Later on, the party had broken up and everyone went to their own rooms. Lauren waited about as patiently as she could for Laverne to finally go to sleep... an hour and a half later. She knew Squiggy had to be waiting for her in the hall already. She got up as quietly as she could and snuck out of the room. She eased the door closed behind her, turned, and nearly ran into the chair he was sitting in, asleep. She smirked, then tapped him on the shoulder.
"Mornin' already?" he asked, groggily.
"Sorry about makin' ya wait, Squig, but ma took forever to finally fall asleep. Did you find out where his room is?" Lauren said.
He pulled out a small piece of paper. "Yeah, here it is." He gave it to her.
"One floor up. Well, it's now or never," she said.
Squiggy stood up. "Ya sure ya wanna do this?"
She looked at him with determination in her eyes. "Yes, very sure. I want to know what happened between them, and talking to... Lenny is the only way."
He shrugged. "Lead the way." She started down the hall. "I don't think you'll really need me..."
"I just don't wanna go alone. So, you can sit outside the door and take a nap or whatever," Lauren replied.
Squiggy grinned at her. "Thanks." They got in the elevator, went up to the next floor, and got out.
Lauren looked at the paper again. "Let's see, 312 should be..." She paused to look at the signs, "...this way." She pointed to the right.
"Glad you can figure out these damn backwards hotels!" he complained.
She laughed, as they walked up to room 312. "Well, here it is. I hope he's here."
"I hope he's not asleep," Squiggy said.
"Why?" Lauren asked.
"If he is, he prob'ly won't hear ya knockin'," he replied.
"Won't know unless I try..." she said.
"I'll just be over here," Squiggy said, then sat in a nearby chair and picked up a magazine.
Lauren stared at the door for a moment, then raised her hand to knock. She paused, her fist about four inches from the door. She sucked in a deep breath, then knocked twice and waited. She could hear a bit of shuffling behind the door, then it finally opened.
"Lauren?" Lenny asked. "What're you doin' here?"
"I need to talk to you, please," she said.
She noticed he looked tired, maybe even sad. Finally, he sighed. "All right. Come on in." She went in as Squiggy peaked over the top of the magazine.
The room was an absolute mess. It looked like he'd been staying in the room for longer than a few days.
Lenny cleaned off a chair and motioned to it. "Sorry 'bout the mess. I wasn't really expectin' company," he said, with a shrug.
"It's okay, really," Lauren said, then sat. "Umm... I'm not too sure how to go about this..."
He cleaned off another chair and sat across from her. "Just ask me," he said, sounding angry, but his eyes betrayed him. There was definitely a sadness, or even a longing.
She chewed on her lower lip. "I wanted to ask what happened between you and ma."
Lenny sighed. "Well, first, you should know that I'd had the longest crush on Laverne, but she kept rejecting me."
Lauren's brow raised in surprise. "Really?"
He nodded. "But, the real story is..."
Flashback to 1967, Laverne's apartment.
*knock, knock* She came down the stairs. "Comin'!" She got to the door and opened it. "Hey, Len? Squig lock ya out again?"
Lenny smiled. "Yeah. Musta picked up another girl. I dunno how he does it."
Laverne returned the smile. "An' I don't wanna know." Beat. "Come on in."
"Thanks, Laverne," he said.
She waved it off. "No problem," she said, then sighed. "Since Shirl left, it gets kinda lonely."
"It's kinda like how Squig keeps lockin' me out," Lenny said.
"I guess so," Laverne said. "Well, I'll getcha a pillow an' blanket." She went upstairs, but came down moments later without either item. "Ya know, if Shirl was here she'd prob'ly yell, but rather than makin' ya sleep on this couch, ya wanna use the other bed?"
He looked at her, unsure. "Ya don't mind?"
"Nah, but if it was Squig, then I'd mind," she said, then smiled.
"Thanks," Lenny said, then followed her upstairs.
Real time, 1987.
"Umm... I don't mean to interrupt, but should I know where this is going?" Lauren asked.
For the first time, Lenny smiled. "You're here, aren'tcha?"
"In that case, yeah, I know where that's going, but..." she said.
"Oh, there's more," Lenny said, the smile fading. "Believe it or not, it gets worse..."
Flashback to 1967, Laverne's apartment, two weeks later.
*knock, knock, knock* "Laverne!"
Laverne came out of the bedroom... slowly. She descended the stairs, one hand on the railing, the other hand on her stomach. She reached the door and opened it. "Sorry, Carmine."
He looked at her in surprise. "You don't look good at all."
"I know that," she said.
"I went over to Cowboy Bill's and your father told me you called in sick... again," Carmine said. "He's startin' to get worried about you, and so am I, for that matter."
Laverne sighed. "Carmine, I gotta tell ya som'en."
His eyes went wide. "Wait a minute..."
She nodded. "I'm pregnant."
"You're sure this time?" he asked.
"Yes, Carmine. I saw the doctor two days ago," Laverne said.
"An' you didn't say anything?" Carmine said. "Awe, Laverne..."
The door swung open, and Lenny walked in. "Uh... am I interruptin'?" He paused. "Vernie, your Pop said you were sick and..."
"No, no interruption. Matter of fact, I was just gonna leave, yeah," Carmine said, getting up. "Bye." He left quickly.
Lenny jerked his thumb towards the door. "What's with 'im?"
"Len, sit down," Laverne said.
"Oh, it's som'en bad..." he said, then sat down.
"No, I wouldn't say it's bad..." she said, then paused. "I dunno how to say this, but..." Beat. "Remember back in Milwaukee when I thought I was pregnant and you an' Squig flipped a coin to see who'd marry me?"
"Yeah," Lenny replied.
"Please tell me you won't do that again," Laverne said.
He gave her a confused look. "Whatta ya talkin' about?"
"I'm pregnant, Len," Laverne said.
Real time, 1987.
"Shouldn't that have been a great thing?" Lauren asked.
"You're interruptin' again!" Lenny said, then sighed. "There's still more..."
Flashback to 1967, Laverne's apartment.
"So, you're gonna tell 'im?" Lenny said.
"I hafta, Len," Laverne said. "He's gonna be here any minute..."
The door opened, and Frank came in. "I'm here, what's the news?"
Laverne took a deep breath. "Pop... I'm pregnant."
"You're what!?" Frank exploded.
"I'm gonna hide," Lenny said, then turned to leave. Laverne grabbed his collar.
Frank walked up to Laverne. "Marriage first, then the granchildren, not the other way around!"
"I know, Pop, but..." Laverne began.
"Who is he?" Frank asked.
"I gotta get outta here," Lenny said.
Frank turned to Lenny. "You?!"
Laverne lost her grip on Lenny's collar, and he bolted out the door.
"You, I'll talk to later," Frank said, then left to find Lenny.
Real time, 1987.
"Yikes," Lauren said.
Lenny nodded slowly, then sighed. "I didn't stand up to 'im. Didn't matter, anyway." Beat. "He died a few weeks later. I felt so guilty about it. Vernie, kept tryin' to tell me it wasn't my fault, but I knew it was." Beat. "I coulda stayed with Carmine that night..."
"And I wouldn't be here," Lauren finished. "I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be sorry," Lenny said. "It happened, but I still feel guilty about it. That's why we were arguin' earlier. I'd been tryin' to tell myself I wouldn't do that when I saw 'er, but..." He sighed. "Everything became a mess so quickly after Frank died that I took off."
"So, you two were never married," Lauren said.
He shook his head. "Nope... it's kinda funny considerin' I asked her ta marry me when she thought she was pregnant, but wasn't, then when it was my kid, I ran off." He met her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I shouldn't've done that." Beat. "Will you forgive me?"