The Problem With Parents is…

Disclaimer: I don't own RENT...

'You know... there are times that we're dirt broke and hungry and freezing and I ask myself why the hell am I still living here?' Mark stated sitting on his bed, to his roommate. 'And then they call…and I remember.'

Benny gave a laugh and looked up from his large textbook. It was mid-semester and the first semester of college for the two boys. They were thrown together in the dorm room and somehow became friends. Both were extremely different, but were sharing the same kind of experience, first semester, the rush of classes, the swirl of college life…the first real taste of freedom. Both far away from the crazy, rushed foggy air of New York to a more academic community.

'Rhode Island is a long way from Scarsdale, Mark…you can just hang up on them,' Benny stated with his cool intellect

'I know,' the blond replied with a sigh, 'it's just that-'

'Just that you're a Mama's Boy,' Benny said with a smirk. He then put down his textbook and smiled at his roommate. 'Come on, let's get some food while they're still serving dinner at the Ratty.'

Mark smiled and went with Benny down and out of Andrews Hall and made a left onto Thayer Street. They got off the subject of parents and onto how boring their Economics professor was. The man had a knack for repeating himself and talking like a drone. The two, had class together and usually studied together. Benny was a hard study and a go-getter. He was smart…no he was beyond smart. These two were unlikely friends, but they were pretty close. Benny was trying hard to make Mark a bit more confident and think on his own.

Once they got to the Sharpe Refectory (AKA the Ratty), Benny and Mark went and got food. Their subject moving on to their future dreams, both were at Brown for Business, but Mark told Benny about his aspiring dreams in filmmaking. His blue eyes were all alight behind the thick rimmed glasses he wore.

'Go ahead and follow your dreams then,' Benny said. 'Man, you need to stand up to your parents!'

There was a sigh from Mark, 'I've tried…I have, but every time they call…I just…can't say "no." My father wants me to be a business man and make what he calls, "Good money."'

'Tshh! You a business man? Don't make laugh, Mark! You'd never make a good business man,' the dark skinned roommate said.

Mark picked up a pizza, looking at it sadly as the two moved to get some salads and fruit. Bluntly Mark ignored Benny's business man comment. It was true that the Jewish boy never looked good in a black suit, he looked very awkward. They had a class where they had to dress in a dress shirt and tie and Benny looked sharp and Mark looked like he was a kid forced to wear a suit to his Bar Mitzvah.

Sitting down to eat their meal, Benny continued to urge Mark to grow up and keep his parents at arm's length. But it was hardly any use, Benny could see that Mark's mother had him right where she wanted him…he was obedient and whipped. Within the two and a half months at Brown, Mark had shown some improvement from being a dead-on Momma's Boy. Sometimes he let the answering machine pick up the phone…which could be seen as improvement.

'The problem with parents is…if you let them control you, you are stuck. College is the time to get them off your back,' Benny said, poking at his salad a bit before he ate some.

'How do I do that?' Mark asked glumly.

'First of all…drop your business major and take up photography or broadcasting,' was the reply.

'Easy for you to say…you don't have my par-'

'Mark, shut the hell up and just do it. You can't live for your parents. Live for yourself and do what you want to do.'

That was the best advice Benny had ever given Mark. However, Mark wouldn't follow everything Benny had advised him on…perhaps if he did, he wouldn't have ended up as a poor artist or even still under his parents' clutches. It was probably either a mistake or a safety net of some kind. Mark would never know.