There is a loud knock on the door of the abandoned movie theater that is now ROSIE’s apartment. In her hair in a messy, curly bun; she runs towards the door to see if it’s the person she’s expecting.
At the doorway, a man around her age with a dreadlock bun, MICAH, is huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath. Rosie lets him in, and Micah takes a seat.
Micah: Roe, you know those stairs are a killer on its own, let alone when you call me the way you did.
Rosie: Sorry, I was just… being weird, I guess.
Rosie walks to the kitchen area, trying to not look at Micah in the face. He doesn’t notice it right away, but he suspects something when he realizes she’s keeping her distance.
Micah: So, what’s up? What was so urgent that I had to run out of the house without any socks on?
Rosie: *still looking away, distracting herself* You know, I really should organize my cabinets, man; it’s like a war zone up in there…
Micah: … Roe?
Rosie finally turns around to face Micah. She nearly breaks down in tears but holds them back.
Rosie: Don’t you think? I feel like I’ve been in this shithole for a couple of years now, you’d think I’d make it more home-like, right?
Micah: *confused* … I guess? Is that why you called me for?
Rosie: What, I can’t call my best friend to hang out with me at my apartment?
Micah: Not the way you did; no. Are you okay, Rosie?
Rosie takes a deep breath in; “fuck, he never calls me Rosie”. She shuns the thought away.
Rosie: Perfectly peachy, Mic! Now can you fucking stop interrogating me? I’ve already been through it once in Philly, so I don’t need you to do it now.
There’s an awkward silence. Nobody moves from their positions. But, Micah knows Rosie; pretty well actually. They’ve been best friends since college, inseparable since, and although Rosie swears she’s “hard to love”, Micah still cares and loves her, hardcore.
Micah: *softly* Hey Rosie?
Rosie: Yeah?
Micah: *straight-faced* Cut the bullshit.
Rosie rolls her eyes and walks to the bedroom area of her movie theater “studio” apartment. She plops down on the bed, defeated. She hasn’t said anything, but a deep sigh is enough to say it all.
Micah gets up from the seat he was in, and walk towards Rosie’s bed. He plops down not to her; both are now just aimlessly looking up at the ceiling.
Micah: Listen, Roe, you know you can trust me with whatever’s bothering you. I’m here for you. You don’t need to take on whatever’s going on by yourself. Obviously, you needed to vent about something, or else you wouldn’t have called me at 10 o’clock at night sounding like someone’s murdering you.
Rosie looks at Micah and rolls her eyes; she gets off the bed. Micah gets up as well.
Micah: Okay, that was a bad joke, but c’mon Roe, you can tell me what’s going on.
Rosie is now looking out the window; the nightly lit-up streets of NYC illuminate the inside of her apartment.
Rosie: You promise you won’t judge me?
Micah: I would never do that to you, Roe.
Without taking her eyes off the lights at the window, she finally starts her confession.
Rosie: I did something, stupid, Mic.
Micah: *confused* How stupid are we talking?
Silence.
Micah: *concerned* Rosie?
Rosie: *yells* Like really fucking stupid, Micah! So fucking stupid that I wish I could take back and never do because now I can’t fucking undo it!
Rosie is now back to the panicky mess she was when she called Micah some time ago.
Micah: Rosie… what the fuck did you do that was so horrible? Robbed someone? Killed someone? *facepalms himself* please tell me you’re not cutting again, Roe – you were doing so good–
Rosie: *interrupts* Will you shut the fuck up for one minute, dude?!
The room is silent, and the two friends are looking at each other. Rosie begins to get teary-eyed.
Rosie: Look, I- when my job fired me, I had no money to pay rent and go see Hudson in Philly. I promised him I’d visit; it was the least I can do but I never got the chance to save it, Micah. I- I needed money, Micah…
Micah: You picked up a date?
Rosie stays silent.
Micah: *deep sigh* Roe, you didn’t have to do that, I would’ve given you the money; why didn’t you come to me first?
Rosie: I wasn’t all there in the head, Mic, I- I didn’t know what to do.
Micah: Next time, please ask me first before you decide that your body has to be sacrificed for money. You’re worth more than that, Roe.
Rosie still stands there, still looking uneasy. Micah notices it.
Micah: … is there more?
Rosie finally sits down in a seat.
Rosie: The guy was Prescott.
Micah widens his eyes in shock.
Micah: Prescott Jones? The rich, fucked-up kid from our college? *angry* Why the hell would you go back to him, Rosie?
Rosie: He had the fucking money, Micah! I needed it and he was the only one I knew I can trust to give it to me.
Micah: Yeah, after the months that son-of-a-bitch beat you up when you dated him!
Rosie: Look, it’s over and done with, okay? I’m never going back to fuck Prescott again, alright?
Micah: And why should I believe that huh? Why the fuck should I believe you won’t go back to bang that asshole for money again?
Rosie: *yells* Because he fucking got me pregnant, Mic! We both were so fucked up on alcohol that I didn’t know what the fuck was going on! All I know is that we fucked, he paid me, and I went home, just how it used to fuckin’ be. But now it’s more than that, Micah. He got me pregnant and he’s not going to want nothing to do with it or me. I mean, do you know what that will do to his fucking reputation? “Multimillionaire heir Prescott Jones gets lowlife runaway pregnant!” He wants nothing to do with it and I don’t fucking blame him because who the hell wants to deal with the spawn of a fucked up girl anyway?
Micah listens to Rosie’s rant, never taking his eyes off of her.
Rosie: Fuck Prescott; he doesn’t have to know and I don’t want for him to know. I just don’t know what to do, Micah. When I found out I was all fucked up over it. I wanted nothing to do with the damn kid, it was just going to bring me down. But, I realized this kid is probably the only thing that will actually love me in life, and hell I’d be fucking lying if I said it wasn’t gonna hurt my soul if I just killed it. Am I crazy for wanting this kid, Micah? Is it crazy that I want this kid to have the best fucking life it could possibly have because I don’t want to be how my parents were? I don’t want this kid to not feel like it’s not loved, Micah. But look the fuck around…
Rosie points out the environment she and Micah are in.
Rosie: How the hell am I supposed to provide for a kid? I live in an abandoned movie theater because I can’t afford NYC’s expensive ass rent. I can barely afford to live in this shithole! I can’t bring this kid into the world the same way my mom did, Micah.
Micah takes in everything; Rosie’s words, the news, the surroundings; it’s like nothing else in this world matters now than the person standing in front of him. The truth of the matter is: Micah always loved Rosie, and it sometimes killed him knowing that Rosie felt like no one was capable of loving her. But, it’s not true. Micah loves Rosie for everything she represents. In many ways, despite how different their worlds are, he understands her and she understands him, and if being her best friend is the closest thing she’d accept love from another human being, he’ll gladly accept.
Micah: Move in with me.
Rosie: What?
Micah: Move in with me. Let me be there for you and your baby.
Micah walks to Rosie to reassure her of everything he’s about to tell her.
Micah: I always meant my word when I said I’d be there for you. Yeah, you make rash decisions and they have their consequences, and some of them I absolutely hate because you’re so much better than that, but that never meant I was gonna leave you astray when you needed a friend the most.
Micah takes a deep breath out of nervousness, but then smiles of sureness.
Micah: If you allow me, I’d like to be the father figure in your child’s life.
Rosie: *eyes widen* What? Micah, no, you don’t have to do all of this-
Micah: I want to do this, Roe.
Rosie is speechless, until…
Rosie: You’re fuckin’ nuts, Micah Kamalani. Why would you ever put yourself in a position to take care of another man’s child? Like, you don’t have to, and I didn’t call you over to be a prince charming type of hero.
Micah: I understand how it looks like, Roe, and I’m not doing this to “save” you. We both have to work hard to give his kid an amazing life. *swallowing his pride* I’m not asking you to get married to me, Rosie, nor am I asking to be your boyfriend or some shit. We are best friends just raising a child together. My mom helped my dad raise Milo for years, and Milo’s not her biological son. Who cares though? They both loved each other and had each other’s back when they were first just best friends. Let me be there for you.
Rosie is taken back by his words. Why would any man help her out with no motive behind it? She trusts Micah, but why would any man volunteer being a father to someone else’s kid? She didn’t understand it, but she always trusted Micah and his willingness to be there for her.
Rosie: I guess you and me makes three.
Letters From Liz. 