Free After Death by D. B. Douglas Page A

contact.
    “I’ll figure something out.” He said and strolled off for the house before she could respond.

    ***

    Frank was jittery. The conversation with Jackie had unnerved him — he didn’t like doing this anymore than she did. On the other hand, he really didn’t want to be a grade school teacher for the rest of his life. He knew what would happen if he failed in this attempt. She had meant it when she had said that he could just go back to teaching to catch up on bills but he knew how these things morphed into something else. First it would be temporary. Then they would get used to the extra money and she’d start bringing up getting a more advanced teaching degree again. The concept of “golden handcuffs” popped into his head. Once she was used to more, she would never be content with less.
    He strode down the hospital hallway with his intent bolstered. He would play out the scene today — there would be no more procrastination. Afterwards, he would duck out of the hospital as quickly as he could and race home to write down what had happened in as much detail as possible. He had a good memory for dialog and was fairly sure he’d be able to transcribe the exchange exactly.
    He passed the time clock and a few wandering patients. He barely noticed the orderly that said hello or Larry screaming in his room as he made his way towards Eli’s room.
    He turned the corner and broke stride for just an instant when he saw Eli at the end of the hall leaning on his walker and whispering something to Lidia whose wheelchair blocked his path. She quickly scuttled out of the way and Eli glanced up and saw Frank approaching. He waited and smiled broadly.
    “Hi ya, Franklin, what are you doing here today, isn’t it your day off?”
    Stay resolved , Frank thought. Just stay resolved and get it over with .
    “I was wondering, Eli, can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked. He was painfully aware that his voice sounded hurried…breathless. Eli didn’t seem to notice.
    “Sure. Come into my office.” Eli replied with his characteristic Mr. Rogers-ish voice and a lazy wave of his big veiny hand.
    Frank followed Eli’s slow progression towards his room; Eli lifted the walker, set it down, took a step. Lift, set, step. Lift, set, step. It was giving Frank too much time to think.
    Eli made it to his bed, sat stiffly on the edge. He looked up at Frank with an expectant gaze and waited. Frank cleared his throat and finally launched in.
    “Eli, do you remember that conversation we had the other day? About religion and heaven and all that?”
    Eli squinted back. “Course I remember.” He said.
    Frank struggled with how to broach this... The delay was becoming awkward — He needed to fill the gap. “Well something you said got me to thinkin’…” He said weakly.
    Eli just smiled, as relaxed as could be. “Guess that’s a good thing, ain’t it?” He asked.
    Frank was floundering and knew it. He had to keep going…Had to…
    “You said you wouldn’t know if there were a heaven until you got there. So I wanted to ask you something…”
    Fuck. He was blowing it! Just ask the damn question and get out of there!
    Eli waited, now grinning. He finally slapped Frank’s hand playfully.
    “Well, c’mon boy, out with it. What’d you wanna ask?”
    Frank swallowed, rubbed his eyes. Get-it-over-with!
    “This is just hypothetical…” He began and stalled again. He forced himself to continue. “This is just hypothetical but what if after you… Well, what if you could come back and tell me what it’s like after you…”
    “Die?” Eli chimed in with an unexpected tone of glee. His eyes glittered like he thought this was the funniest joke he’d heard in his whole long life. “Don’t be afraid to say it, Franklin…” he continued. “I know I’m gonna die, we all do. What if I could come back and tell you what it’s like after I die — that’s what you wanted to ask me, isn’t that right?”
    Frank’s throat