Stains

Young Gatsby

They made it back to the city just in time to see the lights fill up the night sky with their broad illumination. Greg sat in the back seat with his head against a window as he tried to sleep. His face was especially sad in the city light. Max sat looking up at the buildings from his seat. His face wasn't filled with wonder like she thought it should've been. He was just watching the sky with his curly blond hair falling to the sides of his eyes. Johnny sat at the steering wheel with one arm propped up on the door and the other draped lazily over the wheel in complete control. He looked ahead silently and weaved around the traffic. Mare had made a few phone calls for Johnny that consisted mainly of who drops what off where and what time. But she too looked out the window to see the people on the streets walking by impatiently trying to get inside. The girls wore too tight backless dresses and the guys either had on three coats or a short-sleeved shirt. There was an old couple sitting on a bench that she thought was cute. The old man handed her a piece of his pretzel and she pulled off sections of it and ate it in snack-sized bites.

They pulled over and parked right outside of a set of huge apartments. The penthouse displayed all sorts of colors of lights through the windows and attracted onlookers. Mare saw a group step inside the building clenching their coats so tightly. The rain had stopped, but the wind had picked up the cold air immensely.

Johnny stopped the car, but no one moved. Mare turned around. She looked at both of the boys in the backseat. "Max, you're all clear on the deal. For all they know, you did well and didn't need help. Greg," she said turning to him and not knowing what to say, "pretend like you don't hate him." Greg scoffed, but she knew he'd behave. She looked at Johnny who was watching her. His old eyes stared down at her sadly examining her. She wondered what he was looking for, who was he trying to find in her.

They all stepped out of the car and walked quickly to get inside. They had to show their cards with the holographic diamond on it to the guy in the front. He let them up on the elevator. They rode silently up to the penthouse and stepped into the great party over the city. Mare stood leaning against the handrail examining her jacket sleeve, Max messed with his fingernails, Johnny stood in front of the doors silently waiting for them to open. And Greg lounged on the handrails looking down at the ground.

When the doors opened up, it opened to a vast number of people bouncing around under spotlights and the heavy beating of music echoing the room. Johnny led the way through the crowd. They needed to get to Julien so that he knew they were there. The people around them pressed against them with their hot bodies and gave them an uncomfortable feeling. Then they got to the kitchen where Julien's lights were dimmed down and there was a yellow light covering the room. People were smoking and drinking and sitting up on the counters, chugging down bottles, sniffing things, swallowing things, doing stupid things.

"Hey!" Said a loud voice violating the guilty silence of the room. Everyone else in the room stuck to whatever they were doing, but the four that had just arrived turned to face the voice like soldiers addressing a command. "How are you guys?" He asked putting an extra space between the first two words. He set down a bottle of liquor next to Mare and stood next to her leaning on the island. His wide smile and bright eyes shined in the light. Despite the light's discoloration of everything in the room, his skin was still golden brown and his teeth were still white. She leaned her hip against the island and set a large bag on it. He looked at it eagerly and stood up straight.

"Dust and dollars. You're welcome." Mare said and watched as he pulled on the zipper and reached inside excitedly pulling out a plastic package of drugs. He dropped it on the island and looked inside at the money. She could see his pupils dilating as he stared at it. His love, his greed, all in that bag. A slim hand rested on his shoulder and a skinny woman crept around Julien and looked into the bag. But, she let her eyes skip the money and gazed at the package.