In the motel parking lot, the chill of the autumn air seeped through his thin covering, but Rudy was too heated with self-induced rage to feel it. He drove his doubled fist into the Chevy’s fender, and looked up. Tony’s amber eyes met his.
“Whatcha know, they’ve got a room,” Tony said as he drew near. He gave Rudy a wary look and nodded his head toward the parking lot.
Rudy wanted to stare him down but couldn’t, so he turned to follow his gaze. There wasn’t another car in sight.
After the two got back into the sedan, Tony drove through the parking lot and read the numbers off the doors aloud. “101, 102 …” The asphalt was in bad repair, webbed with cracks and potholes, and even with his window rolled up again, the crunch under Impala’s tires met Rudy’s ears.
“That’s it, 105” Tony said, and then guided the car backward on the opposite side of the lot until it stood about five feet from the fence.
Rudy looked across to the ramshackle building. Their lodging stood about half way down a long single story structure sandwiched in between two other rooms.
“You guys get the food,” Tony ordered, “and I’ll check out the digs.”
Rudy glanced forward toward Hank. Hank rubbed his eyes, snuffed his smoke, and fumbled around the beer cans at his feet. “Entertainment,” he said as he held up the video camera. Hank snagged a plastic bag with what was left of an unopened six pack and shoved the passenger door open with his shoulder. Outside he stretched with a loud yawn and slammed the door with his hip.
Rudy turned his eyes away as Hank started across the parking lot with a noticeable stagger. He picked up the remaining supplies from the back seat and stepped out of the car. An oak tree with a thick trunk stood on the other side of the Impala next to the chain link fence. It had begun to shed its fall leaves. They lay on the broken parking lot like tiny gold and orange islands on a troubled gray sea. As Rudy made his way to the room, his feet scuffed through the decayed foliage. That brought a shudder of fear. He knew the near future for he and Natalie could be even more distressed than the weathered pavement.
As he entered the room with several bags of groceries in his arms, he made a quick survey of the accommodations. To the left of the door, two double beds had been made up with burnt orange colored bedspreads draped over them. Hank laid sprawled out face down on the one nearest the door and appeared unconscious. In the corner sat a yellow laminate topped dinette table with four matching vinyl chairs. The legs of all the pieces had at one time been polished chrome but were now freckled with rust stains. The walls were covered with an eggshell colored paint, but it had been a while since a fresh coat had been applied. Multiple stains of unknown origin were spattered on the walls and, around the upper corners, the paint peeled away. An old smell like mold, mothballs and wet carpet filled in the room. Rudy glanced at the two beds. With Hank already sprawled on one of them, he figured Tony would take the other and his sleeping arrangement would be one of the dinette chairs.
To the rear of the room, Tony stepped through a doorway into the bedroom. It led to the bathroom, Rudy decided, as the sound of a toilet flush came from beyond the opening. He stepped around Tony and put the bags on the table next the one Hank had brought in. With the beverages in the small refrigerator to cool, he started back toward the doorway to the parking lot. Tony stepped in front of him and closed the door.
“That’s everything,” Tony said. “Everything else stays in the car.”
“But—” Rudy started. He had tried all day to find a way to make sure Natalie was still alive. While they had been parked on the side of the road in the night, he sensed her presence. He remembered feeling the car shift from time to time when no one in the passenger compartment had moved, and he was certain she was still alive when the car broke down. Otherwise who would Tony have been yelling at? But that had been almost over six hours earlier. For all he knew she had died since then. She had been trapped now for nearly a day with no food or water, and he had no idea how long a body as small as hers could live that way
“No buts. She stays in the car,” Tony said firmly and opened his jacket so Rudy could see the gun. “Now let’s eat.” He glanced at Hank’s prone figure and mocked, “I see Hank won’t be joining us.”
_____
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Jearl Rugh 2012
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