Mark stared at the photo, mesmerized.
"April," he said her name, softly.
Jan raised her eyebrows.
"How'd you know her name?" she asked, frowning.
"I used to know her," Mark said, quietly.
"That so? Well," Jan laughed, "Small world, huh?" She closed the album and looked back up at him. "Mark, you okay?"
"I knew her VERY well," Mark said, fidgeting uncomfortably.
"How'd you know her?" Jan asked, wrapping her arms around herself.
Mark mumbled something.
"What?" she poked him with her finger.
"She was Roger's girlfriend," he muttered, staring at the surface of the wooden table.
Jan was silent for a moment. "That's THE Roger?" she exclaimed.
"THE Roger?"
"April used to talk about him the few times that we talked on the phone." She shivered. "That's just too weird."
"Yeah," Mark said, not really knowing what to say.
"Oh, God, so he's THE Roger," she said again, shaking her head.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"April was still dating him when she died, right?"
Mark nodded.
"Well when I got the call from her parents that she'd killed herself- they said it was because of her boyfriend, that he was pressuring her and she couldn't bare to deal with It anymore.
"That's ALL they told you?" Mark asked, quietly.
"Yes . . . God, I don't know how I'll be able to be around him now, knowing that he was the reason . . ."
"That's NOT the way it happened," Mark interrupted, angrily. "Did you parents tell you about a suicide note?"
"No . . ."
"It said, "Roger- we've got AIDS," Mark knew what was on the note, and he also could remember what it had looked like. He was the one who had found April.
April shook her head. "That can't be."
"So you think I'm lying to you?" Mark snapped, angry that she had tried to put the blame on Roger.
"I don't think you're lying, Mark, that's just not like April."
Mark sighed. "It's the truth. Jan, I was the one who found her in the bathroom."
Jan bit her lip. "You were?" she whispered, her voice teary.
Mark slowly nodded his head.
"Oh, God," she murmured, the tears starting to fall.
Mark slid out of his seat and knelt beside her chair. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her toward him gently, trying to soothe her with words, but not knowing quite what to say.
"My parents never told me she was positive," Jan whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "But then again, they never tell me anything," she said, bitterly. She looked at Mark. "How could they have kept that from me?"
"I don't know," Mark said, helplessly.
"They took the advantage of the fact that April and I weren't close at all. They could have said that she had married a rock star and flew with him in his big jet and were never seen again- I wouldn't have any choice but to believe it, because I knew nothing about what her life was like, I knew nothing about HER," Jan said, through gritted teeth.
"You two weren't the only siblings who weren't close," Mark said, trying to help. "Me and my sister probably wouldn't even recognize each other if we walked past each other on the sidewalk. She calls on the holidays, but that's all."
"Did your sister kill herself?" Jan snapped.
"I'm just trying to help," Mark said, quietly.
Jan sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just really confused right now." She stared at the wall. "Mark, I'd just like to be alone right now."
"Alone . . ." Mark repeated, caught off guard.
"Yes. I'll call you later, but I just need some time to myself right now, okay?"
"Okay," Mark said, almost robotically. "So I'll see you soon?" he asked, before he opened the door to leave.
Jan, who was picking at a loose nail on her chair, didn't answer.
"Jan?"
"What? Oh, yes, I'll call you sometime." She looked away, pretending to be studying something on the floor.
"Well, alright . . . call me if you need anything."
She nodded.
Mark bit his lip, and then opened the door and left.
***
"Hello, stranger," Roger joked, as Mark entered the apartment. "How's it been in Jan-Land? You've been there for quite a while."
"It was fine," Mark mumbled, shoving his coat into the closet.
"What's wrong? Did you get into a fight or something?"
"Not exactly."
"Tell me," Roger pushed.
Mark shook his head. "It's nothing, Roger."
"Bullshit," Roger declared, with a flicker in his eye. "I've known you since kindergarten, Mark, I know when something's up."
Mark shrugged.
"Tell me, or I'll sic the strawberries on you!" Mark was allergic to strawberries, as well as many other things.
"Piss off, Roger, it's not important," Mark grumbled, trying to walk past him.
Roger held onto him, refusing to let go. "Tell me," he demanded, not liking to be left out of things.
"I don't think it's anything you'd like to know, Roger."
"Who cares? TELL ME," he pretended to whine. Jokingly, he reached his arm around and put Mark in a headlock.
"STOP IT, ROGER!" Mark yelled, trying to escape.
"Not until you tell me," Roger replied, holding him down easily.
"You really wanna know?" Mark yelled, his face red with anger.
"Would you be in this position if I didn't?" Roger asked, hiding a smile.
"It's just something Jan told me about her family, nothing important!"
"What'd she tell you?"
"NOTHING!"
"Come ON, Mark, I'm not a moron! Whatever it is, I can deal."
"April was Jan's sister, Roger. Deal with THAT," Mark snapped, and before Roger could say anything, he wrenched away from Roger as he rushed into his room, slamming the door behind him.
***
"Hey, baby," Mimi said to Roger as he walked into the bedroom.
Roger didn't answer, and sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his shoes.
"Nice to see you too," Mimi frowned.
"Hi," Roger grumbled.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Everything's GREAT," he growled.
"What happened?" Mimi crawled over beside him. "Did you and Mark fight?"
"Kind of."
Mimi looked at him questioningly.
"Just something he found out about April."
"Oh." Mimi was silent for a moment, but then couldn't contain her curiosity. "And?"
"And nothing."
"C'mon Roger," she pushed, tugging at his sleeve. "What did he tell you?"
"Jan and April knew each other."
Mimi was silent for a moment. She was always uneasy when Roger talked about April. "Oh?" she said.
"They were sisters."
Mimi ran her finger along the quilt covering the bed. "How long has Jan been keeping that from Mark?" she asked, quietly.
"How the hell would I know, Mimi?" he snapped, in sudden anger.
Mimi was taken back. "Jeez, SORRY, Roger. I was just asking a question."
"Yeah, well I just found out that my best friend is dating my ex girlfriend's sister?" Roger shot back.
"Well what's the big deal?" Mimi asked, confused. "It's April's sister, not April herself."
"Yeah, but it's APRIL'S sister!" Roger exploded.
"April's gone, Roger," Mimi said, quietly. "That part of your life is over now. Why can't you accept that?"
"Because she always comes back to fucking haunt me!" he yelled, startling Mimi with the sudden raise of volume in his voice.
"Calm down," she said, softly, resting her hand gently on his shoulder. Roger shrugged her off.
"No matter what I do, April's always on my mind. When I'm in this apartment I always think, April used to sleep in this bed, April used to sit in this chair, April used to fucking shit in this toilet! I started thinking that ever since I first met Jan. I thought she looked familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Now I know, and it's like she's controlling me from the grave. She . . ."
"April's DEAD, Roger," Mimi shouted, interrupting him. "And she's been dead for nearly two years! I KNOW you feel guilty about what happened, but it's NOT your fault! Whenever you're in a bad mood, it always leads back to April, always April. Why can't you accept the fact that she's gone, Roger? She's not coming back!"
The fury in her eyes faded away for a moment.
"Why do you have to live in the past? This is NOW. You have me, and other people who care about you. You can't just keep letting April haunt you!"
Roger's fists clenched in anger. "Now YOU listen!" he yelled, pointing his finger at Mimi, just inches away from her face. "Don't EVER talk about April. You don't know shit about April. So don't fucking talk like you knew her, understand?"
"How do you know I didn't know April?" Mimi screamed back at him.
"Because for all I know, while me and April were together, you were stripping for some old men down at the Cat Scratch Club," he yelled.
"Fuck you," she snarled.
"I don't need this," Roger snapped, standing to his feet. "Like hell you knew April."
"I DID know her!" Mimi shouted. "She came to one of the Life Support meetings. And just from that one time, I saw that she was way worse off than I ever was. She told us she'd do just about ANYTHING to get her hands on a stash. Bark like a dog, strip, prostitute herself, WHATEVER. THAT'S how you ended up with AIDS, Roger!" she screamed, standing to her feet.
Her last sentence echoed in Roger's head, 'THAT'S how you got AIDS.'
Without warning, Roger came at her quickly, grabbing her wrist in his hand, tightly. "Don't EVER talk about April like that. EVER!" he yelled into her face. Mimi closed her eyes, trembling.
"Do you understand?" he repeated, tightening his grip.
"Roger, please, calm down," she pleaded, her anger suddenly disappearing, replaced by fright.
"Like hell I'll calm down," he growled. "And like hell I'll calm down here." Without warning, he shoved Mimi away, harder than he had intended to.
Mimi fell back, knocking her head sharply on the floor.
Roger stopped for a moment, horrified with what he had just done, but the angered side of him took over, and he turned sharply and rushed out of the apartment, slamming the door loudly behind him. The echoing sound of the door slamming was the last thing Mimi heard before she slid into unconsciousness.
a/n: Okay, I didn't intend to have any violence going on in this chapter- Em0 made me do it! Seriously though, I know I made Roger seem like an asshole here, but things ARE going to get better, please do not lose interest in this story on account of my twisted little mind!
"April," he said her name, softly.
Jan raised her eyebrows.
"How'd you know her name?" she asked, frowning.
"I used to know her," Mark said, quietly.
"That so? Well," Jan laughed, "Small world, huh?" She closed the album and looked back up at him. "Mark, you okay?"
"I knew her VERY well," Mark said, fidgeting uncomfortably.
"How'd you know her?" Jan asked, wrapping her arms around herself.
Mark mumbled something.
"What?" she poked him with her finger.
"She was Roger's girlfriend," he muttered, staring at the surface of the wooden table.
Jan was silent for a moment. "That's THE Roger?" she exclaimed.
"THE Roger?"
"April used to talk about him the few times that we talked on the phone." She shivered. "That's just too weird."
"Yeah," Mark said, not really knowing what to say.
"Oh, God, so he's THE Roger," she said again, shaking her head.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"April was still dating him when she died, right?"
Mark nodded.
"Well when I got the call from her parents that she'd killed herself- they said it was because of her boyfriend, that he was pressuring her and she couldn't bare to deal with It anymore.
"That's ALL they told you?" Mark asked, quietly.
"Yes . . . God, I don't know how I'll be able to be around him now, knowing that he was the reason . . ."
"That's NOT the way it happened," Mark interrupted, angrily. "Did you parents tell you about a suicide note?"
"No . . ."
"It said, "Roger- we've got AIDS," Mark knew what was on the note, and he also could remember what it had looked like. He was the one who had found April.
April shook her head. "That can't be."
"So you think I'm lying to you?" Mark snapped, angry that she had tried to put the blame on Roger.
"I don't think you're lying, Mark, that's just not like April."
Mark sighed. "It's the truth. Jan, I was the one who found her in the bathroom."
Jan bit her lip. "You were?" she whispered, her voice teary.
Mark slowly nodded his head.
"Oh, God," she murmured, the tears starting to fall.
Mark slid out of his seat and knelt beside her chair. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her toward him gently, trying to soothe her with words, but not knowing quite what to say.
"My parents never told me she was positive," Jan whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "But then again, they never tell me anything," she said, bitterly. She looked at Mark. "How could they have kept that from me?"
"I don't know," Mark said, helplessly.
"They took the advantage of the fact that April and I weren't close at all. They could have said that she had married a rock star and flew with him in his big jet and were never seen again- I wouldn't have any choice but to believe it, because I knew nothing about what her life was like, I knew nothing about HER," Jan said, through gritted teeth.
"You two weren't the only siblings who weren't close," Mark said, trying to help. "Me and my sister probably wouldn't even recognize each other if we walked past each other on the sidewalk. She calls on the holidays, but that's all."
"Did your sister kill herself?" Jan snapped.
"I'm just trying to help," Mark said, quietly.
Jan sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just really confused right now." She stared at the wall. "Mark, I'd just like to be alone right now."
"Alone . . ." Mark repeated, caught off guard.
"Yes. I'll call you later, but I just need some time to myself right now, okay?"
"Okay," Mark said, almost robotically. "So I'll see you soon?" he asked, before he opened the door to leave.
Jan, who was picking at a loose nail on her chair, didn't answer.
"Jan?"
"What? Oh, yes, I'll call you sometime." She looked away, pretending to be studying something on the floor.
"Well, alright . . . call me if you need anything."
She nodded.
Mark bit his lip, and then opened the door and left.
***
"Hello, stranger," Roger joked, as Mark entered the apartment. "How's it been in Jan-Land? You've been there for quite a while."
"It was fine," Mark mumbled, shoving his coat into the closet.
"What's wrong? Did you get into a fight or something?"
"Not exactly."
"Tell me," Roger pushed.
Mark shook his head. "It's nothing, Roger."
"Bullshit," Roger declared, with a flicker in his eye. "I've known you since kindergarten, Mark, I know when something's up."
Mark shrugged.
"Tell me, or I'll sic the strawberries on you!" Mark was allergic to strawberries, as well as many other things.
"Piss off, Roger, it's not important," Mark grumbled, trying to walk past him.
Roger held onto him, refusing to let go. "Tell me," he demanded, not liking to be left out of things.
"I don't think it's anything you'd like to know, Roger."
"Who cares? TELL ME," he pretended to whine. Jokingly, he reached his arm around and put Mark in a headlock.
"STOP IT, ROGER!" Mark yelled, trying to escape.
"Not until you tell me," Roger replied, holding him down easily.
"You really wanna know?" Mark yelled, his face red with anger.
"Would you be in this position if I didn't?" Roger asked, hiding a smile.
"It's just something Jan told me about her family, nothing important!"
"What'd she tell you?"
"NOTHING!"
"Come ON, Mark, I'm not a moron! Whatever it is, I can deal."
"April was Jan's sister, Roger. Deal with THAT," Mark snapped, and before Roger could say anything, he wrenched away from Roger as he rushed into his room, slamming the door behind him.
***
"Hey, baby," Mimi said to Roger as he walked into the bedroom.
Roger didn't answer, and sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his shoes.
"Nice to see you too," Mimi frowned.
"Hi," Roger grumbled.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Everything's GREAT," he growled.
"What happened?" Mimi crawled over beside him. "Did you and Mark fight?"
"Kind of."
Mimi looked at him questioningly.
"Just something he found out about April."
"Oh." Mimi was silent for a moment, but then couldn't contain her curiosity. "And?"
"And nothing."
"C'mon Roger," she pushed, tugging at his sleeve. "What did he tell you?"
"Jan and April knew each other."
Mimi was silent for a moment. She was always uneasy when Roger talked about April. "Oh?" she said.
"They were sisters."
Mimi ran her finger along the quilt covering the bed. "How long has Jan been keeping that from Mark?" she asked, quietly.
"How the hell would I know, Mimi?" he snapped, in sudden anger.
Mimi was taken back. "Jeez, SORRY, Roger. I was just asking a question."
"Yeah, well I just found out that my best friend is dating my ex girlfriend's sister?" Roger shot back.
"Well what's the big deal?" Mimi asked, confused. "It's April's sister, not April herself."
"Yeah, but it's APRIL'S sister!" Roger exploded.
"April's gone, Roger," Mimi said, quietly. "That part of your life is over now. Why can't you accept that?"
"Because she always comes back to fucking haunt me!" he yelled, startling Mimi with the sudden raise of volume in his voice.
"Calm down," she said, softly, resting her hand gently on his shoulder. Roger shrugged her off.
"No matter what I do, April's always on my mind. When I'm in this apartment I always think, April used to sleep in this bed, April used to sit in this chair, April used to fucking shit in this toilet! I started thinking that ever since I first met Jan. I thought she looked familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Now I know, and it's like she's controlling me from the grave. She . . ."
"April's DEAD, Roger," Mimi shouted, interrupting him. "And she's been dead for nearly two years! I KNOW you feel guilty about what happened, but it's NOT your fault! Whenever you're in a bad mood, it always leads back to April, always April. Why can't you accept the fact that she's gone, Roger? She's not coming back!"
The fury in her eyes faded away for a moment.
"Why do you have to live in the past? This is NOW. You have me, and other people who care about you. You can't just keep letting April haunt you!"
Roger's fists clenched in anger. "Now YOU listen!" he yelled, pointing his finger at Mimi, just inches away from her face. "Don't EVER talk about April. You don't know shit about April. So don't fucking talk like you knew her, understand?"
"How do you know I didn't know April?" Mimi screamed back at him.
"Because for all I know, while me and April were together, you were stripping for some old men down at the Cat Scratch Club," he yelled.
"Fuck you," she snarled.
"I don't need this," Roger snapped, standing to his feet. "Like hell you knew April."
"I DID know her!" Mimi shouted. "She came to one of the Life Support meetings. And just from that one time, I saw that she was way worse off than I ever was. She told us she'd do just about ANYTHING to get her hands on a stash. Bark like a dog, strip, prostitute herself, WHATEVER. THAT'S how you ended up with AIDS, Roger!" she screamed, standing to her feet.
Her last sentence echoed in Roger's head, 'THAT'S how you got AIDS.'
Without warning, Roger came at her quickly, grabbing her wrist in his hand, tightly. "Don't EVER talk about April like that. EVER!" he yelled into her face. Mimi closed her eyes, trembling.
"Do you understand?" he repeated, tightening his grip.
"Roger, please, calm down," she pleaded, her anger suddenly disappearing, replaced by fright.
"Like hell I'll calm down," he growled. "And like hell I'll calm down here." Without warning, he shoved Mimi away, harder than he had intended to.
Mimi fell back, knocking her head sharply on the floor.
Roger stopped for a moment, horrified with what he had just done, but the angered side of him took over, and he turned sharply and rushed out of the apartment, slamming the door loudly behind him. The echoing sound of the door slamming was the last thing Mimi heard before she slid into unconsciousness.
a/n: Okay, I didn't intend to have any violence going on in this chapter- Em0 made me do it! Seriously though, I know I made Roger seem like an asshole here, but things ARE going to get better, please do not lose interest in this story on account of my twisted little mind!