A/N: Last chapter! Thanks to all who reviewed. (Even though there aren't that many lol)
Maureen arrived at the protest stage to see Mark and Joanne laughing. She smiled; she was glad that they got along. She threw down her bag and climbed up onto the stage, giving Mark a wave and Joanne a kiss.
"Um, Maureen," Mark started. She looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Look, I'm sorry about trying to convince you to stop this thing. Definitely not one of my smarter ideas."
"Oh, it's okay," Maureen shrugged. "It's still gonna happen, so it doesn't matter."
"Yeah, Mo, it kind of does," he argued. "After all, your cow is your passion!"
Maureen groaned. "Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Ha, no way!" Mark smiled joyfully and laughed. "Maureen, I always knew that you were funny when you were drunk, but, man ..."
"Alright, Mark, I get it," Maureen huffed. "Jesus. Anyway. Marky, you want to watch me perform it again?"
Mark's eyes widened. "Maureen. As much as I would love to, I don't have my camera. And I think that my camera should get another take of your performance. Thirty-second time's the charm, right?" He began to back away. "I'm sure that Jo would love to watch, though."
As Mark ran out of the performance space, he could hear Joanne yelling various choice words to him.
-
At a quarter to midnight, a crowd of people had already begun to form around the stage. Benny and his father-in-law were standing towards the back. Various homeless people who were passing them gave them dirty looks, and occasionally flipped them off. Mr. Gray did his best to ignore this, but it was pretty obvious he was getting angry.
Joanne waved to Mark from her position at the spotlight. He waved back, then pointed over to Roger. Joanne followed his finger and found that Roger was with a girl. Joanne smiled and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. He laughed at her, and she laughed back.
After this, Mark didn't do all that much. He sort of just stood there, until he heard Joanne trying to get his attention.
"Jesus, finally," she half-said, half-shouted to him. "I've been waving and jumping for about five minutes."
"Well, Ms. Jefferson, can I help you?"
"Go get your scrawny white ass set up to film this thing!"
Mark's jaw dropped. "Joanne, I've never heard you talk like that!" He smiled. "I'm so proud!"
She stuck her tongue out at him, and with a wave, he departed for the front of the crowd.
Maureen made her entrance at exactly twelve o'clock -- surprisingly, she wasn't "fashionably late." She performed beautifully, speaking loudly at some parts and quietly at others. When she talked about Benny and his family, she used the most emphasis, and made them feel very uncomfortable. Joanne was beaming during the entire protest. Mark caught all of it on tape, even the riot that followed. Drama always seemed to follow Maureen.
When everyone met at the Life Cafe, Maureen asked to propose the toast.
"Mo, that's my job!" Collins said sternly. When Maureen began to sat down, he let out one of his famous belly-laughs. "I'm just playin' wit you, girl. Go ahead, you deserve it!"
"Thank you, Thomas," she said. She turned to everyone and picked up her wine glass. "First, thank you guys so much for coming. It was awesome for you to be there ... and I'm not being sappy, so don't say anything Roger!" Roger laughed. "Okay, second. Did I kick ass or what?"
Cheers erupted from the entire table. Maureen bowed not-so-humbly.
Roger's stomach growled. "Maureen. I'm hungry. If you don't finish up soon I think I may pass out."
"Oh shut up," she snapped. "Now. Last thing, I swear. Listen, I just wanted to say," she turned to Benny, who was sitting at the table across from theirs, "that, even though I could have auditioned for a show on Broadway, I did this protest. Ya wanna know why, Benjamin?"
"No."
"Yes you do. I did this protest because it's what matters more to me. Being on Broadway would have been nice, but this is an issue that I really do care about. Those people have been living there since only God knows when! It's not right to just take them out of their homes. So, Benny, what do you have to say to that?!"
"We break ground mid-January."
A/N: Okay! You guys, I'm done! I did it! YAY! Again, thanks to you guys who reviewed. It was a fun story to write. I hope to be working more on my other stories now that this one's done ... Hopefully, I'm going to finish The Second Generation of Bohemia and Once Upon A Time next. If you haven't read them already, please go to my profile and check them out!