Alright, so a lot of the fanfics I've been reading about the childhoods of the Bohemians have all had Roger or Maureen being the victims of child abuse and what not, so I decided to do one where it's Mimi talking about her childhood, and her shitty parents. Most of this will be in Flashback form, but during the flashback, Mimi is telling Roger the story.Disclaimer: Ya bums should know that I don't own RENT.

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"Hey Mimi?" Roger asked one afternoon.

"Huh?" came her sleepy reply.

"Why don't you talk about your parents ever?" Now Mimi was awake.

"Rog, that's a really touchy subject. I didn't enjoy my childhood at all, and I'm in no hurry to revisit it."

"Please?" Roger said, beginning to beg. With a sigh and a couple Spanish cuss words Mimi agreed, mainly to stop Roger from pestering her.

Mimi's mind raced back to when she was only ten...

Flashback

"Marina Marquez, you get you filthy ass out here!" stormed her mother. "And bring your siblings with you!" Mimi, who was in her shared room with her four younger siblings, whispered for them to go, out the window and to their friends, assuring them that she would be fine. They listened obediently, and made their escape. Mimi took a slow deep breath, and opened the door, appearing ready for whatever came next.

Slowly Mimi crept down the stairs. "Marina Marquez! I want you down here NOW!"

"I'm right here Mother," Mimi said, appearing in the stairwell doorway.

"It took more than long enough!" her Mother fumed. "And where the fuck are you brother and sisters?"

"You told them to spend the night with their friends," Mimi said, hoping her Mother would accept the lie.

"Marina Marquez you are a fucking liar, and I do not tolerate fucking liars!" With that, her mother's hand came swooping across Mimi's face with such force that Mimi fell to the ground. "¡Yo nunca debo haber tenido a una ramera como tu!" Mimi felt tears spring to her eyes.

"Mamá, yo no soy una ramera, yo soy una niña. Yo soy tu hija."

"¿Qué?" her Mother asked, her nostrils flaring. She raised her hand again, and Mimi felt it come down hard against her other cheek.

"Ow," Mimi whimpered, catching her mistake of making any sound. Her Mother shoved Mimi back up against the kitchen counter. Mimi winced as her back bone made contact with the wood. Mrs. Marquez, upset that Mimi still wasn't saying why her siblings were not with her, grabbed Mimi's shirt by the collar and lifted Mimi completely off the floor. "¿Dónde están tus hermanos?"

"No sé, prometo." Mimi said. Her Mother, not believing this, decided to place all the punishment on Mimi, since she was there and they were not.

End Flashback

"So what a minute, your mother beat you when you were ten? For letting your siblings escape her beatings?"

"Pretty much. It wasn't the first or the last time, and I got used to it by Jr. High..." Mimi trailed off. "The worst of it came in High School though, especially since my Dad returned in the middle of my tenth grade year."

Flashback

A tall Latino man stood in the front door frame, Ricardo. He was the father of Mimi and all her siblings, and the reason their mother beat them.

"¡Papa!" exclaimed Sara, Mimi's youngest sister, only seven years old.

"Sara, no," Mimi said, latching onto Sara's shoulder.

"Hola," Ricardo said, in a friendly enough manner. Mimi smelled alcohol on his breath.

"You've been drinking again," she said icily. Just then Mrs. Marquez walked down the stairs.

"Ricardo," she breathed, anger flaring in her eyes. "I told you to leave!"

"Juana, I wanted to see the kids," he attempted.

"Like I believe that bullshit! You just need another place to sleep, again! I told you that I wasn't going to put up with your drinking, and that until you got clean, to not return!"

"But I love you, and I had to see you," his eyes were dilated, he had been smoking pot. Juana, however, seemed ready to believe this, and she welcomed him home. Mimi knew better than to trust this man her siblings called a father. He had betrayed her the night before he was kicked out, around six years before. Sure, Mimi had heard him return in the middle of the night when his and her mother's arguments echoed up the stairs, but she had yet to see him until now.

"Kids, your papa's home!" Mimi now had no choice but to let her siblings greet the man. They rushed forward, and latched onto the man's legs.

"Mimi, aren't you going to greet your father?" her mother questioned, glaring at Mimi.

"I've got homework to do." With that Mimi grabbed her notebook and bolted up the stairs.

A half hour passed before anyone came upstairs, during which Mimi did do some homework, but she mostly danced. Dancing, that's what she was doing when her mother burst through the door.

"Marina Marquez! What in heavens name are you doing? You said you were coming up here to do your fucking homework! Instead I find you, twirling about up here!" Her mother's eye blazed with rage.

"Mamá, I was doing my homework, I finished, that's all," Mimi said, hopeful her mother would believe her.

"If your homework is finished, you should have come back downstairs; your father has been waiting to see you." Livid her mother started exiting the room. Mimi followed reluctantly.

"Ah, my little Marina," Ricardo said when Mimi appeared.

"It's Mimi," she replied in an icy tone. Ricardo smiled.

"Aw, my little Marina went a grew up on me."

"I told you, it's Mimi! And you are not my father, I do NOT have one!" Mimi bolted up the stairs again, and when she got to her room, she grabbed her back pack, some clothes, and climbed out the window, seconds before her mother sped into the room.

End Flashback

"And I came here, and we both know what I did then." Mimi looked down at her hands, waiting for Roger's reaction. She sighed deeply.

"Yeah," Roger responded. "Only thing I don't understand is, how did your mother find out where you live?"

"I called her a couple years ago. I let her know that I had a good boyfriend, and job, and AIDs."

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Please review! Criticism is MORE than welcome! Love to all my readers! Diva