Chapter Seventeen
Al grabbed his food and walked
with Marcie over to a booth, taking a seat. "I'm glad
you decided to stay." he said
"Well... you were right when you said I have nowhere to
go." Marcie sighed. "There's no getting back into
my room now until morning Today has been a disaster. First with
Ron... then with Jen and I..." Marcie's shoulders fell.
"I've gotta find my purse."
"Well you can get a new set of keys, right?" AL said.
"Yeah, but... I had photos... they were really special. I
can't. I can't replace them. They were..."
"Of Al," he said
Marcie nodded, starting to cry. "Graduation photos. He was
so happy and..." Marcie was balling now. "That roll of
film was the last... they were the last pictures of us
together."
Al moved over in the booth, situating himself close to her.
"It'll show up, Marcie." he said. "I garuntee
it."
"It's just that they were really important..."
"I know, they were memories. But Al's alive, Marcie. He's
alive in here." He reached his hand out, placing it above
her heart, "He's in your heart, right?" Marcie
pulled back slightly. "Sorry," Al said, retracting his
hand.
"No... no I'm sorry." Marcie sniffled. "Here
you are trying to be nice to me and I'm... I'm falling
apart on you."
"You have every right to." Al said. "You were in
love with Al."
"No" Marcie corrected him. "No. I am in love with
Al. I'll always be in love with Al. I will never... ever
love anyone but Al. Never."
"He'd want you to live your life." he said.
What am I saying?' Al thought. I'm
right here. I'm right in front of you Marcie. Why can't
you just see it?'
"He was my life" Marcie said. "Al... he made me
feel special. He made me feel beautiful. He'd say it... and
he'd mean it. He loved me." she cried. "And I
killed him."
Al's heart sank. "No," he said. "No, Marcie.
Don't say that. Don't even think that."
"It's true" she cried. "It's true. I
gave him that disease. I gave it to him and he died from it.
"
"Marcie" Al said. "Al just couldn't fight off
the infection. It's not your fault."
"So it's his then?" Marcie shot. "Is that
what you're saying, Michael? It's Al's own fault
that he's gone?"
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying,'
Al thought. "It wasn't anyone's fault." he
sighed. "It's kinda hard to explain. Sometimes... stuff
like this... bad stuff like this, just happens. We don't
know why it happens, but it does. And... there's nothing
that we could have done differently to change the outcome. Do you
understand, Marcie?"
Marcie shook her head. "No" she said. "No, I don't
think I'll ever understand why he had to go. Not when he had
his whole life going for him. He was doing so much better, he was
gonna go to law school... we were gonna move in together."
Marcie wiped her eyes. "We were supposed to be together
forever."
We can be Marcie. We can be, baby. Just look at me. I
know you see me. You have to.' Al looked in her eyes.
"Al loved you... more than anything in this world." he
said. "You gave him a reason to get up in the morning, a
reason to go through every day. You gave him that Marcie. Believe
me. I know."
"Al never mentioned you" she said. "How is it that
you two were so close and he never once mentioned your
name?"
"Now that... I can't answer." he said. "But
Marcie, he talked about you. God, he talked about you all the
time. He was a lucky guy to have someone like you."
"I was the lucky one." Marcie smiled thinking of him.
"I never... I never imagined anyone ever loving me like
that. Especially not someone like Al. He really knew how to make
me feel special." She wiped her eyes, checking the clock.
"Wow, look," she said "I've gotta get going.
I've got class tomorrow." She stood.
"Well... where are you gonna go?" Al said. "You
can't back into the dorms...."
Marcie sighed. "Well I guess I could wake up Ronnie."
she said. "He'd let me stay the night."
"Ron has no space." Al said. "You know that"
"Yeah I guess he is a little cramped living across from
Roxy." Marcie paused. "I don't know... I guess I
could call Jen..." she sighed
"Or... you could stay with me" Al wanted to kick
himself for even suggesting it. This was sure to get him slapped.
He knew it.
"Oh.. no" Marcie said "I can't impose on you.
Your hours are murder and you need to sleep and..."
"Marcie." he smiled. "Granted the place isn't
as clean as it should be, but I've got the room. The bed's
comfortable... I'll sleep on the chair." Why not, he
thought, that's where he'd been sleeping the past two
nights anyway.
"Michael... I can't."
"There's nowhere else, Marcie. Come on." he nudged
her. "Come on. It's no trouble. You can get a new key
in the morning. Hey, who knows, maybe your purse will show up by
then." he smiled. "Come on."
She smiled, giving him a nod. "OK," she said.
"Michael... thank you."
