Reggie knocked for a third time on the door of B7. "Hullo? Vickie? I'm going to let myself in so don't be alarmed or nuthin'"
Fumbling through his jailer's ring of keys he spun B7's key around and slipped it into the lock. Moments later the apartment super found himself looking down the hallway at a pile of plaster, lath and a shower curtain.
"Vickie!?" Reggie bounded down the hall to the rubble. He was panting as he started frantically moving the rubble from around the shower curtain. After a few minutes of searching he realized that there was no one beneath the debris. He sat back in a slump, panting. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a gob of plaster dust in a streak across his brow.
Henry jerked involuntarily as he heard what sounded like an elephant rumbling above him. He had been standing stock still watching the wall of his bathroom as if his entire life depended on it for the last hour and a half. He could, presently, hear scratching and the tinkling of bits of rock on wood floor above the bathroom door.
Henry glanced down at his watch. "Aw, crud!" He absently tapped the watch face. "Looks like I'm going to need to up my meds again..." He mumbled to himself. He pulled out a tiny moleskin notepad and a mechanical pencil and scritched across the page for a second. Then, almost as quickly as it had happened, he had the pad and pencil back in its place. His movements almost robotic.
He turned on his heel and made his way to the door pausing only long enough to glance back at the bathroom door. He turned the lock three times back and forth and wiped off the handle with a towelette that he procured from a box beside the mail slot. He took a deep breath and turned the handle.
Reggie pushed back the door without remembering whose apartment he was entering. The force he used was only a little more than usual, since he was still thinking about the apartment upstairs, but it was sufficient enough to completely level the tenent on the other side.
Henry let out a small yelp and fell flailing backward down the hall.
"Oooh, sorry 'bout that! Henry? You seen anything differnt lately?" Reggie seemed preoccupied as he reached out his hand toward Henry. Only the look of absolute terror brought Reggie back to his wits.
"Oh, sorry, er... Henry..." Reggie pulled back his plaster white hand. He shot a glance past the man positively shivering beneath him to the bathroom. He was shocked to see that there was no evidence of disturbance. "How--?"
"Wh-what... is that?!" Henry shook a trembling finger at the smudge of white plaster across his super's sweat caked head. "And..." Henry's eyes surveyed the huge figure of Reggie. When his eyes caught on his boots before talking again. "And, what have you been doing?!"
1 comment:
not sure if this is quite 300 words... getting late; must resume the, uh, story?, tomorrow.
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