River: A Bad Boy Romance (8 page)

“Wow”, River says, “is that so?”

“It sure is”, the receptionist says, and giggles at her own joke. “Mostly we just get layabouts, downbeats and criminals, and then very rarely we get the good looking, well behaved ones, you know, the ones that you wish would stay, perhaps even if it was only during the Christmas period.”

She hands him over a key.

“It's thirty five dollars a night, tax included, paid in advance. You just pay me in the morning if you want to stay another night, although something tells me I might not ever see you again after today. That's kind of the way it works isn't it?”

“That's for the penthouse suite right?” River says. “The one where all the celebrities stay?”

“I've had celebrities in all of the rooms, so you don't need to be worrying about that. I've put you at the back, but I can change that if you want. Most people like to go at the back.”

“The back'll suit me just fine”, River says. He digs in his pocket for the money, and hands over several screwed up bills.

“You never heard of a wallet?” she says to him.

“I've never had enough money to put in one”, he says.

“Ain't that the truth”, she says.

“I figure I can smoke in the room?” River says.

“I told you already it's against the regulations. Use the ashtrays if you're going to do it, and don't let me see you. Although if I ever make it to your room, I ain't going to be worrying about a little bit of smoke getting into my eyes, if you know what I mean.”

Her giggle turns into a cackle, and that cackle turns into a full on coughing fit. Eventually she settles down again, aided on her way by several medicinal slurps of her gin & tonic.

“You need me, I'll be in here”, she says.

“Thank you”, River says and makes his way back out to the car.

Just before he leaves the reception room, she says, “You can do what you like, your business is your business after all, but just don't bring me any trouble, you hear me? I'm too old and too ugly for it now.”

With that advice given, she puts her glasses back on, turns back around to her television set, un-pauses the VHS and sparks up the rest of the cigarette River left in the ashtray.

Maddy had expected to be let out of the car when it stopped fifteen minutes ago, almost resorting to banging on the metal trunk lid, thinking that River had left her. Now as the car starts up again, she has even less idea of what's going on. River drives the car the short distance to the back of the motel, finds his room number and reverses so the trunk is facing the door, as close as he can get it. This is a single level motel of about thirty rooms spread out in an H shape, right on the edge of a dusty state border town that not even the residents themselves really give two shits about, and the receptionist has picked well for him, choosing a room right in the top of the H, away from everything and with good visibility should he need it. There are three other cars parked in the lot, all on the other side, and no sign of activity, apart from a mangy dog sniffing about, marking territory and trying to find either something to eat or somewhere to shit. It's the kind of place anyway, where people keep their own business to themselves, that even if someone sees him open the trunk and take what is clearly a hostage out of it, they'll probably do nothing else but turn back to their TV or drink, and forget the whole thing, having witnessed yet again, something they see on a regular basis.

River doesn't want to risk it though, and before he opens up, he takes another look around, just to make sure he's alone.

Maddy screws her eyes up, as the harsh afternoon light spills into the trunk around her. Her hope that the silhouette now standing in front of her would belong to someone coming to her rescue, is broken into a million pieces when her eyes adjust to the new brightness, and she sees, yet again, the man that seems to be driven by the sole desire to make her life hell.

“Rise and shine, Miss Madeleine Parker”, River says. “Welcome to your new home.”

The gun is a precaution against a scream for help, that Maddy would struggle to deliver anyway. River holds out his free hand to help her, and Maddy gives him a look that would cut through lead, before sitting up on her own.

“Where are we?” she says.

“I'll tell you that when we've settled in”, River says.

“I can't wait.”

“You try anything stupid, I'll shoot you in the back and leave you bleeding on the floor while I drive away. Now come on”, River says.

He puts his free hand under her armpit to help her down, and Maddy tries unsuccessfully to struggle away from it. River thinks she's trying to squirm away, but all she wants to do is get down and walk into the room unaided. He holds her tighter and pushes the gun a little more strongly into her spine, and Maddy relents. He slams the trunk and walks her into their motel room, shutting the door behind them and locking it without taking his eyes off her. Once inside, he closes the curtains and checks the room for other entrances, of which there are none. In fact, all he finds is a dead cockroach next to the toilet bowl. Maddy stands there with her arms folded, watching him go, a look of disgust on her face. The place is absolutely filthy, and there are weird stains on the bed and the far wall. Dust inhabits every available surface, and there is an acrid smell of tobacco smoke, that River immediately adds to, by sparking up yet another cigarette. Maddy watches him sit down on the bed, as though the place has always been his.

“This is it?” Maddy says. '”his is your grand escape plan? A shitty motel in the middle of nowhere. What are we going to do now, spend the rest of our lives here until the cops forget about you?”

“That's almost funny, Maddy, I like that”, River says.

“Fuck you”, she says. “You can't just go around taking people hostage like this, it's not fair. I have a life!”

Maddy looks for somewhere to sit down, but the options are either sharing the bed with River or sitting on the dirty floor, neither of which seem appealing to her. Instead she just paces back and forth a little bit, like a mechanical doll, before kind of leaning awkwardly up against the back wall.

River watches her. The last thing he wants is for her to have a nervous breakdown. He'd rather not gag her, and besides which he'd prefer for her to be compliant, not difficult. It would be easier and much more enjoyable for them both. He's only known her less than half a day, but he can tell that she's the kind of person that needs a bit of fun.

“Settle down, Maddy”, he says. “For a start, this isn't a shitty hotel. It's thirty five dollars a night, and a lot of famous people have stayed here.”

The statement is so bizarre, that Maddy almost gives him a weary smile.

“Secondly, I want to make a deal with you.”

“A deal?”

“I'm going to make it across the border to Mexico, with or without you.”

There isn't an ash-tray close by, so River tips the ash onto the top of the bed-side table.

“Do you have to do that?” Maddy says, disgusted.

“You've got to loosen up a little bit”, River says. “You can't go through life twisted up like that.”

“And you think it's alright to go through life like you are? Stealing and hurting and ruining everything.”

“It's done me alright just so far”, River says.

“I can see.”

“Why don't you sit on the bed? You'd be more comfortable.”

“I'm fine where I am”, Maddy lies, as uncomfortable as she was in the back of the car.

“I can see.”

Maddy scowls at him. River goes to the bathroom and throws the end of his cigarette into the dirty water at the bottom of the toilet bowl. There is a short fizzing sound as the water swallows it down.

“Here's the deal”, River says coming back into the room. “You do what I say, and we have some fun on the way to the border, or you don't do as I say, and you spend the time gagged and handcuffed in the back of the car.”

“Some fun on the way to the border? What do you think this is, a road trip? You've just robbed a bank, stolen my money and taken me hostage. The police are probably on their way to us now.”

“Gagged and handcuffed it is then”, River says, and moves towards Maddy.

“Wait, wait”, Maddy says, the memory of the ride in the trunk of the car, all too recent.

“How do I know you won't just kill me anyway?”

“I guess you'll just have to trust me”, River says. “You ever trusted anyone in your life before Maddy?”

“Have you?” Maddy says, turning the question back on him.

“I trusted a lot of people, and most of them just let me down one way or another. I'm hoping you're not going to do that. Anyway”, he says. “I'll kill you if you try to run. If you behave, and I get across the border, I'll even pay for the bus to send you back home.”

“What do you want me to do?” Maddy says. “Pretend to be your fiancée?”

“Don't worry, I wouldn't ask you to do anything I didn't reckon you'd be capable of doing. I reckon you find it difficult enough hiding your true feelings, so the hatred I'm sensing from you, would make that kind of connection between us a little difficult to pull off. Nah, I just want you to act like nothing's wrong. It's much easier for me if I don't have to treat you like a hostage, sneaking around trying to hide you everywhere we go. After that, it's up to you whether you enjoy it or not.”

“Why not just keep me tied up in the trunk of the car, or get rid of me altogether?” Maddy says.

“I don't like eating alone.”

“That's it?” Maddy says. “You're keeping me hostage because you don't like eating alone?”

“Do you like eating alone, Maddy?” River says, his intonation serious.

“I hope you burn in hell”, Maddy says.

“That's not a very nice thing to say”, River says. “I'm inviting you out to dinner and you're telling me to go fuck myself.”

“Inviting me out to dinner?” Maddy says, unable to believe what he's saying. “You're telling me to join you, and if I don't, you'll kill me.”

“No, I said if you don't, I'll handcuff you and keep you in the back of the car, without any food. If you agree, and then try and run away, that's when I'll kill you. It's an important distinction.”

“Is this how you date?” Maddy says. “With a gun in your hand?”

“Hopefully I won't need it”, River says. “Now, I'm going to ask you again. The trunk of the car, or an evening of fun?”

Maddy doesn't answer.

“It's the perfect way for us to get to know each other”, River says.

“I don't want us get to know each other. What have I possibly got to gain from us knowing each other?”

“I'm the only friend you've got at the moment”, River says, “and I'm taking the opportunity to treat you with respect. I'm sorry for taking you hostage, but to be honest, you looked like you needed it. What's more, I think you ought to drop the whole woe is me act, because it's pretty fucking unappealing. I don't know you Madeleine Parker, but I can tell from what I've seen so far that you've got to loosen up and start enjoying life a little bit more. I would wager that this is probably the most exciting thing that's happened to you since you lost your virginity, and when you're old and bitter and complaining about what injustices the world has thrown at you over the years, you'll look back on this time with the most regret of all, as the time that you could have enjoyed yourself, but you didn't because you were too far up your own ass.”

“That's it is it? That's your cod psychology analysis of me? And you think I should take the advice of a hostage taker, a bank robber and a murderer?”

“I've never killed anyone in my life, but that doesn't mean I won't start now if I have to. I may be a bank robber, but at least I don't look like an undertaker.”

Maddy is shocked and hurt. She's almost incapable of saying anything, and then finally manages to say, “This is a Valentino dress”, her voice quivering and tears beginning to form in her eyes again.

“It doesn't matter whose dress it is. You've got beautiful eyes and a beautiful figure and you hide it all away underneath a thousand dollar bin liner.”

It's the first time in a long time, that anyone has complimented her.

“What size are you?” River asks.

“What?” Maddy says, not really understanding the question.

“Clothes”, River says. “What size do you take?”

“You're going to buy me a new outfit as well as take me to dinner? What are we doing after, the movies?”

Maddy wipes tears from her eyes. She can't believe how ridiculous the situation is she's found herself in.

“Hell, Maddy, you never know. I reckon you'd just about like that too.”

She doesn't want to admit it to herself, but she really would. It's been a long time since she's been out for dinner with someone, but she'd love it even more, if the person that was offering it to her, wasn't only doing so because he needed a companion, or because she looked like she needed the fun.

“Four, six, eight?” River says, “what is it?”

“It depends on the clothes.”

“Well what is it in normal clothes?”

“It changes. I could be a size four or a size eight depending on the brand. It's not that simple.”

“Make it simple”, River says.

“Six”, Maddy says. “But they might not fit. You want to make absolutely sure, get one of each size, or better still, take me with you.”

River gets up off the bed.

“Your image is going to be all over the news, and anyway, dressed like that you stick out like a sore thumb. I'm going to get you a new look, but while I do so, I'm going to have to leave you here I'm afraid.”

River pulls the handcuffs out of his back pocket.

“Wait”, Maddy says. “I thought you said you wouldn't handcuff me if I did what you said?”

“I won't, but I need to know I can trust you”, River says. “At the moment, if I leave, and I leave you here, I know you'll take the first opportunity to get as far away from here as possible, and I can't let that happen I'm afraid. When I'm with you, I won't need to handcuff you, but when I'm not, I've got to do it for my own safety. At least until I know I can trust you not to run away.”

“I won't run away”, Maddy says.

“Yes you will”, River says. “Everyone would.”