Broken Braid: A Beth Braid novel by Christoffer Petersen

Author:Christoffer Petersen [Petersen, Christoffer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aarluuk Press for gritty crime fiction
Published: 2024-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

20

There is an elevator to her mother’s second-floor apartment, but even with a busted knee, Beth takes the stairs.

“It’s a habit,” she tells Audrey, after the captain drops them off. She gives her an explanation between curses and sudden gasps of breath, reminding herself that habit or not, it really is a stupid idea to climb the stairs. “When I was younger,” Beth says. “I got stuck in the elevator. Mom sent me out for cigarettes, and I came back, I got in the elevator, and it got stuck between floors three and floor.”

“But you said your mom lives on the second floor.”

“Exactly,” Beth says. “I was on my way up to the roof. I had a secret stash up there. You see…” Beth pauses, holding onto the rail as she catches her breath. She looks at the walls – still the same beige colour with a dark green stripe rising with the stairs. “Mom gave me money for one packet of cigarettes. But I had the storekeeper put one more packet on Mom’s tab. Mom didn’t always give me enough cash for a whole packet, so the storekeeper and me worked something out. Everyone knew Mom had money, so he didn’t care, and Mom didn’t notice. I kept my stash on the roof. And I took the elevator up there each time I came back from the store.”

“That’s when you got stuck,” Audrey says.

“Stuck and sick.” Beth laughs and says, “I didn’t know how long I was going to sit in the elevator. But after twenty minutes and a lot of shouting, someone said they would have to call the fire department because the super was on vacation. I figured I could smoke at least one cigarette before they got there.” Beth takes another step and says, “But they were late. There was a fire in another apartment on the other side of the city. No one knew I was inside the elevator. They just thought it was stuck.”

“So you smoked a cigarette.”

“Audrey,” Beth says. “I smoked six. I started a seventh, but I was so sick. I wanted a drink. I wanted to throw up. And I wanted my mom. So I started shouting. But my throat was so dry from smoking all those cigarettes, I couldn’t do much more than whisper, you know?” Beth takes another step, and then they reach the landing.

“So what happened?”

“Mom happened,” Beth says. “She got worried, and she came looking for me. People said there was no one in the elevator, but Mom has a good nose and she sniffed me out. Then she took a crowbar, and she prised the doors open, jammed them with something – I don’t remember – and then she pulled me out.”

“And did you get in trouble?” Audrey says. She takes Beth’s elbow, trying to help.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe,” Beth says. “I was grounded for about six weeks. She even kept me out of school for two of them.”

“And what about your dad? Did he beat you? Did your mom?”

Beth stops to look at Audrey.

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