Blue Coyote Motel (2 page)

Just then, he spotted an old, run-down gas station about a mile or so ahead. He pulled in and got out of his car, barely able to breathe in the stifling heat. The dry wind blowing the tumbleweeds sounded like fingernails scraping on a chalkboard. A weathered-looking old man greeted him and introduced himself as Lou. Doug followed him into the small office that was badly in need of a paint job, new linoleum and a floor to ceiling cleaning. He could barely notice any difference from the temperature outside.

"Say," Doug said, "got anyone who knows how to fix an engine problem on that car of mine out there? And how do you stand this heat? Don't you have an air-conditioner?"

"Most air-conditioners don't work well in this heat," Lou said. "They die. Not a brand out there that can stand up to it. Only ones that can are big commercial ones and I sure as hell can't afford one of those. As for your car, sure, I can probably fix it. Let me have a look. I've been doing auto repair for over forty years so there's not much I can't fix. If you need some part, it usually means about a day to get what I need from the auto supply shop in Blythe. Believe it or not, they send new parts out to me by Greyhound bus. I only get delivery once a day, so that's why it takes a day or so to fix any sort of major problem."

He walked out to Doug's car, and took a look under the hood. "Yeah, I can’t be sure, but it looks like you need a new water pump," Lou said. "I'll call the auto supply shop and they can send me the part. You're going to have to spend the night, but there's a nice little motel up the way that reopened about two months ago, the Blue Coyote. You can drive my old truck up there. Three miles and you'll see the sign. When I get the part in and the car's fixed, I'll drive up to the Blue Coyote tomorrow and we'll switch cars. You can pay me then."

Doug gave the old man his contact information, got in the truck, and headed up the road. He saw the sign for the Blue Coyote just where Lou said it would be. The endless desert sand blew across the highway in the shimmering heat. Doug hoped the place would be clean and at least have a cold beer. He needed something to eat and also a working air-conditioner that offered some relief. Right now, the cold beer was the main thing on his mind. He could almost taste the beer on his tongue and feel the ice-cold brew sliding down his throat. The heat was ungodly, particularly if you were carrying around 325 pounds of weight.
Shit
, he thought,
I weigh almost one-sixth of a ton. Now there's a happy thought.

As he started to turn into the Blue Coyote driveway, he became aware of raised high voltage power lines dancing in the distance. When he looked at the power lines a little more closely, he noticed that something was off. It looked like one of the high power lines was going directly into the motel. Although Doug hadn't been a Phi Beta Kappa in college, he remembered something he had read in some magazine about how dependent everyone and everything was on electrical power. He couldn't imagine why the Blue Coyote would need such a large amount of energy feeding into it. Even in this unremitting heat, even if the air-conditioning system ran 24/7, which it probably did, and even if there was a back-up generator, why so much energy? He forgot about the power line after he turned into the driveway, pleasantly surprised by the way the motel looked in this godforsaken out-of-the-way place. Unlike most places in the desert that, almost without exception, looked battered and rundown, the Blue Coyote looked like it had been freshly painted with desert plantings arranged attractively around it.

He parked Lou's old, rusted truck, got out, and entered the reception area. A young brunette with a beautiful smile greeted him. "Hi. I'm Maria. Welcome to the Blue Coyote," she said. "Our rooms are a hundred and twenty-five dollars a night, but they're really comfortable and with the central air-conditioning, you won't even know you're in the desert. There's an honor bar with beer and wine and some other things that can be microwaved. I'll have baked goods for you in the morning."

Doug was speechless. He had never seen a woman as beautiful as the one in front of him. Long, lustrous black hair framed a face that would have inspired poets and artists. And her body! Her body was perfect, from her full, lush breasts to her small waist to her long legs. His mind was numb and his jaw went slack. She rendered him incapable of doing anything but staring.
What in the hell was she doing in this godforsaken place?  He wondered if he was hallucinating.
This simply couldn’t be.
It was impossible to imagine that a woman as beautiful as she was even existed, let alone in this place, but the vision in front of him remained and when he was finally capable of thinking, he realized the most beautiful woman he had ever seen was indeed in front of him.

Doug thought a one hundred and twenty-five dollar room rate in this nowhere place was exorbitant, but there wasn't much to choose from, which was exactly why they probably got that kind of money. He clearly needed somewhere to stay. He wasn't sure if Aravalve would reimburse him, but if he hadn't made the sales calls in Phoenix, he wouldn't be here now. They really owed it to him to pay for his room. Even if Jack fired him Monday morning, Doug was determined to get Aravalve to pay for the room.

He signed the registration card and the young woman gave him his room key. He went to the refreshment area where the drinks and food were located, picked up two ice-cold beers and went to his room. It was a small motel, five rooms in all, but his room was large and clean. The floor was tiled and the bathroom even had spa caliber complimentary shampoo, conditioner, body soap, and body lotion. There was an oak framed painting of a blue coyote on the wall, howling at the moon. Doug had seen the blue coyote motif all over the Southwest, but in this remote place, it seemed particularly appropriate. He wondered if he'd hear coyotes tonight. That could be pretty scary out here. Even so, he looked forward to the coming darkness and welcomed the night.

The air-conditioning felt great. He turned on the shower and stepped in. It felt good to get the desert grime off his skin and the warm water loosened the tension in his neck, shoulders, and lower back. Endless hours of sitting in a car didn't help his chronic back pain. It seemed the longer he drove, the more it hurt. He was constantly reminding himself to lower his shoulders, to let the tension go.

After his shower, Doug opened one of the beers and lay down nude on top of the bedcovers, letting the air-conditioning cool him off. He watched the news on the room's swing-arm flat screen television and opened the second beer.
Man
, he thought,
someone
has
put
some
serious
money
into
this
place
.
Why
would
anyone
invest money
in flat
screen
televisions
,
spa
bathroom
items
,
and
designer
tiles
on a
motel
in
this
nowhere
place
?

As he began to relax, he decided that maybe things weren't quite as hopeless as he'd thought earlier. Maybe he could convince Jack to give him another chance. He knew he hadn't really tried hard enough to sell the valves. If he could sell more valves, he could get the money he owed Lisa. It wasn't her fault he'd blown out his knee and their life had begun to slide down the rabbit hole. Maybe he could even convince that cute new receptionist at Aravalve to have dinner with him.

Doug felt better than he had in a long time. The hum of the air-conditioner was very relaxing. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could detect a slight scent of sandalwood in the cool air as it flowed across his body. When he was in a college fraternity, he and some of his friends decided to get a massage after a night of drinking and partying. He recognized the sandalwood scent as being the same the masseuse had used.

He got dressed and wandered back to the refreshment area. There were some baked chicken breasts in a food warmer that looked pretty good. He helped himself to two of those along with a fresh-looking salad. He debated about having another beer, but decided against it.
I'm
on
a
health
roll
here
, he thought,
no
sense
screwing
it
up
. He walked back to his room, got into bed and slept the sleep of the newborn and was awakened just before noon by the telephone ringing next to his bed.

"Mr. Ritchie, your car is here. Lou repaired it and he's waiting in the office for you," Maria said.

Doug hurriedly dressed, amazed at how long he had slept. Quickly walking to the motel office, he paid Lou, checked out and drove west, towards the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles where he lived. It felt good to be alive. For the first time in a long time, he realized he was smiling. The tension he carried like an albatross around his neck was gone. He decided it was time to join a gym. He even imagined he might have lost a few pounds the last couple of days. Looking back on last night, it was probably the best night's sleep he'd had in months.

He thought about what a refreshing and pleasant place the Blue Coyote had turned out to be. Yesterday he had seen nothing but tumbleweeds and searing blacktop when he drove down the highway, but today he saw the beauty of the desert with its varying shades of brown and the beautiful hills in the distance. Yes, it definitely felt good to be alive.

CHAPTER 2

Monday morning arrived with Doug feeling the best he'd felt in years. The weekend had been great. Without quite understanding why, he had joined a gym down the street from his apartment and worked out the last two days. He had run a mile each day, eaten carefully, and had no desire for beer, cigarettes, or prostitutes. He decided to take a run and hit the gym before his dreaded meeting with Jack.

After he showered and shaved, he stood in front of his closet for some time, picking out a crisp white shirt, muted grey striped suit, matching tie, black belt, shoes, and socks. He knew he had to convince Jack that he could do a much better job and he intended to do just that. He needed Jack to give him one more chance.

Doug lived in the San Fernando Valley, which was part of Los Angeles, but was nearly twenty miles from the downtown area. On his way to the Aravalve headquarters in Century City, the west side freeway traffic was horrible as usual. Doug couldn't understand why anyone would want to live here.
How could you plan anything in your life with a constant traffic jam looking you in the face whenever you wanted to go anywhere?
The side streets weren't much better. Finally, he got to Aravalve's corporate office and said a silent prayer that the upcoming meeting with Jack would go well.

Hurrying into the reception area outside Jack's office, he almost collided with the cute new receptionist. "Sorry, Lacy, I almost ran over you. Guess I'm just in a hurry for my appointment with Jack," Doug said.

"Wow, Doug, you look great! It's good to see you and I'm sure Jack will be happy to see you." Lacy looked at Doug and graced him with a dazzling smile. "Perhaps you need to take me out for a drink after work, considering you almost upended me," Lacy said.

Doug could hardly believe what he was hearing. This was a dream come true. A beautiful woman like Lacy asking him out for a drink, yes, this was shaping up as the best Monday he'd had in a long, long time.

"I definitely need to make it up to you, Lacy. How about 5:00? I’ll look forward to that."

Doug smiled at her and it felt like the Doug of years ago, the confident football player whom no one could resist; certainly not Lacy. She didn't remember him being this charismatic.
How could she have missed it?

The door to the inner office opened and Jack walked forward to shake Doug's hand. "Good to see you. Come on in my office.” Jack closed the door after they entered his office, looked at Doug and said, "What's happened? You look like a different person. Did you go to some spa or something?"

Doug replied, "I know I haven't been working up to my potential. I've been off track for a while, but I'm back now. I'm asking you for another chance. I promise I will be your top salesman within three months or you won't even have to fire me, I'll quit. Please, trust me. Just give me one more chance."

Jack took a long look at him. Something had definitely happened to Doug. His shoulders were squared, he had a confident air about him, and he looked ready to get out and sell. Looking like he did now, Jack sensed it would be hard for anyone to say no to Doug during his next sales call. Even though Doug carried extra weight, somehow it didn't look so bad on him now. He just looked like a powerful, large man.

"I've always liked you," Jack said. "You can have your one more chance. I sense a change. If you can do this job and do it well, I have no doubt that you'll be our top salesman. I’ll look forward to hearing about your sales results. Why don't you come to dinner at the house this Sunday? Let's say 7:00. The sunsets are beautiful this time of year at the beach and I know Nancy would love to see you." Jack looked at his watch, indicating that the meeting was over.

Doug stood up, shook Jack's hand firmly and said he
would see him
Sunday
.
He
walked
into the reception

area, reminding Lacy he'd be back at 5:00.

It
is
a
good
day
, Doug thought to himself.
No
,
it
is
a
very
good
day
! Doug called on six different businesses and sold large orders of valves to each one.
Jesus
, he
thought
,
this
might
be
the
best
day
I've
ever
had
. It was right up there with winning a football game.