Fear the Night

10

Ralph Evans moved aside and let his wife, Venus, enter the elevator first. They both stood against the elevator walls so the bellhop would have room with their luggage. They’d just checked into the Melrose Plaza Hotel on the edge of Times Square. Pattie and George Neverton, also from Columbus, Ohio, had checked in minutes before. The Evanses had known the Nevertons for almost twenty years. Venus had gone to high school with Pattie. The two girls had dated the same boys, made the same mistakes, fallen into the same resignation they’d decided was happiness.

Ralph, a buyer for Adcock’s, an upscale men’s clothing store chain, was in New York on business, but his appointments weren’t scheduled till tomorrow. Plenty of time for talking with designer reps and feeling bolts of fabrics. Tonight the four Ohioans were going to have dinner at a good restaurant, then take in a show. That was why Ralph and Venus had invited their old friends the Nevertons to come along and play in fun city.

As soon as Ralph had tipped the bellhop and they were settled in their room, he called the Nevertons, who were also on the thirty-first floor. George and Pattie said they were right down the hall and would come over; they wanted to compare rooms, see if Ralph and Venus had a phone in the bathroom.

Venus, a plump former cheerleader, wandered over to the window and looked out at the city. “It’s so big and busy. More so even than you said.”

Ralph looked at her framed by the light, twenty pounds overweight (but so was he), still with the bright blue eyes and wild mop of blond hair. Somehow they came to be in their midforties, he a middle-aged cloth and clothing buyer, she a stereotypical housewife in Ohio. Both of them were stereotypes, Ralph thought. It wasn’t so bad.

“Why are you smiling?” Venus asked.

“I still love you more than I can express.”

She smiled back and started toward him, the fading light from the window catching a glint of tears in her eyes.

There was a knock on the door. Venus went to it and opened it.

“Hey, your room’s bigger’n ours!” Pattie exclaimed in mock outrage, as soon as she and George were inside.

Ralph and Venus glanced at each other. Ralph knew what her look meant: we’ll take up later where we left off.

“No phone in the bathroom, though,” Ralph said, though he wasn’t sure about that.

“Ah!” George said. “It’s all fair then.” He was a big man with sandy hair and horsey yellowed teeth that showed too much when he smiled.

Pattie had gone to the window and was looking out. “Where’s that place where you can line up and get cheap play tickets, Ralph?”

“Just a few blocks away. TKTS.”

“Why don’t we walk over there and see what we can get for tonight?”

Ralph would have preferred going to a theater box office, or calling Telecharge, but he knew Pattie and George were watching their pennies. “Tell you what, why don’t Venus and I walk over while you two unpack? Then we can meet downstairs for a drink.”

“That wouldn’t be right,” Pattie said. “We can all go.”

“You two oughta unpack,” Ralph said. He couldn’t think of why they should unpack first; he simply wanted to be alone with Venus, so they could choose the play. Pattie would want to see something serious and sappy that would put them all in a somber mood, and he knew Venus would prefer a big musical. Then, tonight when they returned from the theater …

“You two unpack,” Pattie said. “We’ll go get the tickets.”

“Ralph’s the only one knows right where the place is,” George reminded her.

“So let’s flip a coin,” Venus said.

Pattie was thinking it over, but Ralph already had a quarter out of his pocket.

“Heads we go,” George said.

Wishing there were some way he could cheat, Ralph flipped the coin high so it would land on the bed. It bounced twice before settling on the taut spread.

Ah! Tails.

“Good,” he said. “We’ll go. That’s how it should be. You’re sort of our guests. You two unpack and we’ll phone up to you from the lobby when we get back with the tickets.”

The Nevertons agreed, Pattie reluctantly, and went back to their room.

When the door was shut, Venus kissed Ralph on the lips and stroked his chest. “Our lucky night,” she said.

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. Lucky life.

They left the suitcases where the bellhop had placed them; then they left to get play tickets.

For a musical, Ralph hoped. They’d enjoy a good dinner, then a loud, colorful musical with lots of dancing; then they’d have drinks with their best friends and talk about the show. Then it would be back to the hotel and to bed.

He followed Venus out and made sure the door was locked behind them.

Lucky life.