exited the trauma room and automatically approached them. Roger and Mark both stood up.
"How is she?" Roger blurted out.
"She's fine. She gave us quite a scare, but we stabilized her condition and she's awake and alert," the woman continued.
"Her condition being?" Collins inquired.
"What about the baby?" Roger said. His voice was cracking as he tried to hold back a fresh wave of tears. Maureen wrapped an arm around him for support.
"The baby is fine as well and hooked up to a monitor. Mimi blacked out in the restaurant because she was severely anemic. It's quite common with expectant mothers, especially when they suffer from rigorous morning sickness. It's even more common with her HIV status," she continued.
"English please?" Roger scowled.
"Ignore him," Mark apologized. The doctor smiled and turned back to Roger.
"Basically, Mimi's red blood cells were iron deficient and started producing less oxygen, making her heart pump harder to keep oxygen flowing to the brain and other parts of the body, especially to the baby. She was brought in with tachycardia, or a rapid heartbeat, so it took us some time to slow her heart down. That's anemia in a nutshell for you," she smirked at Roger.
"So she's okay? Can I see her now?"
"You sure can. She's going to have to stay overnight for observation, but I'm sure I can arrange for you to stay the night with her. I already prescribed iron pills for Mimi to take, along with prenatal vitamins, and I started her back on the AZT treatment. When she's released tomorrow, I want her to take it easy for the first week back, resting as much as possible." The doctor nodded her head politely and walked away.
"Thank you!" Mark shouted after her.
"Hey Mark, I'm going to take Lisa back to the loft. She looks pretty worn out," Benny said. Lisa was stretched out across three chairs, half asleep.
"Okay. I'll just take the subway back with Mo," Mark replied. "If that's okay with you?" He added, turning towards Maureen.
"Not a problem, pookie."
*//
Benny led Lisa towards the apartment building, hands in his pockets. Lisa yawned and paused by the stairs.
"Do you want to spend the night down here in my place? I mean, I don't want you staying all alone upstairs and who knows when Mark and Maureen will be back," Benny offered. Lisa nodded and followed Benny into his apartment. "You can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch," he suggested.
"You don't have to sleep on the couch. You can stay if you want," she laughed, already pulling the covers down on the bed.
"Anxious to get in bed with me, I see?" he joked, noticing Lisa already huddled under the comforter. Benny quickly stripped down to his boxers and pulled the sheets over him as well. Lisa flipped on her side and faced him.
"I'm sorry to hear about your wife," Lisa apologized.
"I barely saw her anyway. It was more of a money arrangement than anything else."
"I just wanted to say thank you for everything," she added, lightly kissing him on the lips. "So thank you."
Benny nodded and deepened the kiss, but then pulled away quickly.
"Don't pull away. I don't regret that," she laughed.
"Are you sure about this? About us, whatever we are?" he laughed.
"What do you want us to be?"
*//
Roger quietly entered the trauma room. The lights were dimmed to the lowest setting, and the only noise was emitting from the various machines and tubes that Mimi was hooked up to. She was lying motionless on the bed, her eyes shut. For a second Roger thought that the doctors were lying to him until he saw the slow rise and fall of her chest. Her hair was fanned out across the hospital pillow, reflecting the moonlight that shone through the window. He stood there, lost in thought, until Mimi's voice brought him back to reality.
"Hey stranger," she whispered hoarsely.
"I'm sorry," Roger replied. He pulled up a chair and sat down in it, cradling Mimi's free hand in his own. The other was attached to an IV that was slowly dripping on the other side of her bed.
"Stop apologizing. I'm not blaming you for anything. It would have happened sooner or later," she smiled softly. She motioned for Roger to join her on the bed, and he did so. Mimi curled up against him and rested her head on his chest.
"I thought I lost you back there."
"I'm a fighter, what can I say?" she joked.
"I want to tell you something, but I don't want you to be mad at me for it," Roger said quickly.
"Okay?"
"I mailed my mother a copy of the ultrasound photo yesterday night. I give her 72 hours before she calls me screaming fanatically about the joys of being a grandmother. Then sometime next week she'll invite you, me, Mark, and possibly Lisa, to stay with her so she can celebrate with the whole family I just wanted to warn you," he laughed.
"Oh babe, I couldn't be mad at you for that. When was the last time you saw her?"
"I don't know…maybe six or seven years? It was before I met April. I pissed my whole family off at my sister's first modeling shoot and haven't heard from anyone but my mother since then."
"Your sister is a model? Wait…maybe I don't want to know what you did," Mimi giggled.
"Yeah, well, I guess that's why you could call her. I had my band, she had her commercials. I guess she still is—or was. She lives somewhere in Europe now. Paris, I think," Roger pulled at the thin hospital blanket.
"You never told me about your family before," Mimi replied, still picking at her IV tape.
"There's not much to tell. It's only my older brother Jimmy, Lindsey, me, and Heather. Jimmy's married and has a kid. Heather probably has a rich Italian boyfriend. Lindsey and I were the closest. She was only eighteen months older than me. I haven't spoken to her in about five years. I don't really like talking about them. They probably don't even think about me anymore."
"That's not true. Your mom still calls all the time, except you don't want to talk to her," Mimi laughed. "Maybe this baby will bring everyone closer together," she added, kissing him deeply.
"You just wait until you meet them, and don't say I didn't warn you," Roger laughed. "I love you."
"Love you too. Now move over because you're hogging my pillow," Mimi said, smacking his arm away.
*//
Mark peeked through the exam door. Mimi and Roger had finally reconciled from the looks of their heavy make out session. Maureen had left about 15 minutes ago with Chad, who she had called to pick her up. Mark decided to stick around awhile longer just in case Roger needed anything. Deciding to take a walk to give Roger some more time with Mimi, Mark found himself longing for his camera, which was currently sitting in a box collecting dust in the loft. Mark noticed a familiar face standing by the pay phone, digging through her purse. She seemed to be having a hard time managing the task, judging from the sling that her right arm was in.
"Jackie?" Mark called out to her. She whipped around, visibly uncomfortable that she had been spotted by someone she knew.
"Oh, hi Mark."
"What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time.
"You first," Jackie laughed.
"Oh, my friend was just brought here. She was anemic and passed out at a restaurant a bunch of my friends and I were at," he said. "What about you?"
"I dislocated my shoulder. Well actually, my boyfriend dislocated my shoulder, then took off," she winced.
"I thought he was your ex boyfriend? You should stay away from him," Mark replied. He barely knew Jackie—they had just met this morning besides talking on the phone a few times—but no one deserved to be beaten the way Jackie obviously was. When Mark saw her close up, he noticed that the bruising around her cheek from earlier in the day had darkened.
"Jesus, that looks pretty bad," Mark exclaimed. When he noticed the look on her face, he automatically recoiled. "I mean—I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…yeah I'm officially an idiot."
"It's okay. I had an expired restraining order slapped on him a few months ago. I just never got around to going back to another court hearing. He came by my place to get some of his things that he left there, got really pissed off, and just went off on me," she shrugged. "It happens."
"Yeah, but it shouldn't happen. Is someone picking you up?"
"Actually I was going to take the subway," she answered. She finally found what she was looking for—a pack of cigarettes—and pulled one out.
"At this time of night? What are you, serious?" Mark laughed.
"Yeah, I was," she shrugged. "I just don't want him showing up at my door at 3 in the morning banging on it like moron."
"I know I just met you today and all, but if you want you could stay at my place tonight? Both of my roommates are staying here for the night anyway, and I have empty beds all around. The heat sucks and there's barely any hot water for showers, but it's someplace safe and I doubt he could find you there. I swear I'm not some pervert," Mark joked.
"I'll take you word on that, but yeah, thank you. It's better than me walking around the streets waiting to get jumped. You don't have any crazy roommates do you?" she teased back.
"Well, it depends on what your definition of crazy is. Crazy roommates, not really. Just cranky and whiny. Crazy psychopath landlord, yes…"
*//
Mark and Jackie reached the loft around 2 AM. The tent city in the opposite lot was just about the only place alive at this time of night. Mark led Jackie up the four flights of stairs and paused before the loft door.
"It's not much, but it's home. I guess. In some pathetic sort of way," he said. He flipped on the lights and tossed his keys on the table, then locked the door behind him. Jackie carefully walked into the living room and attempted to take her coat off as gently as possible.
"Lisa?" Mark called, quickly checking her room. "I guess she's not here."
"Who's Lisa?" Jackie had now sat down on the couch. Mark noticed that she looked emotionally drained. He walked over to her and placed some of the pillows under her arm, propping it up against the back of the couch.
"My sister. My friend Benny was supposed to bring her home. Maybe she decided to stay with him or something," Mark finished messing with the pillows and made his way into the kitchen.
"Yeah, maybe. Wow, okay and the pain is really starting to kick in now," Jackie winced, shutting her eyes briefly. Mark noticed her rest a hand against her chest and take a deep breath.
"Do you want something for it? We probably have some Advil or Tylenol lying around somewhere," Mark offered. He ran off to the bathroom and returned with a bottle of Tylenol, then retreated to the kitchen and came back one more with a glass of water.
"That would be great. I have a prescription for some painkillers, but I'll just deal with that tomorrow." She picked up the glass and downed two of the pills.
"What did the doctor say?" Mark asked.
"Well, the asshole cracked one of my ribs, bruised three or four more, sprained my wrist, bruised both my cheekbone and both sides of my collarbone. He dislocated my shoulder by slamming me repeatedly into a wall. He also dragged me down five steps, but luckily I made it out of there without any further damage. I shouldn't even be telling you this. I don't really know you, and you probably don't want to hear it…" she shrugged.
"That's a lot of shit for someone to go through. And don't worry about me not wanting to hear it. I'm Mark Cohen. People tell me everything, whether I want to know it or not," he laughed.
"I really appreciate this, Mark."
"Don't worry about it. It's not a problem."
"I really appreciate all. It means a lot to me to know that there's at least one decent person out there," Jackie answered. She busied herself with trying to get comfortable on the couch. Mark took a seat across from her and studied her for a minute. She was tall but thin, but was trying to make herself look incredibly small by tucking herself into the corner of the couch. A few strands of her white blonde hair were messily framing her face while the rest was pulled back into a high ponytail. "So enough about me. Let me here about all the wonders of Mark Cohen and I'll let you know a little more about my life," she smiled. Mark noticed how perfect she looked when she did that. God, did she have a great smile.
"There's not much to tell. I've lived in this place since my sophomore year of college, so that's probably about five years now. My ex roommate, Benny and I lived in a dorm together at Brown University until we couldn't take it anymore, so we bought this place for pretty cheap in the winter of '92. About a year after that, my best friend from back home, Roger, moved in with us. He was in a band, The Well Hungarians, and they played a few gigs around the city back in their day. Collins moved in six months after Roger. Up until the spring of '94, it was just the four of us struggling to make a living. Collins took a few teaching jobs here and then, and Roger had the little money from his gigs and occasional bartending, which is apparently something all bad ass rockers have to do or else. Benny had this dream of turning the building into a Cyber Arts studio, but just needed investors. I was just this guy with the hand me down camera that filmed everything and everyone. My girlfriend Maureen moved in, and Collins moved out into an apartment closer to NYU where he landed a semi permanent teaching position. Maureen was a starving actress, as she liked to call herself. She said it sounded better than "starving artist".
"That's true," Jackie giggled.
"Pretty soon after, Roger started getting into heavy drugs with the band, especially heroin. He found a new girlfriend, April, and she started hanging around here practically every day and night. It was only natural that she move in with us. Benny found himself engaged to Alison Grey, and moved out as soon as he could, leaving just me, Maureen, Roger and April. April killed herself in May of '95 after finding out she had HIV. Roger either contracted it from her or she had contracted it from Roger. Who knows? Maureen left me at the end of the year for another woman, Joanne, after discovering she was a lesbian. Roger found solace in Mimi, and there was me, still alone. Mimi was the one who was rushed to the hospital tonight, and Roger's there with her now. That's basically a crappy summary of my life in the Village," Mark laughed.
"So who lives here now?" Jackie asked.
"Roger, Mimi, me, and my seventeen year old pregnant sister Lisa, who randomly showed up on my doorstep last month. I still haven't figured out the whole story of why she's here and how she got pregnant," he shrugged. "Not to mention that Mimi's pregnant as well. It's two emotionally charged pregnant women in a loft with one guitarist with an attitude and a wannabe filmmaker."
"Hey, I don't know about that wannabe filmmaker part. Your film was pretty good. One of the best we've seen in a long time," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She yawned brightly.
"So what about you? I don't mean to be keeping you…if you want to sleep you're more than welcome to," Mark stuttered.
"No, it's okay. I like the company. Well, I went to NYU and just graduated last year, actually. I'll be 22 on Thursday. This internship is probably one of my first real jobs. I have a degree in photography, and I've been a dancer since I was 3 years old. I'm originally from Australia, but I moved to LA when I was 12. I love the city, minus my asshole ex boyfriend, but who wants to complain? Hmm, what else? My parents moved back to Australia a few months ago, along with my little sister Kate, who's 19. That's just a bunch of random crap about me," she finished. "I can't really think of anything else, or maybe it's just the drugs." Jackie yawned again.
"Wow, you must be exhausted. It's close to 3 AM anyway. You can take my room, Roger's room, or my sister's room, or if you're more comfortable on the couch that's fine. It doesn't matter to me.
"I don't know…I don't want to put anyone out if they come home," she explained.
"Then just take my room. I'll stay on the couch tonight. I'll be closer to the phone anyway if Roger calls," Mark said. Jackie nodded.
"Good night," she added.
"Night."