CHAPTER FIFTEEN
(chapter title – La vie Boheme)

The group quickly left the Performance Space, Maureen complaining about Benny and that he shouldn't have set the damn cops on her daughter. They didn't know where they were gonna go – the Life Café was closed, so they headed back to the loft. Roger set Tiffany on the couch while Kaitlin got a band aid and ice for Tiffany's cut. Maureen and Joanne had volunteered to put Mark to bed, so they headed to the nursery.

"Sar, Ally, it's time for you two to go to bed, too." Roger told them, wiping the blood from Tiffany's cut.

"Aw, dad! Can we stay up a little later, please?" Sara and Ally begged. Roger looked over at Kaitlin.

"What do you think, Kait?" Roger asked.

"I don't see why not." Kaitlin answered, kissing the end of Roger's nose.

"Yay!" the girls cheered. Kaitlin and Roger laughed as the girls paraded around the room. Maureen went to get Tiffany some ice while Joanne put Tiffany on the table. Just then, Roger started humming a fun tune.

"What's that Daddy?" Sara asked, walking over to where Roger was.

"Nothing - it's a song from when all of us were younger." Roger told her, ruffling her hair. Sara smiled up at him just as Kaitlin walked over to the group, different flavors of ice cream in her hands.

"Thanks mom!" Ally's eyes widened as Kaitlin handed her a bowl of Chunky Monkey ice cream. Sara smiled at her friend as she devoured her ice cream.

"This one's for you, Sar." Kaitlin handed Sara a bowl of Death by Chocolate ice cream.

"What about me?" Roger pouted. Kaitlin laughed and handed him a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. He kissed her cheek as she continued to pass out the ice cream.

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As soon as everyone had their ice cream, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Roger told the person, his mouth full of ice cream. Kaitlin laughed and dabbed Roger's chin with a napkin.

"Has anyone seen my daughter?" Benny asked, coming into the loft. Roger glared angrily at him.

"Why the hell would your daughter be here?" Roger growled.

"Because I know she's seeing Collins' son." Benny told him, ignoring Roger's glare.

"I saw that Muffy wasn't there." Maureen pointed out.

"She couldn't come - there was a death in the family. Her name is Alison by the way." Benny told the group, his head lowering.

"Who died?" Sara asked.

"Our Akita." Benny told her.

"You have a new Akita?" Kaitlin asked. Roger had told her about Benny's old Akita - Evita.

"Yeah - her name was Cocoa." Benny answered.

Holy crap I'm in trouble Christopher thought as Benny circled the group - looking for Hannah. She was hiding out of view on the fire escape, but she could hear everything that was being said.

"You make fun yet I'm the one
Attempting to do some good
Or do you really want a neighborhood
Where people piss on your
Stoop every night?
Bohemia, Bohemia's
A fallacy in your head
This is Calcutta,
Bohemia is dead." with that, Benny walked out the door.

"Dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes." Maureen sang.

"Dies irae - dies illa, Kyrie eleison
Yitgadal v'yitkadash." Sara and Ally sang.

"Here she lies, no one knew her worth
The late great daughter of Mother Earth
On these nights when we
Celebrate the birth
In that little town of Bethlehem
We raise our glass - you bet your ass to -
La vie Boheme." Maureen sang, motioning for everyone to sing with her.

"La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme
La vie Boheme." Everyone sang. Hannah, at that point, had come into the loft and joined in the singing.

"To days of inspiration
Playing hooky, making
Something out of nothing
The need to express-
To communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane, going mad
To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course,
Hating dear old Mom and Dad
To riding your bike,
Midday past the three-piece suits
To fruits - to no absolutes-
To Absolut - to choice-
To the Village Voice-
To any passing fad
To being an us for once ... instead of a them!" Maureen sang.

"To hand-crafted beers
Made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildoes, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou." Sara and Hannah sang.

"Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation." Roger and Kaitlin sang.

"Mucho masturbation." Maureen told the others, smiling.

"Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new." Roger and Kaitlin sang.

"To Sontag!" Hannah sang

"To Sondheim!" Christopher sang.

"To anything taboo." Maureen, Joanne, Kaitlin and Hannah sang.

"Ginsberg, Dylan Cunningham and Cage." Roger and Christopher sang.

"Lenny Bruce." Christopher indicated to Roger.

"Langston Hughes." Roger indicated to Christopher.

"To the stage!" Sara said.

"Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em." Sara and Hannah sang.

"La vie Boheme." Everyone sang.

"To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game
To sodomy, it's between God and me
To S & M." everyone sang.

"In honor of the death of Bohemia an impromptu salon
will commence immediately following dinner ...
Maureen Johnson, just back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the eleventh street lot,
will perform Native American tribal chants
backwards through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric cello -
which she ain't never studied." Christopher said, indicating to Maureen.

"And Kaitlin Davis will preview her new sound effect while tap dancing to old ragtime music." Roger announced, looking at his wife.

"And Hannah Coffin, clad only in bubble wrap,
will perform her famous lawn chair-handcuff dance to the sounds of iced tea
being stirred. And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song." Kaitlin started to say, but was interrupted by Roger playing Musetta's Waltz on his guitar. "That doesn't remind us of Musetta's Waltz." Kaitlin told him, cutting him off with a wave of her hand.

"Sara Davis will preview her new song while signing the National Anthem - backwards." Ally teased her sister.

"And Ally Davis will demonstrate her science project on the newest brand of science technology as it broadcasts the words -." Ally said.

"Actual reality - Act Up - Fight AIDS!" everyone said. Just then, Hannah walked over to Christopher, an annoyed look on her face.

"Excuse me - did I do something wrong?
I get invited - then ignored all night long." Hannah told Christopher.

"I've been trying - I'm not lying
No one's perfect. I've got baggage." Christopher told her, pulling her into a quiet corner of the loft - away from the others.

"Life's too short, Chris, time is flying
I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine." Hannah told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I should tell you-" Christopher started to say.

"I got baggage too." Hannah told him.

"I should tell you." Christopher repeated

"Baggage." Hannah and Christopher told each other in unison.

"Wine and beer!" the others said, along with Sara, Tiffany and Ally's words of 'water'. Just then, Christopher's beeper went off. He really didn't want to tell anyone that he had HIV.

"AZT break." Hannah noted, taking out a bottle of AZT. Christopher was shocked.

"You?" Christopher inquired - his eyebrows raising.

"Me. You?" Hannah asked, popping two pills into her mouth and swallowing them dry.

"Hannah." was all that Christopher could say. Hannah stared at him and walked him to the fire escape. Roger watched them go, knowing that they had a few things to talk about.

A/N: don't own the lyrics to La Vie Boheme. they belong to respected owner. 'nuff said. i know that all the lyrics aren't there - DEAL WITH IT!