Joanne stood over Benny's spread-eagled body, her rifle still in her hands. The gun was still aimed directly at his chest. She had just burst out of the bedroom, aimed, and fired the weapon directly at him.
"Ahh…" he said. Joanne noticed the gun was still in his hand. As he began to point it at her, she fired another shot into his forehead. Benny lay there, in a pool of blood, never to terrorize them again.
The group sat in silence for awhile. Mimi was the first to speak. "Oh my God," she said breathlessly.
"Joanne, where the hell did you get that gun?" asked Roger sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"That gun store on 37th and Lexington. Nice, huh?" she said, displaying the rifle casually.
"Joanne, you saved my life. Thank you."
"You're welcome." No one really knew what to do at this point. The five of them sat in the room, staring at the body of their ex-landlord.
Just then, there came a knock at the door. "Shit!" yelled Roger, "That's got to be the cops."
"Don't worry, this was self-defense," said Joanne, the legal queen. "We're not in any trouble."
Mark got up to answer the door. He slid it open, and there stood Miranda.
"Hi, Mark."
"Miranda! What the f—ah, what are you doing here?" He leaned against the frame casually, trying to cover as much of the Loft from view as possible.
She looked tired. "Mark, I am so sorry I ditched you tonight. That was stupid. I want to make it up to you," she walked past him into the apartment.
"Wait, no!" Everyone stood in unison as Miranda's eyes fell on Benny's corpse.
She let out a bloodcurdling scream, and fainted onto the hard floor.
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For the second time in two hours, the group stood in a hospital room, in the very same hospital.
They were crowded around a sleeping Miranda. Apparently, everyone in their building had ignored two deafening gunshots, but as soon as they heard Miranda's shriek, someone had called the cops. The ambulance was there soon, along with the police. Joanne had been able to convince them that her attack was self-defense, mostly because of the four witnesses that were there. They wrote up the report, cleared out the body, and left.
"Is she going to be okay?" Mark asked the nurse that was tending to Miranda.
"She'll be fine," she replied, scribbling into her clipboard. "She wasn't injured, just some mild shock."
"Thank God," Mark said, but everyone could tell Mark hadn't been that worried about his girlfriend.
Miranda's eyes slowly opened and found Mark. "What the hell did you do?"
Apparently the shock hadn't affected her memory, as Mark had hoped. "Well, ah, you see…"
"I don't care. Whatever happened to that man in that apartment is none of my business. But Mark, I don't ever want to see you again." She looked at him seriously.
The room was filled with silence. Miranda broke it. "Get out!"
They didn't hesitate. They hurried out and headed down the hall. As they rounded a corner they ran into Collins' boyfriend Tony.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"One of our friends got hurt," said Roger.
He shook his head. "Again? Well Tom is in this room right here, if you want to see him." He walked into a nearby room.
The group exchanged smiling looks. "Tom?" said Mimi with a laugh.
They walked into Collins' room and were hit with questions. "What's going on? Why are you guys here? The nurse said someone died. Who died?"
"Relax, relax," said Joanne. "We're all fine. We're here because Miranda fell."
"Then who died?"
Everyone looked at everyone else, waiting for someone to tell. Finally, they all said in unison, "Benny."
Collins' look of anticipation froze. He sat back in bed. "How?"
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Once again, the five friends walked back into the Loft.
They were exhausted. "Oh my God," said Mark, "this is the longest night of my life."
Maureen sighed, "Tell me about it. I'm out." She and Joanne walked directly to the bedroom.
Just as she was about to shut the door, Roger called after her, "Keep that gun of yours handy." He smiled as she flashed an obscene gesture.
As soon as they were gone, a cell phone's ring tone went off. The three friends looked around. Mark spotted a cell phone lying on the apartment floor. He picked it up and answered. "Hello?"
"Benny? Benny is that you?" It was Allison Grey, Benny's wife.
Mimi and Roger instantly realized whose phone it was. "Oh, shit!" said Mimi, slapping her forehead.
Mark covered the phone. "What do I say? What do I do?" He looked to both of them. They didn't know what to do either. Allison may be mad at Benny, but surely she would be upset when she found out he was dead.
Mark put the phone back to his ear. "Muff—Allison?"
"Mark? Mark Cohen?" She sounded frantic.
"Yes, it's me."
"Why do you have Benny's phone?"
"Ah, well, y-you see--"
"Is he with you? Should I come over? I think I still remember where you live."
"No, that's not necessary."
"Oh, it's no trouble Mark. You see, Benny and I had a falling out, but I think I would like to try and patch things up. I figured he might be there. I'll just come over and see him."
"Really, Allison, you don't need to--"
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Click.
Mark closed the phone. "Fuck!" he yelled.
Maureen and Joanne came out, rubbing their eyes. "What's going on?"
Mark looked at them with frightened eyes. "Muffy's on her way."
AN: Hope you're liking it. More reviews please, those are always helpful. By the way, 37th and Lexington is where I stayed when I first visited New York, when I first saw Rent. I don't think there's an actual gun store there.