313. Flight (Feb 15, 2011)

Jenny wondered what was taking so long.  The flight was scheduled to leave over an hour ago, yet she was still sitting in the blue and white terminal, waiting for the plane to land and listening to the wail of the little blonde toddler.  Poor woman.  It must be difficult to travel with three little ones.  She wondered where the father was.  Was he getting dinner for the kids?  That would be nice. She was hungry herself and asked the gate guard how much longer it was going to be.

She asked Toby to play with Elaina.  The baby wouldn’t stay asleep much longer with Elaina crying so loudly.  She knew Thomas wouldn’t be back until boarding was called.  He hated travelling, especially with the kids.  How many more beers would he have before the flight?  Three?  Four?  She knew the girl across the aisle was bothered by Elaina’s cries.  Who wasn’t?  But she was doing the best she could, wasn’t she?  Why didn’t the girl offer to help instead of complaining to the guard?  That would make the wait a lot easier for everyone.  What good does complaining do anyway?  Oh, Elaina, please be quiet.  The elderly hate crying children, and there are so many elderly on this flight.

            The stroke had claimed most of Wilson’s hearing three years ago, but he could see the child was unhappy.  He wanted to help, but how?  Rummaging through his bag he found the doll he was planning on giving his granddaughter that evening.  He still remembered the phone call from his eldest son. Monica was pregnant.  That was nearly five years ago.  He was excited to see Jasper and Monica again and finally meet little Patricia.  His only grandchild.  Would he know what to do?  It was such a long time ago that Jasper was that young.  And this time Patti wouldn’t be there to help him take care of the child.  Patti.  Patricia.  He hoped she liked him. 

“You look funny.  Has your nose always been big?  And you have small eyes.  Will I look like that whem I grow up?  You’re mice.  Why do you have a doll?  That’s weird.  Oh well.  If it keeps Laimy quiet, it’ gotta be good.  I like you.  You’re funny.  Cam I sit by you?  You smell like Grampa.”

The boy made Wilson smile.  How he reminded him of Jasper.  He was cheerful and chatty.  Jasper always wanted to meet new people, too.  He asked the boy how old he was.  Six?  So grown up.  And he could spell his name? 

“Toby.  T-O-B-Y.  Toby.  Mrs. Bramsom had a spelling beat.  I didn’t do so good.  I couldn’t spell ‘house.’ Timmy did though.  Timmy wom the whole thing!  So Mrs. Bramsom gave him a cammy bar.  I don’t know what it was, though.  Timmy wouldn’t share with me.  We’re mot friends right mow.  He took my ball.  Do you like playing ball?”

Playing ball was one of Wilson’s favourite things to do.  He remembered playing when he was younger, and he was very good.  He could hit the ball almost every time.  He wasn’t quite as good anymore.  It had been a while since he had had anyone to play ball with. 

The storm was getting worse, the airport was crowded, and everybody was selfish.  The gate guard hated the week before Christmas.  The only thing keeping him sane was that brunette.  She was fine.  He wished she hadn’t walked away so soon.  How was he supposed to know when the plane would land?  They hadn’t heard anything for the last half hour.  For all he knew it could be taxiing in right now.  His experience told him otherwise.  If tonight was going to be anything like last night, it’d probably be another three hours.  If only that plane would land.  He could go home and watch the game.  Too bad she was getting on this plane, if it ever came.  He wouldn’t mind some company tonight.  All the guys would be out with their ladies by the time he got off.  And Helen was probably off with some new man.  It seemed like she’d been with someone new every week since she left him.  Who needed her anyway?  She wanted too much.  He could do better.  This girl would be fine.  Too bad.  Too bad.  Maybe the plane wouldn’t come at all.  He could offer her a room for the night.  She looked like she might enjoy sports.

Why was that old man giving Elaina a doll?  Toby was too social sometimes.  She knew one of these days when her back was turned he would likely run off with some stranger and get lost.  He was a bad example for Elaina.  The man didn’t want to hear about Toby’s school.  The elderly don’t like children to talk to them. Where was Thomas?

Jenny took out her sketch book.  She flipped through her drawings from Venice, Paris, London, and Salzburg and stopped at Chicago.  There was the skyline she’d seen on her first night back in the states.  She retraced her steps of the past three days.  The white gardens.  The  huddled beggars.  The glistening architecture.  The immobile statues.  The frozen rivers.  All were there on her pages.  Her pencil slowly started to work once again, sketching the figures of the old man and the boy he had called Toby.  They fit well together.  They didn’t even seem to notice that they had been sitting in that room for two hours.  There was no one around them.  They were completely absorbed.  It was nice to see a couple of smiles among this crowd.

Still no news about the plane.  The gate guard fiddled with the computer some.  Her name was Jennifer.  Of course it was.  She looked like a Jennifer.  Every Jennifer he knew was a brunette.  No, not every Jennifer.  There was that blonde he had met a few months ago.  Or was she Jessica?  It didn’t matter.  He’d only been with her that one night. 

“Laimy’s only three.  She cam be really ammoying sometimes.  Yesterday mommy took us to the store and Laimy just cried am cried am cried am cried am cried am cried.  She wouldn’t stop.  Them daddy spaint her hard am she stopped.  But omly for a little bit.  Mommy yelled at daddy for hitting Laimy am that made Laimy cry more.  Daddy wasn’t happy either.  He yells real loud sometimes.  Laimy doesn’t like it whem they yell, so I took her to see the dolls.  I guess mommy got mad because we went home after that am Laimy am me had to stay in our room the rest of the day.  It was okay.  We got to color.  Do you want to see my pictures?”

The pictures reminded Wilson of the zoo.  He liked the big trees.  The lion and tiger looked very scary.  Toby asked him if he wanted to draw with him.  He gave Wilson the green crayon.  He said it was his favorite color.  Wilson drew a picture of Lainy.  Toby liked it and showed it to Lainy.  The boy was such a good older brother.  He had seen Jasper act the same way with Amelia, although she was much younger than Lainy.  Jasper always took care of her in a special way.  But then, he had always been kind.  Those nights he’d stayed up with Patti before she died.  He had seen it in his relationship with Monica before they moved, too.  He was always a loving boy.  He hoped Toby would never lose that kindness. 

Jenny noticed the gate guard watching her draw.  It was just something she did when she was waiting.  He thought it was a very good drawing and asked if she would show him more.  She told him a little bit about each picture.  He was a curious audience and she loved those.  Her favorite was the garden in Venice.  Italy was beautiful in the fall. 

The scenes were altogether foreign.  The gate guard had never been outside of the Chicago area.  But he had heard Europe was different.  He thought the drawing of the men selling stuff in front of the castle was cool.  Could she draw him?  It would probably be a while still.  He was waiting just the same as everyone else.

She couldn’t believe how terrible this trip had been.  And now she had to sit here waiting for a plane and that man was doing nothing.  He was just sitting there flirting with that whiney little complainer.  Why didn’t he find out why this was taking so long?  Or why didn’t he get them on another flight.  There must be an empty plane somewhere that could take them home.  Where was Thomas?  The baby would wake up soon and she’d have to feed her on the plane.  That would be so uncomfortable.

“Look! She’s coloring too!  Oh, you’re really good!  Do you like mime?  This is Spike.  He’s my puppy.  Do you know Spike?  He’s a good dog.  You draw good.  Cam you teach me?  I’ll trade you colors.  You’re drawing that mam wrong.  Here.  You cam have my black cram.  It matches him better.  What’s your mame?”

The little girl hugged Wilson’s leg.  She was smiling up at him, and her cheeks still shined from the tears.  Her blonde curls were endearing.  They were so different.  Jasper and Amelia both had straight hair that looked so chocolaty he often told them he would eat them in the night for a midnight snack.  This hair could have been on an angel.  It was right to be on such a beautiful child.

Sitting still was never an easy task.  The gate guard had never had a portrait made before.  He was nervous and fidgety.  She was different than he had expected from a Jennifer.  She asked him questions about himself.  And then she listened to his answers.  She wasn’t whiney and she didn’t seem needy.  But then, he had just met her.  Maybe she was just like Helen or Tiffany or Ali.  He wouldn’t get to find out anyway.  She was probably just passing through Chicago.  A connecting airport.  He’d never recognized anyone he’d seen at the airport on the streets.  He would’ve liked to take her out.  Just a connection. 

Jenny studied the gate guard.  She hadn’t expected him to be interested in her art, let alone ask for a portrait.  Very few people did.  And then he talked to her.  Americans were so different from Europeans.  She’d missed home.  Her months away had been a great experience and she had learned a lot, but she had always loved Chicago.  She was glad to be back.  But, of course, as soon as she got back her father wanted her to visit him, and it was Christmas, after all, so she had to spend another week away before she could settle back into her Chicago life.  She didn’t know what she would do when she got back.  Most of her friends had gone to their respective homes for the holidays.  She was surprised when he asked if she would like to spend New Year’s with him. 

“Mr. Wilsom, do you have a puppy?”

Where was Thomas?  This was getting unbearable.  They shouldn’t be made to wait this long.  By the time the plane got there the runways would be packed with snow and they wouldn’t be able to take off.  Something needed to be done to get them on a plane.  The gate guard certainly wasn’t going to help.  She just wanted to get home and relax.  This waiting was getting ridiculous.  The gate next to them had had two planes leave already and they were still sitting here.  Where was that insanely late plane?  The pilot should be fired.  She was going to contact the airline and let them know how outraged she was.  Where was Thomas?  He should do something about this. 

The pilot was panicked.  The radio went out just before the left wing shredded in the storm.  They were tumbling down and no one but the 230 people on board knew about it.