Authors' Notes: Ahhhh! It's finals week! I wanted to get this out to you guys before I would be to busy to put up another chapter! 3,024 words! Wow! I wanted to give my loyal readers as much as possible until the next time I would be able to update which won't be until after this Thursday. Thanks SOOOO much to:

Laurel Ducky

AngelxCollins

Spuffy

Ickle-S-10

Philfan

Kawaii-Peach 14

You guys keep me writing this. Just because I didn't call you out doesn't mean I don't have love for you! Thank you all so much!

I OWN NOTHING (only add-ons).

Thoughts and memories are in italics.

Please read, review and enjoy!

Chapter Twenty One

With Mark and Collins

Mark's eyes were as wide as saucers when the machine monitoring Collins' heart went on a flat line.

"We can't give up! We've got to save him!" One of the doctors cried.

The film maker fell to the floor completely helpless. One of his best friends was dead. How could this be? Collins was always willing to help someone in need. How could Angel do this? Weren't they in love? Wasn't Angel the angel of the group? Mark didn't know whether to hate Angel or to hate Collins. His mind was a confused mesh of thoughts that he couldn't control. So this is what feeling was, the film maker craved it but resented it all at the same time. How would the group change after this? Mark knew he certainly wouldn't be able to look at Angel the same. Maybe Angel wasn't as innocent as he portrayed himself to be. A murderer. It didn't fit him before, but it sure as hell fit him now.

"COLLINS!" Mark cried into his hands. He couldn't give up, Collins would have kicked his ass if he did. Slowly Mark stood to his feet watching the doctors and nurses work tirelessly on reviving the professor. He had to help. Those four words ran through his mind over and over. Mark's mind went black as he ran toward Collins and began to scream at the top of his lungs. "COLLINS! COLLINS! WAKE-UP! YOU HAVE TO HELP HIM! YOU HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

The head doctor yelled. "Get this guy outta here!" Two male nurses quickly grabbed Mark trying to escort him out of the room. "We're trying sir. We're trying! Come on let us help you!"

"NO!" Mark struggled to say.

Just as Mark was halfway out of the door, he heard the faint beep of the machine.

beep……………….beep……………………..beep

"Come on, come on, come on everyone! We gotta get this guy stable!"

Mark heard the beep and his heart stopped tearing to listen to every single sound that the machine produced.

Beep….beep…beep….beep….beep

The head doctor wiped his brow of the sweat that pouring down and sighed. "Good work everyone, let's get this guy up to ICU."

As Mark heard those words, he collapsed into the arms of one of the nurses.

With Joanne and Maureen

The rehearsal was going great so far and Maureen was loving every moment of it. She coached the kids and laughed with them as she told them funny stories of her own performances while Joanne watched. Something was so wrong and Joanne was going crazy trying to figure out what it is. The lawyer knew that if Maureen caught her on the phone that she wouldn't hear the end of it. Joanne felt as if she was in another world, on the outside looking in. And for some reason, she had a very strong feeling that she should have taken that call.

"Maureen." Joanne said walking over to her.

"Yes?" Maureen said as she watched one of the scenes. Joanne hadn't seen her so focused since her Over the Moon performance.

"I'm going to the rest room. I'll be back."

"Okay Pookie but hurry up, I want you to see this to see if you think we should work on anything." Not that Maureen really wanted Joanne's approval, but it would look good in front of the Mayor's wife, so Joanne played along.

"Alright." The lawyer walked up the aisle through the Theatre and headed toward the bathroom when she was stopped by the Mayor's wife.

"Excuse Miss Jefferson?"

Immediately Joanne put on her presentable smile and attitude, a trait she had grown to use having two parents that were powerful lawyers. "Yes mam? Are you enjoying the show?"

The woman smiled. "Oh yes, but I was just wondering something and I was wondering if you could answer my question."

"Sure of course."

The petite woman walked over to Joanne and stared at her intently. "We really do appreciate you and Miss Maureen."

Joanne blushed slightly. "Oh thank you so much."

"But I was wondering how long you two thought you were going to be able to keep this up and do this again." The woman said with a hint of resentment in her eye.

"W, what you do you mean?" Joanne couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Don't think because you have your little success that you can just invite all of your little lesbian and gay friends over because the voters won't have it. Not all of us agree with your lifestyle." Little did she know that a drag queen and stripper created the costumes, an ex junkie helped with the music and a gay professor designed the lighting. This woman was insulting her friends . . . her family.

"Excuse me? Look no respect-"

The woman waved her finger. "Wait a minute. I'm not finished." The lawyer looked at the woman in disbelief. "We're letting you continue with this because the children are so attached to this show and they're putting their little hearts into it. But mark my word Miss Jefferson, this will be the last show you do here." And with this, the woman went back to her seat next to Miss Abram.

Joanne was completely dumbfounded. That woman had walked around and chatted with Maureen. She wanted to help with cleaning the costumes and making a huge dinner for the kids and their parents. Why was she acting like this? Why did she just threaten her? This was so typical, she should have known that it was too good to be true. She over heard a lot of this talk when she was growing up with her parents, they never accepted anyone that fit into their idea of how someone should live. Joanne walked over toward the Mayor's wife and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me can I talk to you please?"

The woman looked her up and down, whispered to Miss Abram and got up. The lawyer walked a ways, to the back of the Theatre so she was sure no one would hear.

"You are so two-faced."

"I beg your pardon?" The woman placed her hand over her chest in surprise.

"I don't appreciate what you said to me a minute ago, and I won't stand for it. No one asked you to be here, especially your husband. Maureen and I did this for the kids, not for you or your 'voters'. I don't give a shit about what you or what anyone else thinks. It's about the kids. So I'd appreciate if you didn't bring your shitty ass views of how life should be into this Theatre ever again because as far as I'm concerned, you're not welcome. You should be ashamed of yourself, walking around acting like you care when all you care about is the money that your husband is shoveling in. I'm going to ask you as tell as I can. Get out and leave our show alone. If you want to help, contact Miss Abram but I don't want to see your face. Now if you'll excuse me."

The woman looked at Joanne in disbelief as the lawyer angrily walked out of the Theatre. "Miss Abram!" the woman cried as she began to grab her things. The older woman got up horror placed on her face. "What is it! What happened?"

Maureen turned around from the rehearsal to see what was going on. "Miss Abram! What happened?"

"I told your girlfriend or whatever the hell she is to you that you will be finished after this weekend! How dare she talk to me like . . . like some sort of heathen!"

Miss Abram tried to calm the woman down. "Now there is no need to do that, the children love the show. Don't take it away from them, this is all some of them have."

"I don't care! That woman . . . that monster doesn't belong next to children!" She said as she threw her coat on.

"Hey don't talk about her like that. Now what happened?" Maureen demanded.

"I'm calling my husband, I'm going to have this shut down before you can say lesbian." And with that the woman stomped away.

"Wait! Mrs. Mayor! Wait!" Miss Abram chased after her as fast as her old legs could take her. Maureen quickly caught up to Miss Abram. "I'm going to find Joanne to figure out what happened. Stay with the kids Miss Abram!"

Joanne felt liberated. Like she had just defeated the hugest army on the planet. The lawyer shook her head in disbelief. Did she actually say the things she said? Did she really cuss at the Mayor's wife?

"Joanne!" Maureen called out to her girlfriend.

"Hey Honeybear." Joanne chirped. "You won't believe what I just did right now. I feel sooo wonderful!" The lawyer grabbed Maureen into a deep kiss but Maureen quickly broke away.

"What did you say to that woman?"

Joanne laughed out loud. "What didn't I say to that woman! Collins is going to scream when I tell him how I stuck it to the man! He was right! It feels wonderful! Oh Honeybear you should have been there! I actually stood up for-"

"She left Joanne! She was pissed! We need the Mayor to be here! What the hell did you say?" Maureen was not amused.

"I told her how I wasn't going to take her shit anymore and how I didn't appreciate her calling me a lesbian."

"But you ARE a lesbian Joanne!" The performance artist screamed.

"I know I am, but you should have heard the way she said-"

"I don't care how she said it! Why didn't you keep your mouth shut! We need them to be here! We could go to Broadway with this! Why would you screw it up!"

Joanne didn't know why Maureen was making such a big deal about it. "Honeybear, I thought that you would have been proud to know that I stood up for myself."

"I am proud of you Joanne, but you didn't think about how hard we've worked on this and now it's gone right down the drain! All because Joanne couldn't keep her fucking mouth shut!" Maureen wiped a tear from her face and walked back toward the Theatre.

"That woman was going to close us down Maureen!" The performance artist stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. "What?"

"Yeah, because we are who we are. She was going to close us down!" Joanne looked disappointedly at Maureen. "Why do you think I would compromise what we've worked on because someone called me a lesbian? She used it in a negative way and threatened to close us down so I stood up to her and told her how I felt about it. I'm not going to let anyone trample over me because I happen to like women Maureen, not anymore. I'm not a child anymore."

"So what are we gonna do?"

"We're going to keep going with our show. We have enough people coming to the show that we will be able to make it and let them know that this show is good for our community, even if they don't think so."

Maureen looked into Joanne's eyes. She'd never seen her so passionate about something. "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you Jo."

Joanne smiled as she grabbed her girlfriend's hand. "The show must go on, right Honeybear?"

Maureen smiled. "The show must go on.

With Mimi

Was what that lady on television said true? Did Angel really shoot Collins? The dancer's head spun like a top. She couldn't believe she was going to the police station to go see Angel. Mimi wondered what happened, what had caused Angel to act so irrationally. Angel in jail? This was all too much and she wanted to lie down but she had to get to Angel. For so many years Angel had gotten Mimi out of so much shit, now it was her turn. As she walked toward the subway, Mimi got an urging in the back of her mind telling her to go to Collins and Angel's apartment.

"But they aren't there." She muttered to herself.

"Fuck." She said as she walked the other way toward the apartment. Mimi walked faster than she thought she did and as there in no time. Sure enough the yellow caution tape she only saw on television was surrounding the building.

"Oh my God."

"Mimi-girl!" a homeless woman shouted. Mimi immediately recognized the woman and ran over to her, hugging her. "Aunt Edna! You heard?"

"Yeah I heard, my poor little Angel."

"I'm going up there to her."

Mimi said as she looked up to the window where she spent many evenings on her way to work talking to Angel.

"When you see her, you tell her Aunt Edna loves her and will be waiting to hear her drum."

Mimi looked down at the ground. When would Angel be able to play his drum?

"I will."

As the two were about to part a young man walked up to them with a box in his hand. "Excuse me, what in the world happened here?"

Mimi looked the guy up and down, he was obviously gay and was dressed a little too nicely to be from here. "Why what's it to you?"

"Because, my friend . . . Angel lived in that building. I, I don't know." The young man was so confused.

"How do you know Angel?" Mimi asked.

"I used to date . . . Angel and I go way back." The young man said shifting the box under his arm.

Mimi didn't have time for this. "Look, how do you know Angel?"

"I used to date Angel's ex's brother."

"Which ex?"

"David."

Holy shit.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came a few days ago and I talked to Collins Angel's boyfriend and I wanted to give this to her." The young man opened the box and revealed letters and pictures filled to the brim. "I don't know what to do with them. I just want to give them to Angel, maybe she'll get some closure. Her boyfriend told me that she's been thinking of David lately and it was becoming a problem for them."

What? Why didn't Angel tell me?

"Some crazy shit has happened and I'm on my way up to the police station to find Angel."

"What the hell is Angel at the police station for?"

"I don't know but I've got to get to the subway-"

"No, we'll take my car just let me know what the hell is going on."

The two ran toward the car and sped off on their way to get Angel.

With Angel

Angel must have listened to the dial tone for five minutes before hanging up the phone.

"She didn't answer." He said sadly.

The detective sighed. "Well, we can provide a lawyer for you."

"I guess I should then." Angel looked up at the detective at a loss for what to do. The street drummer's mind went back to Collins. What the hell has he done? He wondered if he was alright, if he was even alive. Angel knew that he would not be able to live with himself if he killed Collins. For so long Angel controlled his anger, but why would he let it get this way? This was all too much to grasp.

"Angel, I'm going to call a lawyer right now okay? I'm going to help you. Was this self defense?"

Angel froze for a moment. "No."

The detective looked up at the police officer who looked at Angel. "Well then we're going to call this lawyer. Officer Jones can you get Angel some coffee? Angel would you like some coffee?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Angel asked, tears slowly falling down his face.

"Because for some reason I don't think that you're capable of firing a gun." The detective said as he nodded to the officer to get Angel coffee.

"Why not?"

"I just don't. I don't know why." The detective left it at that and dialed the number to the lawyer.

When the officer came back with Angel's coffee, he stared at the steam that was coming from it and came to realize that this was the beginning of the end for someone . . . maybe even him.

After the detective got off of the phone he wrote some things down on a sheet of paper. "I called Linda Lopez the best lawyer I know. She's never lost a case, so you can depend on her.

"Linda Lopez?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, she's great. Very nice and very sharp. She'll get you out of this mess I promise you Angel."

"But I don't have any money."

The detective awkwardly looked around. "We'll figure something out Angel, let's just get you a lawyer first."

With Sunday

Sunday didn't believe that she actually followed the police car that Angel was in all the way to the police station. She felt terrified but daring. She had never done this before, but she had her mind set on it. Sunday rubbed her head, exhausted from the days happenings. Now she officially had nothing to lose. Her parents would eventually find out and probably send her away. She had to help Angel, after all of the shit she had brought their group she felt indebted to him for reasons why she didn't know. The young woman walked into the police station that was crowded with tons of people. Feeling helpless she sat down on an empty part of a bench and thought about what Angel looked like. As she searched her mind a tall Hispanic woman with 6 inch pumps walked by and caught Sunday's attention. The woman looked determined and extremely rich. Sunday couldn't keep her eyes off of this woman until she looked into the direction of where she was walking. A Hispanic man walked up to her, giving her a small hug before gesturing toward a petite looking guy in a chair by a desk. Sunday squinted her eyes so she could see the man and sure enough it was Angel.

"Angel!"