Don't Turn Back (Coming Home Book 1)

by Stephens, Amy

  “I really meant to pay it. I swear I did.”

  “Get out Brian. Don’t bother sticking around for Lucy and John. Just get the hell out! I’ve dealt with your crap long enough.”

  “Can I please just explain, Macy?”

  “NO! I said get out! You’ve ruined everything tonight. Maybe tomorrow you can stop by for the rest of your things, but I want you out right now! I can’t stand to look at you.”

  I can’t believe this is happening. I am being tossed out like garbage, sent to the curb before I could even bother to take my things. So quickly had she made her mind up to ditch me.

  I grabbed my coat and slammed the door, not caring if it closed behind me or not. As I got to the car, I realized I had forgotten my keys. About that time, I heard the door open and looked up just as the keys were flung at me, hitting me in the side of the head.

  Looking back at her, I yelled “You fucking bitch.” I was pissed now. How could something that started out so right end this way? I crawled in the front seat, blew out a breath of pent up air, and sat there wondering what the hell I was going to do now. I had screwed up yet again.

  “Come on, come on,” I say out loud as I continue to lightly pound on the steering wheel of the car. I quickly glance over at the time on the dash and realize that even if there was no one in front of me, three minutes is not going to get me to work on time. I continue to closely follow the car ahead of me until I can see the turn lane leading into the popular hotel chain that I worked for up ahead.

  “Geez, doesn’t anyone know how to drive around here?” I say aloud, as I quickly pull into the parking lot. And wouldn’t you know, someone is already parked in my spot. None of the employees actually have designated parking spots, but with the staff here, pretty much everyone has a spot they like to call their own.

  I drive through the parking lot trying to find the nearest spot to the hotel office. Not that I don’t want to walk, I just like always having my car within sight while I work the overnight shift. I’ve been working for the hotel for three years now. It’s not the greatest job, especially since I work all night, but it pays the bills and allows me to take a few classes at the local university during the evening.

  Squeezing in between two cars, I grab my lunch bag, jacket, and book from the front seat, and head to the office. Walking quickly past my usual parking spot, I take in the rather unattractive car that occupies my spot. I wonder how some cars are allowed on the freeway these days.

  “Sorry I’m running late Rebecca. I got caught behind this slow car coming to work and never got the chance to pass them. Then, I get here, and some car is in my spot so I had to park further out.” I apologize to Rebecca as I put away all of my belongings. “Looks like you’ve been busy—the parking lot is full. We must have had a lot of check-ins tonight.”

  “No big deal. I was just finishing up some paperwork. We do have a few extra guests tonight though. I think there is a group in town working on the construction site for the new mall. Couple of cute guests too, I might add.” Rebecca lightly laughs as she shares this with me. She constantly has to remind me about my being single, and is always looking for the next cute guy to show up at the hotel in hopes of playing matchmaker.

  “I guess I will be checking them out in the morning then.” I giggle. “Literally.”

  “Come on Jenn, you know that even if there’s a good looking guy in this town, he sure wouldn’t be looking to stay; he’d be asking for directions to leave.” Rebecca adds jokingly.

  I nod my head in agreement.

  Rebecca and I both attended high school here in Morgantown, and have remained friends beyond graduation. It seemed now that all of the decent-looking guys had moved on to bigger and better things. While I had rarely dated in high school, Rebecca continued her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Greg. After graduation, Greg decided to join the Army and is now stationed in Georgia. Rebecca hopes he’ll be able to come home on leave for a few days, closer to the Thanksgiving holiday.

  Rebecca and I have shared a few college courses over the last few years, in addition to working for the same employer also. While she mostly works the afternoon to evening shifts, I work the overnight shift five nights a week. We really have a generous boss, who often gives us both one of the weekend nights off, typically Saturday, so that she and I can hang out together. Rarely do we ever really do anything, though. But it’s always nice to hang out with my best friend. Sometimes we go to the mall or take in the latest movie that’s playing. And, if we are both just feeling a little crazy, we will get all dressed up and head over to the local club, Night Moves.

  Night Moves is next door to the hotel. Although the club mostly attracts garage-type bands looking to break out and get noticed, occasionally the owner books a cover band we all know and love, and everyone packs into the club.

  I pull up the guest registry on the computer and notice that the hotel is at full capacity tonight. “Dang Rebecca, you booked all the rooms. Looks like I won’t have anyone checking in tonight. By the way, did you happen to notice which guest is driving that silver Honda that’s parked in my spot?” I ask her as she is gathering up her things to leave for the night.

  “No, it’s been so hectic up ‘til now, I hadn’t even noticed it until you pointed it out. You will have to inform them in the morning when you check them out that you didn’t appreciate them taking your spot.” She says with a smirk on her face as she turns to walk out the door. “Have a good night and call me if you get bored. I’m going to finish up my report for Mr. Collin’s history class before going to bed so I’ll be up for a while. And, I’m crossing my fingers I’ll get lucky enough to have an email from my man.”

  “See you later chick and drive safely,” I say to her as she closes the door behind her. I know Rebecca misses her boyfriend, Greg, but thank goodness he is able to email her fairly often, and has remained here in the States so far.

  I walk around the office and straighten a few things. Rebecca has done most of the paperwork already so I am going to struggle to find things to do to keep me busy. Glancing out the door, I look over at the car parked in my so-called spot. I notice it has a tag that’s from a county in the northern part of the state. Not sure why it really concerns me, but I find myself looking over at the car several times throughout the night. The four-door sedan is definitely not a chick magnet, and I wonder how it’s even still drivable. From what I can tell looking out of the office window, all four hubcaps are missing, the back glass has a crack running through it, and there are several noticeable rust spots.

  At about two o’clock in the morning, while lost in the book I’m reading, a man walks in the door asking if there are any rooms available.

  “I’m sorry sir, we are full for the night, but you can always check the next hotel over, a few blocks down the street.” I tell him as he nods his head to leave. I always hate having to turn down guests, but having no vacancy actually means business is good for the hotel. Before the door closes behind him, I hear loud music playing from Night Moves. I’m surprised to hear a band still playing at this time of the morning. Usually by now, the club is shutting down. On a few occasions, a few patrons who have had a little too much to drink venture over to the hotel hoping to find a room available. While I am glad to help out someone who realizes they don’t need to be out on the road driving after partying a little too hard, I hate to see the ones who are just looking for a room for a few hours because they think they are going to get lucky with some hot chick or random guy they happen to pick up.

  Anyway, I hate turning someone away, but it looks like this could happen again since there are no vacancies tonight. I finish up the chapter I’ve been reading, then nibble on the snacks I tossed in my lunch bag. I usually try to eat before I come to work, and it holds me up through the night until I have to help with the breakfast preparation for the guests the next morning. But tonight I seem to have a case of the munchies.

  Most hotels offer free continental breakfasts these days,
and I have to admit, we serve some pretty good food ourselves.

  Around five o’clock I notice Sylvia, another hotel employee, pull into the parking lot and walk towards the front door. Sylvia works the early morning shift, preparing the breakfast and cleaning up afterwards. She is married with grown kids, and enjoys the extra hours the job allows her to have outside the house. Sylvia and I have a great friendship, despite our age difference, and I often see her as a mother figure, since my own family has moved away.

  My father is a recently retired college professor, so my mom decided she would retire from her job at one of our local banks as well. They bought a pull-behind camper and a heavy duty pickup truck, sold our family home, loaded up the dog, and decided they wanted to travel the country. Why not? They both had worked hard and should be allowed to enjoy their time together doing what they both enjoy. But the only thing they left behind was me.

  They frequent campsites and often stay weeks at a time before moving on to the next site. I find myself missing them from time to time, but it’s also nice not having them constantly in my business. I receive emails from them regularly letting me know their latest expeditions along with some photographs. They both seem to be enjoying each other--I hope one day I will meet my soul mate and share the same happiness my parents have had for all these years. It would also stop them from worrying about their baby girl being alone. I’m the youngest of three siblings; my two brothers have not yet taken the plunge of making them grandparents even though they are both married, and I know they are getting anxious. They have not been back to Morgantown for six months now, and it’s been over a week since I have received a phone call from them.

  As a going away gift for me, they paid, up front, a year’s worth of rent on a one-bedroom apartment downtown. I know this was a generous gift from them, but I hated that they felt they still needed to help support me knowing I work full time. Often times I’ll find a letter in the mailbox from them with a few extra bucks inside. While I manage to take care of my remaining expenses with the help of a tight budget, it’s always nice to treat myself to a manicure or pedicure, compliments of their little gift.

  “Good morning, Jennifer!” Sylvia calls to me as she walks in the door. This lady always has a smile on her face and brings good cheer with her. She reminds me so much of my mother.

  “Morning Sylvia.” I reply back.

  I had already begun some of the morning prep work for the breakfast just to help assist Sylvia. A couple of hotel guests have checked out early, opting not to eat the breakfast here. I watch as the last guest I just checked out, a tall, slender, well-dressed man in his late thirties, walk outside to the parking lot towards the direction of the silver Honda occupying my spot. He gets into a red truck parked two spots down from the mystery car. Dang it, I should have known by his appearance that the guy would be driving something better than the silver car.

  I can’t figure out why this silver car occupying my spot is bothering me so much. I just know that it is.

  I get busy helping Sylvia with the breakfast and checking out more guests and finally notice that the clock is nearing seven. My office replacement arrives, so I pick up my things to get ready to leave. Saying goodbye to Sylvia, I walk out the door towards my car. Not that I would have said anything, but I’m a little disappointed knowing that I won’t get to see the guest who took my spot when he or she checks out.

  I arrived home and put my things away. I live about ten minutes from work, so the drive is just long enough this morning for me to realize that I am exhausted, more so than normal. I change into a t-shirt and shorts and crawl into bed.

  Dang. I sat up and rub my eyes. For a minute, I have to focus to realize where I am. I must have slept really hard, despite my uncomfortable sleeping arrangement--the front seat of my car.

  It had been after nine o’clock when I had looked down at my gas gauge and realized that if I wanted to drive much further, I was going to have to stop and get gas in order to continue. Or, I could pull over, sleep, and spend a few bucks for some breakfast in the morning. I opted for some sleep since I still had a lot on my mind along with a pounding headache.

  My girlfriend, I guess I should be referring to her as my ex-girlfriend now, Macy, recently decided she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with me. We’d had a few words and basically, she had told me to pack what few things belonged to me and to hit the road. I had been feeling the tension building between us for the last several days, especially because I couldn’t find a job. So, she kicked me out! Sure, I hated having to borrow money from her from time to time when I was between jobs, but I promised her I would make it up to her soon. Sadly, what started out as a promising relationship, turned sour simply because nothing I did was ever good enough anymore. Okay, so maybe there is a little more to the story… But who cares about the details? I don’t.

  Fine, if that’s the way she wanted to be, she could have her way. It was inevitable that we were headed in the wrong direction. Her constant complaining and whining had begun to get on my nerves. While I really wanted to blame her for our problems, I knew, deep inside, everything had been my fault.

  Looking back to how it all got started that night, we had been planning a nice dinner with a few friends when the evening had imploded. Macy had discovered a slight oversight on my part and, basically, ended our relationship right there on the spot. She kicked me out and wouldn’t give me a chance to explain. There was so much animosity between us that night, she had told me I needed to come back later to get my things. She couldn’t stand to look at me for another single minute.

  The next morning, I had parked just off to the side in the lot of the apartment complex and watched her as she got into her car to head to work. When I felt it was safe, I pulled up to the apartment and used my key to get inside to grab my things. I guess she forgot last night when she was kicking me to the curb that I still had my key to the apartment. Rather than wait for her to come home tonight to get my belongings like she had suggested, I entered the apartment and pulled my duffel bag from the closet. I grabbed my clothes, even throwing in a few extra things that belonged to her--a blanket, a towel, a pillow, and some junk food from the pantry. While tossing the food in my bag, I figured I probably needed to eat something for breakfast. I reached on top of the refrigerator for the container that held the bread. I popped a few pieces of bread into the toaster and hoped it would be enough to hold me over ‘til lunch. I glanced through the pantry for the peanut butter and stumbled across a container with something unusual-looking inside. Laughing to myself, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How had I never stumbled over this before? I pulled out the folded bills and started to count. It was only four hundred dollars, but since I had decided it would be best if I left town permanently and not knowing where I was headed, it was enough to get me to my next stop. Sure, she would be pissed when she realized her hidden stash of money was gone, but let’s face it, stashing it in the Tupperware container in the back of the pantry wasn’t exactly the best hiding spot on her part. Besides, I looked at it as payment for me to get away from her. I tucked the money in my front jean’s pocket and didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it.

  On a few occasions, I would sleep over at my brother’s house, if the fighting with Macy got to be too much. One night, my brother Jake told me, “Man, just grow up, will you? Get a job, take on some responsibilities, and just please stop being an embarrassment to the family.”

  Jake had worked hard and saved up enough money to buy himself a fancy new truck. Feeling sorry for his little brother, he passed down his old silver Honda to me. The car had so many miles on it, I’m surprised it still ran, but each time I got behind the wheel, I would always cross my fingers and say a little prayer that it would hold up and get me where I needed to go. So far, the car was still hanging in there and I was thankful.

  Throwing everything in the backseat, I backed out of the driveway quickly, causing the tires to squeal on the pavement. I was anxious to get away from the apartmen
t in case someone happened to see me. I had no idea where I was going, but I decided I would drive as far away as I could to get away from everything that had turned against me lately. The money wouldn’t last long, but it would take me far enough away until I could decide what my next step would be.

  So I drove. I traveled from one end of the state to the opposite end. I figured this was about as far away as I needed to be to start fresh-- away from a whining ex-girlfriend, away from my old life and bad habits, away from everything and anyone who knew me. No one was going to tell me how to live my life. A fresh start was just what I needed to rebuild my self-confidence.

  Hours later, the red light had come on, indicating the gas was running low. I was really tired and had been battling a massive headache for the last few hours. I was also mentally exhausted, despite having no set plans, so I pulled off of the interstate at the last exit before crossing the state line. The sign on the side of the road said this was Morgantown, ‘Home of the Bears’. “Morgantown, now that’s a nice enough name,” I mumbled to myself in a sarcastic tone, wondering if I would be able to blend in here, unnoticed.

  I drove through a couple of red lights and pulled into a hotel parking lot. I hated to park so close to the front; I preferred to park further out, towards the highway, hoping not to draw any attention to myself, but all of those spots were full. It appeared a bar was next door to the hotel, so I assumed those patrons were spilling over into the hotel parking lot. Not wanting to waste any money on a hotel room, especially since I had used over a hundred dollars already just on fuel alone throughout the day, I opted for the parking lot for a quick nap. I figured I could grab a couple hours of sleep, get gas in the morning, and check out the town to see if there was an opportunity out there for me. Maybe even start looking for a job.

  It’s still dark in the early morning hours. I get out of the car and stretch my legs. My muscles are tired and stiff from the drive yesterday and from being stuck in the front seat for so long. I walk across the street to the gas station and into the bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror, I see just how tired I really am. My eyes have dark circles under them, and my hair is looking pretty rough, sticking out in all directions. Good thing I put my baseball cap on before I left the car. I am going to need a shower soon since I’ve been on the road for a full day. The last thing I needed was to start smelling since I had no idea when I would be able to shower again.