43: You're Full Of Shit
"Oh my God! You two are adorable!" Queenie squealed as she ran over to Mimi and Angel, hugging them both. "Angel told us so much about you. I can't believe I'm finally getting to meet you." Instead of a formal handshake, she scooped Mimi up into her arms, squeezing her. "Forgive me. I tend to get sort of, well, excited. I'm Queenie."
"I figured. He's told me a lot about you too. He talks about you and Fred almost non-stop, when we're not talking about shopping." Mimi and Angel looked at each other and laughed.
"I'll go get Freddy. I bet he'll be glad to meet you," Queenie said, scampering back behind the stage to find her partner.
"She is.lively, Angel, you were right. Kind of intense."
"Isn't she fabulous?" Angel gushed, "She is a bit much, but you learn to love her for it. I knew she'd like you. She likes all my friends that I bring to her.except she didn't like Will at first."
"My my, she is pretty," a deep voice boomed from behind Mimi. Turning around, startled, she came face to chest with the huge man in front of her. He was insanely attractive. Rippling, muscular brown arms popped out from the straps of his thin, white tank top. His finely-toned abs showed through the material and baggy jeans sat low on his hips. Deep, rich brown eyes looked down at her, dazzling white teeth showing as he smiled. Mimi blushed slightly, completely in awe of how gorgeous he was. Holding out his large hand to her, he continued to smile as he introduced himself. "I'm Fred."
"Mimi," she said, nonchalantly, trying her best to not stumble over her words as she shook his hand.
"So, shall we go out to eat, now that everyone's acquainted?" Queenie chimed in.
"Yeah, sounds good," Fred agreed letting go of Mimi's hand and wrapping his arm protectively around Queenie. "Where to?"
"I am really in the mood for cheap Asian dining. Chinese Paradise sound good to everyone?"
"Sure," they agreed in unison, following Queenie as she left the club, locking the door once the three had trailed out after her. *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*-- *--*--*--*--*--*--
"So we all know about Angel's love life, but, Mimi, tell us about yours. Are you seeing anybody?" Queenie asked, eating another piece of General Tso's Chicken. The group had just finished a rather detailed discussion of Angel's last sexual partner-a hunky black guy who's name he didn't manage to catch. Queenie and Fred both weren't pleased with Angel's lifestyle, but they couldn't necessarily criticize him for what he was doing, considering that they both had similar behaviors at his age, before they met each other. However, he had been going clubbing a lot less lately, ever since he moved in with Mimi. It was only a bi-weekly event and he rarely stayed the night at a stranger's apartment anymore.
Mimi sighed, glancing down into her coke and stirring it with the straw. "Yeah, I've actually been kinda seeing this guy," she said softly, avoiding eye contact with any of them.
"Yeah and I haven't even met him yet!" Angel stated, dramatically crossing his arms and staring at her.
"Well, actually I was gonna have him over tonight so you could meet him. I was gonna surprise you, Ang."
"Aww, Mimi, honey that's so sweet!" Queenie exclaimed, "So tell us about him! What's he like? Is he cute?"
"Well, his name's Benny. He's really cute and really funny. I met him at work and we've been dating ever since."
"Well, honey, I'm very happy for you. It's nice to know that someone hasn't given up hope of falling in love," Queenie stated, glancing over in Angel's direction.
"Hey, I have not given up home!" Angel responded back, defensively, "It's just that there's no harm in having sex while I wait, that's all."
That elicited a few laughs from everyone. "Just be careful Ang."
"Okay, Dad," Angel responded, rolling his eyes at Fred.
Mimi looked at the clock above Angel's chair and noticed that it was getting late. "I really need to go. Benny's coming by the apartment at 8 and I don't wanna keep him waiting. You coming, Ang?"
"Yeah. Thanks for dinner, guys. It was fabulous," Angel said, getting up from his chair and giving them both a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back to visit soon, no worries."
"Bye Ang. Love you! It was nice to meet you, Mimi."
"You too," Mimi said, grabbing her coat off the back of the chair as she rushed out of the restaurant holding Angel's hand. Benny didn't like to be kept waiting. "Bye."
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Flashing lights interrupted Mimi and Angel's quick walk home. An ambulance sat outside their building with the back doors open. Paramedics carried out a stretcher with a white sheet over it, obviously hiding a lifeless body. Stopping abruptly, they looked at each other concerned. There weren't that many people living in their building. What if someone they knew personally had died?
"Should we go in?" Mimi whispered to him, still clutching his hand, unsure of what to do.
"I guess so. What else can we do, stand here like spectators?" Angel responded, biting his lip.
The two bravely held hands and walked by the ambulance. The sexy man with the dreadlocks stood with his arm around a tall, pale man with sloppy blonde hair. Despite the obviously tragic circumstances, Angel couldn't help but stare at the man. He was still so captivated by him, no matter how sad or upset he looked.
Mimi pinched his arm, hard. "Angel, stop it!"
Blushing, embarrassed that he was trying to pick up a guy who'd just obviously lost someone important to him, Angel responded. "Sorry," he muttered as they ducked into the building and marched up the stairs, unsure of what to say.
A black man with a shaved head stood at the door to Mimi and Angel's apartment. It was easy to tell, even from the back, that he was built and in good form. A tight, blue t-shirt hugged his sculpted body, a pair of loose-fitting jeans covering his legs. In his left ear was a large, silver hoop.
"Benny?" Mimi asked softly as he turned around deep brown eyes staring at hers.
"Hey," he said casually as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Do you know what happened out there?" Mimi asked, concerned, as she dropped Angel's hand and took hold of Benny's.
"Yeah, my friend's girlfriend died," Benny said, as if it were nothing.
"Oh my god," Angel gasped, softly.
"You know what? I really don't wanna talk about it. I was just waiting here because I have somewhere I need to be. You said you wanted me to meet your friend-I'd assume that's you?" he said, looking in Angel's direction.
"Yeah, I'm Angel. I heard a lot about you."
"Like what?" Benny asked, looking confused, "Look, I gotta go. Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed her, barely touching her lips, then disappeared down the stairs.
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Mimi let Angel walk inside in front of her, closing the door behind her. With a confused look still on face, Angel turned to look at her as she began to take off the leather sleeves she was wearing. She had about five pairs of them, considering that it was part of her daily work uniform. "Gosh, it's hot," she remarked.
"Well, it's July," Angel replied as he watched her remove them, noticing the marks on her arm, clear as day. His face fell. "Mimi."
"Angel," she said back, mocking his serious tone. Tossing the sleeves over the back of the couch, she stepped besides Angel to grab a cold beer out of the fridge.
"What's that?" he asked, trying as hard as he could to not explode at her for using drugs. She knew how he felt about drug use, especially heroin, after what had happened with Will. He couldn't bear to see it destroy another person he loved.
"This? Angel," she said slowly, "this is a beer."
He rolled his eyes, annoyed at her inability to notice the serious tone in his voice. "I didn't mean the beer, Mimi. I meant those marks on your arm."
"I just got in a fight with a girl at work," Mimi explained, casually, brushing off Angel's concern, "You would not believe this chucha. She calls me a slut for dancing on some guy, but I only -."
"Don't lie to me. They're track marks. Both of us know it."
Mimi looked away from him, taking a large gulp of beer.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked quietly, trying his hardest to contain his anger.
"And who are you to tell me what to do? Like you know any better?" she snapped.
"Mimi, I'm 22 fucking years old, I know a hell of a lot more than you do. I know that drugs fuck people up and that dating men who are twenty years older than me isn't going to help the situation."
"Just because your ex-boyfriend fucked up his life with heroin doesn't mean that I'm going to do the same thing. I just like to feel good now and then, that's all. And why the fuck are you dragging Benny into this? He didn't do anything-you barely even know him!" She was getting angrier now as she finished her beer and slammed the bottle down on their scratched-up wooden table. She whipped out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, quickly inhaling the foul-smelling smoke.
"You're right, I don't know him, but I can tell from just meeting him for a minute that he doesn't give two shits about you."
"And the guys you fuck care about you?" she asked sarcastically, breathing in more smoke from her cigarette.
"This isn't about me," he said quietly, looking away from her for a minute, "This is about you and how you're screwing up your life. Stop doing drugs and stop dating people who don't care about you. First Chase, and now Benny. You have such a wonderful family and you're leaving all of that behind because you want to be bad. You want drama, Mimi, and you're getting it. Only, you're never going to be happy this way. You're never going to be happy with these hot guys who don't give a fuck and you're never going to be happy as some drug-addicted junkie."
"Maybe that's true, Angel," Mimi said, even more calmly than before, "Maybe I do like drama. But I've never claimed to want love. I've never sat around and said how 'I have faith that someday, my real true soul mate will come along.' Ring any bells for you, Angel? Because I think you've given up on that."
Breathing in heavily and shutting his eyes, Angel clenched his fists. "I told you, this isn't about me."
"Oh, see, but now it is. You've just completely bashed my life, so now it's my turn to bash yours. What happened to the Angel that I first met who believed in fairy-tale love and prince charming, huh? Where did that wonderful dream of being with one amazing man for the rest of your life go?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," he mumbled softly.
"Obviously, because you're giving up. You're giving up on everything. You don't even take AZT."
He stared at her intensely, his deep eyes burning holes through her body, "I'm not giving up."
"So you're just going to sit there and watch as your body wastes away? I hear you at night, Angel. I hear that coughing before you go to bed and I see you getting just a little bit thinner every day. You're killing yourself, did you know that?"
"I want to live out the rest of my days in peace-no drugs, no hospitals, no doctors! I just want to be free and happy for the remainder of my life."
"You're cutting it short. And you think that going out and fucking random asshole twinkies is going to help make your life happy and free? You're miserable. I see it in your eyes."
"You wouldn't understand!" he yelled, pushing her away from him with a surprising amount of force.
"What do you mean 'I wouldn't understand.'? I've got the same thing as you do! You're not the only person on this earth with HIV, Angel. We all know what you're going through and you're being a self-centered little prick by not letting anyone help you."
He sighed again, trying to process what she had just said. "At least I'm drug-free," he said, in a bitter voice.
"At least I'm going to live. You know what? It's a good thing you gave up on love because with the way you think, you're never going to find it. You're just a self-obsessed, pathetic little faggot who will never be happy because the only the person you care about is you."
Tears stung his eyes as she spoke. She'd never called him a faggot before-nobody who he loved had ever called him such a cruel name. He smoothed his wig down and spun around, leaving the apartment.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I only care about myself, right? So why would this self-centered faggot tell you where he was off to?"
"Angel, I-."
"Fuck you, Mimi," he growled as he left the apartment, shutting the door so hard behind him that he heard glass shattering.
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A/N: Hooray for fights! This took me about ten minutes to write. It all just kind of spilled out at once. 47 is when RENT starts, for anyone who's interested, so there's only 3 more chapters to go until Collins REALLY comes into the picture. As always, read, review and let me know what you think. The next chapter should be up shortly. Sorry for the wait on this one. Another thank you goes to Damien D. Smith, who I just saw a week or so ago in RENT. The way he plays Angel is EXACTLY the way I see the character and he was absolutely amazing. I was blown away. So thanks to Damien for making me very happy and playing Angel exactly the way he should be played =)
"Oh my God! You two are adorable!" Queenie squealed as she ran over to Mimi and Angel, hugging them both. "Angel told us so much about you. I can't believe I'm finally getting to meet you." Instead of a formal handshake, she scooped Mimi up into her arms, squeezing her. "Forgive me. I tend to get sort of, well, excited. I'm Queenie."
"I figured. He's told me a lot about you too. He talks about you and Fred almost non-stop, when we're not talking about shopping." Mimi and Angel looked at each other and laughed.
"I'll go get Freddy. I bet he'll be glad to meet you," Queenie said, scampering back behind the stage to find her partner.
"She is.lively, Angel, you were right. Kind of intense."
"Isn't she fabulous?" Angel gushed, "She is a bit much, but you learn to love her for it. I knew she'd like you. She likes all my friends that I bring to her.except she didn't like Will at first."
"My my, she is pretty," a deep voice boomed from behind Mimi. Turning around, startled, she came face to chest with the huge man in front of her. He was insanely attractive. Rippling, muscular brown arms popped out from the straps of his thin, white tank top. His finely-toned abs showed through the material and baggy jeans sat low on his hips. Deep, rich brown eyes looked down at her, dazzling white teeth showing as he smiled. Mimi blushed slightly, completely in awe of how gorgeous he was. Holding out his large hand to her, he continued to smile as he introduced himself. "I'm Fred."
"Mimi," she said, nonchalantly, trying her best to not stumble over her words as she shook his hand.
"So, shall we go out to eat, now that everyone's acquainted?" Queenie chimed in.
"Yeah, sounds good," Fred agreed letting go of Mimi's hand and wrapping his arm protectively around Queenie. "Where to?"
"I am really in the mood for cheap Asian dining. Chinese Paradise sound good to everyone?"
"Sure," they agreed in unison, following Queenie as she left the club, locking the door once the three had trailed out after her. *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*-- *--*--*--*--*--*--
"So we all know about Angel's love life, but, Mimi, tell us about yours. Are you seeing anybody?" Queenie asked, eating another piece of General Tso's Chicken. The group had just finished a rather detailed discussion of Angel's last sexual partner-a hunky black guy who's name he didn't manage to catch. Queenie and Fred both weren't pleased with Angel's lifestyle, but they couldn't necessarily criticize him for what he was doing, considering that they both had similar behaviors at his age, before they met each other. However, he had been going clubbing a lot less lately, ever since he moved in with Mimi. It was only a bi-weekly event and he rarely stayed the night at a stranger's apartment anymore.
Mimi sighed, glancing down into her coke and stirring it with the straw. "Yeah, I've actually been kinda seeing this guy," she said softly, avoiding eye contact with any of them.
"Yeah and I haven't even met him yet!" Angel stated, dramatically crossing his arms and staring at her.
"Well, actually I was gonna have him over tonight so you could meet him. I was gonna surprise you, Ang."
"Aww, Mimi, honey that's so sweet!" Queenie exclaimed, "So tell us about him! What's he like? Is he cute?"
"Well, his name's Benny. He's really cute and really funny. I met him at work and we've been dating ever since."
"Well, honey, I'm very happy for you. It's nice to know that someone hasn't given up hope of falling in love," Queenie stated, glancing over in Angel's direction.
"Hey, I have not given up home!" Angel responded back, defensively, "It's just that there's no harm in having sex while I wait, that's all."
That elicited a few laughs from everyone. "Just be careful Ang."
"Okay, Dad," Angel responded, rolling his eyes at Fred.
Mimi looked at the clock above Angel's chair and noticed that it was getting late. "I really need to go. Benny's coming by the apartment at 8 and I don't wanna keep him waiting. You coming, Ang?"
"Yeah. Thanks for dinner, guys. It was fabulous," Angel said, getting up from his chair and giving them both a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back to visit soon, no worries."
"Bye Ang. Love you! It was nice to meet you, Mimi."
"You too," Mimi said, grabbing her coat off the back of the chair as she rushed out of the restaurant holding Angel's hand. Benny didn't like to be kept waiting. "Bye."
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Flashing lights interrupted Mimi and Angel's quick walk home. An ambulance sat outside their building with the back doors open. Paramedics carried out a stretcher with a white sheet over it, obviously hiding a lifeless body. Stopping abruptly, they looked at each other concerned. There weren't that many people living in their building. What if someone they knew personally had died?
"Should we go in?" Mimi whispered to him, still clutching his hand, unsure of what to do.
"I guess so. What else can we do, stand here like spectators?" Angel responded, biting his lip.
The two bravely held hands and walked by the ambulance. The sexy man with the dreadlocks stood with his arm around a tall, pale man with sloppy blonde hair. Despite the obviously tragic circumstances, Angel couldn't help but stare at the man. He was still so captivated by him, no matter how sad or upset he looked.
Mimi pinched his arm, hard. "Angel, stop it!"
Blushing, embarrassed that he was trying to pick up a guy who'd just obviously lost someone important to him, Angel responded. "Sorry," he muttered as they ducked into the building and marched up the stairs, unsure of what to say.
A black man with a shaved head stood at the door to Mimi and Angel's apartment. It was easy to tell, even from the back, that he was built and in good form. A tight, blue t-shirt hugged his sculpted body, a pair of loose-fitting jeans covering his legs. In his left ear was a large, silver hoop.
"Benny?" Mimi asked softly as he turned around deep brown eyes staring at hers.
"Hey," he said casually as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Do you know what happened out there?" Mimi asked, concerned, as she dropped Angel's hand and took hold of Benny's.
"Yeah, my friend's girlfriend died," Benny said, as if it were nothing.
"Oh my god," Angel gasped, softly.
"You know what? I really don't wanna talk about it. I was just waiting here because I have somewhere I need to be. You said you wanted me to meet your friend-I'd assume that's you?" he said, looking in Angel's direction.
"Yeah, I'm Angel. I heard a lot about you."
"Like what?" Benny asked, looking confused, "Look, I gotta go. Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed her, barely touching her lips, then disappeared down the stairs.
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Mimi let Angel walk inside in front of her, closing the door behind her. With a confused look still on face, Angel turned to look at her as she began to take off the leather sleeves she was wearing. She had about five pairs of them, considering that it was part of her daily work uniform. "Gosh, it's hot," she remarked.
"Well, it's July," Angel replied as he watched her remove them, noticing the marks on her arm, clear as day. His face fell. "Mimi."
"Angel," she said back, mocking his serious tone. Tossing the sleeves over the back of the couch, she stepped besides Angel to grab a cold beer out of the fridge.
"What's that?" he asked, trying as hard as he could to not explode at her for using drugs. She knew how he felt about drug use, especially heroin, after what had happened with Will. He couldn't bear to see it destroy another person he loved.
"This? Angel," she said slowly, "this is a beer."
He rolled his eyes, annoyed at her inability to notice the serious tone in his voice. "I didn't mean the beer, Mimi. I meant those marks on your arm."
"I just got in a fight with a girl at work," Mimi explained, casually, brushing off Angel's concern, "You would not believe this chucha. She calls me a slut for dancing on some guy, but I only -."
"Don't lie to me. They're track marks. Both of us know it."
Mimi looked away from him, taking a large gulp of beer.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked quietly, trying his hardest to contain his anger.
"And who are you to tell me what to do? Like you know any better?" she snapped.
"Mimi, I'm 22 fucking years old, I know a hell of a lot more than you do. I know that drugs fuck people up and that dating men who are twenty years older than me isn't going to help the situation."
"Just because your ex-boyfriend fucked up his life with heroin doesn't mean that I'm going to do the same thing. I just like to feel good now and then, that's all. And why the fuck are you dragging Benny into this? He didn't do anything-you barely even know him!" She was getting angrier now as she finished her beer and slammed the bottle down on their scratched-up wooden table. She whipped out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, quickly inhaling the foul-smelling smoke.
"You're right, I don't know him, but I can tell from just meeting him for a minute that he doesn't give two shits about you."
"And the guys you fuck care about you?" she asked sarcastically, breathing in more smoke from her cigarette.
"This isn't about me," he said quietly, looking away from her for a minute, "This is about you and how you're screwing up your life. Stop doing drugs and stop dating people who don't care about you. First Chase, and now Benny. You have such a wonderful family and you're leaving all of that behind because you want to be bad. You want drama, Mimi, and you're getting it. Only, you're never going to be happy this way. You're never going to be happy with these hot guys who don't give a fuck and you're never going to be happy as some drug-addicted junkie."
"Maybe that's true, Angel," Mimi said, even more calmly than before, "Maybe I do like drama. But I've never claimed to want love. I've never sat around and said how 'I have faith that someday, my real true soul mate will come along.' Ring any bells for you, Angel? Because I think you've given up on that."
Breathing in heavily and shutting his eyes, Angel clenched his fists. "I told you, this isn't about me."
"Oh, see, but now it is. You've just completely bashed my life, so now it's my turn to bash yours. What happened to the Angel that I first met who believed in fairy-tale love and prince charming, huh? Where did that wonderful dream of being with one amazing man for the rest of your life go?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," he mumbled softly.
"Obviously, because you're giving up. You're giving up on everything. You don't even take AZT."
He stared at her intensely, his deep eyes burning holes through her body, "I'm not giving up."
"So you're just going to sit there and watch as your body wastes away? I hear you at night, Angel. I hear that coughing before you go to bed and I see you getting just a little bit thinner every day. You're killing yourself, did you know that?"
"I want to live out the rest of my days in peace-no drugs, no hospitals, no doctors! I just want to be free and happy for the remainder of my life."
"You're cutting it short. And you think that going out and fucking random asshole twinkies is going to help make your life happy and free? You're miserable. I see it in your eyes."
"You wouldn't understand!" he yelled, pushing her away from him with a surprising amount of force.
"What do you mean 'I wouldn't understand.'? I've got the same thing as you do! You're not the only person on this earth with HIV, Angel. We all know what you're going through and you're being a self-centered little prick by not letting anyone help you."
He sighed again, trying to process what she had just said. "At least I'm drug-free," he said, in a bitter voice.
"At least I'm going to live. You know what? It's a good thing you gave up on love because with the way you think, you're never going to find it. You're just a self-obsessed, pathetic little faggot who will never be happy because the only the person you care about is you."
Tears stung his eyes as she spoke. She'd never called him a faggot before-nobody who he loved had ever called him such a cruel name. He smoothed his wig down and spun around, leaving the apartment.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I only care about myself, right? So why would this self-centered faggot tell you where he was off to?"
"Angel, I-."
"Fuck you, Mimi," he growled as he left the apartment, shutting the door so hard behind him that he heard glass shattering.
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A/N: Hooray for fights! This took me about ten minutes to write. It all just kind of spilled out at once. 47 is when RENT starts, for anyone who's interested, so there's only 3 more chapters to go until Collins REALLY comes into the picture. As always, read, review and let me know what you think. The next chapter should be up shortly. Sorry for the wait on this one. Another thank you goes to Damien D. Smith, who I just saw a week or so ago in RENT. The way he plays Angel is EXACTLY the way I see the character and he was absolutely amazing. I was blown away. So thanks to Damien for making me very happy and playing Angel exactly the way he should be played =)