Flight

Another new place. A different state, a different town. Another chance to start over.

I was getting tired of starting over. It had put me in a rather bad mood all day. But I had always loved flying and I was hoping that this was a pleasant flight.

The plane had taken off from the runway less than 20 minutes ago. The row in front of me had a mother and 2 small children. She was doing her best to keep them calm. The older of the children was almost bouncing out of their seat, excited for the destination. I couldn’t see the younger one in the mother’s lap, but I heard the starting cries of a tantrum brewing. You could tell this wasn’t her first flight with her kids. She handled it like a pro and had them both settled by the time we reached cruising altitude.

Next to me sat a man who was convinced that he owned the middle seat he occupied and the surrounding area. My legs were currently crammed into the wall of the plane to compensate for his lack of consideration. He had gotten huffy with the flight attendant when she asked that he turn off all electronic devices. His tone with her made me consider the risk of asking him to move his legs now. It was not the time for risks like that.

Part of me hoped that there would be a time for that risk. The scent of alcohol that already radiated from this man overpowered every other smell on the plane. It was so overwhelming; I couldn’t smell the airplane smell, the mother’s perfume in front of me, or even the chemicals still lingering in my newly dyed hair.

So, I sat uncomfortably looking out the window as the ground became farther away and the clouds became more prevalent. I watched them drift almost lazily by us. The clouds were in no rush, and despite my current discomfort, neither was I.

I opened my phone to turn on my music. I had forgotten that the picture of us from our vacation in Paris was still my lock screen. I felt a pang of hurt in my chest looking at our happy, smiling faces. Something close to guilt, but not quite. Pity maybe. The picture looked nothing like our last interaction. I saw him in my mind’s eye. He was crying, begging me not to do this to him. Pleading for things to be different. Telling me that they were different with me. But he was no different than the rest, even if he had been better by the end.

I put my ear bud in and scrolled through my music. I settled on a mellow but moody playlist I had made for times like these. I rested my head on the window and drifted into a light doze.

I was woken abruptly by the man next to me pushing my arm off of the rest that divided us. Music still played softly in my ear and the time on my phone told me that another half hour had gone by. One more hour until we should reach our destination.

The man in the middle seat sat like an arrogant king on his throne. He had taken the arm rest away from the woman on his other side as well as mine. I rolled my eyes as they closed. It was not the time to cause a problem or make a scene. I just had to get through this flight, and then it would all be different. Everything would be new again.

When his leg pushed into mine again, my eyes snapped open. I stared at him. He had a look on his face that asked me what I was going to do about it. I looked at the time again. Half an hour until the flight landed. He hit the button for the flight attendant. When she arrived, he ordered another drink. Judging by the stack of cups on his tray table, his 4th on this short flight.

The flight attendant began to argue with him that he had had too much. He began to raise his voice and she backed down and hurried off to get another drink. He sat there smugly until she returned. He took a sip then got up to go to the bathroom, shoving his crotch in the woman on the ends face as he passed. He had the audacity to laugh as she flinched away from him.

It was the first time I had really noticed her since being on this flight. A tiny slip of a woman sporting a horrific black eye. She apologized to me for his rudeness. Claimed that he wasn’t usually like this. He just drinks to calm his nerves and flying gives him a lot a nerves. I smiled at her reassuringly.

One day I would learn how to mind my own business. It was unfortunately not today. I checked the time again as the captain announced that decent would begin shortly. If I was going to take a risk, this was my only window to do it.

Ensuring that the woman was thoroughly entrenched in her magazine, I slipped a pen out of my bag and stirred the drink on the tray table with it. The liquid helped release to contents from inside of the pen. I also asked the flight attendant as she passed if I could switch over to the empty aisle seat in the row across from us. She smiled understandingly and allowed me to move.

The man returned just as the liquid had stopped swirling and the contents of the pen had been completely dissolved. He sat down and drank greedily. I continued listening to my music. A more apt playlist for the moment. Heavy, but upbeat.

Just as we were getting ready to touch down on the tarmac, I looked over at the man one last time. He was completely passed out. I smiled to myself as people started standing, stretching, and gathering their things. I saw the mother attempting to corral her children to disembark the plane. A man came from a different row and helped grab down their luggage. He grabbed the toddler's hand and lead them down the aisle asking the mother how the flight had been for her and promising a spa day once they got to the resort.

The woman who had been in the aisle seat of the same row I had been in shook the annoying man asking him to wake up as I grabbed my carry on from the overhead compartment. Flight attendants hurried over as I made my way into the airport terminal with the rest of the passengers. Officers hurried past me to get on the plane I had just left as I made my way to my next flight.

I couldn’t stop smiling.