One afternoon, neither Mother nor Grandma came to pick Mae up from school. So she took the bus home instead. She realized, staring out the window at the passing houses and apartments, that she was glad for this. Those car rides with Mother and Grandma were so tense and awkward. Here, even though she was surrounded by other kids yelling and laughing, she felt as if she could breathe for once.
But once she arrived home, all that breath was squeezed out of her.
As soon as she opened the front door she heard them yelling. Another argument, nothing new. Mother’s bedroom door was open, and she could see Mother standing in the doorway, her face red and contorted with anger. Just out of sight, Grandma continued to yell, throwing clothes of all colors and styles into a small pile. Next to the pile were two black garbage bags, tied shut and bulging.
Mother flinched and turned when she heard the front door shut. She stared at Mae for a moment, then rushed towards her. “Mae, honey, you can’t be here right now,” she said, dropping to her knees and grabbing Mae by her shoulders.
“Why not?” Mae asked.
“Grandma and I are trying to settle something. It’s going to be very long and very loud and I don’t think you should get involved.”
“Can’t I just stay in my room?”
Mother shook her head. “No, I think it’d be better if you stayed away for a bit. Why don’t you head over to Lena’s place?”
“You said I can’t be with her anymore.”
“I’m making an exception. Just go. Please.”
“You keep something this slutty in the house?” Grandma yelled from the bedroom.
“I don’t own anything slutty!” Mother called over her shoulder.
“Then what is this that I just found? Explain this!”
Mother sighed, then got up and started for the bedroom. She paused and turned back to Mae. “I’ll pick you up once all this is over, okay?”
Mae nodded. Mother went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Hesitantly, Mae left the apartment and walked to Lena’s apartment.
A moving truck was parked outside of Lena’s apartment building. Workers wheeled carts stacked with cardboard boxes and carried mattresses and dressers into the truck. Lena’s mother stood watching them, her curly hair tied up in a loose bun. Lena herself sat on a plastic chair on the patio, her Game Boy in hand.
Mae walked over to Lena. Lena looked up, closed the Game Boy, shoved it into the pocket of her pants. “What’s up?” she asked.
“My mom told me to stay with you for a little,” Mae said. “She’s fighting with Grandma again.”
“Oh.”
Mae gestured towards the moving truck. “You’re moving today?”
Lena nodded. “My mom doesn’t want to stay here anymore. She doesn’t think it’s safe.”
“Why not?”
Lena sighed. She got up and walked over to her mom. “Is it okay if I play with Mae for a little bit?” she asked.
“Sure,” Lena’s mom said. “You have your watch on you?”
Lena pointed at her wrist.
“Okay. Be back before five. I want to get to the house before it gets too dark.”
Lena turned back to Mae and waved for her to follow. Mae ran over, and the two of them started down the sidewalk.
“Where are we going?” Mae asked. The two of them turned a corner and started towards the building where Mae lived.
“The woods.” Lena turned abruptly and crossed the road. Mae stood still, watching her for a moment. She had never gone into the woods during the day. Then again, she’d been in the woods at night plenty of times at night by then. Surely the forest would be safer in daylight. As if they weren’t even safe in the dark.
Mae followed Lena into the woods. The two of them stepped deeper and deeper through the forest, maneuvering over fallen branches and between trees that grew close together.
“So why doesn’t your mom think the apartment is safe anymore?” Mae asked again.
“Something happened to my brother,” Lena said. “He died.”
Mae felt something in her chest lurch. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Lena shrugged. “It’s fine. I don’t miss him that much.”
Suddenly, the ground dipped in front of them, diving steeply down a hill. Lena started down without hesitation, stepping deftly through the underbrush. Mae took her time, hoping that she wouldn’t accidentally slip or lose balance.
When she reached the bottom and the ground leveled out again, she found herself in familiar territory.
She and Lena were standing side by side in her garden, the numerous flowers towering over them, their colors even brighter in the daylight. Just looking at them, Mae felt the weight of the day lifting from her. She couldn’t help smiling.
Lena moved through the garden, looking up at the different flowers, running her hands over their tall stems. “Wow,” she said. “You’ve been busy.”
Watching her, a question surfaced in Mae’s head. “That stone that you gave me,” she said, “where did you find it?”
“Someone gave it to me,” Lena said, her hand pressed against a tulip’s stem, not looking up.
“Who?”
“I can’t say.”
“Why not?”
Lena shrugged. “It just doesn’t feel right.” She turned to Mae. “I forgot to tell you, the rock has rules.”
“It does?”
“Damn, you have a lot of questions. But yeah, it does. You get it when you need it, you use it as long as you need, then you give it to someone else who needs it.”
Mae thought this over. They didn’t sound exactly like rules, more like instructions. Then again, those were basically rules, just in a different form. “How do you know if someone needs it?” Mae asked.
“You just know,” Lena said. “You’ll find someone. Oh, and you have to be careful if other people find it.”
Mae asked why. Lena walked over to a rose, its stem riddled with thorns that jutted out like spikes. She didn’t get close, just observed it from a distance. “The stone likes some people, and it doesn’t like other people,” she said. “If you’re the one who has it and uses it, it’s not gonna like anyone else.” She paused, took a deep breath. “My brother learned that the hard way.”
Lena turned around then and started back towards the hill. Mae started to follow her, but her foot snagged on something and she stumbled, hopping and waving her arms until she finally regained balance. She turned and looked at the ground. There was a large black rock settled in the ground, partially obscured by some old, rotten leaves. She knelt and looked closer at the rock. It looked like a human head, charred and emaciated. There was a thin cylindrical protrusion where its mouth would have been.
Mae heard footsteps behind her, crunchy and heavy. “It’s funny,” Lena said. “My mom used to tell him that cigarettes were gonna kill him someday.”