Between Two Lungs

"Wait here," Mae said once she and Jordan had walked through her apartment's front door. "I'll go get the sheets and set up the couch bed." She retreated to her bedroom to go search for some blankets. Jordan dropped his bags by the wall and moved the coffee table over to make space in the meantime.

He decided to help Mae out and deal with the pull-out sofa himself, so he removed the couch's cushions and yanked on the metal handle of the bed frame. As he was pulling it out, he ended up shifting the couch forward slightly. He frowned and pushed it back a bit further than it was before. That's when something caught his eye.

Jordan glanced over to Mae's room where he could still hear her gathering blankets and pillows. He crouched down to the ground and pulled out the small plastic bag full of pills and acid sheets that were cut up into tiny squares.

"What the fuck..." he mumbled to himself, his eyebrows knitted together. He heard Mae's footsteps drawing closer, so he quickly shoved the plastic bag and its contents into his back pocket.

"I found some extra blankets," she said, waddling her way over with a huge pile of sheets and pillows in her hands. She unloaded them onto the bed and let out a sigh. "Thanks for setting up on your own. Want to help me make the bed?"

"Uh, sure," he said tensely. Mae glanced up at him curiously as he silently helped her put a cover on the mattress and place the blankets and pillows down on it accordingly.

Once they had finished, Mae finally asked, "Are you okay? You're acting kind of weird."

"Just tired," he responded automatically. "Long drive. You know how it is."

"Oh, yeah...for sure," she mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "So...hey...I have to go upstairs and talk to my friend Gary about the upcoming art show," Mae said, pointing up to the ceiling. "Make yourself at home. I have basic cable and food in the fridge if the coffee wasn't enough."

"Sure thing," he smiled as she walked out the door.

The second she left, Jordan pulled out his cell phone and furiously dialed his brother's number.

"Yep?"

"Marc, is Jordan."

"Thank you for that, Jordan, I do have caller ID."

"Can I ask you something?" he inquired quietly, his eyes darting back to the door every now and again. "It's about Mae."

"Uh, alright," Marc replied, sounding confused. "This better not be some sort of weird sex question, because as much as I respect the fact that you're all grown up now, I'm just not ready to have that conversation with my little brother."

"Do you ever stop to think about what comes out of your mouth before you speak?" Jordan asked flatly. "But seriously, I have a question about Mae."

"You know what, why are you even in the city in the first place? Just wanted to pop in randomly all the way from Pittsburgh to meet up with a girl that you talked to for like, an hour?"

"Marc, would you let me talk?"

Jordan heard Marc sigh. "What is it, Jordan?"

"Well, I was going to ask you something about Mae and her past, but now I'm going to ask you why you sound so annoyed with me," he remarked. "So...why are you so annoyed with me?"

Marc sighed. "It's nothing. Just...what's your question?"

Jordan nibbled on his lower lip for a second before finally saying, "Does Mae ever act weird around you?"

"Weird, how?" Marc asked. "She's weird no matter what."

"I mean like..." Jordan let out a frustrated groan. "Never mind, Marc. I'll talk to you later." He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket before pulling the bag back out to examine it again. Little cylindrical white pills with different carvings in them stared back at him from through the plastic mixed in with what looked like cut up squares of paper.

Jordan debated what to do in his mind. Should he put them back where he found them? Surely Mae would notice if her stash had gone missing. Or should he keep them to prevent her from doing something stupid?

Exhaling slowly, he put the pills back in his pocket. Now that he had seen them, he felt it was his job to help Mae and keep her from doing something stupid. He refused to be responsible if something was to go wrong.

* * * * *

Mae exhaled a puff of smoke, her cigarette dangling loosely from between her index and middle fingers. "So, have the others given you the deposits yet?" she asked, taking in another drag.

"James has," Gary told her, scratching at his thick, reddish-brown beard. He pushed his glasses further up his nose as he attacked the five-foot tall canvas that stood before him with nothing but a variety of acrylic paints and his bare hands. "Brendan and Faye haven't yet."

Mae sighed and tapped the ash into the ashtray. "What are the chances, realistically, of us actually putting together a real show?" she asked. "I don't want to get my hopes up and have everything fall through at the last minute."

"Don't worry," Gary said, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. A streak of red marked his face. "I will personally make sure that your work gets displayed. Even if the others don't work out with the money situation, we can still find a way."

"Okay," Mae nodded. "I'm trusting you, Gary."

"You'd damn well better," the twenty-five year old smirked. "Hey, you ever get tired of just popping E all the time?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I like the feeling it gives me. I feel...euphoric."

"That's the point," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "But that feeling of euphoria never lasts. It doesn't stick...and coming down from that high's gotta be hard as hell. But you know," he glanced over at her, "I may be able to get you some new stuff to try. For cheap."

"New stuff?" she asked cautiously. "Like what, 'shrooms? Benzos? I've done them both, and I don't like either of them. And I already told you that I'm not getting into that hard drug bullshit."

"Oh, why not?" he prodded. "The high's so much better."

"Yeah, and getting addicted to that stuff's good shit too, right?" she countered. "I'm not interested in any of those hard drugs, Gary. I like to feel good, not having to poke a needle in my vein or snort some shit to get myself high."

Gary just shrugged with a smile. "Suit yourself," he said. "I'll let you know the next time I get some more E. You still doing acid?"

"Sometimes," she mumbled. "I need the X more though."

"Got it," he noted. "Why don't you stay a while?" he asked, going back to his painting. "I've got some weed."

"And I've got company over," she replied, stomping out her cigarette butt. "I'll be seeing you around."

"Remember," Gary called as she made her way to his front door. "If Brendan and Faye don't come through with the money, it'll double the cost of what you're paying."

Mae nodded, but pursed her lips as she walked out the door. As she headed downstairs, she punched the wall with the side of her fist and gritted her teeth. "Shit."