by Jessie Cooke
“I don’t know why you want to help me.”
“I guess you don’t need to know why to accept it. Think about it, a hot shower, and hot food in your belly…”
“Yeah, you’re a prince. Let’s go.” Jesus, this kid was a mess. I didn’t believe for a second that she was twenty years old either. I followed her back to my bike and she looked it over and said, “This thing looks really old. Is it safe?”
“It’s perfectly safe and it’s not old, it’s a classic.”
She snorted. I handed her the helmet and she said, “What are you going to wear?”
“I’ll be fine. My head is hard as a rock.” She snorted at me again and put the helmet on. I climbed on the bike and started it. She looked for a second like she was going to bail again. “Have you ever been on a bike?”
“Lots of times,” she said. She was so obviously lying. She threw her leg over the seat and settled down behind me.
“Hold on,” I told her. She gripped onto my shirt on both sides, holding it out from me so that she made sure she didn’t touch any flesh. As soon as I took off, she was going to be on her back on the pavement. “Put your arms around my waist. You’re going to fall off.”
She slid her arms around me and gripped my shirt again. “Happy…Pedo?” I laughed again. Seriously, this kid was something else.
I drove down near the old strip where there would at least be more of a touristy crowd and I wouldn’t be leaving her in a complete dump. I turned into the parking lot for the Travel Lodge. The sign out front said, “Vacancy…Rooms from $55.00/night.” When I stopped, the girl slid off and said, “This one is too expensive.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m not having sex with you.”
“Seriously, I’m okay with that.” She pulled off the helmet and hung it on the handlebars and then stood there with her arms folded over her chest looking at me. “I’ll be right back,” I told her. I went inside and took care of the room. I put it on my credit card and hoped that I’d make enough money somehow to pay it off by the time the bill came next month. I was almost surprised to find her still waiting for me when I came back out. “Here,” I handed her both key cards so she wouldn’t accuse me of wanting to come back later and rape her and I said, “It’s on the top floor all the way at the end of this row that we’re facing, #222. You have it until next Friday. I’m going to get you some food and I’ll be back. Is there anything else you need?”
“No. What do you mean next Friday?”
“I rented it for a week.”
“So you have more time to have your way with me?”
“You’re a little bit obsessed with sex.”
“You’re the perv.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “I’ll be back. It’s getting dark. Get inside.”
“Now you’re my fucking father?”
“Jeez, you know what? Stay out here. I don’t care. You are so argumentative. What do you like to eat?”
“Whatever.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I’ll be back with, whatever in a while.”
“I’m not having sex with you…any kind…no blow job, hand job…I won’t even show you my tits.”
“Good to know. I couldn’t bear the thought of any of it.”
“Yeah right, perv.”
She was still standing there with her arms crossed as I drove out of the parking lot. I considered driving on home and not going back. She’s more than a little bit disturbed. No telling what she might do…but those haunted violet eyes wouldn’t let me. I stopped at the pizza parlor down the street and went in and ordered a large pizza, bread sticks, a liter of soda and a beer. I sat and drank the beer while I waited for the pizza and wondered what possessed me to rent a motel room for a week for a girl I didn’t know and didn’t particularly like…with money I didn’t have. With that thought looming I thought about all the things she probably didn’t have. I borrowed a pen off the counter and started making a list.
4
Skye
I watched the big dude leave on the bike and figured that would be the last I ever saw of him. Oh well, at least I had a decent place to stay for a week and he didn’t rape me. It would have been easy for him too…he’s so freaking huge. Maybe I really do repulse him.
I went up to my room and when I opened the door, I nearly fainted. The bed was bigger than any bed I’d ever slept in…and there was a television and a microwave and a refrigerator! I went over and pulled back the clean, white comforter on the bed. Sheets! Real sheets! I can’t remember the last time I slept on real sheets! I was tempted to lie down on them…but I was filthy and I know I must smell bad. I wonder what Zeus thought of that? I noticed when I was on the back of the bike with him that he smelled really good.
I went into the bathroom and nearly died once again. A big, white, fluffy towel was hanging next to the shower and there were two white fluffy robes hanging on a hook on the door. There was a fancy coffee pot in there too, and a blow dryer! I don’t even like coffee, but I’m making some in that fancy pot. Who knows, maybe fancy coffee is better than what I’m used to. Jesus, I thought as I looked around, I almost need to have sex with this guy…I reached in and turned on the water in the shower as I stripped off my clothes. I wished that I could burn them, but now that the little pricks chased me away from my spot in the park, I don’t even have a change. I wasn’t going to think about that right now. I have a shower and a bed and a TV! I stepped in under the warm spray and just stood there for a few minutes, reveling in the way the water felt as it cascaded over my hair and down my back. It was amazing.
There was a liquid soap dispenser on the wall and for the first time in…shit, I can’t remember when, I lathered my whole body with it. When I finished with that, I reached for the little bottle of shampoo. I poured some into my hand and rubbed it in my hair. Oh God! It smelled like flowers and it made my scalp all tingly! I’m not sure what one feels like, but I think I might have just had an orgasm. I rinsed my hair and then I washed it again…just because I could. Lastly, I used the little bottle of conditioner and when I rinsed that out, my normally stringy hair felt like silk.
I stayed in the shower for a long time, but then I remembered the cave man said he was coming back. I doubt it, but in case he did, I didn’t want to still be naked. I shivered at that thought…and then shook it off. I dried off and then I did another happy dance when I found the little tube of toothpaste and a plastic wrapped toothbrush on the counter. I usually brushed my teeth with peppermint gum that I stole from Wal-Mart. I would have stolen a toothbrush and toothpaste…but sometimes clean water was hard to come by. I’m not a thief by nature…but sometimes a person isn’t left with many other choices.
I brushed my teeth and since Zeus hadn’t shown back up, I blow-dried my hair. I knew exactly how long it had been since I did that. It was five years, ten days and…about six hours since the day I left home and never looked back. Well, I look back sometimes, but it’s way back. I look back to the days when Mom and Dad were alive and my life was pretty decent. We were poor as dirt, but they loved me and they never even thought about hurting me. Things were different when I went to live with my aunt and her new husband…a lot different. I didn’t want to think about that right now…or ever.
When I finished drying my hair I combed through it with my fingers and looked at myself. I didn’t get much of a chance to look in a real mirror but I’m pretty sure that I look like a completely different person. I try and wash up every chance I get to go into a public restroom or whatever…but there’s a layer of grime that hangs over sin city and settles into your pores. If you don’t have soap to wash it out every day, it coats you and stays there. Without a toothbrush and toothpaste, or access to a dentist, the teeth can get dingy too. I smiled at myself. White and fresh.
I went into the other room and found the remote for the television. I turned it on and was just about to settle back and watch it when there was a knock on the door. My stomach pulled up into knots. Zeus has been g
one for almost two hours…surely it wasn’t him? I don’t know who else it would be. I can’t believe he came back. I can’t believe how happy that makes me.
“Who is it?”
“Mick.”
“Mick who?”
“Mick Jagger.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What? Please tell me you’re not serious.”
“Arms are kind of full out here; maybe you can make fun of me inside?”
“Sure. I’d be willing to make fun of you anywhere.” I pulled open the door. He was literally laden with bags…and pizza boxes. I didn’t want to think about what he’d gone and done. “Mick Jagger? Big mouth? Rolling Stone?”
“I’m standing here with my arms breaking off and you want to discuss my name before you invite me in?” Stifling a laugh I said,
“I’m sorry. Come in.”
“Thanks.” He came in and dropped everything in his arms down onto the little desk.
“What is all of this?”
“Just some things I thought you might need. As for my name, my mother was a Stone’s fan. I think the only reason she married my father was for his last name. I’m relieved I turned out to be a boy because if I was a girl, I’d have the same name. I have no other explanation for it than that.”
Still trying not to laugh at his name I gestured at the bags and said, “You really shouldn’t have done all of this.”
“I know. You’re still not going to have sex with me.”
“No way, not ever!”
“Before, the idea repelled me, but you’re at least more presentable now.” He smiled as he said it. He was kidding, but he was right. I’m surprised he even talked to me before.
“Nice compliment, I’ll bet you score like crazy with the women.” A picture of him scoring flashed through my head, against my better judgement.
“I happen to be in high demand in the greater Las Vegas area…if you must know.” I laughed. I’m sure he wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“So what is all of this stuff in these bags?”
“Just some basics you might need…and some snacks…and something for breakfast…drinks…”
I poked around in the bags. There were a lot of snacks and soap and shampoo and a toothbrush…a hairbrush…and a razor. Oh my God, lotion! I re-focused on the razor. “A razor? You really do think you’re going to get to have sex with me, don’t you? You want me to be all smooth for it.” I don’t know why I felt the need to be a bitch. The guy was obviously trying to do something nice…but I couldn’t shake the mindset that no one did anything for free.
“I’m trying to reconcile myself with the fact that you’re off limits. It’s hard. I hoped the gift of a razor would put me in your good graces.” He said it in a flat, dull voice. I wanted to laugh. Instead I punched him in the arm and said,
“Get over it. It’s never going to happen.”
He grinned at me. He knows that he’s hot. He’s not the first hot guy I’ve ever seen though. His romance novel good looks don’t do anything for me. “I wrote down my number on that card there by the bags if you need anything else. I guess I should go home and start working on putting the pieces of my life back together now that I know it’s never going to happen.”
That time I did laugh. The look on his face changed suddenly. “What?”
“You’re really pretty when you smile.”
Last time I was told that I was pretty…. never. Not true, I guess. My parents used to tell me. God, I miss them. Swallowing the tremor in my voice I said, “Nice try Pedo. Go home.”
“I’m going. Did I at least earn your name?”
“Skye,” I said.
“Skye…No last name? Like Cher? Madonna?”
“Like none of your business.” If he was an undercover cop or a private investigator he would have to work for it. He can knock himself out looking up girls with the first name of Skye.
He laughed. “Okay ‘Just Skye.’ I like it. It suits you.” I hated to admit it even to myself, but I liked the way it sounded when he said it.
“Thanks, I’d say the same to you but…” He rolled his eyes at me and started for the door. “Hey Mick Jagger!”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
He grinned at me again. “You’re welcome.”
I double locked the door behind him and then I let myself fall back onto the bed. Oh my God! I might just spend the next five days right here.
JAGGER
I sat on the bike looking up towards her room for ten minutes before I finally started it. I know it’s stupid since she’s obviously been on her own for a while, but I hated leaving her alone. For some reason I felt protective towards her. She tried to give off a tough girl, “Don’t fuck with me” vibe but I wasn’t buying it. I mean, she did kick some ass with those guys but there is something still vulnerable and childlike about her. I got myself to leave by telling myself that I’d check in on her tomorrow and make sure that she didn’t need anything else. After all, I’ve got a credit card that I just keep piling things onto. Hell, I’m so rich I could adopt her.
When I got home, I lit up the rest of my blunt that I didn’t get to smoke earlier after the alley sex. Sex was so much better with a smoke afterwards. I let that hit seep through my veins and then I took out my phone and I called Brock.
“Hey Mick! Did you decide to work with Jacob?” He sounded really excited about it. His faith in me was nice.
“I’m still thinking about it,” I told him. “But I’m leaning towards it.” I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep drag off the blunt. Damn that’s good. “What exactly is it that I’ll have to agree to?”
“First off, no drugs…not even weed, Mick. If you test positive for anything, Bradley will fire you and he won’t let you come back.”
I took another long, deep drag. I started to feel the serenity of being high settle down around me. “I can do that,” I said. I was lying, but I’d worry about that later. Nothing really mattered right now.
“Cool. Jacob’s not going to go easy on you. He’ll expect you to show up every day and he’ll expect you to give him a hundred percent of yourself every time.”
“Okay, but I have a question for you?”
“What’s that?”
“Is he always an arrogant prick or does that go away once you conform to all of his rules?”
Brock laughed. “He comes across that way sometimes, but honestly, he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known.”
“I had to ask, and I’m afraid I’ll have to see at least a sign of that before I believe you.”
He laughed again. “Just do what he tells you man. He’s the best there is and you’re damned lucky to be learning from him.”
“Yet you hold the title.”
“Fluke,” Brock said. Bullshit. Brock’s just not as confident as Jacob. I was at that fight. He won it, easily.
“Tell him I’ll be there Monday morning.”
“Bradley will expect you to pee.”
“Okay, but Cannabis will show up in a drug test for thirty days…He’s already fired me once for that.”
“Well, you can talk to him about it, Mick…Just don’t lie to him. I don’t care for Bradley on a personal level, but he’s damned good at what he does. He writes the drugs and the honesty into the contract and he fires people on the spot…as you know. He knows he can replace us too easily with a younger, stronger model.”
“He sounds like my last girlfriend.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you’re going to do this. You have a lot of inherent talent. It won’t take you long to move up in the ranks and fight me for the title someday.”
“Thanks. Don’t let anyone else take it before then, okay? I’m looking forward to taking it from you…”
“Shut up, asshole,” he said, laughing.
“We’ll see how this all goes,” I said. I was skeptical that Jacob and I would be able to work together. We were like polar opposites and I’d be willing to believe that we disag
ree on almost everything.
“I’ll text you a time to show up Monday,” Brock told me. I guess if I was going to do this, I’ll have to get used to talking to Jacob. It’ll be hard to argue with him if I don’t and I doubt that Brock will want to always be my middle man. I hung up and took another drag off the blunt. I was ready to relax now…nothing better than sex with a beautiful woman and smoking a fat blunt to cure what ails you. I had just slipped down into the cushions on the couch and lay my head against it and closed my eyes again when the phone rang. I looked at it and saw that it was Gary, my so-called manager. I’d been calling him every day for the past two weeks looking for a gig. His assistant calls me back, not the man himself. “Gary, it’s been a long time.”
“Sorry Mick, I just haven’t had anything for you lately man…Celia told you that right?”
“Yeah, she did. It would be nice if you picked up the phone and told me yourself every once in a while.”
“It’s just been busy…”
“Really? Because when I bitch about needing to get some work you say, “It’s just been slow.”
He hesitated. He was probably thinking about all the reasons my popularity with the venues had gone by the wayside. I lashed out at him because it made me feel better to get it out. I didn’t necessarily mean most of what I said. Gary was a pretty nice guy. I shut up and let him talk.
“Listen Mick, I have a gig for you, one that can lead to regular work. If you’re available tonight.”
Changed my mind again. What an ass. “Tonight? Like right now?” I guess I was available, but he didn’t know that and, it pissed me off that he just expected it.
“At ten.”
“Where?”
“Club One.”
“Another dive bar. Why am I not surprised?”
“I’m doing the best I can, Mick.”
Shit! “Yeah, I know. I’ll be there.” I felt bad when I hung up. It wasn’t Gary’s fault that I couldn’t get a decent gig in this town…it was mine. I hadn’t put together a demo CD in over a year for one thing. The demo CD Gary sends out is outdated. It’s good stuff, but the songs are old and there’s new electronic equipment coming out every day to make them sound better and better. The prospective clients that can be anything from a bar owner to a rich Mama having a party for a two-year-old… can gauge my vocals and my guitar skills with it, but they don’t feel it’s progressive enough. Then there is the fact that I’ve burnt more than a few bridges over the past few years fighting in the different venues. In my defense, I’m helping them out, keeping these guys from tearing up their place. Then there was the smoking. More than once, I’ve shown up so stoned that I fell asleep during my set. That was embarrassing. Luckily both times it was in a bar where most of the patrons were already drunk or passed out themselves.
