The Best News Ever, But

This week, Sherree http://slworrell.wordpress.com/ challenged me with “The best news ever, but” and I challenged FlaminNyx with “One of these things is not like the other” – please read their writing!  http://flamingnyx.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/similar-title-worlds-apart/

Interesting time writing this week.  I got a little corny, why not?  I rushed, and could have done better.  Hate the names of the characters but it all came tumbling out quickly in time for deadline J

The best news ever, but

Flight 134 from Denver to LAX started as any normal flight does.  Waiting too long to board (really, can you please move the eff into your seat when you are getting settled so we can all get by?), polite, non-eye-contact glances as people sit down next to each other, the visible letdown when one sees they are seated in a middle seat next to someone who should have purchased two tickets.

Adam gave a head nod at the man next to him and took his seat in the aisle.  The woman in the window seat was already snoozing, leaning against the window, headphones on.  Adam was seated in about the middle of the plane, not too close to the bathrooms and also not so far back that it would take forever to get off the plane.  He was eager to get home before the kids went to bed.  It had been a long time on the road and he missed his boys.  Talking on the phone got old after a few nights and his terse relationship with his wife was hard to talk around when he called in from the hotel each night.

The flight was scheduled to take about two and a half hours from gate to gate – just enough time to finish his trip log and plan his presentation points for tomorrow’s meeting.  He heard the familiar beep as the captain turned off the seatbelt sign and he witnessed the normal small crowd get up and head for the bathroom.  He always wondered about these people.  Why didn’t they go before they boarded?  Why were they in such a rush once the seatbelt sign was off?  Both of his row-mates needed to go so he got up and planned to stand while they went, hoping it was the only time he’d have to stop his work during the flight.

As he watched them join the growing line down the aisle, the plane did a small but sudden drop.  It was enough to cause an overall gasp and he heard things tumble to the floor at the front of the plane where the flight attendants had started serving drinks.  Only a few seconds later, it happened again, this time a bit more of a drop and a louder gasp.  The deep, reassuring voice of the pilot came over the plane.  “Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the slight turbulence.  Let’s have you return to your seats while we get through this unexpected patch.  Flight attendants, please be seated immediately.”  The last part seemed a little abrupt, Adam thought to himself.  Most of the bathroom line turned around and headed back to their seats, including the man sitting next to him.  The woman, however, must have really needed to go, as she ignored the announcement and didn’t budge. 

As Adam backed out for the guy to get into the row, a deep, continuous creaking noise overtook the cabin.  It did not sound right.  Never, in all of his thousands of airline miles, did he ever hear a noise remotely like this.  He exchanged glances with his seatmate and the gravity between them made Adam shudder.    They hadn’t been able to buckle their belts before the yellow masks fell from the ceiling, setting off a series of screams and moans throughout the cabin.   All hell had broken loose in a matter of seconds.  The pilot came on and tried to say something, but two women were yelling so loudly that no one could hear what he was saying.  A flight attendant, face intentionally calm, stood up and acted out how to put on the mask, over-emphasizing the motions.  Adam felt like a bystander, not a participant, as he took it all in.  He didn’t put on his mask, he didn’t do anything but sit there and observe.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm and quiet.  We need to get information to you now.  Please be quiet and calm and quiet,” the pilot said loudly.  He sounded calm except for the fact he said “quiet” twice in a row.  “There is something wrong with. . .  We are having some mechanical issues with this plane.  We are going to land the plane now.  Please get your seatbelts on and stay calm.”  He didn’t say anything about the masks.  People were rushing by him, some passengers trying to get back to their seats, some rushing around in a panic.  A flight attendant, a man he hadn’t yet seen, rushed by and, thinking he was close enough to another flight attendant down the aisle, loudly whispered “we’re going down.  Get in the back, get them seated.  He said the landing gear wasn’t up and it caused a crack.  We’re going down.” 

The man next to Adam had also heard it, Adam knew from his face.  No one else seemed to, for the panic would have escalated even more.  The sounds of the calamity kept on but the movements all seemed to slow down.  Adam felt like he was looking through a bowl of clear jello, watching his world end.  The man next to him gripped his arm.  Adam observed the hand.  The hairy knuckles.  No wedding band.  No wait, he thought, that’s his right hand. 

“I’m Corey,” the guy said.  “I am 34 years old.  I’m a Christian.  I am going to go to heaven.  I have sinned and I am sorry for my sins.  If you make it and I don’t, find my family.  They live in Beaumont.  My last name is Ramirez.  Tell them I love them.  And that it was fast and that I was praying for them when my life ended.” 

Adam realized he wasn’t looking at the man as he listened, that he was looking at his hand, gripping his forearm firmly and steadily.  “Heaven?”  Adam said.  Holy shit, was it his turn?  The plane moaned a mechanical moan and it got hot and humid all at once.

“I’m Adam,” he said, unable to look up from the hand.  “I’m not going to heaven.  I was raised Jewish.  Wait, what the fuck?”  his mind spun in a big waving circle.  The pilot’s speaker was breaking up, but Adam heard the words “emergency landing, crash positions. Cover the back of your heads,”

“I’m Adam,” he said again.  “17 years ago, I killed two people.  No one knows.  I didn’t mean to do it.  I found them together and I became a beast and I killed them and no one knows about it.  I am not going to heaven.”  He bumbled the words out without plan.  So many times the word heaven was just said. 

Corey tightened his grip.  “You have admitted your sins.  You will be forgiven.  Our Lord is a good Lord and he will forgive you.  You can repent right now.  You can join me on the way to the light,” he was chanting, like he was reading aloud.  Adam almost believed him. 

“I fucking killed two people man.  I murdered them with a knife.  I ran away.  I let another man take the blame.  I watched it all happen and I never said anything and I have lived with that my whole life.  I have a wife and two kids and they don’t even know anything about it.  I have lived a lie.  And now this plane is going down and we are going to die and I am not going to heaven with you.  I killed Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.  It wasn’t OJ.  It was me,” he yelled.  The few people around him got quiet.  For about three seconds.  The pause was like a deep breath before the huge yell a baby does when they get really hurt. 

“We’re going down.  He said we are going to crash.  This guy said we are going to crash.” 

“That guy is a killer.  He’s a killer.  He has a knife.”

“We’re being hijacked!  Get him, stop him.”

Adam couldn’t figure out who said what, but the chaos seemed to make the plane shake harder. 

Corey uncurled his hand from Adam’s arm.  Adam finally looked up at him and saw him slowly back away as much as he could while staying seated.  Where was his Lord now?  Adam was so focused on Corey that it took him a few seconds to realize that the mechanical noises of the plane had ceased.  The quiet filled his ears.  Were they falling?  It didn’t feel like it. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the pilot said.  “We are under control.  This is under control.  We are going to be okay.  Please stay seated and calm and we can land the plane in a few moments.  It is going to be okay.  Please calm down.  Flight attendants, please help the passengers to their seats and then be seated for landing right away.”

The best news ever, but . . .  .