I grabbed my biggest bag and threw in everything I needed- clothes, make-up, hair products, my cassette player, and a box of cookies. Then I locked up and ran to Mark's.

He was also in room, digging through all of his things, then throwing them in a suitcase. He didn't even look up when I came in. "Roger's packing. Why don't you go give Mimi a hand at her apartment?"

I ran over to her place, where I found her, sitting on a chair, staring at the floor. She looked really sick and tired. "Mimi, what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I can't leave- I have so many people here that I will miss. And there's all of these things to do and buy and work," she whispered, still looking at the floor.

I bit my lip, debating whether or not to ask her about the man and the money- that would be the only way to convince her to come along. I carefully chose my words, "Mimi, why do you owe money to some man?"

Blankly, she stared at me. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, this man came up to me and asked if I knew you, and said you owe him $125 for some 'business' deal. What's going on?"

She swallowed and her eyes filled with tears. "It's just so hard to stop buying! I've tried really hard to get clean, but it's not working! And I don't have the money, either!"

"And that is why we're leaving, because none of us can scrap up that money- we're having a hard time as it is living, so this is a big chunk of money. I told him we'd have it, but now we're going across the country."

I could tell that she felt really bad. "Come on," I said, "let's get your things together."

We raided her small apartment for her clothes and compiled a bag full of other things she'd need. "Let's go," I said, and pulled her toward the guys' place.

Roger, as always, looked like a complete wreck, and Mark seemed a little worried. "Hey," Roger said to us. "Are you ready?"

Mark then had an idea, and he cut me off right as I was about to say something. "I just realized something- how the hell are we going to get to Santa Fe when we don't have a car?"

"Benny can give us his."

We all stared at Mimi. "That's crazy!" I exclaimed.

"No, it's not. I'll ask Benny for one of his cars, and I'm sure we could 'borrow' it temporarily." Then she looked at me as if to say "Don't say anything about the money."

She hurriedly left the room, and we could all hear her boots clacking down the hallway. Roger looked sad to see her go. It seemed that he couldn't bare to watch her leave his sight.

We waited nervously in silence until we once again the click of shoes. A triumphant looking Mimi waltzed in the room, dangling the car keys from her slender fingers.

"Well, I'm ready to go," she said, thrusting the keys into Mark's hands. She grabbed her bag from the floor and left the room without another word.

Stunned, we watched her walk away. "How did she do that?" Mark asked.

"I have no idea," I replied. "But whatever she did, it worked." Then I picked up my things and ran after her, with Mark and Roger not too far behind. We arrived outside in the freezing cold to see a nice black car waiting there, and Mimi's bag right next to it. But where was she?

While they started getting things into the car, I began to look for her. I walked down the street and looked every way, until I saw her and the man. She had money in her hand and was giving it to him, and he was gladly taking it while working things out with her. She then turned around, amd was a little surprised to see me watching.

"Maureen, what are you doing?"

"Well, I came to look for you because we're about to leave, and I… uh… saw you and that man, and I was going to wait for you… um, did wait for you. I don't know what you two said, though."

"Fine. Let's go to Santa Fe. I'm sick of this shit hole of a place."