Disclaimer- Jonathan Larson's estate owns RENT, Andrew Lloyd Webber owns his musical Song and Dance, I own Maddie and the rest of the Parkers.
Author's Note- So we're at Chapter Eight now! This is the chapter where Mark comes home with Maddie and meets her family. Most of these crazy people are based on my own family and friends. Let me know if it's too long, or too much.
December 25, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
I walk the three blocks to Maddie's apartment. She also lives in a loft, in a building very similar to our own, without the sadistic landlord. I call her from the phone booth nearest her door, juggling my suitcase, camera and her present.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me."
"Mark!" She sounds really happy to hear from me. "Where are you?"
"The phone booth." I look at her window, and see her, her back to the window. "Turn around, Mads… and look down to the street!" We waved at each other.
"Wanna come up before we drive out?"
"Sure. Throw down the key, Mads."
She walks out on the fire escape, and tosses the key. I catch it easily, and quickly go inside- Collins has taught me that much.
I find myself at the top of the three flights of stairs pretty rapidly, where Maddie ushers me into her apartment. Theatre posters cover the walls, and books and sheet music are piled all around. She's more Bohemian than I thought. I put down my suitcase, place the camera on a sturdy-looking pile, and let roll a little.
"Merry Christmas Mads." She's actually wearing a wig today- it's red and wavy, just like that picture she showed me. She also has a green dress on and looks really pretty.
"Merry Christmas."
"What's with the wig?" She's visibly uncomfortable and gives it an annoyed glare, which is a little comical.
"I hate it a lot, but my parents asked me to wear it. They aren't really comfortable with seeing me bald."
"It looks just like that picture you showed me."
"Yeah, I know. It's my old hair. My high school choreographer made it for me."
"What?"
"I know that sounds weird. But Mr. Kelly just loved my hair so much he cut a bunch of it off for me before I started chemo and made a wig out of it. It looks just right, but I don't think M.K. realized how itchy they are without real hair underneath them."
"I bet," I say, coming forward and giving her a hug and a kiss. She smiles and snuggles into my arm, then breaks away like a little girl on Christmas morning- which, of course, she is.
"Now, Mark, I'm going to give you your present!"
"All right," I smile. Maddie soon reappears with a large bag, which she hands to me.
"Mark, I promised you I'd make you something…"
Inside the bag is a medium-sized canvas. I turn it over, and find a charcoal drawing of me and my camera. Maddie must have drawn it from memory, because she's probably seen me working maybe once. Scrawled next to it in Maddie's indescribable handwriting are the lyrics to an old Broadway song, called Unexpected Song.
I have never felt like this
For once I'm lost for words
Your smile has really thrown me
This is not like me at all
I never thought I'd know
the kind of love you've shown me
Now no matter where I am
No matter what I do
I see your face appearing
Like an unexpected song
An unexpected song
That only we are hearing
I don't know what's going on
Can't work it out at all
Whatever made you choose me?
I just can't believe my eyes
You look at me as though
You couldn't bear to lose me
Now no matter where I am
No matter what I do,
I see your face appearing
Like an unexpected song,
An unexpected song
That only we are hearing.
I have never felt like this
For once I'm lost for words
Your smile has really thrown me
This is not like me at all
I never thought I'd know
the kind of love you've shown me
Now no matter where I am
No matter what I do
I see your face appearing
Like an unexpected song
An unexpected song
That only we are hearing
"Wow…"
"That just reminded me of us somehow, Mark, of how you make me feel. I've never met a guy who makes me feel the way you do. It scares me, almost, how you can love me so much when I… don't know how we can have the happily ever after I've always read about."
"Mads…."
"Mark, I'm scared. I don't know how much my cancer will affect us. You've never seen me sick, Mark. Cancer's hell, Mark, and I don't know if I'll ever get out and away from it. I don't want to hurt you if something happens. You're too good for that."
"Mads, don't worry so about it. I won't desert you. I promise."
Maddie and I nuzzle each other and cuddle affectionately for a few moments. Finally we move a little farther apart, so I can give her my present.
"Here's my present for you, Mads, though I must admit the theme is similar." Maddie quickly unwraps and admires the framed collage of still shots of my films of Maddie and me. There's one of us laughing together, another of us holding hands. There's a shot of us in Strawberry Fields- Mads is a HUGE John Lennon fan- and another of us kissing. I managed to also freeze the shot I took from the balcony of Maddie writing in the pizzeria. Beside it I added one of my favorite pictures of me, just to balance it out.
"Aw, Mark…" she hugs me again and notices the shot of her at the pizza shop. "Was that one from the day we met?"
"Yeah. I don't think I ever showed those to you…"
"It's a pretty good shot."
For a few moments, we settle into a comfortable silence, with Maddie curled up in my arms. Then a beeper goes off. I open my mouth, ready to remind Roger to take his AZT, but then I realize that he's at the loft. Instead, it's Maddie who needs to move.
"Excuse me, Mark. I need to take my meds." She wriggles away, and I calmly go to the sink and pour her a glass while she hunts for her pills.
"You seem very used to this, Mark," Maddie observes as she takes the glass from me.
"I've been helping Roger with his pills for almost two years now. I kind of went on autopilot when your beeper went off. Mads, are you okay?" She's looking a little off-color.
"I'm fine, Mark," she smiles, seeing my worried look. "The pills always make me a little woozy. There's a reason why they tell you not to drive after taking meds."
"On that topic, do you want me to drive?"
"That'd be nice." Maddie almost never uses her car, but she still keeps it specifically for her trips home.
"You ready, Mads?" I say, grabbing my stuff.
"I think so." We walk down the stairs together, and get in Maddie's little sedan, after putting our things in the back seat. She has a Stevie Wonder tape playing in her car, and I don't object.
"I'm really sick of Christmas music right now," she smiles.
"I hear you. New York is practically the Christmas caroler capital of the world. And I don't even like Christmas carols- I mean, I'm Jewish!"
"I know, I know. I actually liked Christmas carols- before I moved to New York. It gave me an excuse to walk around singing when I was younger, before I realized I didn't need an excuse. Plus, my parents are sure to be playing Christmas music to beat the band."
We spend the rest of the drive laughing and talking and singing anything but Christmas carols.
Finally we get to Maddie's hometown in South Jersey- a traditional suburb, with just a little bit of artsy twist to it. She's so happy to be home she almost sticks her head out the window like a dog to see it again. I have to pull her back so she doesn't make herself sick.
When we get to her house, I can tell almost as soon as Maddie can. Her house is a bit more eccentric looking than her neighbors'- it's two different shades of green and covered in ivy. As soon as we pull up, Maddie drags me out of the car, up the stairs and onto the porch, throwing open the door. She pulls me into the entrance hallway, and I take my first look around Maddie's childhood home.
It makes sense in the context of Maddie's life. The room is old-fashioned but stylish, with a lot of class. A fire roars in the corner, with a cat snoozing nearby. Maddie's parents, getting up from where they had been sitting on the couch, smile benevolently at me. Her sister, stretched out on the floor, is as tall and thin as Maddie described. I put down my suitcase.
"Mark, this is my mum and dad, Nick and Amy Parker, and my sister Viv. Family, this is Mark Cohen. He's my… my…" Neither of us can think of a good noun for me. Am I really her boyfriend?
"Ah, so he's your…your…" Her dad trails off too as he survives one of Maddie's bone-crushing hugs. He knows what we mean. "And what do you do, Mark?"
"I'm a filmmaker," I say, as always gesturing to the camera in my hand. There's an awkward pause after this.
"Dad, do you remember that movie we saw a few years ago? It was called Today 4 U and was about a drag queen with AIDS?" Maddie comes to my rescue.
"Why yes…"
"I made that." Maddie's parents turn around, shocked to hear me say this.
"You're kidding!"
"No, I'm not."
"Maddie," her mother puts in, "You didn't tell us he was famous!"
Maddie and I both start laughing.
"I'm hardly famous," I smile at them. "I just have a little name recognition now. Otherwise, I'm still plain old Mark Cohen."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Maddie smiles at me.
I sit on the couch next to her parents. Maddie leaves the room, and I'm left with her parents, who begin quizzing me again.
"So where did you go to school, Mark?"
"I went to Brown University, where I majored in film." I don't mention that I never got my degree.
"Oh, my goodness! That's Ivy League! And, as you know, our Maddie's going to NYU."
"Yes, I know. One of my best friends is one of her professors. You know, he's in my film too."
"Is he really?"
"Oh yes. He's Collins."
"The philosopher?" I nod. "Wow, that's pretty cool. How's he doing?"
"He's doing pretty well. His T-cell count is pretty high and he's fairly active."
We settle into another silence, this one not quite as comfortable as before. Suddenly, Maddie comes back with another conversation starter.
"Mum, Dad, I told you how Mark and I met, didn't I? He was filming and I was writing inside this restaurant across the street, and he came in the shop and we just started talking…"
"I had actually noticed her when I was filming from my fire escape. I could barely see her, but… I was drawn to her somehow." Maddie beams, and her parents exchange huge smiles. I seem to be on a roll. "Then I went looking for her."
"I recognized you right away, I guess from the movie, but I didn't realize that at the time. I felt like I knew you all my life; I still do." Maddie takes my hand in hers, and I shiver at the touch of her always-icy hands. She smiles at me again, her whole face lighting up like a beacon. Her smile's in her eyes, warm and soft, and all over her face, reddened from the cold. I pull her to me and hold her close.
Maddie's father stares pointedly at the closed pocket doors separating her living room from the rest of the house. Maddie goes to open them, and is suddenly bowled over by a swarm of people screaming, "SURPRISE!" She's swallowed up in this crowd of people hugging her and kissing her. Her smile is as wide as I've ever seen it as she greets every familiar face. Finally, the crowd reaches me.
"Everyone! Everyone!" Maddie can really holler when she wants to, as she grabs me by the arm and pulls me in. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Mark Cohen… my boyfriend!" There's no small amount of pride in her voice. Immediately, I hear forty-something people cheer into my ear and I almost get trampled by crazy relatives.
"Oh, Maddie's told me so much about you over the phone!"
"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Mark!"
"I can't believe Maddie finally got herself a boyfriend!"
Those are the kinds of things that I hear from the people surrounding me. I think I must meet every single person Maddie had ever mentioned to me from her old life- and many more that she had not previously mentioned. But I think the most striking person is a tiny, thin woman who taps me on the shoulder halfway through the evening.
"Yes?" I ask her, straightening my glasses as I turn from Maddie's former boss.
"I'm Colleen Favuzzi," she smiles at me, speaking in the thickest Philadelphia accent I've ever heard. "Maddie's cousin."
"Oh, well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mark, her boyfriend," I say, about to turn around again, but she grabs me again.
"I just wanted to let you know… I'm a cancer survivor myself… and I'm a nurse in the hospital where Maddie used to go for treatment."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, and… actually, I was wondering if I could speak to you in private about Maddie's condition." Without waiting for my reply she heads up the stairs to the second floor of the house. I follow her there.
"Mark, how serious are you about my cousin?" she asks me as soon as I set foot in the hallway.
"Very. I love her."
"After only three weeks?" She's skeptical to the point where I feel defensive.
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
"Have you ever asked Maddie about her condition?"
"Not really. I don't really know a whole lot about leukemia."
"Well, I'll tell you. Maddie has a kind of cancer that you get as a child- except she didn't get it until she was seventeen. That means her body was too mature for the drugs that are usually used. It can't be treated in her like it normally would be. The fact Maddie's lasted this long is a miracle," she tells me bluntly.
"Oh, well…"
"I'm not saying this to scare you. I don't think I've ever seen my cousin this happy outside of a theater, but I thought you should know."
"Well, okay, I'll keep that in mind." Finally I escape, and find Maddie with a lot of family and friends around a piano, singing and laughing with them. So alive. How can she possibly be dying?
I brush these melancholy thoughts away. This world is so filled with laughter, music, so noisy, that I can't concentrate on my own troubles. Relatives ask me loud questions, offer me food, beer. I watch her, laughing, smiling, hugging, talking.
Colleen was right about one thing, anyway. She is happy- happier than I've seen her before. And in that moment, whether she has months or years to live doesn't really matter anymore.
That night, I continue to meet more people than I've ever met in one sitting before. Everyone's talking loudly around me, and many people are drunk. My family's parties were never like this. As at the Life, Maddie and I just sit and watch all the drunken antics, not taking part in any of them. Maddie's enjoying herself, but I can't seem to shake what Colleen had said out of my mind.
Eventually, the party fizzles out, and all the relatives and friends are packed into cars and sent home. Maddie waves goodbye, laughing and smiling, and I'm as awkward as ever.
Fortunately, she notices this and gives me a long kiss, just when I need it most. We don't break apart until Maddie's mother takes a photo of us, telling her husband to follow her in a loud whisper. We even give a little bow for the occasion.
Finally, we bid each other good night, and are sent off to separate bedrooms. I can't help but think that this is one of the best Christmases I've ever celebrated- outside of Alphabet City, anyway.
A/N: Sooooo…. Whatdja think? Any questions, comments, concerns, queries, quotes, quarrels? (To be said in one breath.) Phew! That button's right there… the bottom right hand corner…. Press it… you know you want to….