Everyone has a secret, a skeleton in their closet. Zoom in on seven struggling bohemians and a yuppie scum landlord on some things they'd hate the world to know. They all go to confession. Okay, they're not Catholic, but they do it anyway. Too bad for them, because a little birdie finds out and spills the shit. I'm sorry that Mark is messed up in this chapter. Anthony Rapp enjoys playing messed up guys anyway. That's what he said in an interview once. So yeah, this first chapter's a bit OOC and weird.
So the principals and some other characters practically go to confession and end up talking trash to this pastor. Eventually, he's the pastor in Goodbye Love who acts mean to them in return, musical-wise. More on that later. For now…
Rated M for language and other stuff like sex and drugs and cruelty towards the pastor. As you can see, this chapter already begins with a cuss word. Please review. They would be greatly appreciated.
Shit, why do I have to do this anyway? Mark asked himself as he entered the little booth. Oh yeah, it was Angel's fault. She signed them all up for this thing that he didn't even know about. Some Bohemia thing. Next thing Mark knew, he was lining up for confession. Heck, he was Jewish! And the guy in the booth probably wasn't even a priest. Mark reluctantly took a seat. There was a screen in front of him, and a person was sitting in front of Mark, but only behind the screen. Mark was getting claustrophobic.
"Okay, it's your turn," the man behind the screen said.
Hi, my name is Mark.
"Mark…Rudolph?"
No, Mark Cohen.
"Oh, there. I see. So, is there anything you'd like to share with us?"
Yeah, but first…why do I have to do this?
"Oh," the man replied. "I'm a pastor, and I was asked to bring all the volunteers for the Alphabet City event to confession."
But I'm Jewish.
"Mr. Cohen, the man before you was a Sunni," the pastor, who introduced himself as Father Robert (Ro-behr) said in a matter-of-fact way. "Don't worry, I won't say any prayers out loud. This is just so we know that you are spiritually clean before attending the event tonight."
Fine. I have to confess that I actually knew my best friend's ex-girlfriend, April. Well, she's dead now, but I knew her really well even before she met my friend Roger. April and I, well, we were special friends. I always tried to make her quit the smack, but when she suffers from the side effects of withdrawal I just had to let her buy more heroin from The Man.
"And do you know this man?"
Not really, but Roger and April always got their shit, sorry, from him. Anyway, months later, April found out that she got AIDS and so did Roger. Roger got the virus from the needles, but April probably got it from some random one-night stand. I remember. I was filming a homeless man smoking pot on the pavement when I saw her flirt with this young man across the street. April didn't kill herself because she and Roger had AIDS. The truth is, she killed herself because I was gonna tell Roger that she was cheating on him. I made her kill herself. I guess I pushed her a bit too far, threatening her that if she told Maureen I used to have an incestuous relationship with my sister, then I'd tell Roger about how she got infected to begin with. I guess she took me a bit too seriously and just slit herself in the bathroom, leaving a four-word note for Roger. But, of course, "Baby we got AIDS" wasn't why she decided to kick it just like that.
And then there's the thing about Maureen. As I said, April and I knew almost everything about each other. So April knew about me and Cindy. She's my older sister, and a few years before coming to New York we had a relationship. A sexual relationship. I know it was wrong, but we hit it off anyway. Fuck it, I said. No one else knew--no one but April. I didn't even tell Maureen or Roger. I was too embarrassed once I finally realized how stupid I was to screw my own sister.
Oh, and I never really loved Maureen. Thing is, she gets the limelight and all the attention. I wanted a spot too, but I was nowhere near her talent. By going out with her, I believed that I was gonna have some on the light myself. And of course I sorta did. Collins was all like "you still love her" and I shrugged, thinking to myself that I just wanted the attention.
"Is that all you have to say?" asked Father Robert. Mark shook his head.
Well, I have no plans of telling Roger this, but for some reason I can't stand him. I know he treats me as a best friend and all. I guess I'm jealous of him. When I was younger I wanted to play the guitar but no matter how I tried, my fingers weren't flexible enough to stretch out into a G chord. And I couldn't strum for shit. But heck, even though he's too dumb to write a song, Roger's an amazing guitar player. And I'm stuck with my camera. I know I love my camera, but there was this other thing that I also wanted to do but just couldn't. and it pissed me off.
So I guess I also have to confess that it was sort of my fault that Roger's not even in a band anymore. One time I stole all his money from gigs which he hid inside a boot and I used it to bribe Roger's bandmates to leave him. I just couldn't stand always watching him play onstage with that guitar…that damn thing that I probably won't be able to play…ever.
And one time, well, there's this friend of mine named Angel. I swear she looks so pretty you wouldn't think she was a man. One time I was drunk. I was just really drunk, and then next thing you know I was making out with her…him. And Angel's been going out with my friend Collins.
"It was great that you opened up to someone you barely know, Mark." Father Robert said. "You may leave now. Call the next one to come in."
That's it? No fancy prayer or anything?
"I said my prayers for you while you were confessing."
Is your name Robert Rooney? You have a wife named Matilda?
"Yes. Why? How did you know?"
Yeah, I fucked her last night.
I did warn you about the fact that Mark is messed up in this chapter. Guess who's coming in next.
