The pale cream walls of the hospital seemed to close in on Mimi, forcing her forward. She moved faster, trying to escape from the confines of her own mind. Another memory slid forward, as clear as glass.
Mimi whooped and ran down the street, jumping into the air and throwing her legs out. She had just landed the job as the leader dancer at the Catscratch Club, and this meant one incredibly important thing: money. Mimi would finally be able to pay for heat and food and not have to mooch off Angel so much. Though she knew Angel didn't mind. Angel never minded helping someone else.
Mimi turned the corner and saw what she was looking for; Angel was sitting on the sidewalk, his pickle tub between his knees and his sticks tapping energetically and rhythmically on the plastic container. He was wearing only a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, a red jacket, and a blue hat. Angel bent over his drum, totally caught up in the beat. Something about him seemed so different: maybe it was the way that the feminine air that surrounded him so often had vanished in the fervor of the drumming, or the way his feet sat flat on the ground in sneakers, heels gone. Mimi suddenly realized something that she hadn't fully before: Angel was a guy.
"Oh, hi, Mimi!" Angel looked up and saw his friend, standing and staring at him from the corner. Laying down his sticks, he rose and strode over to Mimi, embracing her. She put her arms around him too, feeling slightly strange. But when he pulled away, the Angel she knew was looking eagerly at her, smiling the friendly way she was so used to.
"I thought you were out at your job interview, girl. What happened?"
"Angel, I was at my job interview."
"Oh god, Mimi, did they say no? I'm so sorry, chica, I—"
"No, Angel, they said yes! I got it!"
"Shit, are you serious? That's awesome, Meems!" Angel gave her another hug, this one much harder. Mimi smiled at her friend's joy for her. People like Angel were rare. Mimi was lucky.
Later that night, Mimi lay in bed, the image of Angel drumming on the street still stuck in her head. For the first time, it struck her to wonder if she had ever had any…romantic feelings for Angel, and if Angel had any for her. Mimi focused on the picture of Angel in her head and tried to tell if there was anything "more than friends" in the way she felt. There wasn't. Mimi wondered if Angel had ever thought of her romantically, but decided that that couldn't be true. After all, a guy who dressed more extravagantly than Mimi every day wasn't like to develop a crush on her. Forget being like brother and sister: the two were sisters, pure and simple. Mimi rolled over in bed and grinned into her pillow as she anticipated what this job and this life might bring her next.
A nurse walked by and accidentally shoved a tray of hospital food into Mimi's arm. That poke jolted her out of her reverie, and she shook herself. Then, once more, she started pacing.