A/N- Well, here we are again, and at Chapter 10! Who would have thought I could stretch out the saga this long- and no sex or drugs yet, either! Anyway, thanks to my readers who come back for more each time. (There still aren't as many as I like yet, but I can't help that, now can I?)
Chapter 10- Old Friends
December 26th, 1991 8:15 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Maddie's parents lounge in the kitchen and living room. They both look different from the couple I met at yesterday's festivities when they're lying around in their pajamas. Maddie's mum looks especially different, because she's not wearing any makeup- yesterday she had at least a gallon of mascara over her blonde eyelashes. I can understand why- people have been asking me about whether or not I'm albino since I was old enough to answer. Her dad is hidden behind a newspaper.
"Good morning," Maddie says cheerfully to her parents. Her parents both look up at us then.
"Oh hello, Maddie, dear. Hi Mark," Maddie's mum adds me on as an afterthought. Yet another awkward silence falls over us.
"What are you two planning to do today?" Maddie's dad asks, looking over his reading glasses at us.
"I wanted to show Mark the town. You know, all my favorite places."
"Mads, it's the day after Christmas. How many of them will be open?"
"Joe's, church, the theatre, I talked to Val about the Garden yesterday, Mary Alice wants to see me…" Maddie counts on her fingers until her parents stop her.
"OK, OK, you win. Get some breakfast and then get dressed."
Maddie leads me through the hallway down into the kitchen. It's a little cramped, as is most of the house, but it's certainly more homey than my own home environment was. "You want something, Mark? Cereal? Fruit?"
"Well, I-"
"Actually, I made you guys breakfast already, Mads," her dad cuts me off. "I don't know if Mark likes this stuff, but I made all of Maddie's favorite things." Maddie's eyes light up as she takes in all the different foods- as far as I can see, omelets and some dish involving potatoes and cheese, as well as cut-up strawberries, bagels and two steaming mugs of tea. My mouth waters, too.
"Let's split it," Maddie grins mischievously at me.
So we do. It's adorable, in a unicorns-and-fuzzy-kittens-dancing-under-a-rainbow way. Maddie's parents are watching us again, which makes things more than a little awkward. Maddie and I still aren't comfortable enough with each other yet to show off all of our gross eating habits just yet, so breakfast is mainly just us eating, with tiny conversations about what foods to eat. (Turns out the weird potatoes-and-cheese dish was Irish and amazingly good.)
Finally, we finish eating. We don't go get dressed yet, though- that's a subject even more awkward than gross eating habits. We kind of just stare at each other for awhile, each of us trying to rustle up enough courage to make this first move.
"So…" Maddie tries, and the rest of her sentence dies on her lips.
"Yeah…" I say, and we get up and walk up the stairs, where I grab my suitcase and head for the bathroom, while Maddie heads for her room.
Ten minutes later, we meet again in the hallway, both dressed in winter clothes. Grinning at each other, we walk back downstairs, wave to Maddie's parents, and head out the door. I'm about to turn for the car, but Maddie continues the other way.
"We're walking, Mark," she says. "Everything we're going to just now is just a few blocks away. Besides, it's more fun this way."
And with that, we headed down the block. We passed Maddie's church, but we didn't turn towards it.
"We'll hit that on the way back," she informed me.
Instead the first landmark we actually stopped in was the local library.
"I sort of lived here in elementary school," Maddie smiles at me as we walk inside. Right away I see people rushing up to greet Maddie. She hugs all of them, and introduces me. After about twenty minutes or so of Maddie waxing nostalgia, we finally leave and keep walking up the main street, past a large park and finally up to Maddie's middle and high schools. She leads me to her favorite place in the whole complex- the theater.
It's exactly what I had always imagined from Maddie's wistful tales. Not baroque, but not modern. Not huge, but not tiny.
Amazingly, there are people here too- people that scream when they see Maddie and practically tackle her. They're much more warm and friendly to me, and I'm more at home with them- there is a man amongst them wearing what I recognize as character shoes from all those years with Maureen. Immediately I can tell that this is a guy that I can talk to.
Just as I walk up to greet him, Maddie practically dive-bombs this guy, giving him a huge bear hug.
"Mark, this is M.K. M.K., this is my boyfriend."
M.K. then gives me a huge hug. This seems to be the traditional response to Maddie introducing me as her boyfriend. Maybe Maddie was as undeniably single as she tried to tell me.
After we leave the theatre, we continue to wander around her town. There's a frozen-looking park across the street, and we walk along it, Maddie wrapped in my arms. Everywhere we go, people rush up to Maddie, hugging her. This is another thing I've noticed- between both Maddie and all of my friends with AIDS. Right after you get diagnosed, your whole life changes. Not only is your body driving you nuts, but complete strangers are hugging you and your most trusted, respected friends begin to resent you.
Our adventures eventually lead us into Maddie's car, where we drive back down the street that we just walked down. When I protest, Maddie stops me.
"Mark, I want to show you where I worked. Not all of my childhood was so warm and fuzzy."
We drive on for about five minutes or so, and then we seem to cross an invisible line. Immediately, the homes surrounding us go downhill. Poverty is everywhere.
"Mark, welcome to Camden."
"Camden?"
"Camden, New Jersey. One of the poorest, most dangerous cities in the United States. This is where I worked and volunteered from fifth grade to my senior year."
"Really? Doing what?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"I worked as a gardener." The image of Maddie working outside, slaving over a flower bed is one I quite enjoy. "See, I knew you wouldn't believe me."
"No, I believe you. It's just not what I would have guessed."
"Good to know we still have some surprises in our relationship."
Within ten minutes, we're at the gate outside the garden. I can tell it would be nice in the summer, though right now it's mostly dead. However, the wind whips us right in the face, and most of the garden is outside.
"Uh, Mads? I'm freezing, and I won't let you catch a cold."
"God, Roger wasn't kidding when he said what a mother hen you are! Don't worry. The place I want to take you is not only inside, but it's warm." Relieved, I follow her into the gift shop.
Once again, Maddie is accosted by more people who know her. These people are slightly different from most of the others I've seen her with today, though- they seem more diverse, more worldly than Maddie's friends from theatre and school. Most of them, Maddie tells me, are young people living in poor areas. Only a handful of them go to college and only Maddie has gone out of state for school.
Maddie leads me to a greenhouse about a hundred yards from the gift shop. We have to book it across this space because of the cold. Once we get inside, however, my glasses immediately fog up due to the amazing heat and humidity of the building. Maddie hands me a paper towel to wipe off my glasses, as she is already doing.
The boy standing inside begins to make some speech about the rules of this House, but stops when he sees Maddie. He starts smiling from ear to ear, and gives Maddie a high five.
"How are you, Craig?" she says to him.
"I'm fine Maddie, I'm fine." I can tell just from watching this boy that he is a little bit retarded. He then sees me and stops smiling. "Who's this?"
"Craig, this is-"
But Maddie gets cut off when someone bellows, "MADDIE-POO!"
I turn to see a scrawny black man heading towards my girlfriend. "How are you, little darling?" he says in an almost Southern drawl.
"I'm pretty good, Carlos. Yourself?"
"I'm doin' fine, Maddie-poo, just fine."
"Mark," Maddie turns to me, "These are Craig and Carlos, two of my old co-workers. Guys, this is Mark Cohen, my boyfriend." Craig's smile fades, but Carlos' grin gets even bigger.
"Awww, sookie, sookie, now!" he catcalls at us. "Maddie-poo's got herself a boy-friend!" He then shakes my hand quite easily. Craig then follows suit, not quite as enthusiastically as he greeted Maddie. I seem to have entered an awkward place, as he obviously adores Maddie.
"So what brings you back here, Maddie-poo?" Carlos beams at her. "Home for the holidays?"
"Yeah," Maddie smiles. "I thought I'd show Mark where I worked all those years."
"How's your…" he stops and stares pointedly at Maddie's hat.
"I'm in remission, prognosis is pretty good. Looks like you won't be rid of me just yet," she smiles. "I'm going to take Mark on the grand tour of the Butterfly House."
"Good, good. You wanna make the speech?"
"Yep." She turns around to me and suddenly gets overly professional, like an obnoxious tour guide. I can't help but laugh. "Good morning! My name is Maddie and I want to welcome you to the Philadelphia Eagles Butterfly House. Please watch where you walk, as butterflies sometimes land on the ground and I don't want you to step on them. Please don't touch the butterflies. If they land on you, remember that butterflies don't bite, sting or go to the bathroom on people, so they can't hurt you, but you might hurt them. Let me know if you have any questions and if you like what you see, please make a donation on your way out!" She then triumphantly pulls me inside the actual House.
I don't think I've ever seen this many butterflies in one place before. There are literally dozens of butterflies flying all around me. I look over at Maddie and she's as amazed by them as I am.
"I forgot how much I love this place," she sighs, a bit choked up. "Butterflies seem like such a metaphor for me. Did you know an adult butterfly only lives a week in the wild? Yet they spend that week just making people smile, because everyone likes butterflies. That's what I want my life to be like. All I want is to make others happy when I have the chance. If I'm not going to be around very long, then I don't want to fuck around. I want to make it count. I live each moment as my last."
Just like every other philosophical moment Maddie has, all I can do is hold her close, kiss her cheek and whisper "I love you" in her ear. Maddie giggles and pulls me in for a real passionate kiss. Like all of our best romantic moments, the kiss is broken by spectators cheering- in this case, not only Carlos and Craig but several other employees who have come in to say hello. Everyone is laughing, smiling and one especially beautiful butterfly lands on me. I know that it's Angel again, sending me congratulations.