Authors: Willy Vlautin
She talked faster than anyone I’d ever met and she played with a rubber band while she talked. She hardly ever looked you in the eye. When the skateboarders left I showed her the river and where I slept. Afterwards we went to the same pizza parlor I went to the day before. She had four dollars so we played video games and then a family left most of a pizza and a pitcher of Coke sitting at their table so we sat down before the busboy came and started eating. It wasn’t until we were almost done that the manager came out and gave us a hard time about it. He knew we didn’t buy the pizza, because the place was pretty empty and I guess he’d served the family himself. He told us to leave and we got up and started going out when all of a sudden the girl turned around and told the guy off.
“You better watch it, you fat fucking pig,” she screamed, “or I’m gonna come back and burn this place down.”
He didn’t say anything but you could tell he was beginning to get mad.
When we made it outside we ran down the street for awhile, then we stopped and she started laughing uncontrollably.
I wasn’t sure what to think about her and I guess she could see that on my face.
“I’m not mean,” she said, and suddenly she quit laughing. “I swear I’m not. I was just joking.”
After that we went to a CD shop and a clothing store and then we went back to the river. When the sun started going down she said she had to go back to the motel, and said I could go with her.
The Cabana Motel was an old motor lodge set off from the street. The sign was a big hat with lights on it, and the building was white with red doors. Inside the room were two beds, a table with chairs, a dresser, and a television. There was a man sitting on the farthest bed from the door leaning against the headboard watching TV. The bathroom door was shut and you could hear the shower going.
“Where have you been?” the man said. He was older, maybe in his thirties, and he had a beard that came down to his chest and tattoos that ran up and down his arms. His hair was long and brown and he wore black pants and a black T-shirt that read “Biggs Brothers Chicken Wing Shack.”
“Walking around,” the girl said.
“We’re leaving at six tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“I just don’t want to spend half the day trying to get you up.”
“I’ll get up.”
He gave her a half smile.
“Did you fix the truck?”
“I replaced the radiator, both the hoses, and the thermostat. We’re pulling a lot of weight, though. We’ll have to take it easy. So who’s he?” the man said and pointed to me.
“His name’s Charley.”
“Joe,” he said and put out his hand. I walked over to him and shook it. “You live around here?”
“He’s heading to Wyoming,” the girl said.
“What’s in Wyoming?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you staying at this motel?” he asked.
“He’s sleeping by the river,” the girl said.
“Boise has a river?”
“It’s a big one,” she added. “What are we doing for dinner?”
“Sue wants Chinese,” Joe said.
We sat down on the bed and watched TV. Then a naked woman came out of the bathroom. She was drying her hair with a towel when she looked over and saw me.
“Who’s he?” she said. She didn’t act embarrassed even though she was completely naked. She was a large woman with black hair. She had big breasts and down between her legs she didn’t have any hair. She had tattoos that covered her back and most of her stomach. She had them on her legs, too.
“His name’s Charley,” the girl said.
The woman said hello and turned around. There was a sink and a mirror set next to the bathroom and she stood there and looked at herself in the mirror, then went into a bag and took out a blow dryer and began drying her hair. The tattoo on her back was all black ink and there was a dragon and a skeleton that was swinging a sword and there was a naked woman looking at her reflection in a pool of water. After a while she turned off the hair dryer and put on black underwear and sat next to Joe on the bed. We all watched TV and then the woman got dressed.
“Let’s go eat,” she said.
“Can Charley come?” the girl asked.
“I’m not that hungry,” I told her.
“Please,” the girl said.
“He can come if he wants,” Joe said to the girl and then he got up and put on his shoes and we all left and walked towards downtown. It was dusk and nice out and Ruby and I fell a half of a block behind them.
“I don’t have any money,” I told her.
“You already told me that,” Ruby said and smiled. “But you don’t need any money when Joe’s around. Joe pays for everything.”
We kept walking until we found a rundown-looking Chinese restaurant. We went inside and sat at a table and Joe ordered food for everyone. Ruby and I each got a Coke and we sat there and no one said hardly anything at all. Once in a while Ruby would ask Joe questions about the truck or about how long it would take, or what it was like in Arizona or what he thought about Boise. The whole time she played with the same rubber band. Sue just sat there and smoked cigarettes, and it was like she was somewhere else. Then the food came and we all ate. When we were done Sue went to the bathroom and we all just sat there and the bill came and Joe asked me for ten dollars.
I looked at Ruby and she looked back at me.
Then he got up and went to the bathroom.
“I don’t have any money,” I said.
“Nothing?”
“No,” I said. “I told you I didn’t.”
Then Sue came back and then Joe did.
“Joe,” I told him. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money.”
“You don’t have any money?” he said and shook his head. “What did you think was going to happen?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“You just thought I was going to pay?”
“I guess I just didn’t think about it.”
Sue laughed at that, then lit another cigarette.
“I could pay you back,” I said.
“I bet,” Sue said.
Joe shook his head. You could tell he was annoyed but he paid the bill. We left after that. Joe and Sue were in front and Ruby and I trailed behind them.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “He usually always pays. I’ve never seen him do that.”
“Is he your dad?”
“No,” she said and shook her head. “I just met them a while ago.”
“Where?”
“In Medford. That’s where I’m from.”
“That’s in Oregon, right?”
“Yeah,” the girl said.
“Are you going to get in trouble?”
“No,” the girl said. “Joe loves me.”
“Maybe I should go.”
“Don’t leave,” she said, and then suddenly she stopped and looked at me. “Don’t go, okay? Maybe you can come with us to Arizona.”
“I don’t know,” I said, and then we began walking again. The sun had set and it was warm and the sky was clear and it was fading dark. When we got to the motel we all went inside and Joe turned on the TV and sat back just as he was before. Sue went into the bathroom again, then came out and sat next to him. We were all there for a while, then Ruby told them we were going to go to the pool and she went into the bathroom with her bag of clothes and came out wearing a black one-piece swimsuit and we left. We walked down to the pool and no one else was there so I stripped down to my underwear and got in with her. The water was warm and we swam around for a long time. When we got out we sat on the side with our feet in the water.
“Where’s your family?” she said.
I told her about my dad and my mom and not being able to find my aunt.
“Maybe you should hire a private investigator,” she said. She sounded excited.
“If I had the money, I would.”
“Maybe Joe would pay for it,” she said and then we became silent.
“So Sue’s not your mom?”
“No,” the girl said. “My mom lives in the same apartment complex as they did. Then she got a boyfriend and I hated being around him so I used to go over there all the time.”
Then suddenly Ruby began crying.
“I’d visit Sue and Joe and they let me stay over. Pretty soon it was like they adopted me.”
“My dad had a lot of girlfriends,” I said.
“I bet they didn’t steal your underwear.”
“No.”
“My mom’s a retard and I don’t care if she gets all her skin cut off and gets tortured for the rest of her life.”
I started laughing at that, and then so did she.
“Anything’s better than that place. Will you come with me?” She took my hand in hers.
“I don’t think they like me,” I said.
“Joe and Sue love me. They’ll do anything I say.” Then all of a sudden she jumped into the water and I followed her in. We goofed around for a long time, then we lay by the side of the pool until the manager came out and told us the pool was closed.
When we got back to the room Sue and Joe were in bed sleeping. The TV and the A/C were on and I sat in a chair near the door and watched TV while Ruby went into the bathroom and took a shower. She came out in pajamas and got into the empty bed.
I stood up and went over to her and told her goodbye, but when I did she grabbed my hand and whispered, “You can sleep here, okay?”
“I don’t think they’d like it.”
“Joe doesn’t care. Just sleep on the floor next to me, then he won’t even know.” She took the bedspread off the bed and handed me a pillow. I knew I should have left but I liked her and I was tired and the room was cool and nice. I lay down and put the bedspread over me and tried to tell myself I’d wake up before Joe and Sue did.
Ruby turned off the TV and moved to the edge of the bed, right above me.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“I’m always hungry,” I said and smiled to her in the darkness.
“I’d love pancakes and syrup and bacon and a chocolate milkshake.”
She let her hand fall near mine and I took it and we held hands.
“Do you have a picture of yourself?”
“I have a picture of my aunt and me,” I said.
“Can I see it?”
I took the picture out of my back pocket. I gave it to her along with my lighter.
She looked at the worn-out photo by the light of the flame. She set it on the table next to her.
“Will you come with us to Arizona?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I don’t think they’d want me to.”
“I know they would,” she said and we kept holding hands. She’d squeeze mine and then I’d squeeze back. She’d squeeze twice and so I’d squeeze twice. A couple times it made her giggle. Then she leaned over with half her body hanging off the bed and she kissed me. I’d never kissed a girl. We kissed for a long time and every once in a while she’d giggle or laugh.
She pulled up her top and took my hand and put it on her breast.
“I love you, Charley. Don’t leave, okay?”
“I’ve never been to Arizona,” I said.
“Me neither,” she whispered back.
“Does your mom know you’re going down there?”
“I left her a note saying I was running away.”
Then Sue coughed and rustled around in the bed so Ruby moved back and lay still. When the room fell silent again Ruby leaned over the bed and took my hand in hers.
“Goodnight, Charley.”
I told her goodnight and we kept holding hands.
When I woke it was just getting light out. Ruby was knocking on the bathroom door.
“Sue, I gotta pee. Is it alright if I come in?”
Sue said it was and Ruby went in there. The shower was going and after a while you could hear Ruby in the shower with her. They were talking.
The alarm went off and Joe coughed and got up and went in there as well.
You could hear Ruby giggle and then you could hear Joe saying things and I put the pillow over my ear and pressed down but still I could hear them. I got up and put on my shoes and went to Ruby’s bedside table to get my photo but it wasn’t there. I turned on the lights and I looked everywhere I could think of but I couldn’t find it. Then I heard the shower stop. I saw her rubber band sitting on the TV so I took that, put it in my pocket, and left.
Outside, the motel sign was still lit and there was no one around. I walked through the parking lot and saw a camper hooked to an older Chevy truck. It had Oregon plates so I figured it was Joe’s. I thought of Ruby in the truck with them and her sleeping in the back with them in Arizona.
I went to the river and hid in the bushes where I had slept before. I sat there and it was cold and I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking of Ruby and then I started thinking about Pete and my thoughts grew dark. I lay down on the dirt and curled in a ball and fell asleep.
When I woke up I could hear kids laughing and I looked out to see a group of people having a picnic. There were kids playing football and kids kicking a soccer ball and two older men were barbecuing. I snuck out and no one noticed.
I went into a
7
-Eleven. There was an old lady working behind the counter and there was a line of construction workers in there getting hot dogs. I went up and down the aisles. I took two cans of SpaghettiOs and a loaf of white bread and walked out. I waited until I was out of the parking lot, then I started jogging and took an alley and ran down it until I found a place in between two buildings and sat down.
I grabbed the can opener from my pocket and opened one of the cans. I poured some of it out onto the bread and ate it like that. I finished a whole can and half the loaf of bread.
After that I walked back to the Cabana Motel. I decided I’d go with Ruby to Arizona if they’d let me. Maybe Sue and Joe weren’t bad, and if they were then Ruby and I could go off on our own. I started feeling alright about it, even excited, but when I got to the motel the truck and camper were gone. I beat on their room door but no one answered and when I asked the front desk lady if they’d checked out she said they had.
“Did they leave a note?”
“No,” she said.
“Did they leave a photo?”
“A photo?”
“An old Polaroid.”
“Nothing,” she said. “I cleaned the room myself and they didn’t leave anything.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a picture of my aunt and me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Could we check the room?”
The woman shook her head, then called to a man who was in the back of the office and then she grabbed a set of keys and I followed her out to the room. The inside was cleaned and the beds were made. It didn’t seem like the same room even though it was. I looked under the bed, I looked in the drawers, but there was nothing.