Chapter Thirty-Three Beverly
Chapter Thirty-Three
Beverly
I spot that lowlife before Judy does. It’s been over a year since he showed up at our motel in Miami, but his image is burned in my mind.
After she came and told us what Ronelle’s husband had warned, we decided to stay in the employee lounge until our flight was boarding. And we sweet-talked— I sweet-talked—the male attendant into letting Ronelle come with us too. I left them alone to catch up, though I knew by the sheer paleness of Judy’s skin and the tremor in her hands that this wasn’t going to be some happy reunion. Ronelle would surely be calming her down. In the meantime, I’m on lookout duty.
I hear him before I see him. He is standing at the same service counter where Judy had taken Richard’s call and is demanding to know where she is. I stay some distance behind him and shake my head at the agent. She catches my eye and nods so slightly that I do not think Henry picks up on it. She doesn’t know the why. But I know I stand here with some believability in my Pan Am blue.
Henry walks off, clearly angry about not getting the information he wanted.
I follow him as he goes to another counter, and this time, I stand closer. I don’t want him to turn around in case he recognizes me, but I do want to make sure that no one tries to help him find her.
Instead of being insistent, though, this time the voice that comes out of him is that of a lamb. Kind and accommodating.
“I’d like a seat on the flight from Baltimore to Philadelphia, please.”
I seize up when I realize what he’s trying to do. But I don’t think he’d succeed. Pan Am only flies international routes. This Baltimore layover is merely a drop-off for passengers from San Juan and a place to switch pilots. It would go against policy to let him on for the short leg.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the agent says confidently. “We cannot sell you a seat, as we are not allowed to book domestic routes. FCC rules.”
I relax. A little.
“Aw, what a shame,” he says docilely. “Look, I know you have to do your job. And you’re clearly very good at it. But my mama in Philadelphia is real sick. The family is saying I need to get there fast. And driving might not be fast enough. I heard about this flight, and, gosh, it would mean so much if I can get on it. I can even pay double.”
I want to shout no! But I don’t have proof of anything. I can’t keep a reasonable-sounding passenger from making his request. I try to will the agent to refuse him, but she does exactly what she should and says that she will call her supervisor.
I watch her blush as Henry talks to her, and I understand the charisma that initially attracted Judy. He can clearly turn on the charm when there is something he wants.
I hear thunder in the distance, even over the buzz around the airport. But the skies look clear even as dusk sets in. So there is probably no hope that the flight will be canceled.
That would have been the perfect solution. I could have gotten Judy out of the airport and driven somewhere—anywhere—until we could get her on a flight as far away from here as possible.
The clerk hangs up the telephone, and I wince as she says what I had expected. “I have good news for you, sir. Given your circumstance, we can accommodate you. You will just need to pay the rate as if you had flown from San Juan because I have to write up the paperwork that way.”
“Thank you. What a relief. That sounds perfect.”
He takes out a checkbook, and she prints up a ticket.
No, no, no, I think. I’ve got to do something.
“There you go. Flight two-one-four. It departs at eight twenty-four at gate seventeen and will start boarding shortly before that.” She checks her wristwatch. “That’s actually very soon. I would head to the gate now.”
Boarding! I have to keep Judy from getting on the plane, but surely she is going to hear the announcement in the Pan Am offices to come to the gate since the stewardesses have to be on board before the passengers. This gives me ten minutes. At most.
I race back to the employee lounge. I try to get Judy’s attention, but her back is to me. Maybe that’s even better—I need an ally.
I wave instead to Ronelle, gesturing as well as I can that I need to speak to her without Judy knowing. She nods and says something to Judy.
Judy does not turn around.
Thank goodness.
When Ronelle approaches, I pull her behind a pillar out of anyone’s view and catch her up.
“I don’t think she should be on that airplane with him,” I say after telling her what he’s up to. “It’s bad enough here in the airport, but in that confined space, who knows what he’s capable of?”
“I agree,” she says in a determined tone. Ready for action. “What do we do?”
No wonder Ronelle is so important to Judy. She’s clearly fierce.
I tap my foot while I’m thinking and then come up with an answer. “Tell her that the flight is canceled due to the weather. And tell her quickly before they make the crew announcements. Tell her that I found out and ran ahead to secure a hotel reservation, and that I want her to meet me there.”
“And if she asks about Henry?”
“Say that he won’t know to look for her in the hotel and that it’s her best chance to hide from him.”
“So we’ll see you at the hotel?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m getting on that flight.”
“Why?” She puts her hand on my arm.
“Because I’m going to keep an eye on him. And I’ll spend the flight thinking about what to tell him to get him to finally leave her alone. I don’t know what yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Plus, we can’t have two stewardesses missing. They’ll have to cancel the flight for real. And that’s not fair to all the people who are ticketed and need to get home.”
“Won’t Judy get in trouble for missing it?”
“I’ll tell the office that she started vomiting and has a fever. They won’t want her on the flight in that case. And that will protect her from any repercussions.”
Ronelle puts her arms around her belly, a gesture I’ve noticed in expectant mothers. I think of my own little child, so very new. Maybe it’s the instinct of a mother that is causing me to act so insistently. But I don’t think so. I would have looked out for Judy regardless.
“You’re a quick thinker, Beverly. I hope we’ll get a chance to become friends after all this.”
“Years of thwarting the nuns in school. I’m glad I can finally put it to some good use.”
She runs back to the employee lounge, and my heart beats hard with every second that passes on my watch.
I hope she gets to her in time.
I hope Judy listens.
I close the cabin door as soon as the captain allows it, and I begin to relax. Ronelle must have been convincing. Judy didn’t make it on the flight.
My heartbeat slows. I hadn’t realized how much it had been racing.
I kept myself hidden from Henry as everyone boarded, busying myself with other passengers’ luggage and comforts. He’s seated in the rear of the plane, near the bathrooms. Fitting place for him. I watch him from behind a curtain. His head is popping up and down, swiveling back and forth as he tries to see where Judy is. Maybe he’ll assume that she’s working up here in first class. Maybe that will make it an uneventful flight as he resigns himself to seeing her when we land.
I hope and pray he doesn’t try to cause a scene.
But then, that wouldn’t be his way. He saved that for behind closed doors. Saved it for her.
The flight time will be only forty-five minutes. I don’t get to go on many of these, but I love them when I do. You hit the cruising altitude and almost immediately begin the landing process.
I sink into my jump seat and close my eyes.
Lordy, I am tired. And not just from the baby. That little cherry is the cherry on top of several whirlwind weeks. Good weeks. But exhausting ones.
I feel the plane level out, and I’m glad that it’s brief because this is the point where I’d usually have to begin beverage service. Until someone hits the call button, I can stay hidden in this seat behind the curtain and have a few minutes of peace.
Before long, I feel the slow pressure change that indicates we are going to start our descent. I am called into the cockpit.
“Yes, Captain?” I say. It’s always strange to not know any of the flight crew. There’s rarely a route in which I don’t know at least one person working, but the East Coast is not my normal territory.
“Air traffic control is reporting a line of thunderstorms surrounding the airport. They’ve given us the choice to continue on but with almost certain turbulence. Or to stay in a holding pattern for half an hour. Five other planes in the area are choosing the holding pattern, so we’re going to do the same. I’ll make an announcement, but please inform the crew to be attentive to anything the passengers may need.”
“I will, sir. Should we hand out snacks?”
“No. I don’t want anyone out of their seats, flight crew included. We may still get some bumps.”
“Okay. And may I get you anything?”
“Some coffee and some prayers.”
“That bad, sir?”
“It’s not pretty out there.”
I head to the galley and pour the captain’s coffee, but the plane lurches, and I spill it all over myself. I don’t have a spare uniform, but I at least make him another cup. I lean against the counter to hold my balance and finally manage to pour enough to make it worth going back to the cockpit.
I pull the door open just in time to see an intense bolt of lightning not far in front of us.
My hands shake as I hand him the coffee, but both pilots are scrambling to steady the plane and pay no attention to me. I pull down the cockpit’s jump seat and my hand shakes as I try unsuccessfully to buckle in.
The coffee spills again.
Just then, the captain shouts to the radio tower, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Clipper two fourteen out of control. Here we go.”
Everything is bright.
And then everything is dark.