The Last Row

"Mordie? Mordie? When are the lights going to come back on?" Edith patted Mordicai on the knee and inched her way to the front of the seat. "You know I can't make it down those steps without the lights on and everyone is leaving."

Mordicai sat bone still in the chair beside her. He didn't move a muscle. He didn't even twitch his hands toward the button that would lower his feet to the ground. He lounged with his eyes closed.

"Mordie. I can't find my purse. Do you know what happened to my purse?" Edith searched and patted around the chair beside her. "Oh never mind. It's right here beside me. You know when we went to the movies as kids," she continued the very one sided conversation, not worried that there was no response from Mordie, "the lights came on right away after the movie. You didn't have to sit through 3 hours of credits just to be able to leave. But it's fine, it's fine. I brought my knitting. I think there might be enough light from the screen to see what I'm doing." Mordicai still didn't make a move or wink an eye open.

Edith sat back in her seat and pulled out the floral bag of yarn and needles. The little sweater she was knitting for her newest grandson lay on top. She picked up right where she left off. She pushed the needles and twirled the yarn as if her hands weren't crippled with arthritis. The truth was that muscle memory drove her knitting more than skill or desire. She could knit an outfit in her sleep. She didn't need much light and the knitting was soothing to her anxious soul. Soon enough her chin drifted to her chest. The dim light encouraging her drowsiness.

The theater emptied of all but Edith and Mordicai. The lights came up.

A gangling teenager walked through the theater. His colors in his uniform matched the carpet. Carrying a broom and a dustpan, he started at the bottom of the theater and swept the popcorn from under the seats. His left shoe stuck to the ground and made a scratchy sound every time he lifted it. The sticky substance transferred to the cement with every step. As he made his way up the theater he finally noticed the elderly couple asleep on the top row. He briefly wondered why an elderly couple had chosen the make-out seats. Then gagged, shuddered and put those thoughts out of his head. He did not want to go there. He thought about waking them, but figured he could give them a few more minutes of sleep. He knew old people needed all the rest they could get. He could wake them when he got to their row.

He continued sweeping and cleaning until he couldn't put it off any longer. He had to wake them.

He gently tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me sir. The movie is over and I need to clean this aisle." Mordicai's head lolled over and a bit of drool escaped. The teen tried again a little louder. "Mister, it's really time to go." Neither of them budged. He decided to try the woman. The teen clapped and raised a noise but the elderly couple sat without moving or even flinching. The teen looked at the ceiling, building up the nerve to find a pulse. He finally touched the lady's wrist. He put his warm hand on her cold one and didn't feel the standard bump under her thin skin. He waited a few seconds and decided it was time to try CPR. He had just gotten trained through his high school's health class. Now was his chance to put his training into practice. In his excitement, he didn't think to call for help, he just jumped into action.

He pulled the knitting out of Edith's lap. He should have moved her to the floor where CPR would have been easier but there was no time. This poor lady had been sitting up here the whole time he had been cleaning. He tilted her head back and moved in to give two quick breaths. As he held her nose and opened her mouth his foot jutted out and kicked the raised lounger.

Mordecai awoke from his nap. He looked around and taking in the scene beside him. He pushed his hearing aids back in his large ears. "Young man what are you doing to my wife?" Mordecai boomed from beside them.

The teen startled but didn't miss a beat as he cupped his hand to begin chest compressions. "I'm saving her life," the teen yelled back.

"Is that right? It looks to me like you were trying to rob her." Mordecai accused.

"No! She doesn't have a pulse and she isn't breathing," the teen explained.

Hearing the commotion, Edith's eyes also popped open. "Oh good, the lights finally came on." The teenager jumped back off of her seat and inched away.

Mordecai lowered his lounger and tugged on her arm. "Come on Edith, we need to go make a complaint to the manager. This young man was trying to rob you."

"No! I was doing CPR." He tried to explain again.

Edith looked at the young teen for the first time. "Oh?! He kind of looks like Bobby."

"Bobby? He doesn't look like Bobby. He looks like a criminal." Mordicai exclaimed.

"A criminal? No, Bobby isn't a criminal." Edith rose from her seat and winked at the young man. She picked up the broom and dust pan, handed them over and shooed him away.

The teenager hurriedly backed his way back down the aisle, not sure what just happened but afraid to be accused of more wrongdoing.

"Come on, Mordie. The lights are on and I can finally see to go down the steps."

Mordicai stood slowly, gave a glance over his shoulder for the now absent teenager and grabbed the bag with Edith's knitting. "What did I miss in the movie?"

The two slowly took the steps down. "I don't know. What's the last thing you remember?"

"There was a helicopter and some guy was about to jump out to save the world."

"Oh Mordie! That was a preview for a movie coming out next week."

"Huh. Well, that one looked good. We should come back and watch that one."

The couple shuffled down the dark corridor. "That's fine Mordie, but I'm packing a flashlight."