THE SANCTUARY (11 page)

“Ughh,” Sonya said when she saw the bathroom. “I saw a roach so big we could put a saddle on it and ride it to Canby.”

“I’ll never get to sleep now that I know that. I’m afraid of bugs,” Julia said.

“Of course you are,” Liz said.

“What? Are you going to tell me that you like roaches?” Julia asked.

“No, but I’m not afraid of them. Name one thing that you’re not afraid of,” Liz said, irritably looking for someplace she dared to sit down.

“Well, excuse me. We can’t all be fearless and perfect like you,” Julia retorted.

“Stop arguing. We’ve got enough woes without picking fights with each other. It’s been a long day and it’s catching up with us,” Lydia said. “Let’s just try to settle down and go to sleep, and it’ll be morning before we know it. I’ll just turn up the lamps, and that’ll keep any bugs at bay.” She tried to turn up the floor lamp but discovered the bulb was only forty watts. “Who puts a forty-watt bulb in a hotel room?” she mumbled as she stooped down to pick up the lampshade she had dropped. Two little eyes peered out at Lydia from under the bed.

“You know what? I think we’d all sleep better with some food in our bellies. What say we head over to the diner for a little while?” Lydia asked.

“What happened to ‘let’s just get some sleep’?” Sonya asked.

“Hey, she doesn’t have to talk me into leaving this room,” Liz said, grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

“I think I’ll just stay here if y’all don’t mind,” Julia said. “I feel silly wearing this gown, and I can’t change since that awful woman locked up the garage and won’t let us get in the RV to get our stuff. Does she really think we’d grab our personal possessions and take off, leaving our RV here? I think she’s just enjoying making us uncomfortable. I, for one, don’t want to see her anymore today.”

“I understand. I just didn’t think you’d want to be left here with that mouse under the bed, but he is kind of cute even with those beady little eyes,” Lydia said.

Julia screamed and ran out of the room. She didn’t stop running until she got to the café. They hurried out of the room and stood outside the door howling at the sight of Julia screeching across the parking lot in a red ball gown and high heels.

“This is going to be some kind of night. I can feel it,” Sonya said.

“Yep,” Lydia said.

Grace had no interest in joining them. She said that she was going to wander around and see if she could find cell reception so that she could check her Facebook account and emails.

“Don’t leave the property,” Liz said.

It turned out that Lynette didn’t work at night. Boyd’s brother, Eugene, was the bartender, and a little Mexican fellow named José was the cook. The place turned into a honky tonk at sundown. There was a jukebox in the corner and a pool table, as well as a small dance floor. They were the only women in the place that night. And judging by the attention they received, maybe the only women in a fifty-mile radius.

Since food service was only until 10:00 p.m., they ordered baskets of cheeseburgers, fries, spicy wings, and beers.

“I think we need to do something to help pass the time,” Liz said after a while.

“Like what?” Jules asked suspiciously. Whenever Liz had an idea, it was time to watch out.

“‘I Never.’ Remember that game from college?”

“Oh, come on,” Sonya said. “Not that dumb game where someone asks a question and then if you’ve done it you drink?”

“And if you haven’t?” Julia asked.

“Those kinds of questions aren’t asked,” Sonya said.

“That’s not true. I’m sure Jules won’t have to drink much,” Lydia said, trying to reassure Jules.

“Are y’all implying that I’m a prude?”

“We’re not implying anything. We’re flat out calling you a prude,” Sonya said.

“Snap!” Liz said, high-fiving Sonya.

“Hey, that’s not nice,” Julia said. “And FYI: no one over the age of twenty should say ‘Snap!’”

“So we’re all agreed?” Liz said as she got up and headed to the bar. After a little discussion between Eugene and Liz, Liz slipped behind the bar and helped the bartender make some drinks.

“What are those?” Sonya asked doubtfully when she saw the tray full of shots Liz had brought back from the bar.

“Big surprise, but they don’t have most of the ingredients for Woo Woos, so I had to improvise. Eugene and I call them Hair of the Prairie Dog.”

“God help us,” Lydia said as she kicked off the “I Never” game with the first question. “I’ve never had sex in a public place.” Liz and Lydia were the only ones who drank.

The women were well on their way to a good buzz when one of the drooling men came over and asked if any of them would like to play a game of pool.

“Sure thing,” Liz said, jumping up and sashaying across the room.

“Oh boy,” Jules said.

“Something tells me we’ll be lucky to not get arrested or run out of town,” Lydia said.

“Ladies, I got an idea,” Liz said when she finally returned to the table waving fifty dollars.

“What’s with the money?” Sonya asked.

“I won it playing pool. An ex-boyfriend taught me how to play. I’m pretty good, just one of my many talents. Anyway, that got me thinking that we only need about two hundred dollars more to settle our repair bill. No way are we paying for that rodent-infested motel room. What if we could raise the money tonight?”

“You really think that those guys are going to keep playing you until they lose two hundred dollars?” Lydia asked.

“That wasn’t what I had in mind,” Liz said.

“What’s your plan?” Sonya asked.

“First, let me suggest that you all drink up,” Liz said, grinning from ear to ear.

“
I love you ba-by, and if it’s quite all right, I need you ba-by
,” Lydia sang while Sonya, Julia, and Liz swayed and swooned behind her. They tried to imitate the Dreamgirls of Motown but didn’t quite succeed. No one at the bar seemed to notice their shortcomings. Liz pushed Jules out in front, next to Lydia. Remarkably, Jules stayed front and center. The men cheered and whistled and yelled at the four of them.

“
To hold me tight and love me ba-by
,” Lydia belted out the lyrics beautifully although it probably wouldn’t have mattered what or how she sang. The men loved the show and didn’t seem to begrudge the fee Liz had collected beforehand for their performance.

“We’re still sixty-two dollars short, and those guys want to see Jules do a solo act,” Liz reported after they had exited the “stage” seeking refreshments.

“I’m not taking my clothes off for anyone,” Jules said.

“No silly, you just have to sing a song and move seductively.”

“I can’t do it.”

“You’ve been doing it,” Lydia reminded her.

“Yes, but with you all around me. Not standing alone in front of a group. That terrifies me.”

“Okay, listen up. Weren’t you the one who told us that you weren’t going to let your fears dictate your life anymore? Now’s the time to put your money where your mouth is. If you can do this one little thing for us, then we can get out of here tonight. Otherwise, we have to go back to that motel room and face Marty the mouse,” Lydia said.

“No way,” Julia said.

“Then get yourself over there and sing a song. It’s not like you ever have to see any of these people again,” Sonya said.

Lydia took Jules outside and coached her for a few minutes while Liz ordered another round of drinks. They did a Hair of the Prairie Dog shot, toasting, “To the Carolina Girls for-e-ver! Let’s show these people why southern gals are the best!”

“
See the pyramids along the Nile, see the sunrise on a tropic isle. Just remember darling all the while, you belong to me
,” Julia sang as the jukebox played Patsy Cline’s “You Belong to Me.” The selection was limited, and it was either play one of the songs in the jukebox and perform karaoke, or sing live without any musical accompaniment.

The audience loved her. They yelled, “Sing it baby!” and whistled loudly. Julia seemed to welcome the attention. She danced provocatively and tilted her head back letting her hair tickle her hips and her breasts jut out.

“Who knew our girl had the moves?” Sonya asked.

When the song was over, the men all stood up and clapped while Julia bowed and then returned to her seat blushing.

“Guess you managed to get through it,” Liz said dryly.

“It was actually kind of fun. I’m glad I did it,” Julia said. “I think I could even get up there again if I had to.”

“No way,” Lydia said. She had been studying the crowd and was worried that things were getting out of control. Liz gathered the cash and went up to Eugene to settle the tab.

“When Liz gets back, we’re going to pretend to go outside for some fresh air and then we’re going to run for the RV and get the hell out of here as fast as possible,” Lydia hissed.

“Done and done,” Liz said, holding up the receipt and keys to the camper. “Eugene even gave me the key to the garage and asked me to leave it under the doormat. He’s afraid to leave here to go unlock the garage. He has enough sense to realize this crowd is more than a little rowdy.”

Julia acted like she was going to the bathroom but then went out the side door. As arranged, she ran back to the room to get Grace. Sonya and Liz nonchalantly stood up and stretched. Saying loud enough to be heard, “Let’s go outside for a minute and grab some air.” Lydia waited until the men had returned to their activities before she slipped out.

It took Liz a couple of minutes to find the right key since there were more than a dozen keys on Eugene’s ring. By that time, Julia had arrived with Grace in tow.

“Hey, what’s the deal? I thought we couldn’t get the camper ’til tomorrow?” Grace asked.

“We’ll fill you in later,” Sonya promised. “Right now, just get ready to get in and go!”

“Hurry up, Liz. It won’t be long before they realize that none of us are in there or coming back,” Lydia warned.

Liz finally found the correct key and unlocked the door. She took the keys and hid them under the mat before crossing the threshold. Liz found the button that raised the garage door and pressed it. The big metal door made a wickedly loud
clink-clink, clink- clink, clink-clink
sound as it went up. The camper never looked so good. Lydia hurriedly unlocked it, and they all jumped in just as the door to the café opened.

“I think you better get a move on, Lydia,” Sonya advised as she saw four or five men headed towards the garage. It took a few seconds for the engine to catch and to get the camper into gear. By this time, the men had broken into a run and had nearly reached the vehicle.

“Floor it!” Liz screamed as one of the men tried to open the side door of the camper.

Lydia put the pedal to the metal, and they all nearly fell over as the vehicle lurched when the gas was punched. “Hold on,” Lydia said belatedly.

“Watch out!” Julia yelled as Lydia nearly ran over a gas pump.

“Oh my God!” Sonya screamed as one of the men grabbed onto the hood of the camper as Lydia eased the camper out onto the highway.

“Holy shit!” Grace cried as the guy was slung from side to side but didn’t lose his grip.

“Marry me.
I l-o-v-e y-o-u
,” he called to Julia as he finally fell off the hood as the camper made a sharp turn out of the parking lot.

“Is he all right?” Julia asked, afraid to look for herself.

“Yeah. He’s standing up and seems fine,” Liz reported.

“Holy crap,” Lydia said, trying to stop her hands and legs from shaking so violently. “That was a dicey scene, huh?”

“You ain’t lying,” Sonya agreed.

“They really liked me, didn’t they?” Jules said, smiling and pleased with herself.

Sonya and Liz looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“You certainly could have had your pick of the litter tonight,” Lydia said to Julia.

“Hmmm. Litter is the right word,” Liz said, still stinging from the fact that for once, she wasn’t the center of attention.

“Hip hip hooray for Jules,” Sonya sang out.

“Hip hip hooray for Jules,” Lydia joined in.