of the shadows cast by the red neon-glow of a vacancy sign. He had puffed absently away on a reed pipe, as I’m sure he did most every night. Apparently, they didn’t get many beautiful visitors, because his sudden double-take flung the pale pipe right out of his mouth after she slipped past him. He tripped over his own feet to get up, pick up the pipe, and get inside to help her. Maeve remained gracious holding the door to the check-in lobby for him while he all but drooled his way past her. Her amused smile indicated that she got that kind of attention a lot, and from where I was sitting, I think she liked it. I know I would… I mean, not if old men were tripping over me, but… you know what I’m saying.
We awkwardly shared a motel room for the night. (Don’t worry two beds.) It was her demand that we stay together. She wanted to keep an eye on me…and not in the good way a dude wants to be watched by a hot chick. I’m not sure if either of us slept well. I dozed off-and-on while counting the number of brown water spots that stained the drab ceiling. I don’t think she slept at all. When I was awake neither of us said a word, we just kind of laid there motionless on our respective beds and listened to the other breathe between air condition cycles.
After having had enough of trying to sleep, I got up before the sun and decided to shower. It felt great. One thing could be said for that roach-motel: their hot water heater was unending. I soaked for a good hour. The steaming water washed away all the apprehension and fear that had caked on during this ordeal. Every burble of the drain carried with it an unanswerable question. I knew I had to resolve now to handle every new situation with a clear and level mind. Otherwise, I would end up like so many from the stories my father told me: insane and dangerous.
Maeve had been busy while I was bathing. I found a fresh pile of new clothes neatly folded on the sink counter and next to it a brown sack full of double cheeseburgers wafting the amazing aroma of processed meat. When you’re hungry anything remotely edible smells like it came from the garden of the gods. Taped to the bag was a note that instructed me to dress and prepare to leave but not to go outside until she came back for me.
And so I waited patiently for her to come back. Not because I didn’t think about trying to leave, because not only did I think about it, I tried it. Somehow the wench had the door jammed or locked from the outside. I contemplated breaking the window and jumping out, but as she was some kind of super chick-knight with uber-power, I decided, for the time being, it might be best to play along and be good. Plus, she probably had the window rigged to shock me, gas me, turn me into a goat, or just explode. At this point anything was still a possibility.
I took a moment and enjoyed having a new pair of jeans and a black long sleeved tee-shirt with a green phoenix spackle painted across the left shoulder and down the front chest. It was the single coolest piece of clothing I had ever worn. Since we had gone back into warmer country I thought the thin leather gloves were a bit much, but I totally dug the sunglasses. She had even guessed right on my shoe size for a new pair of green and black New Balance’s. I don’t know where she got it all, or how she went out and came back with hot food and new gear so fast, but I was glad to have it. Oh, and the cheeseburgers were beyond-divine. I ate ten of the fifteen in half as many minutes while I chillaxed. That was a new personal best in the burger-count department. Considering I was being held against my will, and essentially an army was after me, I probably should have been too uptight to just sit there and eat my heart out. -A hot shower, a bag of burgers, and a fresh change of clothes has a way of pushing that angst away. I was going to enjoy the peace of the moment.
The night of intermittent sleep caught up
We awkwardly shared a motel room for the night. (Don’t worry two beds.) It was her demand that we stay together. She wanted to keep an eye on me…and not in the good way a dude wants to be watched by a hot chick. I’m not sure if either of us slept well. I dozed off-and-on while counting the number of brown water spots that stained the drab ceiling. I don’t think she slept at all. When I was awake neither of us said a word, we just kind of laid there motionless on our respective beds and listened to the other breathe between air condition cycles.
After having had enough of trying to sleep, I got up before the sun and decided to shower. It felt great. One thing could be said for that roach-motel: their hot water heater was unending. I soaked for a good hour. The steaming water washed away all the apprehension and fear that had caked on during this ordeal. Every burble of the drain carried with it an unanswerable question. I knew I had to resolve now to handle every new situation with a clear and level mind. Otherwise, I would end up like so many from the stories my father told me: insane and dangerous.
Maeve had been busy while I was bathing. I found a fresh pile of new clothes neatly folded on the sink counter and next to it a brown sack full of double cheeseburgers wafting the amazing aroma of processed meat. When you’re hungry anything remotely edible smells like it came from the garden of the gods. Taped to the bag was a note that instructed me to dress and prepare to leave but not to go outside until she came back for me.
And so I waited patiently for her to come back. Not because I didn’t think about trying to leave, because not only did I think about it, I tried it. Somehow the wench had the door jammed or locked from the outside. I contemplated breaking the window and jumping out, but as she was some kind of super chick-knight with uber-power, I decided, for the time being, it might be best to play along and be good. Plus, she probably had the window rigged to shock me, gas me, turn me into a goat, or just explode. At this point anything was still a possibility.
I took a moment and enjoyed having a new pair of jeans and a black long sleeved tee-shirt with a green phoenix spackle painted across the left shoulder and down the front chest. It was the single coolest piece of clothing I had ever worn. Since we had gone back into warmer country I thought the thin leather gloves were a bit much, but I totally dug the sunglasses. She had even guessed right on my shoe size for a new pair of green and black New Balance’s. I don’t know where she got it all, or how she went out and came back with hot food and new gear so fast, but I was glad to have it. Oh, and the cheeseburgers were beyond-divine. I ate ten of the fifteen in half as many minutes while I chillaxed. That was a new personal best in the burger-count department. Considering I was being held against my will, and essentially an army was after me, I probably should have been too uptight to just sit there and eat my heart out. -A hot shower, a bag of burgers, and a fresh change of clothes has a way of pushing that angst away. I was going to enjoy the peace of the moment.
The night of intermittent sleep caught up
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