Cat Scratch: The Story of Mimi Marquez

Chapter Nine: Riots and Roars

More excited than I remember being in my whole life, I joined into the cheering welcoming Maureen into The Space. Maureen took her place on the stage, looking ecstatic that so many people had come here in support of her cause. She put her hands up, as a signal for silence. I was surprised at how quickly so many people shut up. She took a deep breath and with a snap of her fingers, lights came on, and she began.

"Last night I had a dream. I found myself in a desert called Cyberland. It was hot. My canteen had sprung a leak and I was thirsty. Out of the abyss walked a cow -- Elsie." Oh. My. God. Why hadn't anyone warned me that Maureen was kinda crazy? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Benny. What the fuck is he doing here?

"I asked if she had anything to drink. She said, 'I'm forbidden to produce milk.

In Cyberland, we only drink Diet Coke.'" Wow. Maureen can sing pretty damn good. I laughed and clapped. This was actually pretty damn amusing. I moved a little closer to Roger, and Maureen continued,

"She said, 'Only thing to do is jump over the moon' I gotta get out of here! It's like I'm being tied to the hood of a yellow rental truck, being packed in with fertilizer and fuel oil, pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse!" Ahh. This is so amazingly hilarious! I love Maureen already. "I've," Okay, slightly scary look. "gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta find a way!" Wow. "To jump over the moon

Only thing to do is jump over the moon" Protests like these were one of the reasons I loved New York-people would do ANYTHING to get their point across.

"Yeah! Go Maureen!" I shouted. I was having a lot of fun, whether it was because of Maureen or Roger-I'll never know.

"Then a little bulldog entered. His name (we have learned) was Benny," I booed Benny along with everyone else, almost forgetting that this whole protest was protesting him being an asshole. "And although he once had principles," I struggled to hear what Collins was asking Roger at that moment, but when I failed, I went back to listening to the protest.

"He abandoned them to live as a lap dog to a wealthy daughter of the revolution." So true.

"One. Two. Three. 'That's bull,' he said." Lips. Mouths. Oh my God. Lips and Mouths are the back up voices! "Ever since the cat took up the fiddle, that cow's been jumpy. And the dish and the spoon were evicted from the table -- and eloped ...

She's had trouble with that milk and the moon ever since. Maybe it's a female thing." Hm. I wonder if Maureen would ever be a stripper. She'd probably enjoy it a lot. "'Cause who'd want to leave Cyberland anyway?...Walls ain't so bad." I hate walls. Walls are straight from hell. I'm not talking about walls around a house, I'm talking about the walls that almost stopped me from having a chance with Roger.

"The dish and the spoon for instance. They were down on their luck - knocked on my doghouse door. I said, "Not in my backyard, utensils! Go back to China!" I laughed so hard at this that I thought I would die. How the hell did she think of things like this?

"The only way out is up," Elsie whispered to me. "A leap of faith. Still thirsty?" she asked. Parched. "Have some milk." I lowered myself beneath her and held my mouth to her swollen udder and sucked the sweetest milk I'd ever tasted." What the fuck is she doing? She's reminding me of something I see when I have bad trips. I said this quietly, and was surprised when I heard Roger laugh quietly, "Just wait, Mark in the morning is trippy as fuck." I smiled lightly and looked up at him, but his attention was already back on the protest.

""Climb on board," she said. And as a harvest moon rose over Cyberland,

We reared back and sprang into a gallop. Leaping out of orbit!" I jumped up and down a bit. I was having a lot of fun-even if Maureen came straight out of a bad heroin trip.

"I awoke singing," I watched Maureen, and wondered if there was a tiny chance that she was going over board.

"Only thing to do, Only thing to do is jump. Only thing to do is jump over the moon, Only thing to do is jump over the moon. Over the moon -- over the." Maureen started mooing-yep, that's right-mooing, and for the record, I'm not high. "Moooooooo. Moooooooo. Moooooooo. Moooooooo. Moo with me." Someone in the audience obliged, which caused Maureen to get crazy again.

"Yes! Who is that? Don't be shy! Let it go. Moo with me!! Let it rip! MOO!" Oh dear. "Let it go, New York City!! Moo! Mooo! Moo!" After this, I heard the sound of a police whistle, and watched as a desperate Maureen tried to stop a riot that was about to begin. I tried to see what was going on, but it was really hard with so many people. Next thing I knew, Roger had his arms around me, leading the group towards the exit.

After we escaped onto the cold New York City street, I lit up a cigarette, and tried to calm down. I was shaking. I wasn't sure what it was from-whether it be from the lack of heroin, Roger's arms around me or the riot.

Roger, Collins, Angel and I began walking towards the Life Café. It was quiet so I decided to start up a conversation.

'So, that was pretty funny. Maureen overdoes it a bit sometimes, huh?" I watched as Roger and Collins shared a significant look.

"Sometimes!?!" Roger exclaimed. "She's ALWAYS like that." I looked at him for a second, wondering if he was kidding or not. Collins nodded and started to laugh. "Maureen's very unique. If we were all like her…"

"The world would be pretty fucking scary." Roger finished for him. We reached the Life Café, and decided to wait outside for Mark, Joanne and the drama queen to arrive. I'm not sure why, but I somehow knew that this night had hardly even began.