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The elevator opened and Tom and Betty entered. Tom pushed the button for the sixth floor and turned to join Betty for the ride.
“You know, I got really scared,” Betty said, still shaking.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” replied Tom. “He missed us by a mile.”
“He was coming right on my side,” offered Betty. “I thought for sure that big old truck was going to hit us.”
“Listen, I wouldn’t have made the turn if I thought I couldn’t make it,” shot back Tom. “Now, change the subject. We made it. We’re alive.”
Betty took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. After a few moments she turned to Tom and asked, “Do you think they’re going to loan us the money?”
“If they don’t, then we’re screwed,” replied Tom.
“I just don’t see where all our money is going,” pondered Betty. “You make good money but it’s always gone.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing. Sometimes I just don’t understand,” offered Betty.
“Well, you’ve never been good at math. You know that,” Tom said as he pushed the sixth floor button again. “I know where the money is going and I’m telling you we need the extra cash.”
“Sometimes it just doesn’t add up,” offered Betty.
“Why haven’t we got to the sixth floor yet?” Tom said changing the subject.
“It does seem like it’s taking a long time,” replied Betty.
“Is this thing even working?”
“It doesn’t feel like we’ve stopped. We must still be moving,” Betty said.
Tom pushed the button again for the sixth floor. He pressed the “Emergency button” but no alarm sounded.
“That’s strange,” offered Tom. He opened the door to where the emergency phone was located.
“Well, that’s great,” an exasperated Tom said. “There’s no phone in here.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s OK,” replied Betty.
“Always Miss Optimistic, aren’t you?” Tom said sarcastically. “We’re stuck in this damn elevator and you think everything is OK.”
“You know someone will come and get us out,” offered Betty. “They always do.”
“But we’ve got that appointment,” replied Tom. “We can’t be late for that.”
“Well, if we’re late, we’ll just have to reschedule for later,” replied Betty.
“We can’t do that!” shot back Tom. “We’ve got to have the money today.”
“We don’t have any bills due today,” said Betty. Then her face turned to disgust. “You’ve been gambling again, haven’t you?”
“I owe a little.”
“How could you Tom?” said Betty at the point of tears. “You promised you would stop.”
“I have. This was it,” replied Tom, trying to think of something to reassure his wife. “I pay this money and that’s it.”
“How many times have I heard you say that?”
“Now don’t get ‘righteous’ on me,” challenged Tom. “We all have our little vices. God knows you have yours.”
“But I don’t take money from the family to throw it away,” replied Betty.
“Oh, you say that now,” shot back Tom. “You’d be singing a different tune if I hit it big. Then you’d be all lovey-dovey.”
“You’ve been saying that for years,” Betty said as she shook her head.
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve never had an ounce of faith in me,” replied an angry Tom. “I work my fingers to the bone and all you can do is criticize.”
“This is not about you working, it’s about gambling,” replied Betty.
“Shut up! Just shut your damn mouth!” said a red-faced Tom. He took his fist and started hitting the elevator door.
“Hey!! Open this door!!”
After awhile Tom gave up on hitting and shouting at the elevator door. Both stood looking at the floor without speaking. Finally Tom spoke without looking up.
“I promise, Betty. It’s gonna be different.”
“I know you mean the best,” replied Betty. “If you would just let someone help you. You’re not the only one with this problem.”
“Please don’t start with that,” Tom asked as he closed his eyes. “This is something I have to do on my own. I don’t need any help.”
“Well, there’s plenty of people out there willing to do whatever they can to help,” offered Betty. “They help people with all kinds of problems.”
“What other problems do you think I have?” asked a defensive Tom.
“I wasn’t saying anything,” explained Betty.
“Oh, sure,” shot back Tom. “What is it now? Is it because I drink a little? Or are you still suspicious that I’m running around on you?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, that’s it, huh?” said a disgusted Tom. “You think I’m having this big affair or something.”
“I just know what I saw,” replied Betty.
“You saw nothing,” interjected Tom. “You let your imagination run wild, that’s all.”
“Those were not my panties I found in our bedroom,” offered Betty. “And they were certainly too big to be our daughter’s.”
“You must be mistaken.”
“Tom, I know what kind of underwear we wear,” explained Betty. “And besides, you know the talk that goes on about that Joan that you work with.”
“I don’t know about any talk,” replied Tom.
“Oh, you know, how she’ll sleep with any guy that’ll let her,” Betty said.
“So you think I cheated on you with Joan,” replied a bemused Tom. “Get real. I’m old enough to be her father.”
“From what I hear that wouldn’t stop her,” offered Betty. “Would it stop you?”
Tom goes to the elevator doors and bangs them with his fist and shouts, “Come on! Open these doors already!”
“I didn’t think so,” replied a tearful Betty.
“Look, she’s come on to me before,” explained Tom. “I’m not saying I slept with her. I’m just saying that she has flirted with me.”
“And you liked it.”
“Well, yeah. I ain’t dead yet,” replied Tom. “I got as big a thrill as you do watching all that sex on those soaps.”
“You know it’s not the same.”
“Oh, I guess not,” shot back Tom. “It’s different because you’re the one enjoying them and not me. Some difference!”
“Well, I know you have certain desires that need to be controlled,” offered Betty.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jill has told me things,” replied Betty.
“Oh, God! Now you’re accusing me of screwing my own daughter,” said a red-faced Tom.
“I haven’t said anything,” Betty said. “But Jill doesn’t like the way you stare at her when she’s getting dressed.”
“She’s never complained to me.”
“Of course not,” replied Betty. “She’s not going to say anything to you. But she has told me how uncomfortable she is.”
“That’s just a load of crap,” snorted Tom.
“You’ll take it serious if she tells her teachers at school,” replied Betty.
“All I do is look,” shot back Tom.
“That’s too much,” said Betty. “She’s becoming a lady now and needs her privacy.”
“Well, if that’s the way its got to be,” replied Tom.
“That’s the way it has to be,” shot back Betty. “It’s not natural to watch your daughter get dressed.”
“Oh, now I’m some unnatural, freaky animal who can’t control his desires,” replied an angry Tom.
“I didn’t say that,” replied Betty. “All I’m saying is it’s not right and you need to stop.”
“Don’t you start telling me what to do,” Tom said with a vein visibly pulsating in his right temple.
“I’m not,” Betty said. “I’m just telling you the way Jill feels.”
“Well, let’s review this,” countered Tom. “Let’s see. I’m gamble too much. I drink too much. I don’t work enough. And now I’m a pedophile. How in the world do you stand to live with me?”
“I love you.”
“God, that makes you sicker than me,” snarled Tom. “Well, when we get out of here, I’m going to straighten this out. I’ll set Jill straight and stop this nonsense.”
“You’re not going to beat her.”
“I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” replied Tom. “I’ll stop this crap.”
“You’re not going to beat her.”
“Then maybe I’d better knock some sense into you,” threaten Tom.
“No, Tom. You are never going to hit me or Jill, again,” promised Betty.
“Oh, who died and left you in charge?” snarled Tom.
“I’m not putting up with it anymore,” declared Betty. “You touch us again and I’m going to the police.”
“When I get through with you, what makes you think you’ll be able to talk to anyone?”
“I mean it Tom,” asserted Betty. “There will be no more hitting.”
Tom walked to the elevator doors and started banging on them. He continued hitting them until a small dent started showing in the right side door.
“You see that dent,” offered Tom. “Be glad that’s not your head.”
“Tom, I have had all that I can stand,” replied a tearful Betty.
“What are you saying?”
“Mother has been after me for years to leave you,” Betty said. “She’s even got a lawyer for me.”
“That meddling old bitch,” snarled Tom. “She never wanted you to marry me. She’d do anything to break us up.”
“When we get out of here, I’m going home and pack my things,” revealed Betty. “Jill and I are going to stay with mother.”
“You ain’t going nowhere!”
“Yes, I am!”
Tom turned toward Betty with his face crimson red with anger. He swung his fist to hit her jaw, but she ducked in time for him to miss and hit the back wall of the elevator. Tom cried out in pain as the bones in his hand cracked on impact.
“Now look what you made me do,” cried out Tom. “I think I’ve broken my hand.”
At this moment the elevator shook several times and then came to a stand still. The lights blinked and slowly the doors opened. Tom and Betty peered out to see a bright blue sky with a foggy mist floating lazily on the floor.
“What is this?” Betty wondered out loud.
“What’s going on?” muttered Tom. “I don’t like this.”
“I’ve never seen a floor like this,” offered Betty. “What should we do, Tom?”
Off in the distance came a figure strolling through the mist. It was a man dressed in a white robe. He had long flowing white hair and a neat white goatee.
“Tom, I’m getting scared,” cried Betty.
“Just hush,” barked Tom. “This old guy ain’t gonna do nothing.”
The man in the white robe approached the door of the elevator, stopped and smiled at Tom and Betty.
“Hello, Betty. Hello, Tom.”
“What the hell’s going on here?” demanded Tom.
“I’ve come to welcome Betty,” replied the man.
“Who are you?” asked Betty.
“Oh, my name is not important,” explained the man. “But if you want to, you can call me Al.”
“Well, Al, you want to explain what’s going on,” said Tom.
“There’s not much to explain,” replied Al. “This is the floor that Betty is getting off.”
“We’re not going anywhere, bud,” stated Tom. “So just turn your ass around and get someone to fix this elevator.”
“Now, please behave yourself, Tom,” pleaded Betty. “Al, please excuse us, but could you explain a little about what’s happening?”
“For you Betty, I’d be happy to do so,” replied Al. “What do you remember before you entered the elevator?”
“We ran through the building to get to it,” smirked Tom.
“We parked the car,” said a thoughtful Betty.
“Before that,” said Al.
“Oh, I know,” remembered Betty. “We were almost hit by that big truck when Tom turned in front of it.”
“Actually you were hit by that big truck,” explained Al.
“What?!?”
“Yes, unfortunately you both died at the scene,” replied Al.
“What kinda bullshit is this?” asked Tom. “If we had died we would have remembered it.”
“Very few people do,” explained Al. “It’s the way your body protects your soul from the shock that death brings.”
“But we’ve been in this elevator,” protested Betty.
“Well, that was our way of taking a good last look at you two before we decided on what to do,” explained Al. “We do things like this when we have doubts about someone. I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable.”
“We’re dead and you’re worried about our comfort!” retorted Tom.
“It wasn’t bad at all,” replied Betty. “But what about our families? And, oh dear, what about Jill?” Betty started to cry.
“Please, don’t cry,” comforted Al. “If you will join me Betty, we’ll be glad to answer all your questions. You’ll see that everything is going to be all right.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” replied an angry Tom.
“Yes, she is,” stated Al.
With a red face Tom stepped toward Al and the elevator door. Al made a swift brief wave of his right hand and Tom felt an invisible force push him to the back of the elevator. He was pinned to the back wall and could not move a muscle.
“You ass hole!” yelled Tom. “Let me go!”
“Come, Betty,” urged Al. “This is the floor for you.”
“But what about, Tom,” implored Betty.
“He is not to get off on this floor,” explained Al. “Please, Betty. There are so many things to show you and there are so many people waiting to see you.”
“Don’t you dare go with him!” shouted Tom. “Betty! Betty! Look at me! You go with him and I’ll get you! I’ll find you! You can’t hide!”
“Betty, don’t look back,” Al said as he gently took her hand. “This is the way for you.”
Betty slowly walked with Al into the foggy distance.
“Come back here!!” shouted Tom. “Betty come back! You wait ‘til I get my hands on you! Al, you bastard! I’m gonna kill you!”
The door closed and the elevator started moving again. When the door closed, Tom felt the invisible force release him and he fell to the floor. Tom jumped up and rushed to the door.
“Betty!” shouted Tom. “Don’t leave me! You stupid bitch! God, I hate you!”
Tom pulled on the elevator door, trying to open them, until it felt like his fingers were going to break. Finally he quit trying and looked at the elevator’s control panel. There was only one floor button showing and it read “Down.” Tom backed against the back wall trying to sort out what was happening.
It seemed like hours since Betty had left him. Tom loosened his tie and shirt.
“I’ve got to get control of myself,” thought Tom. “I’ve got so mad I sweating like a pig.”
Once again, the elevator started gently shaking and finally came to a stop. After what seemed like forever the elevator door opened. This time the sky had a red haze and the fog on the floor was red with a menacing feeling.
Tom stepped to the door and peered out at the surroundings. A strong smell of burning sulfur almost made Tom choke. The floor felt like an oven. He looked off into the distance and saw a figure walking toward him. Slowly Tom started to recognize the creature coming his way. In horror he backed to the rear of the elevator, stopping only when he could go no further. Perspiring profusely, Tom could not take his eyes off the ghastly figure approaching him.
“Oh God! Nooooooo, . . . . .”
THE ULTIMATE END
Copyright ©2003 by Jerry W. Crews
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