Courage

He stepped out of his car on to the wet sidewalk.  The rain had been a steady downpour on the way over but as he got closer to his destination, it mostly let up.  Now only a faint drizzle fell. 

Before him stood a massive building, six floors high and taking up the entire block.  Its weathered faux brick exterior was a dull red.  In the middle of each floor there was a balcony, some with pots that contained long dead plants.  He briefly wondered if the plants were dead because of the neglect of their owners or because of something more sinister.  He immediately dismissed the thought.  It would do nothing to help him and could only distract him from what he needed to do.

He sighed deeply, knowing the confrontation that was in store for him.  He tried to put it off for as long as possible but he couldn't delay the inevitable anymore.  It had to be done today.

Confidently, he strode up to the front door and opened it.  A woman behind a glass window, smoking a cigarette, glanced up from her magazine with an irritated look and buzzed him in through the security door.  She knew him and she knew why he was here.

The dirty, stained floors showed years of neglect by whatever passed for a maintenance crew in this building.  They were scuffed and dirty, with stains in multiple spots.  He didn't want to know what those stains were.  He continued walking into the foyer. 

Along both walls were padded benches for residents and their guests to sit in front of walls with rough, cracked, tan paint.  Upon closer inspection, he realized that the wall was supposed to be white but the nicotine stains had long since discolored it.  The only person seated on the benches was an obese woman, with a wart on her chin, eating a candy bar.

"Did you see the bus go by?  I need to go to the pharmacy to get my insulin and I don't know when it comes," she asked in a lilting, spaced out voice.

"No, I'm sorry.  I didn't see a bus." the young man replied.

She sighed and continued eating her candy bar, not giving him another look. 

He walked over to the elevator and pressed the button with the arrow pointing up.  One elevator was on the basement floor and one elevator was on the fifth floor.  The one on the fifth began to descend and the basement elevator remained stuck at the bottom.

Vaguely he sensed that some power was trying to delay this confrontation but he dismissed it as his own jangled nerves.  His confidence began to waiver while waiting but he steadied it with his resolve to see this through, one way or the other.

The elevator opened up with a dull ding.  He walked in and was immediately assaulted by the intense smell of cigarettes and urine.  The floor was sticky and there were candy wrappers crumpled up all over.  The maintenance staff had obviously not swept the floor in quite some time.

He quickly pushed the number six on the control panel and the door closed.  The elevator shuddered as it began its slow ascent.  A sense of dread gripped him like a vise, slowly squeezing out what remained of his confidence.

The elevator finally opened up on to the sixth floor.  Immediately opposite the elevator was a large sign that said 'SIX' in black letters roughly three feet high.  The glass over the sign was cracked in two places.

He exited the elevator and turned to the right.  He glanced down the long hall to the last door on the right.  That's where he knew that terrible woman was waiting for him, ready to pounce. 

There was not a single person within sight.  He didn't even hear sound coming from the other apartments.  The entire floor was as quiet as a tomb.

He steadied himself and walked on, past one door and the next.  He glanced down and saw large, dead bugs on the floor here and there.  He realized that not even insect life could exist in the shadow of this terrible woman's evil.

Reaching the thick, wooden door, he touched the metal handle and was given a jolt of static electricity.  He could smell the stench of cigarettes and body odor emanating from the apartment.  His stomach was in knots.  Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

He heard a voice that made his blood freeze and his testicles re-ascend.  "You're finally here!  You're always late.  You look like hell.  Aren't you eating?  Stop standing there looking like an idiot and get me my shoes," she screeched.

"Hi Mom.  I see you're as pleasant as always.  I'm here to take you to your foot doctor's appointment!"