Alice & Dorothy (21 page)

The girls rode in silence for a while. The car seemed to be in two distinct temperatures: Ice cold on Dorothy’s side and seething hot on Alice’s. She could feel the heat of her anger spewing up from her chest and spilling over her forehead. She smelled garlic and onions (
armpits
) and thought of something her father might have cooked when she was younger. Hot chicken soup, spilling up over her face and into her eyes. She could taste it. It tasted like body odour.
That’s right, be a good girl. Drink it all up. Sooo goooood….

Push the gas pedal down as far as it’ll go
, the Hater said.
Go! do it! Betcha can’t jerk the wheel into oncoming traffic. We’ll make a game of it. Undo your seatbelts and see which one of you flies further. Windshield Longjump. Keep your arms out in front of you and you’ll win, I bet. You’re a lot taller than she is.

Lights danced in her eyes. Was it that easy? Windshield Longjump definitely sounded like something she could win. Dorothy would completely suck at it. She was wearing her seat belt, for Christ’s sake.
Wait.

What am I even thinking about? I’m not seriously going to jerk the wheel into oncoming traffic, am I? What the hell was wrong with me?
She needed to stop for a moment. She needed to catch her bearings. There was a blank spot on the shoulder of the road up ahead, and Alice pulled the car over toward it. She needed to clear her head for a minute or two. She slowed down and pulled over, then put the car in park and let out a long sigh. “I can’t drive anymore,” she said finally. “Any chance you can take over?”

“Why,” Dorothy said. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Alice said.

Tell her
, the Hater said.
Tell her, then bite her throat open like a fuckin’ tiger. Look at her vanilla flesh. I bet it tastes as good as it looks.

“Whatever,” Dorothy said. She popped her door open and went around to the driver’s side. She knocked impatiently on the window.

Alice opened the door and looked up at her. In the cool evening air she seemed backlit by Heaven’s gaze. She had a rainbow halo around her head and her eyes sparkled like emerald jewels.

“What the hell,” Dorothy said. “You want me to drive or not?”

“You’re so beautiful right now,” Alice said. She reached out to touch Dorothy’s hand, but the girl pulled away.

“Whatever,” Dorothy said, rolling her eyes. She looked away, shaking her head. She was fighting a smile and losing. She moved her hand back so Alice could touch it. “Just shut up and let me drive.”

Alice got out of the car. She leaned into Dorothy’s body as the girl moved past her.

“Get out of here,” Dorothy said playfully. “I’m mad, and you’re a huge icky jerk.”

“I
am
,” Alice said. The air was cool and damp, and a few deep breaths seemed exactly what she needed.

Dorothy sat behind the wheel and shut the door. Alice moved along the back of the car in a series of yellow Polaroid shots that left her dizzy and panting. She kept one hand on the car to keep her bearing, and when she got to the passenger side she dropped into the bucket seat. It was still warm. Dorothy’s warmth, and it felt good.

“You alright?” Dorothy said.

“Perfect,” Alice said. “Let’s get some cheeseburgers. And beer. I know a good place to crash. It’s cheap.
They rent by the hour
.”

Dorothy laughed. “Oh baby. Sounds classy.”

“They know me by name,” Alice said, smiling.

“Slut,” Dorothy said. She slapped Alice’s leg. She drummed the steering wheel with both hands. “
Okay!
I have no
effing
idea where I’m going, so we’re probably gonna get way lost.”

“Burger King!” Alice cried. “Take a left soon.”

“Gee, thanks,” Dorothy said. “Soon hey?”

Grab the wheel
, the Hater said cheerfully.
It’s not too late. You can still beat her at Windshield Longjump. Look at her face, it’s oozing blood already, you won’t even know the difference. If you love her, kill her. She’s going to betray you one day.

Alice put her hand to her head and gritted her teeth.”We need music,” she said suddenly, reaching over and cranking on Rabbit’s stereo. A wall of angry, muddy guitars hit the girls mid-stroke as Korn lamented their fucked up lives. Dorothy banged her head and threw up her devil horns. Alice screamed and growled every word. If the Hater was saying anything now, Alice couldn’t hear him

“
Turn here!
” Alice shouted over the music.

“
Okay!
” Dorothy shouted back.

Burger King gradually appeared on their left side slick and well lit and inviting among the dreary rows of commercial buildings, video stores, liquore shops, and gas stations. Alice pointed to the drive through. The girls screamed their orders over Metallica’s punishing guitar riffs and paid for their meals out of the rolled up ball of cash.

They made a quick stop at the liquor store across the street, grabbed a case of beer and a forty-pounder of Vodka, and then Alice directed Dorothy toward the motel. A short time later they were pulling into a large empty parking lot. The sign over the office was a large crescent moon with the words BLUE MOON underneath, and Dorothy shook her head, smiling. Mudvayne screamed that they were everything and nothing, and Alice had to agree.

Dorothy reached over and turned down the music. “I think I saw this place in a horror movie. A really bad one.”

“You might have seen it in a porno, actually,” Alice said. “
For serious.
”

“Eww!” Dorothy cried. She threw her hands up in front of her face as if to try and keep them clean.

Alice laughed. “Yeah there’s a couple college guys who make movies down here with
rentals
. They drive hummers, so I guess they’re making money at it.”

“Hummers,” Dorothy chuckled. “How fitting.”

“I know, right?”

The car squeaked as they pulled to a stop in front of the manager’s office. “I’ll just be a second,” Alice said. She started getting out of the car.

“
Don’t get any porn rooms!
” Dorothy shouted after Alice slammed the door. She turned and gave Dorothy a double thumbs up.

The door chimed when Alice opened it. There was a skinny guy in a Charlie Brown shirt sitting behind a wall of yellow panel board and Plexiglas. The man had his feet up in front of a small television and was sucking the barbeque sauce off a chicken bone. A plate of greasy wings sat in front of him, and the smell made Alice’s mouth water.

“Hey Steve,” Alice said, smiling. “Busy as always I see.”

“
Denise,
” the man said, licking his lips. He grabbed a paper towel and began the monumental task of getting the barbeque sauce off his fingers.

“The one and only,” Alice said. She was different people to different men. To this guy, in this place where she sometimes brought men when the weather was bad, she was Denise. Just another hooker looking for someplace warm and out of the rain for a few minutes.

“
Whatchu
need, the usual?”

The usual, for Denise, was one of the front rooms for an hour or so. Twenty bucks, cash, which went right into Steve’s pocket. A couple times he’d saved them up until he had sixty bucks and then handed them back to Denise. Then she’d fuck him, and pretend his weird, banana shaped penis was the hottest thing she’d ever seen.

“Not tonight,” Alice said. “I actually need a room for the next couple days.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve said. He eyed her from behind the Plexiglas and reached for a cigarette. His eyes darted across Alice’s bruises like a mosquito. “Anything special?”

“No,” Alice said. “Well, actually, I just got out of the hospital. Had a bad party a couple nights ago, and my friend and I need a place to crash for a bit.”

“Yeah, you look like shit,” Steve said. “I’m not just sayin’ that because I’m your friend.”

Is that what we are?
Alice thought, but didn’t say. A spider web had begun to creep along the edges of the glass, framing Steve in a delicate portrait frame. Black shadows skittered around the edges of her vision.

I wonder if you could pull his face through that little slot in the glass
, the Hater said.
Think you could get at him if you offered to blow him?

“Better go three nights,” Alice said. She pulled the roll of cash and started counting tens and twenties off it, against the counter and out of sight from Steve. Fuzzy black pipe cleaner spiders danced across the money and onto her hands, and she shook them off only to watch them fall to the ground in lazy somersaults. They hit the floor with the sound of fat raindrops hitting a car windshield.

“
Hunnert and fitty bucks
,” Steve said, and smiled. “
Plus tip
.”

Alice looked up at him and regarded his predatory look with her best hooker’s smile. “Only the tip?”

“Oh, you’re a bad bitch,” Steve said, molesting his cigarette. He blew hot ugly smoke against the Plexiglas and his smile widened, revealing teeth the colour of old ivory.

“You have no idea,” Alice said. She slid the cash through the open slot where the glass met the table.

Steve grabbed it up, gave it a quick count, and then grabbed a key from under the desk. “Room 108,” he said, sliding the key toward her. “Don’t wreck the place, and don’t fall asleep with a lit cigarette.”

“No worries,” Alice said. “Thanks baby!”

“Anytime, sexy,” Steve said as Alice turned and walked out the front door. It chimed as she passed. Steve’s eyes never left her ass until the door closed and he was alone again.

Dorothy pulled out of her spot, drove over to a spot marked
108
, painted in yellow road paint on a short concrete divider and parked the car. Alice busied herself collecting their supplies. She grabbed the heroin off the floor last and stuffed it in her pocket. Dorothy laced their arms together and they walked to their room. Alice popped the key and flicked on the light, and held the door open for Dorothy so she could go first.

“Wow,” Dorothy said, kicking off her shoes. “It’s like the seventies never ended for this place.”

“Yeah, pretty awesome, hey?” Alice said.

The room was a mix of cream and orange trim, with a heavy brown carpet. Two identical beds stood side by side in the middle of the room, their brown and orange top covers a perfect match. There were two small night tables beside each bed, sporting ashtrays, menus, and small bulbous lamps with orange covers. It had a vaguely sanitized feel to it, but Alice knew better. These rooms, especially the front rooms overlooking the parking lot, were anything but sanitized. She would be happy if the rooms had been cleaned in the past few weeks. From the stale smell of the air, though, she thought they might be out of luck with that.

“You got a double,” Dorothy said, staring at the beds.

“Yeah,” Alice said. “I didn’t know…what the sleeping arrangements would be.”

Dorothy smiled and bit her lip. Stepping up onto her tiptoes she did a little ballerina spin and finished facing Alice. “I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?”

“Guess so,” Alice said. She tossed the food down on the closest bed, and then kicked the door shut with her foot.

“Let’s eat!” Dorothy said.

Rabbit didn’t hear the door the first time it banged. He was sound asleep on his couch, drifting in a warm opiate bath and dreaming about sparklers running up and down his arms and legs. The second time it banged the spell broke like a golden bubble around him, and he felt himself coming up out of his stupor. It was like standing up after being in a hot tub all afternoon, he could feel cold consciousness stroking his skin and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to sink back into the confines of warm sleep.