Maureen was still asleep when I peeled open my eyes the next morning. It was cloudy out. No sunshine poured into my eyes. I sat up, blinked, and squinted as I searched for my glasses. After my breakdown the morning before, Maureen had promised me a little something to make me feel better; and she sure delivered.

I leaned over her prone, sleeping form and grabbed my glasses from the table beside her. Once the world had become clear, I kissed her forehead and then slid out of bed quietly. I pulled on a pair of jeans but couldn't find a shirt readily available on the floor, so I grabbed one of the quilts that we had knocked to the floor and pulled it around myself. It reminded me of my days in Scarsdale when I would run around on Saturday mornings with a blanket over my shoulders, pretending to be Superman or something.

I padded to the door and out into the main room, closing the door behind me. A quick survey of the room showed me that Roger was still locked in his bedroom and Collins was nowhere to be found—not an uncommon sight, as he usually went out in the mornings. A quick glance at the little alarm clock on the kitchen counter showed 10:47.

I was just preparing some coffee—if it could be called that—when the phone rang. It sounded twice, then the machine picked up. I rolled my eyes—I still had not changed Maureen's musical message about leaving a tune for us.

The tape clicked on and there was a moment of silence. "Hey. It's Benny. Someone pick up?"

Benny had been living in with us sporadically for a while now, spending his remaining time in Westport with his on-and-off girlfriend, Alison. He had basically moved out shortly after Roger had moved in, a correlation I was not the only one to pick up on.

Leaving the coffee unmanned, I shuffled to the phone and picked it up.

"Hey, Benny."

"Mark?"

"Yeah." I wound the phone cord around my hand while holding my blanket with the other as a makeshift brooch and leaning against the table on which the phone was perched. "How's Westport?" I asked, for no reason in particular.

There was a sigh from the other end. "Oh, you know. It's Westport."

"Ah."

"Listen, I heard the news." Benny said heavily. I was frankly surprised. "I'll be coming back for the funeral. For Roger, you know."

Somehow I doubted that, but I kept my mouth shut.

"When is it?" he asked.

"Uh…sometime next week, I think." I replied.

"Well, if you guys need anything…" Benny said. There was no doubt what he meant by anything: money. His new connections with Alison's family had put him in a totally new league. "…I'll be glad to help out."

"I think we'll be okay." I said. Then I sighed. "Her…April's…parents are paying for it."

"I see." A pause. "How's Roger?"

I didn't reply for a moment. "Uh…well, good question." I said honestly. My conversation with Roger yesterday on the roof hadn't cleared anything up.

Benny's only reply was a soft, "Hmm." I held my tongue and rolled my eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "Well okay then. Just wanted to call. I'll see you soon."

"Of course." I said. There was another moment of silence, and then Benny hung up. I placed the phone on the receiver gently.

Pulling the blanket tighter over my bare shoulders I went back to breakfast. My bedroom door opened and Maureen stepped through, wearing one of my long shirts.

"Who was on the phone?" she asked groggily.

"That was our good friend Benny." I replied as I shoveled some coffee grounds into the pot.

"Oh." Maureen said shortly as she sat down at the table. "No doubt calling to brag, I'm sure."

"Actually, he was calling to say that he'd be here next week." I paused. "For the funeral."

"Huh." She mumbled.

I turned around and leaned against the counter, hugging my blanket close. Maureen was giving me a funny look.

"What?"

She grinned. "You look so cute when you do that."

"Better than walking around with this skinny shit out in the open." I said, holding the corners of the blanket open to show my bare chest.

"You could have put on a shirt." Maureen said.

"Not without waking you up." I replied. "I was trying to be nice."

"I was already awake. You woke me up anyway. You always kick around a lot after we—"

But Collins' voice interrupted her. "Hey now, I don't wanna be hearing that shit." He said from the door, having just slid it open.

I stared at him for a few seconds before realizing that I was still holding the blanket out as if I was on display. Then, almost in the same motion as one would pull the shutters closed, I hugged it back to my chest as though embarrassed.

"Morning." I murmured, turning back to the coffee that was finally heating up.

Collins closed the door and moved into the apartment, tossing his newspaper down on the couch as he stripped off his coat and slung it over the back of a chair.

"Benny called." Maureen said.

"Did he now?" Collins said, the words distorted by his keys hanging from his teeth. "How kind of a brother."

I snorted and poured two cups of coffee. As I turned back to the table to hand Maureen her cup, my eyes strayed to Roger's closed door and a frown crossed my face.

"I wish he'd come out." I murmured.

"He'll come out when he comes out." Collins said. He took a seat and began reading his paper.

"I know, but…I worry. Shouldn't we…shouldn't he go to the clinic? I mean…"

"He said he doesn't want to go." Collins murmured without looking up from his reading.

"Why not?" I balked.

"His girlfriend just died, man. Not to mention finding out he's got AIDS. In the same day. Give him some time. Denial. It's fucked up." said Collins wisely.

With a quiet sigh, I took a sip of my coffee. I knew that Collins was right. He'd come out soon, and we'd get him to go to the free clinic across the park. It was just the convincing part that would take some work. Roger was too stubborn for his own good sometimes.

I sat down at the table with Maureen.

Maybe for now that was all I could do.