We were halfway through New Mexico when the car broke down. I told Denise we should have rented one for the cross country trip we were taking to Florida for spring break, but she insisted her old Mazda clunker would be fine. So, by chance of fate, we found ourselves in the middle of the desert, completely stranded. Luckily, we broke down near this little motel. It didn't look great, but it was a place to stay for the night. Walking into the office, Denise sat down while I checked us in.
"We need two rooms, please." I told the teenaged clerk who looked as though she'd rather be anywhere but where she was.
Sighing as though I had troubled her greatly, she muttered "Only one room left." And she jerked her head toward a single key hanging off the wall.
Shrugging, I told her "We'll take it." What else could we do? After signing a few pieces of paperwork and giving her a credit card number, she handed me a worn wooden cactus attached to an equally worn key that I was sure went to an even more worn room. Grabbing the backpacks we brought with us from the car, we headed back out of the office and down the street to a tiny mini-market for dinner.
In the market, we picked up nutritious foods like twinkies, cheetoes, and snickers bars. To go with all that, I grabbed a couple bottles of cheap wine and some plastic cups. Just as we were paying for our purchases, the ground rumbled with the sound of thunder and rain began to pour from the sky. Wrapping our meager tee shirts around our arms as best we could, we darted back to our little motel and into our seedy room. To no avail, we were both soaked to the bone. Rain dripped from my nose and down my cheek. Flipping a quarter, we decided I got to shower first, while she set up our dinner and drinks. The warm water steamed over the tiny bathroom in no time and I had almost forgotten about being cold when I was done. By the time I came out, Denise had already eaten her twinkies, and drank half of the first bottle of wine.
"Your turn." I said to her, grabbing a cup of wine for myself. She smiled a little crookedly and giggled her way into the bathroom. I poured the rest of the bottle of wine into my cup as I flicked through the channels on the television. There were only three channels, so I flicked through them a lot while I waited for her to come back out. I finally settled on some cheesy western show. Sipping my wine, I took in the decorum. The room was painted sea foam green with little dark green cactuses everywhere. A wicker chair sat in the corner, looking as though it were a decade old. In the center of the room sat a sagging king sized bed with a cactus-speckled tan comforter. Settling myself on the bed, Denise finally came out of the shower, her long dark hair dripping down the front of her shirt. I couldn't help but notice that her white top fit very snug against her large breasts.
Smiling into my cup of wine I said "Only one bed...Where should the other one sleep?" Stopping in her tracks, she looked around the room. She looked back at me and gives me a shrug
"It's big enough for both of us. We can share."
Throwing back the last of my wine, I joke "Okay, but don't kick me, or I'll kick you back." Giggling, she grabs the second bottle of wine and jumps into the bed next to me.
