Page 106 of The Hitchhikers
After Alice was finished in the bathroom, Jenny took a turn and changed out of her sleep clothes. She got money from Simon, who gave her a soft kiss, and pulled her in for a hug, but she had to force herself to return the embrace. Her arms felt heavy, grudging. She let go first.
She hung theDO NOT DISTURBsign on the door, and made her way to the office, her steps slowing as she got closer. What if the woman had more questions? She needn’t have worried. It was a man behind the counter this time, with a comb-over, and a white button-down tucked into his beige slacks—pulled up so high it didn’t seem as though he had a waist at all.
She paid for another night and was relieved that he didn’t ask her a single question. Not where she was from, or where they were traveling. Not even if they were enjoying their stay.
He gave her directions to a coffee shop in a flat, bored-sounding voice that made Jenny think maybe he’d been asked the same thing a million times.
The morning had grown hotter, and she was sweating by the time she returned to the motel room, carrying a brown bag of pastries and a tray with steaming Styrofoam coffee cups. Simon opened the door for her and helped with the coffee tray. Alice was sitting with her back resting against her pillows. They’d been watching the TV.
“Nothing on the news yet, babe,” Simon said with a smile.
She tried to smile back, but she had seen the pain in Alice’s eyes and knew that she feared no news meant Tom hadn’t been found. What if both cops were injured? They might still be waiting for help. Then she thought about Ruth’s friend who’d stopped at the house. Donna. One of the cops was her husband. She’d look for him when he was late. They were probably at the hospital. It wasn’t on the news yet because they were in Alberta. She felt a little better but was only able to eat her breakfast when the news program ended.
Mr. Dressupwas on the TV now. She remembered watching the show with her dad and how he’d promised that one day they’d have a backyard. He was going to build her a tree house like the one Casey and Finnegan lived in. She wondered if she and Simon would ever have a house with a backyard. The dream felt so far away. Impossible. Like living on the moon.
When they were finished eating, Simon gave her more money so she could buy them hair dye. She’d seen a drugstore near the coffee shop. She’d just left their teepee and was partway down the center road when a big maroon-colored car pulled into the parking lot and stopped at one of the teepees, same side as theirs.
A heavyset man wearing a brown-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt, a straw fedora, and sunglasses got out and moved around the back of his car. When he lifted his suitcase out of the trunk, his gold watch flashed in the sun. He slammed his trunk shut and turned around. Now she could see a thick gold chain around his neck, and another on his wrist. She’d never seen a man wearing so much gold. She wondered if it was fake. He saw Jenny and paused with a big smile.
“Where are you going, beautiful?”
She was going to keep walking and ignore him, but he took a few steps to the side, blocking her path. Even a few feet away, he smelled like gross musky cologne.
“You’re not going to talk to me? That’s not very friendly.”
She looked back at their teepee. There was a window on the side. Could Simon see her? She didn’t want to talk to this man, but she didn’t want to make him mad either.
“I’m going to the store.”
“Want a ride?”
“I can walk.”
“You sure? It’s hot as hell out here today.”
“I’m fine.”
“Well, you need anything, sweetheart, you let me know, I’ll be here for a couple of days. I’m a jewelry salesman, but you’rethe prettiest thing I’ve seen all day.” He gave her a wink, reached into his wallet, and pulled out a business card.
“No, thank you.” She moved around him and carried on.
When she reached the road, she glanced over her shoulder. He was still standing by his car. He tipped his hat at her. Like he was some kind of gentleman? Not likely.
She snapped her head back around and picked up her pace.
At the drugstore, she found a baseball cap for Simon, scissors, fresh razors, bandages, and a headband for herself. She would look different with her bangs pulled back. She browsed the hair dyes and decided to go auburn this time. She picked the darkest brown, nearly black, for Simon.
For Alice she bought antiperspirant, a toothbrush, a T-shirt with a Canadian flag on it, and a package of cotton underwear. When she entered the motel driveway a while later carrying a brown paper bag, she was relieved that the man had disappeared into his teepee.
The little red Toyota truck with the homemade trailer was parked beside the office and two kids were playing nearby. The girl was in a sundress with a smocked halter top and wore her black hair in a ponytail with bangs. She was dragging a stuffed dog with a collar and leash.
“Come on, Rusty. Do you want to go for a walk?”
The boy, who looked a couple of years older, had a blond bowl-cut. He kicked at pebbles with the toe of his shoe. The girl spotted Jenny and froze, her cheeks turning pink.
“I like your dog,” Jenny said. “Rusty is a perfect name.”
The girl’s face broke into a wide grin. “It’s because he’s red and brown.” The boy threw his arm over her shoulder, giving her a squeeze, like he was reassuring his sister.
