Forty-One
BRIAN SWINGS HIS OTHER leg over the wall as I lunge to stop him. I grab his leg just as he goes over.
I’m quickly pulled over the wall with him. I’m bent double and feel my feet leave the floor just as Helen grabs my belt.
She sits down on the floor, bracing her feet against the wall. I feel her rising with me but still I hang on to Brian.
I scream, “Help me grab him!”
Helen groans, “I can’t. If I let go of you, you’ll both go over.”
I feel my hands slipping. Then, Brian kicks my hands with his free leg. He breaks my grip. He falls to the concrete sidewalk seven stories below as Helen and I fall back onto the floor of the balcony.
We lay there for what seems like forever, just holding each other. “You OK?” I ask Helen.
“Yeah, yeah,” she pants. “You?”
I nod. “I think so.
