The Hotel

by Melanie Jones Brownrigg

  Greg had been my world for so long. A world in which I had been easily captivated by his handsome looks, charming personality and above average intelligence. Ever since being together, he’d been the perfect boyfriend, and then the perfect husband, or so I had thought. He’d always been supportive, a great sounding board, and eager to help with household chores. During our romps, he was always attentive in ways I never thought possible. And when it came to Ava, he went well beyond what most dads did.

  But now the writing was on the wall. Taylor Anderson wasn’t a “he,” as I had thought. Lisa Jacobs was lonely and missing the comfort of my husband. Wasted thoughts had been spent rationalizing what was going on and convincing myself there was nothing to worry about. The reality was, I had been a complete fool. I needed to face the music and listen to the fat lady singing. Greg had changed, evolving into someone I didn’t know anymore. Our relationship had already faltered and now it was time for me to examine the real world and stop living in a fantasy bubble.

  The bottle of wine was gone. I tried remembering if it was full when I started. It probably was if I couldn’t remember. It was time for Greg to be home. His fake arrival time from racquetball. Tossing the empty bottle in the waste bin and rinsing my glass, I stumbled up the stairs and got ready for bed. The wine had calmed me, but it had also made me tipsy. When I crawled into bed, I thought it moved underneath me. Clutching at the sheets, I made my way under the covers.

  Just as I suspected, Greg arrived home at his scheduled time. He was keeping up those appearances. While I would normally still be up when Greg came in from his dreamworld with his skank, or skanks, tonight the wine had me already in bed. Greg gingerly joined me, carefully slipping in beside me. When he wrapped an arm around my waist, I latched onto him to let him know I wasn’t asleep.

  “Where have you been?” I asked accusingly.

  “What do you mean?” he questioned innocently.

  “You know what I mean. Where have you been?” I repeated in a daring tone.

  “I was working, Emily. I haven’t been at racquetball in probably two months, maybe longer. I suppose Lucas told Kay and that’s why you’re asking.”

  “Yes, she mentioned it. If you were working late, why didn’t you just say so?”

  “Because you’ve been doing nothing but harping on me about working too much. For months, all I’ve heard were complaints about me not spending any quality time with you and Ava. When you thought I was at racquetball, you didn’t realize I was working. I was trying to make things so that I could spend more time with my two favorite girls.”

  Taylor Anderson and Lisa Jacobs went through my thoughts. “Who are your two favorite girls?”

  “Don’t be silly. You know it’s you and Ava. Emily, honey, please don’t get it your head that I’m cheating. I’m not. I was working. Truly I was.”

  I wanted to believe him. Truly I did.

  “Baby,” he continued, “I love you, and only you. Well, Ava too, of course. But you know what I mean.”

  My foolish heart was melting and before I knew it, we were having another romp. Another night of making love. This time it was slow and tender, and Greg’s kisses were soft and delicious. And when I fell asleep, my hand was in Greg’s and his fingers were curled around my own.

  CHAPTER SIX

  (Friday - Four Days Before)

  AVA

  My eyes pop open, even before Momma comes in to wake me. An excited jolt rushes all through me and I hug Mr. Chubs. He is my favorite bear. A lot chunkier than two other ones I have. I don’t mind that he is a roly-poly. It’s just more for me to cuddle.

  My feet fly from under the covers, and I bounce across the floor. Today is the Science Museum and I can hardly wait. I am so excited. It is going to be better than winning fifty bucks at bingo and better than embroidering. It is going to be the best.

  “Momma,” I yell banging on my parents’ bedroom door. “Get up. Get up.” I am supposed to always knock before entering when the door is closed. It is the rule, though I don’t understand why. All the time my parents come into my room without knocking. It doesn’t seem fair. “Hey, get up,” I yell when they still haven’t answered.

  “I’m coming, Ava,” my mother’s voice finally calls back.

  A moment later she appears with a frown on her face. Clearly, she doesn’t know how important today is. I need her to get a move on. “You need to get downstairs and fix my breakfast.”

  “Did I hear a please?” she cautions me.

  Taking a couple steps back from her, I bite my tongue. There is a no please. She needs to get the day started. But from the look on her face, I am going to have to change my attitude. “Please,” I beg, placating her. She likes it when I do that.

  Yippee, yippee, it works. She finishes wrapping a robe around herself and heads for the stairs. While she is off to do motherly things, I go into the bathroom and brush my hair. My hair is long and blonde, like my mom’s. But so is my dad’s. Mine is more like his though ... a sandy blonde my mom calls it. And I have his blue eyes too. I’m glad I look like my dad because he’s the best dad. I’m very lucky. Not like Sarah. Her dad is the worst dad. THE WORST. I hate him. Once, a few months ago, I spent the night with Sarah and her dad came into the bathroom when I was in the tub. They didn’t have a shower curtain in that bathroom because they have walk-in showers. But I was in the tub and there was no way for me to pull anything closed to cover my nudity. It was so embarrassing. He pretended to be fishing for something in the medicine cabinet and then saying he couldn’t find it. But Sarah’s parents had their own bathroom and this one was Sarah’s. Only Sarah’s. He took a long time in hunting for it and the whole time he kept grinning at me. A lot. And I noticed he had something in the front of his pants. It was a banana, or something. It was weird and creepy. It made my heart bang against my chest so hard that I thought it was going to break a rib.

  And then he did something truly horrible. I can’t even think about it and I haven’t been back to Sarah’s since, and I don’t want to. It screwed me up inside my brain. Now every time I take a bath, I have stupid thoughts that he’s coming inside. I know I’m home and that he’s not here. It can’t possibly happen. I know this. I really do. But just in case, I have my mom stand guard for me. She knows something is wrong. She’s asked me several times and each time I lie and tell her that it was because of a scary movie I saw at Sarah’s. How can I tell her I’m scared of Sarah’s dad coming into the bathroom at a place he doesn’t live? The truth doesn’t make sense to me.

  As I brush my sun-drenched locks and then wash the grit from my eyes, I try desperately hard to shove Sarah’s dad out of my mind. Today is supposed to be fun. Nothing else matters. When I look back in the mirror, I put a smile on my face and think of nothing but happy thoughts.

  Still in my jammies, I bound down the stairs and sit at my place at the table and watch my momma cook breakfast. My momma is beautiful. I’m lucky to have her too. She loves me, just as much as my daddy. I don’t think Sarah’s mom even cares about Sarah. All she thinks about is new clothes, new jewelry, new cars, new everything. A few days ago, Sarah said they were thinking of moving. No doubt it’ll be to an even bigger house, with a bigger pool and a bigger everything. Sarah has it all. She doesn’t go without ... not like I do. I only get good stuff on my birthday and at Christmas. I guess it’s all a give and take thing. I have great parents, but less stuff. Sarah has all kinds of stuff, but cruddy parents. I think my life is better, even though Sarah always makes me feel like I’m deprived. Sometimes I don’t like her because of the way she makes me feel.

  “Here’s your milk, darling,” Momma says as she places a glass in front of me.

  “Good morning sunshine,” my daddy says when he comes down the stairs. He pauses to kiss me on the forehead. “You’re up early,” he remarks. “You must be excited about the day.”

  “I can’t wait,” I tell him with a huge smile.

  He crosses the room to my mommy and kisses her. My par
ents kiss all the time. It used to gross me out, but now I’m used to it. It’s to the point if they weren’t all lovey-dovey, I’d know something was wrong. One thing’s for sure, my parents love each other as much as they love me.

  “Breakfast is served,” Momma says as she places pancakes and bacon on our plates and brings them to the table. I drown mine in syrup and lick a dribble off my finger. “Yummy,” I say out loud.

  As soon as breakfast is over, I’m up the stairs and cleaning my teeth. We have a routine in our house. I bathe at night. Daddy showers in the morning. But I get to go in first after breakfast and he’s not allowed inside. Likewise, I’m not allowed in, if he’s in there. It’s the rule. It’s a good rule. Sarah’s dad should have the same rule.

  Once my bathroom details are finished, I skip to my room to change clothes. On goes that horrid white top. But at least it’s paired with my favorite jeans. A few moments later I’m ready.

  “Let’s go,” I tell my mom.

  “You’re early, honey,” she lets me know. “Besides, you need to wait for Daddy to get out of the bathroom so you can tell him goodbye.”

  Bummer. I’m so ready to go.

  It takes eons before my daddy comes out and tells me goodbye. He leaves before I do every morning, but this morning it’s not fair, because I’m ready to go. Then my mom needs to get ready because she works at the bank today. So, it’s another eon before she’s ready to go. Finally, after several more eons, we’re on our way to school.

  “I’m so excited,” I tell my momma. “It’s going to be fun today.”

  “Yes, you’re going to have a wonderful day,” Momma agrees.

  As the school comes into sight, I’m bouncing in my seat. I can hardly wait to eject myself from the car, but Momma makes me pause long enough to kiss her goodbye.

  “Goodbye, honey. Have a fun day,” she tells me.

  “I will. I will.” I can’t wait to get out of her embrace and into my classroom.

  It takes forever before the teacher has all of us kids organized. I’m listening. Why aren’t they? Sarah is next to me and she’s acting weird. She’s tugging at her shirt.

  “I don’t like my shirt either,” I tell her.

  “I hate my blouse more than anything,” she confides. “My momma made me wear it, and she made me come here today.”

  My eyes go wide open. “You don’t want to go to the Science Museum?”

  “It’s for babies. So no, I don’t want to go.” My ears hurt right now. I touch them to see if they’re bleeding. I let her harsh words fall away as we’re told to form a line and go to the bus.

  Sarah pushes in ahead of me because she wants the window side where she can admire the bright sunshiny day. I’m stuck in the aisle and Sarah’s off in her world gazing out at the neighborhood.

  I spend my time talking to Shelly, the girl in the aisle seat opposite me. She’s excited like I am. I can’t imagine what Sarah’s problem is. “She’s Debbie Downer,” I whisper to Shelly. Shelly is seated next to Doug Whitley, the class loner. He’s the type of boy who wants everyone to leave him alone. I’m guessing Shelly got stuck seated next to him because she appears thankful for me to be talking to her. Shelly doesn’t have many friends. Maybe she has no friends. Maybe that’s why she is thankful I’m talking to her. I like her. “Do you want to pal around with us today?”

  “Yes,” she says excitedly.

  Sarah elbows me hard in the ribs. “Ouch,” I groan, giving her a hateful look.

  She rolls her eyes at me and gestures over at Shelly. I ignore her.

  It’s another eon before the bus pulls into the parking lot. As we disembark, Sarah gets in my ear and whispers, “Shelly can’t hang around with us.”

  “Why?” I inquire.

  “She lives in the Westside Apartments.”

  “So?”

  Sarah rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t you know anything? That complex is only for losers. We can’t be associated with the likes of her.”

  I frown. “I’m hanging with her. Do whatever you want.”

  Sarah turns her back to me and I simply line up behind her. Shelly is behind me. Our first stop is the Planetarium. It was okay, though a little hokey. I still enjoyed it.

  Sarah is sticking with us. I guess she’s rethought her ultimatum. She leans in and whispers in my ear. “That was lame.”

  Shelly says, “I didn’t mind it.”

  Next is probably the best part. We’re doing the Omni Theater. I love the big amphitheater with the giant surround speakers. Our class climbs the steep steps and Mrs. Thornton, our teacher, directs us into two rows at the top. She sits at the edge of one row and Mrs. Stephens, a teacher’s aide, takes the outside seat on the back row.

  It takes an eon before the helicopter takes off and when it does, it feels like I’m flying in and landing right on the rooftop of the Science Museum and then the show starts. It’s so real to me. Every now and then I jump back in my seat whenever it feels like a dinosaur is right in my face.

  “This is so boring,” Sarah says next to me.

  “I’m so loving this,” Shelly says from the other side of me.

  As for myself, I’m immersed. It’s freaking great. I think I’ll ask my parents to bring me back so I can share it with them.

  When we get out, we’re lined up to go to the bathroom. It takes forever. Then we’re off to lunch in the on-site cafeteria. After we eat, we’re corralled down to the science section and into the Children’s Learning Center where I have fun with all the hands-on stuff they have there.

  Sarah comes up to me and says, “This is lame, too.”

  Shelly comes up to me and says, “I’m loving this, too.”

  As for myself, I’m having a ton of fun.

  When we leave the area, our teacher asks if anyone needs another bathroom break, but everyone is ready for the next part. It’s the second-best part … where we look at dinosaur skeletons native to North Texas and participate in the DinoDig.

  During the dig, Sarah comes up to me and says, “This is stupid. Do they think we’re stupid enough to believe we’re going to dig up a real dinosaur?”

  Shelly comes up to me and says, “I’m loving this. I found a bone replica.”

  As for myself, when a motion recognition camera mimics my actions in excavating with a hand shovel and prompts a dinosaur to roar and leap out at me in 3D imagination, I almost wet my pants. What fun!

  Mrs. Thornton groups us together and we parade down to the replicated dinosaurs. At the end of the section, there’s a real one. Not alive, but real bones.

  Mrs. Thornton says all kinds of scientific stuff about the six species that are native to this area. Then she reads the plaque, going on about it being the Paluxysaurus jonesi that lived around 112 million years ago. “Children,” she prefaces, “this particular dinosaur was found back in 1982 in Hood County on the Jones Ranch by paleontologists. It was approximately 12 feet high at the shoulder and probably 60 feet in length and weighed roughly 20 tons.”

  All I know, is that it’s huge and amazing.

  Positioning us in front of the dinosaur, Mrs. Thornton arranges us, tall kids in the back and shorter ones in the front. I’m short and so is Shelly. Sarah is moved behind me. She leans forward and whispers in my ear, “Thank God I’ll mostly be covered so no one will see this shirt ... what an embarrassment.”

  I look around at a sea of white shirts. Ours blend. It’s not a big deal. When the camera flashes, I smile big enough to split my face. Our pictures are printed out where we can all look at them.

  In each one, Sarah is hunched down and has her eyes closed. She whispers in my ear, “God, I look awful.”

  Shelly checks herself out and says, “I look pretty good.”

  As for myself, I look great. We each get a copy to take home. Sarah crumples hers and tosses it in the nearest trash receptacle and I carefully place mine in the back pocket of my jeans to treasure forever.

  “I can’t wait for this day to be over,” Sarah tells me.<
br />
  “I wish we weren’t at the end of the tour,” Shelly tells me.

  As for myself, I wish this day would last forever.

  We’re grouped once more for a bathroom break and then it’s on to the bus. Mrs. Thornton is taking another headcount, which she’s done several times today.

  While we wait for the verdict, Sarah suddenly comes alive. “Look, look Ava. That’s your dad. Isn’t it? Is that his girlfriend he’s with?”

  Sarah’s prior comment crashes into my thoughts ... I can’t wait for this day to be over.

  But what I’m really thinking is, I wish this day never happened.

  ◆◆◆

  “My daddy has a girlfriend,” Sarah goes on. “My momma doesn’t know, but I got sick one day at school … well, you remember that day when my nanny came and picked me up because Momma was out shopping. Anyway, when I got home, I heard Daddy on the phone telling a girl that he loved her, and he’d be over that night. Later he left and Momma stayed at home. That’s how I know it wasn’t my momma he was talking to.”

  My eyes are glued to the window of our yellow bus. My daddy is walking some girl across the parking lot and he has his arm around her shoulders. They look all snugged up next to each other.

  “Do you know her?” Sarah asks.

  “No,” I tell her. They’re walking away from me so I can’t see her face. But in the back of my mind, I think she looks familiar. I know one thing for sure, it’s not my momma.

  It’s an eon before the bus gets back to school. We’re instructed to go to our classroom and wait for the bell to ring. It’s an eon before it happens. And then it’s another eon before my Gigi shows up to get me. All these eons give me time to think, and in my mind, I realize if my daddy has a girlfriend, it must mean he doesn’t love my momma, which in turn, means he doesn’t really love me either. By the time I’m in the car, my tears break and all I can do is to bawl my head off.

  “Ava, honey, what’s wrong?” my grandmother asks with her mouth gaped open.