The Betting Window
by Bill Kowaleski
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3 |
conclusion
“Larry was doing a job for someone in a Mexican cartel. Big-time guy. Couldn’t get to him any other way ’cause he always had bodyguards around. They were with him on that flight.”
As I walked back to my work area, I was thinking frantically. I could show Sellars the window, but why would it convince him of anything? He’d have to wait a week before he could see that it was really showing something from the future. I wanted to sit in front of that window again and try to work out how I would tell him, how I could convince him that this was where I saw the crash a week before it happened. So, at the regular time, I headed for the window. As I approached it, walking down the long Terminal B corridor, I could see that somebody was sitting in my seat. When I got closer, I saw that it was Diane, my gate agent friend who’d told me about the Cancun flight.
“Hey, Diane, taking a break?”
She didn’t seem too happy to see me. She moved her hands nervously and looked around in all directions. “Oh, Stan, was just about to, uh, make a call. Could you come by a little later?”
“Oh, sure, Diane, no problem. Talk to you later.”
I walked away slowly. She kept turning around and looking at me, so I ducked into a store and found a place where I could watch her through a display of overpriced candy. She was staring intently at the window into the future, notebook in hand, writing. She was on to it! This could be good. I needed all the help I could get.
I waited for her to walk by the store and stepped out in front of her. “Hi again.”
“Hey, Stan, so what did you want?”
“OK, I’m going to be real upfront with you, Diane. I see where you’ve been sitting. I know what you’re looking at, and I know about it, too. It shows you what’s gonna be on TV next week.”
She was very flustered for just an instant and then she sighed. “Yes, I discovered it just a while ago. It’s really an amazing thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I made some good money for a while betting on sports, but now I can’t find nobody to take my bets. I seen you taking notes. What are you using it for?”
“Oh, you can see where stocks are going, and once in a while, you see something really interesting, like the crash of that Cancun flight.” She gave me a real close, intense look while she said that.
“Yeah, that. What do you know about that?”
“What do you mean? I thought about trying to prevent it, but who would believe me? I just didn’t know what to do. I felt so bad that I didn’t try to save all those poor people.”
How did I explain this to her? I was feeling really tense. I needed her to back me up that the window really showed things from the future but, if I told her what I did, she’d probably be shocked.
“So, Diane, I managed to get myself into a bit of trouble with this window into the future thing. See, ah, I, well, I took advantage of a certain piece of knowledge. I knew that my former wife would be on that plane and that I had some life insurance on her, and now the police think I was somehow involved in bringing the plane down, which is ridiculous.”
“Stan, why didn’t you try to warn her? How could you be so cold?”
“Yeah, well I did, but she blew me off. We weren’t on good terms at all. She hates me actually... I mean hated. So, I figured that if she was gonna insist on going to her death, I might as well get something out of it.”
She just stared at me. I didn’t think she was seeing my logic at all, but I forged ahead anyway. “Here’s the thing, Diane. I need someone to back me up about that window. I’m gonna tell the police that’s how I knew about the plane going down. They’re gonna laugh at me unless you can back me up.”
She looked away, staring blankly at one of the departure information terminals, obviously thinking it over, then said, “Why would I do that, Stan? The window is making me some nice money in the stock market. Once everybody knows about it, that’s the end of my gravy train. They’ll pull that thing out and take it to some lab and study it. No, forget it.”
“I’m gonna tell ’em anyway, Diane! They’re gonna find out about it one way or the other.”
“Stan, keep your voice down! We’re in a public place. Do you really think they’ll follow up and sit here and look at that reflection for a week based just on your word? I’m betting they won’t.”
“OK, fine. We’ll see. I’m outa here.” I turned on my heel and walked double-time down the corridor. I was really pissed. Now I not only wanted to save my own ass, I wanted to screw things up for Diane, too. She’d found a better way to bet than I had, but I never knew nothing about stocks or how to buy them, so I never even thought of doing that. I had to hand it to her: she was sharp, but I needed her help and she gave me the cold shoulder. This was war.
The next day I was back in the interrogation room staring at Sellars.
“All we want to know is how you found out about the plot. We’re convinced that you weren’t directly involved, so you’re off the hook for terrorism charges. Cooperate with us, here, Stan, and you can stay out of trouble. Otherwise, remember that you’re on parole, and we can put you in prison in two minutes.”
“Look, man, I admit I knew about the plane crashing, but not about the bomb thing. But you’re not gonna believe me when I tell you how I knew.”
“Try me.”
I think Sellars was like one of those mentalist guys you see on TV. He looked into your eyes and at your hands and checked out every square inch of you trying to see whether you were lying. I tried to get real calm and just tell him what happened.
“I see,” Sellars said with a sigh. “You saw the whole thing reflected in a window at gate B31 a week before it happened, and you bought the ticket, and you conned Ms. Delany onto that plane.”
“That’s right. Of course you don’t believe me, but all you have to do is go over there and look at the window around 5:30 any evening. You’ll see I’m telling the truth.”
Sellars was really looking me over. His eyes moved from my head to my toes and covered every place in between. I could tell from his expression that he was considering the possibility that I might be telling the truth.
“OK, Mr. Nowitski, it’s quite easy for me to call your bluff. I’ll be over there today. By the way, are you aware of anyone else who knows about this phenomenon?”
“Yeah, Diane, the gate agent, is onto it, but she ain’t gonna tell you nothin’, because she’s making money in the stock market from that window and she don’t want to have you guys taking it away and studying it.”
“We’ll talk to Diane anyway. OK, you can go.”
I gave him some details about Diane and then I was back to work. As 5:30 approached, I saw Dennis walking down the corridor. Oh, man! I totally forgot that he was coming, too. If Sellars saw us together, what would he think?
“Hey, Dennis, say, uh, there’s a problem. I told Sellars about the window, too, and he’s coming here any time. It might not be good for him to see us together.”
Dennis’s face contorted in anger. “You idiot! If he sees you and me together here, he’ll be even more convinced that we’re working together, getting our stories in synch.”
“Hey, Dennis, I just forgot. Show me some respect, man. You always talk down to me.”
“That’s because you’re a loser and an idiot!”
That was too much. I gave him a good shove, right into a row of seats. He fell awkwardly over them, banging his nose on an armrest. He looked up, bloody and furious, jumped to his feet and bull-rushed me. I was standing right in front of the B31 windows, and he shoved me hard directly into one of them. The force of his attack knocked me off my feet, and I flew, out of control, right into the glass. It shattered loudly, and I was suddenly falling in the cold and dark.
They tell me I was out for about six hours. When I came to, I was on my back, looking at a round fluorescent ceiling light and a plastic curtain surrounding me on a track, and I heard talking and the distant sound of a voice on a PA system. A hospital. It took me a minute or so to remember what had happened. Just as my mind was re-engaging, the pain kicked in. My god, my back hurt! I groaned and immediately heard the curtain rustle.
A nurse’s face appeared. “You’re up! How are you feeling?”
“Pain, my back, it’s terrible.”
“Well, I’m not surprised. You have a few cracked vertebrae, not to mention a broken leg, but nothing that won’t heal, and the good news is that you are not paralyzed.”
“Wonderful. How about some drugs for the pain?”
“We do have authorization to give you that. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry, please.”
When she disappeared, another face poked through the curtain. Sellars had a big grin on his face like he was enjoying my suffering.
“Well, Mr. Nowitski, you took quite a tumble there. And you made the top story on the news. They even broke into regular broadcasting to do a bulletin. And, to top it all off, you delayed twenty flights. Without a doubt, one of the most significant accomplishments of your life.”
“OK, Sellars, enough with the sarcasm. My brother-in-law shoved me through the window. I didn’t do a thing.”
“Yeah, he shoved you through that window to the future you were going to show me. How convenient that it’s not there any more.”
“The second large pane to the right of the Gate B31 podium?”
“That’s the one exactly. Nothing but some boards there now. They’ll have new glass in by tomorrow. “You’ll be under guard here until you recover, and then it’s back to prison for parole violation. That is unless, you want to tell us how you really found out about the bomb plot.”
“I already told you. You’ve got to believe me. I saw the coverage of the crash in the reflection of that window!”
Sellars stood up. “As long as you stick to that story, you’ll be serving the balance of your sentence. It’s really up to you, Mr. Nowitski: you can tell us the truth, or you can sit in prison.”
And so, here I am, writing this in the prison library. I’ve been inside three months. Larry Donatelli is here. He’s already broken my arm and mashed my face pretty good. Dennis is here too, but he won’t even look at me. All in all, I’m having a great time. But the real cherry on top was yesterday when I got a surprise visit. As I approached the visitor windows, who do I see but good old Diane.
“Hey, Stan, how are you doing?” Then she saw the cuts and bruises on my face and my arm in a sling. “Ooh, sorry I asked.”
“Oh, I’ve never been happier, Diane. This is so much better than working for a living. What brings you here to this fine establishment?”
“Well, I did want to let you know that I was feeling bad for you. I know you’d have liked me to corroborate your story but, sometimes, we really do have to look out for ourselves first.”
“Yeah, but the window was broken. What’s the difference now? Why didn’t you go to Sellars and tell him it was for real?”
“Well, yes, the window was broken, but the new window works just as well. It seems to be a phenomenon of the place, not the particular pane of glass.”
“So then you’re still—”
“Oh, yes. In fact, I just bought a place on the French Riviera. Of course, I need to keep my job for a little while longer so I can continue getting those great stock tips, but I’ll soon have enough to retire at the ripe old age of 45. I did want to tell you that so you’d understand why I didn’t help you. I don’t suppose you’ll be wanting to see me again, so this is goodbye, Stan. Have a great life.”
Yeah, I guess my teachers were right, I really am an underachiever. Who else could make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse as well as I did? I could say this was a great lesson, but what did I really learn? Just what my brother-in-law said before I shoved him into the chairs: that I’m an idiot and a loser, that’s what I learned. But what can I do? Just take it from here.
Copyright © 2026 by Bill Kowaleski
