AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The housekeeper nods and backs out of the doorway.
“See to that, too, will you?” Mother commands, nodding at the dirty room service tray. Then she shuts the door. Confidence is always the key, Mother says. Believe you are who you say you are, and they will, too.
We hear the housekeeper take the tray away. It’s time. Mother starts at the walk-in closet, flipping the suitcases open. I go to the bathroom and go through the toiletry cases, looking for cash or jewelry. Instead, I find a fancy face cream I know Mother likes so I grab it for her, hoping for a hug or a kiss in return.
“No money, but here,” I say, handing the small tub of cream to Mother. The corners of her mouth turn up a little bit. She’s happy with the find. Thank goodness. “Did you find anything, Mother?”
“Nothing good.” She sighs. “But I’ll keep this as a souvenir. Nice work. Back downstairs.”
Mother grabs a red swimsuit from the suitcase and stuffs it in her bag.
“Are we going swimming?”
“No.”
“I need a swimsuit, too.”
“You don’t need anything,” Mother says. “Let’s go.”
It feels like she already forgot about my gift.
She leaves me in the lobby and tells me to wait for her there. I look up at the ceiling and it reminds me of a church. I look at the newspaper. Mostly everything is about politics and the election. The weather is going to be the same as today for the next week and I think that sounds great so I wouldn’t mind staying in LA, but I don’t think we’ll be here very long at all. When Mother’s wild like this, that’s when we’re on the move the most.
Once in a while, her plans don’t work out.
Three women over the hour stop to ask me if I’m lost. They all have the same question. Where is my mommy? I’m used to strangers talking to me when I’m alone and I don’t mind it. I like the feeling of someone being worried about me. Sometimes men stop, too, but a woman will always interrupt. They just know. They watch out for me because I’m just a little girl. Alone. In a hotel lobby, on a park bench, outside a restaurant. I look for the women. They will always keep an eye out for me.
When Mother comes back for me, she’s in the red swimsuit from the hotel room, no cover-up. Everyone is looking at her. All of the men. All of the women. Mother looks more relaxed now and she loves the attention. She’s always the most beautiful woman in the room. I can tell she’s been drinking because she’s loose when she walks. Her hips sway more from side to side. She’s putting on a show for everybody and now I’m mad. She was at the pool having fun and I was stuck in the lobby all alone. She can tell I’m upset.
“Oh, come on, bunny, you’ll swim next time. This is all temporary. I’ll even get you some new suits soon enough. You might be oldenough for a bikini now. Would you like that?” I don’t say anything. She’s so embarrassing. Everyone is still looking at her. “Jesus, I thought I had a few more years until you turned into a surly teenager. Look. I brought you some fries!” she practically sings, handing me a brown paper bag, and my eyes get big as I yank it from her. She never brings me snacks like that so something really good must have happened at the pool. I’m almost never allowed to have french fries. She tells me all the time she wants to keep me lean. Keep me pretty. “I’ll get dressed and we’ll get going. We’re done here.”
“I thought we were going to stay,” I whine, and immediately regret it. I know she hates when I whine, but Mother’s in too good a mood to notice.
“Not this time, bunny,” she says, sweeping a piece of my hair from the front of my face. “But don’t worry. I always take care of you, don’t I?” I put my hair back so maybe she’ll do it again, but she leaves me for the ladies’ room. I dig into the fries and enjoy every bite, knowing it’ll probably be the only thing I eat all day. I scan the room for a water fountain because now I’m dying of thirst and I’m not sure where we’re going next.
When she comes back, she’s in her jeans, still wearing the swimsuit as a top. Her hair is still wet, but it looks good. We take a cab from the valet stand and in minutes we’re back at the place we were before. I should have known. This will be fun.
The bell on the door rings as we step back inside. The man behind the desk looks right at Mother’s chest. Men can’t help it, she tells me. Mother hands him a new card, this one thick and black, the very best kind. “Use this one. My boyfriend’s,” Mother purrs at him. “But just one night. We’re moving on tomorrow.”
“Yes, miss.” He puts his head down and tries not to look directly at her. I know he’s not worth our time, but Mother still likes to play.She always likes to play and sometimes I like to watch her play, like I do now. The card goes through and we head straight for the pool. It’s big and empty and in plain view of the office. Mother faces the window where the man watches her and shimmies out of her jeans. She stretches out on a pool chair, puts on her sunglasses and fires up another cigarette.
She wants him to watch her.
She wants him to regret how he treated us.
She wants him to be sorry.
I know we can stay anywhere with that black card, but Mother wants to make him feel bad for turning us away. He could have looked at her all week. What a fool he is. Mother doesn’t stop there. When we leave the next morning, there’s a different man at the reception desk. “Is there a suggestion box, sir?” she asks the new man.
“You’re looking at it. I’m the manager.” He’s amused by her and crosses his arms, ready to hear what she has to say.
“Excellent. Then you should know that your employee from yesterday made me extremely uncomfortable. What’s his name?”
“Burke.” He grins at her. He has no idea what’s coming. I stay close to her. She likes to know I’m paying attention to the game.
“Is that his first name or his last name?”
“I don’t see how that’s important, miss.”
