Mark and Maureen walked down the sidewalk hand in hand. They were a funny couple. Maureen was tall and thin, with long wavy black hair, down to the middle of her back. She walked with a tall proud stature, and as they passed groups of boys, they whistled at her. She didn't tell them to stop, she smiled and waved at them. Mark walked next to her silently and shy. he was a few inches shorter Maureen, with spiked blond hair and glasses. But no matter how different they were, they loved each other.

When they reached town, Mark asked, "So where should we go first?" Maureen shrugged

"Well we could go get Benny a lawyer for the interviews first and see what they say. Mark nodded and let Maureen drag him to the courthouse.

There was a group of people out front, laughing and talking about something. Maureen let go of Marks hand and pushed her way through the crowd. There was a man banging on the courthouse door yelling indistinctly. The people in the crowd were laughing and pointing. Maureen turned to Mark and said, "Well...are you going to do something?"

Mark looked at his feet then said, "Well, what could I do?" Maureen glared at Mark then cut her way through the crowd to the man who had now fallen to his knees and was crying. She put her arm around him and whispered,

"Hi there, I'm Maureen. Whats your name?" The man looked at her and said softly,

"Tom."

"Hi Tom. Come with me, I'll get you cleaned up. Come on." She pulled Tom to his feet and started to drag him away from the door. The crowd was still laughing at the poor man, so Maureen stopped and glared at them. "SHUT UP! What is your problem. This man is upset and all you do is stand there stupidly and laugh. Were you raised in a pigsty?" the crowd went silent and slowly, one by one, they left.

She gave Mark a significant look and Mark ran over to help her. He grabbed one arm and put it over his head. Tom was sobbing into Maureen's shoulder.

Mark looked very uncomfortable pulling Tom down the streets. People backed out of their way as the three of them went as fast as they could in the direction of the apartment. When they got to the phone booth in front of the apartment, Mark called Roger to throw down the keys.

The apartment was dark when they finally got Tom up the stairs. They lay him on the couch. He had stopped crying, but he looked to weak to do anything. Roger came out of his room to see what was going on. He stopped when he saw Tom.

"Whats wrong with him?" Roger asked, not sounding as if he cared at all.

"We don't know. We found him at the courthouse, and brought him back here."

"Well we don't have any room for him to stay here, so what are you planning on doing with him?" Roger looked like the only thing he wanted to see happen, was for Tom to leave, so he could have the couch.

"Roger! We have enough room for him! He can sleep in your room." Maureen said, slapping Roger on the side of the head. Roger rubbed the place where she had hit. He opened his mouth as if to retort, but thinking otherwise, he closed it again.

Alright he can stay for tonight, but just tonight. We'll find somewhere else for him tomorrow.

Maureen and Mark exchanged exasperated looks as they often did when Roger acted like this. Roger backed into his bedroom and closed the door.

"Sorry about him. He really is a sweet guy. It has just been hard for him lately." Maureen went to the refrigerator and took out two beers. She sat down next to Collins on the couch. She held out the beer. At first Tom didn't react. He sat there and looked at the coffee table. But he finally reached out and took the beer.

"Are you going to be okay in Roger's room?" Maureen whispered. Tom scared her a little.

"Can I just stay here? Please?" Tom grabbed the pillow and hugged it. He buried his face in it and started to shake. He didn't make any noise. He just sat there. Maureen and Mark looked at each other awkwardly.

Mark edged slowly toward his bedroom door. Maureen waited for Mark to disapear into his room before she stood up. She stood in front of Tom, and felt a tear run down her face. Everything that had happened with Roger, and Benny, everything she felt was shown in this man sitting in front of him. And with that thought, she went to her room without a word.