Kyle loaded the last of the boxes into the small elevator, most of the space already taken up by the dozen other boxes and furniture that he and his sister had hauled into it. With a grunt he propped the box up on top of the others and slid it toward the back. It was a wonder the old lift could take it all, and he was thankful that they only had to go up four floors. He blew his breath out and rolled his shoulders, preparing himself for the next half of the job - unloading the elevator at the top.
"That's it then, that's everything."
Kyle turned around as his sister stepped into the lift with him, carrying the last item - one of the sculptures she'd been unable to sell. To Kyle it looked very much like a random mess of metal and plastic, but apparently that was art these days. Pam brushed past him and set the dangerous looking metal tumble weed on top of the boxes and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God the movers agreed to help us." she said. "It's hard enough in this heat. I can't imagine what we'd have done on our own." The boxes took up most of the space in the elevator, and the siblings were left with less than a metre wide space at the front to ride up in.
Kyle nodded and pressed the button for the fourth floor.
"It was good of them to off load the white goods first." He said. "Those would have been impossible for us to do. The rest of this stuff we'd have just lugged slowly up."
The doors to the elevator closed slowly, the mechanism reluctantly forced to work in the oppressive heat. The elevator, like the rest of the building, was old but still fairly well maintained. There were no signs of leaks or water damage that Kyle had found when they inspected the place a few days earlier, and the whole place was made out of brick. Even the interior walls of the apartments were brick. The major trade off had been space - the apartment on the fourth floor was apparently the smallest in the entire building. But beggars can't be choosers, and Pam's situation meant she really couldn't be too fussy about her room. As long as it was safe and clean, Kyle had said, then that was enough.
"Thanks again for helping me today, Kyle." Pam said as the doors closed with a quiet thud. "Thanks for everything." She looked him in the eye and meant every word of gratitude. "I know we've never really been that close and all, and I don't mean to make things weird. It's just good to know I still have someone out there I can call on when my life falls apart."
Kyle smiled and said, "It's cool. What are big brothers for?" The elevator screeched momentarily as it got under way, and began crawling up the building.
"I guess they're useful as pack mules for hauling the pitiful remains of my life out here on a blisteringly hot day," she said. She glanced over the collected pile of belongings in the elevator. "Not really much to show for 3 years of marriage."
"Hey now," Kyle said as he took a step over to his sister, blocking her view of her things, "never mind all this stuff. It's just stuff. You can live a full life and end up with nothing, or have everything but feel like you have nothing."
Pam rolled her eyes and said, "Well that's kind of how I feel right now, you know? Like, I only have this stuff to show for those years because everything else was just so empty." She sighed, and Kyle could feel the frustration in her voice. "I know you and Mom never liked James," she said looking up at her brother. "And I really thought we had a good chance at things when we first got married. But then, I don't know. Things just progressively got more and more shit as the months went on." She paused and leaned against the elevator doors. "I know we rushed it. I know that now."
Kyle didn't really know what to say. He'd hinted enough when Pam had told their family that she had met someone and they were going to get married. She and James had only dated for five months before he proposed. And she had said yes in a heartbeat. Kyle wanted to tell her that she'd always been spontaneous, even reckless at times. It was actually something he was fond of. As children he was always the party pooper, the serious one, and she was always the rebel. She'd never been disrespectful or a real troublemaker, but she certainly wasn't shy about bending the rules. And Kyle always felt she was fun to be around. He hoped that the breakdown of her marriage didn't take that spark away from her.
"It's not the end of the world, you know? That's what today is - the start of a new chapter in your life. A new beginning."
"Hmm," she said, "I guess I'm having trouble seeing it. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is him, and her. It's just -"
Suddenly there was a loud clanging sound from on top of the elevator, and then it dropped for a brief moment before slamming to a halt as the emergency brakes kicked in. The sudden drop and stop tossed most of the contents of the lift around haphazardly, including Pam and Kyle. In that moment, he had fallen forward and only barely caught himself from landing against his sister by bracing his arms on the door. Pam was rubbing the back of her head as she'd knocked it as the elevator has jammed to a stop.
"Are you alright?" Kyle said.
"Owwww. That hurt, but I think I'll live" Pam replied. "What about you?"
Taking a breath to calm himself, Kyle said, "Yeah I'm OK. I think this statue thing of yours has fallen over though as it's stabbing me in the back."
Pam forgot her own pain and ducked under her brothers arms to take a look around him. But as the boxes had all shifted to the only space in the elevator, the only place she could stand was right where she was. But by leaning over she could just see that her sculpture had indeed fallen over and was jabbing into Kyle's back.
"Ok," she said, "I'm gonna try push it off you."
She stepped closer to her brother and wrapped her arms around him trying to reach for her sculpture. She couldn't get a good grip on it, and shifted her feet around the debris on the floor to get closer to him. As she tried to reach again, she embraced her brother in a bear hug. Despite the heat, his skin was cool. They had both only worn shorts and a vest, the heat of the day prohibiting anything more. So as she took hold of the sculpture behind him, their legs touched and she turned her face away from his as she laid her head on his shoulder. She managed to get a grip on the offensive art and levered it away from him.
"There, I think that's the best I can do from here," she said as she stepped away from him. "Any better?"
Kyle lowered his hands from the door and stood up straight, before recoiling again.
"Ah, yeah that's ok, but it's still poking out a fair way."
