Helen looked at her watch, muttered a few well chosen words that would have shocked her mother to hear that Helen knew the meaning of; and hurried her steps. BiK would close in 10 minutes, she had to find something for Davidās birthday before that.
She stepped into the elevator and quickly eyed the sign on the wall. "Ladieās underwear, 3rd floor"⦠that would be a splendid joke, but their mother would freak out. "Books and art supplies, 5th floor"⦠what would be the point of that? David always bought books, she didnāt want to risk giving him something he had already read. "Audio & Video, 7th floor"⦠that would do. Sheād buy him some technical gizmo. She reached out to press the button, but before she had touched it, a guy stormed into the levator and slammed the button labelled "7" with the palm of his hand. Helen jerked her hand back, and turned around. Her companion was a young black boy, younger than herself, approximately 18-19 years old, and dressed like a stereotypical thug. He leaned his back against the wall, chewing a gum. Helen looked away, so he wouldnāt catch her staring at him.
First floor, second floor, third, fourth⦠right between fourth and fifth, the elevator stopped, with a loud noise and a violent shake, that made Helen lose her balance and fall to the floor.
"What the fuck..?" growled the boy.
The elevator didnāt move.
"Oh, no!" said Helen, crawling back up and brushing her hands.
They looked at each other.
"Press the alarm button!" said the boy, no, when she looked at him, she realized that he was a young man, not a boy.
She pressed the red button. Nothing happened.
"Shit!" said the young man. "Must be something wrong with the power."
"Thereās a phone over there," said Helen, and pointed to a box over in the corner.
He opened the box door and tried the phone.
"Hullo? Yeah⦠this damned elevatorās broken, and weāre trapped in here! Huh? The one in front of the toysā section⦠How long will that take? Ah, fuck! Tell them to hurry up!"
He hung up, and slid against the wall until he sat on the floor.
"Theyāre gonna call for a repair guy," he said. "Wonāt be here for at least half an hour!"
Helen sighed, and sat down opposite him. Her dress was already dirty, sitting down on the floor wouldnāt matter.
The young man sulked. Helen felt nervous by the awkward silence.
"Whatās `10KĀ“?" she asked, pointing at the print on his sweater.
"A rap group," he said. "Theyāre really fucked up!"
The way he said it made Helen wonder if he was being sarcastic. At least she had managed to break the ice.
"Whatās your name?" she said.
"Rick," he said. "You?"
"Helen," she said.
"You never heard of 10K?" he asked.
"No," said Helen. "I donāt know that many rap groups."
"Wrong colour," Rick grinned.