CHAPTER THREE
(chapter title - Trials and Tribulations)
"I can't believe school is starting in two weeks!" Jules whined. Hannah, Anna and Eileen nodded. It was two months later and the girls were at the mall - Joanne and Maureen were getting the girls ice cream while they looked at back to school clothes.
"Are you going to do the school plays, Chica?" Eileen asked. Jules looked at her best friend, tears in her eyes. She had been in lead in the school play when she had found out her mom had died.
It was intermission during the winter play Romeo and Juliet. Jules stepped into the room off of the stage to change into her outfit for the second act when she saw her father, Mark, Collins, Joanne and Maureen crying.
"What's wrong?" Jules asked, walking over to them. Roger looked at Mark, tears streaming down his cheeks. Jules looked behind her to see that Eileen, John, Hannah and Anna had come into the room all ready dressed for the second act.
"What's going on?" John inquired, adjusting his sword hilt. Roger took a deep breath, blinking tears back.
"Mimi died today from a cold that turned into a virus." Roger told the group of kids. Jules shook her head and cried. Eileen pulled her friend into a hug - tears streaming down her cheeks.
"When did she die?" John asked, wiping tears off his cheeks.
"One thirty this afternoon." Joanne piped up, her face covered in tears. Maureen hugged her lover, crying.
"Five minutes to curtain!" the theatre director called. Jules sobbed into Eileen's shirt. Eileen stroked her hair and whispered comforting words in Spanish.
"Mom." Jules whispered, her voice shaking. Everything went silent - except for the sounds of sobbing, sniffling and hiccoughs.
"Two minutes!" the theatre director called again. Jules pulled out of Eileen's hug and went to a far corner of the room so that she could change. Mark, Roger, Collins, Joanne and Maureen went back to their seats, crying.
"You gonna be okay, Chica?" Eileen asked, slipping the dress over Jules' head.
"I don't know, Eileen." Jules told her friend. Eileen zipped up the back of Jules' dress in silence.
"Do you want to continue on with the play, Jules?" John asked, making his way over to where Eileen and Jules were. Jules nodded her head and swept her dirty blond hair into a ponytail. Eileen took the ponytail out and twisted the hair into a French knot.
"Jules? You okay?" Hannah asked, putting a hand on Jules' arm. Jules found herself in a mall with her three friends - not in the dressing room of a theatre, crying.
"Yeah. I was just having a flashback." Jules explained quickly. Looking at a pair of bright orange sandals, she made a face. Anna smiled as Joanne and Maureen waved from a bench outside of the store.
"I'm gonna go sit with Joanne and Maureen. I need a break from shopping." Jules told her friends quickly, exiting the store and sat down next to Joanne.
"Hey girlfriend. Here are your two scoops of Chocolate Blast ice cream." Joanne smiled and handed Jules her ice cream.
"Thanks." Jules said quietly, taking the ice cream from Joanne and taking a small bite.
"You find anything you want?" Maureen asked, smiling. Jules shook her head and sighed.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Joanne inquired. Jules blinked the tears out of her eyes and shook her head again. Joanne pushed back Jules' bangs and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey moms!" Hannah greeted Joanne and Maureen. Eileen and Anna were still in the store.
"Hey mini-me!" Maureen teased as Hannah sat next to her. Hannah rolled her eyes as Maureen handed her a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
"Jules, you okay? You look like you're about to cry." Hannah pointed out.
"I'm fine, Hannah." Jules whispered.
"Okay. Whatever you say." Hannah took a bite of her ice cream and smiled.
"Chicas!" Eileen called out as she walked towards them, a small brown bag in her arms, Anna right behind her.
"Yummy! Ice cream!" Anna sat down in between Maureen and Hannah as Eileen sat down in between Joanne and Jules. Joanne handed Eileen a bowl of Strawberry Starburst ice cream as Maureen handed Anna a bowl of Moose Tracks ice cream.
"We ready to go?" Maureen asked. The girls nodded and stood up, taking their ice creams with them. Joanne and Maureen walked behind the girls as Hannah, Anna and Eileen linked arms. Jules shook her head and went to walk with Joanne and Maureen.
"You okay, Jules?" Maureen questioned as Jules walked beside them.
"I was just thinking about my mom." Jules told them, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Girls! Wait up!" Joanne called to them as Jules and Maureen went to sit on a bench. Maureen hugged Jules as she buried her face in Maureen's shirt.
"What's going on with Jules?" Eileen asked.
"She's just sad, that's all girls." Joanne told the girls as they came over to where Jules and Maureen were sitting.
"Mimi died a year ago today." Maureen whispered, stroking Jules' hair.
"I - I - I w-wanna g-g-go h-home n-n-now." Jules sobbed. Maureen nodded and rubbed Jules' back. Jules stood up and wiped her tears away with the Kleenex that Maureen had let her use. Together the two adults and the four girls made their way out of the mall and to the car.
Back at the loft, Collins, John and Mark were watching TV while Roger gently strummed his guitar. Every once in a while, Roger would write something down on the notebook in front of him.
"Hey guys! We're back!" Maureen called, stepping into the loft. Jules immeadtely ran to her room and slammed the door.
"Is Jules okay?" the guys asked in unison. Maureen shrugged her shoulders and went to the tiny kitchen to make tea for the adults and lemonade for the kids.
"I'm going to go check on Jules." Roger said, his tone sounded concerned.
"Rog, just leave her alone. She'll come out when she wants to." Collins told his friend. Roger opened his mouth to protest just as Collins let out a cough. Eileen rushed to her dad's side and handed him his inhaler. Collins shook his head, coughed harder and pointed towards the kitchen. Eileen nodded and went to the kitchen to get him some water. She filled a glass halfway with water and brought it back to Collins.
"Thanks baby girl." Collins croaked, taking the water from Eileen. She kissed the top of his head and sat next to him. Meanwhile, Maureen was getting a flashback from when she and Joanne had gone online to find a donor so that she could have a baby. Ever since she and Joanne had gotten married, they had always wanted a child - but they got lucky and had Anna and Hannah.
"Pookie! Come quick!" Maureen called from the living area. Joanne nearly jumped out of her skin when Maureen had called her pet name. She put down her book and ran towards the living area. There was Maureen, sitting in front of the computer, looking at a sperm donor's website.
"Oh God, Maureen. Not tonight!" Joanne complained.
"You didn't even look." Maureen told her, turning around in the computer chair. Joanne sighed and looked over Maureen's shoulder. Reading a few sentences, Joanne stood straight up and walked away, Maureen's whining voice calling to her.
"What the hell was that for?" Maureen asked, barging into Joanne's room.
"What?" Joanne asked, buttoning up her pajama top.
"You know what the hell I mean, Joanne Marie!" Maureen shouted.
"Maureen! Please keep your voice down!" Joanne hissed, rubbing her temples and sitting down upon her bed.
"Why didn't you look?" Maureen asked after a while.
"What?"
"Why didn't you look?" Maureen repeated.
"You know how I feel about those websites, Honeybear." Joanne told her. Maureen rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.
"Who would you rather have kids with - a complete stranger or Mark?" Maureen asked.
"Come again?" Joanne raised an eyebrow.
"Pookie, you know what I'm talking about." Maureen was now sitting on the bed, opposite Joanne.
"No, I don't." Joanne picked up a book and opened it to where she last left off.
"Please don't ignore me, Joanne. This is important!" Maureen whined. Joanne rolled her eyes and set her book down.
"You're willing to get sperm from Mark even though he's married to Breanne?" Maureen asked as soon as she had Joanne's attention.
"Her name's Dianne." Joanne corrected her. "And about Mark, I dunno…" her voice trailed off as Maureen flashed her a puppy dog pout.
"Okay, okay! We'll call him, but in the morning! He, Dianne and the rest of the world are sleeping." Joanne kissed Maureen's forehead as Maureen climbed in next to her.
Maureen shook her head and handed the adults their tea and the kids their lemonade.
"I'm gonna take dad home. Bye all!" Eileen helped Collins up and together, the two of them went to the loft below Mark, John, Roger and Jules'.
"I hope Collins is gonna be okay." Roger commented as he sipped his tea. Anna sat next to him and hugged him. Roger smiled and hugged her back.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Uncle Roger." Anna told him, smiling. Roger smiled slightly and took a sip of his tea. Jules still hadn't come out of her room when Joanne, Maureen, Hannah and Anna left twenty minutes later.
"I'll check on her." John volunteered as Roger and Mark cleaned up.
"Thanks John." Mark smiled at his son. John went to Jules' room and knocked on the door.
"GO AWAY!" she yelled.
"Jules, can I come in, please? My dad, your dad and I are really worried about you." John told her. He heard Jules come to the door and unlock it. He stepped back as the door opened and Jules open the door - tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Are you okay, Jules?" John asked as he came into Jules' room. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down on her bed. John sat down next to her and hugged her. She backed away and stood up. She walked over to her desk, opened a drawer and took out a small photo album. Walking back to the bed, she sat down next to John and showed him the photo album.
"Wow! Aunt Mimi is really beautiful." John commented, opening the photo album to the first page. The photo was of Mimi and Roger, sitting on a bed, smiling at the camera. Roger was sitting behind her, both his hands on Mimi's belly. She was leaning back against him, her head on his shoulder.
"They both look so happy." Jules said after a while. She had been lucky when she was born - both her parents were both HIV, and somehow, she had managed not to get HIV.
"I know." John sighed, looking at the photo album. As he flipped through it, two pictures of Angel and Benny came out of the album.
"Who're they?" John asked, picking up the picture of Angel.
"That's Angel - mom's best friend. She died way before we were born." Jules told him. Picking up the picture of Benny, she crumpled it in her hands and threw it away.
"What did you do that for?" John inquired, going to the garbage can and fished out the picture of Benny. He uncrumpled the picture and put it on Jules' bed.
"That's Jacob's dad - Benjamin Coffin III. Benny and our family never got along, although he did pay for Angel's funeral." Jules explained. She got up again and went to get her guitar. John had never heard her play and was pleased that she was going to play for him.
"I only know one song. Dad taught it to me when I was a baby. It was a song that he wrote for mom just before she died. It's called Your Eyes." Jules said, placing the guitar on her lap and strummed a gentle tune. As she played, John heard the door open and saw Roger and Mark enter the room. Mark had his camera out and was filming Jules playing. John looked from where his dad and Roger stood to Jules and back again, a confused look on his face. He saw Roger's eyes fill with tears as Jules sang.
". . . I should tell you I should tell you
I have always loved you
You can see it in my eyes." Jules finished, holding the last note, just as her dad let out a loud sob. Jules instantly put the guitar down and ordered everyone out of her room. Once everyone was out, she slammed the door and didn't come out for the rest of the evening.