Chapter 11
The next morning I awoke from what seemed like the best sleep I’d had in the past few years. The bed was hard and the pillows were lumpy, but I slept in his arms all night long and that made everything else even out. I awoke to sunlight in my eyes and glanced at the clock. It was nearing ten and checkout was at 11, so I decided to go ahead and get up so I could take my shower and be ready to go early. I slowly took Isaac’s arm off of me and rolled quietly out of bed, being careful not to wake him. I then dug into my bag until I came out with a clean shirt, shorts, and underthings. I grabbed my shower things and retreated to the small bathroom.
Just like any two-bit motel, the shower was anything but gorgeous, but the water was hot and that was all I needed. I washed away any last remaining worry along with the dirt and let the hot water beat down on me for a while, thinking of all the things Isaac and I would do. I finally decided that I had used up enough of the hot water and stepped out onto the floor towel and dried quickly, already a little chilled from the cool air drifting under the door. Once I was dressed, I opened the door and let the steam precede me into the room. I looked at the bed to see Isaac still asleep and smiled. I quickly brushed my teeth and then went over to the bed. Being devilish, I thought of putting my cold, wet hair on his nice, warm chest, but then decided against it. Instead I rolled him onto his back and straddled him, sitting on his stomach. He opened one eye and peered up at me, looking rather beaten. I giggled a little and then leaned down to place a kiss on his lips.
“I thought you didn’t like morning breath,” he croaked in his morning voice.
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s beginning to grow on me a little when it’s you.”
“Good,” he smiled. “What time is it?”
“About 10:30. I figure you can take a 15-minute shower and we can get together our stuff and check out before 11 so you won’t have to pay for two days. Then, we can call your mom so she can wire us some money today. Sound good?”
“Sounds good to me. Now get off me,” he joked, tickling my sides a little. I surrendered quickly and rolled towards the bed stand where my brush was sitting. I grabbed it and began to pull it through my gnarled hair. I smiled thinking about Isaac and watching as he stumbled around on his sleepy legs. Soon, he went into the shower and I braided my wet hair, not wanting to blow dry it or do anything else at the moment. Checking the clock again, I decided to gather up all our things to get ready to go before Isaac got out of the shower. Luckily, it only took him about ten minutes to get clean, unlike his slow girlfriend who took twenty. He came out dressed in long jean shorts and an Adidas shirt.
“Throw me my toothbrush, would ya?” he asked as he rubbed the towel through his still-wet hair. I reached into his bag and pulled out the brush and did exactly as he asked and threw it at him. He, fortunately, caught the flying utensil and shot me an “evil” glare. I just laughed and leaned against the doorframe, watching him brush his teeth. I thought that maybe I could make this a ritual with us. A strange but somehow titillating one.
“You know what I just realized?” I said suddenly, not thinking. I had just discovered that my birthday was in two days, but then I decided not to tell Isaac. I didn’t want him to have to blow our travelling money on a present for me, and I knew he would.
“What?”
“Oh, just that your hair is getting kind of long,” I bluffed.
“Yeah it is. Should I get it cut?”
“Nah, it’s kind of cute,” I laughed, running a hand through the tangled mass of wet hair. “Looks like mine when it’s wet.”
“Would you brush it out for me?” he stuck his bottom lip out and gave me the puppy dog eyes. It worked so well. His brown eyes made him look so pitiful.
“You are too good at that,” I shook my head and picked up a comb. “Come here and sit in front of me,” I instructed as I took a seat on the end of the bed. He did as I said and grabbed a pillow to sit on. As gently as I could, I began to pull the comb through his hair, untangling some of the knots with my fingers so that they wouldn’t hurt as much coming out.
“I always wished I had my brothers’ hair. Theirs rarely gets tangled and all they do after it dries is brush it once. It’s really annoying for them to get everything that is easy and simple to do while I get stuck with curly, ugly, tangle-y hair. Maybe I should have it chemically straightened.”
“Clarke Isaac Hanson! I’m ashamed of you! Your hair is beautiful and wonderful and it’s what God gave you and it’s also one of the first things that made me love you. I love your curly hair and if you ever get it straightened I will personally rip it out for you,” I scolded him and hit him on the head with my comb to accent my remarks.
“Really? You think it’s attractive?” he turned around to look at me, tenderly rubbing where I had hit him.
“Yes,” I kissed the top of his head, and looked at the way even then the ends were turning upwards. “It makes you who you are. You’re not some take-the-easy-way-out, vain person like your brothers are. No offense to them, but your hair goes with your caring, thoughtful personality. It’s not the easiest thing to take care of, but you take your time with it. Just like you do with people.”
“You are so sweet,” he leaned me over a little with a hand on my arm and kissed me tenderly, wrapping his arms around me and pushing me back on the bed.
“Stop, Ike,” I laughed. “We gotta go! It’s almost 11!”
I got up quickly and looked at Isaac’s still knotted hair. “Just put a rubber band in your hair and I’ll finish combing it later.” I tossed the comb at him and picked up my bag and the hotel keys before heading out the door. Isaac followed with his bag and the keys to the car. As quickly as possible, we headed to the front desk and I went in to check out.
“What room?” the overweight, harried older man demanded of me. He was wearing a shirt that looked like it could have been a uniform, except for the numerable amounts of stains adorning every inch of the yards of polyester.
“Oh, uh, 15,” I answered, trying to ignore his almost frightening appearance.
“You’re going to have to pay for two nights, little missy,” he snarled at me.
“But it isn’t 11 yet!” I protested, showing him my watch. “It’s only 10:50!”
“Not by my watch it isn’t,” he barked, showing me a watch that said it was almost 11:30.
“But the clock in the room said it was only 10:45 when we left it a few minutes ago! That isn’t right!”
“Would you like to argue it with me?” he stood up, showing me the 6 feet and what must have been at least 275 pounds he carried around daily.
Thinking of my 5’6” frame with my scrawny arms and legs I decided not to test my luck against the man. “Fine. Two days. Here’s your lousy money,” I tossed two days worth at him and stalked out of the office, angry with myself for being such a pushover.
“Something the matter?” Isaac asked as I rejoined him in the car.
“Just the stupid clerk.”
“Why, what did he do?”
“He charged me for 2 nights,” I pouted, stuffing the receipt I had quickly grabbed on the way out into my wallet.
“That’s what you’re upset about?” Isaac laughed a little and then leaned over and put an arm around me and kissed my cheek.. “It’s okay, Mel. I mean, it’s not like I’m poor and this is only $20 a night. Don’t worry about it.”
“I know...but it’s just the principle of it all.”
“Well, try to forget about it, okay? I called my mom while you were in there and she’s going to wire the money to us through Western Union today at noon, so we gotta get moving. Let’s just put this behind us for now, okay?”
“I can’t do that. I’m just so flustered about it. I mean, why can’t I stand up for myself and be successful? It’s really aggravating.”
“It’s because you’re a helpless girl...” he kidded.
“Isaac! This isn’t funny! Why can’t you just...just....” I struggled to decide what I wanted him to do.
“Just what? Mel?” Isaac snickered.
“Oh, just shut up,” I hissed, becoming really pissed. “Let’s go to get money.”
“Melody?” Isaac put a hand on my shoulder.
I shot him a look that could have probably killed him on the spot had I really wanted it to. “Just start the car and go, Isaac.”
Isaac, having never seen me very angry, pulled away from the motel. I watched as trees, grass and cars passed by my window and sighed, wondering why I was so worked up about 20 measly dollars when we were about to go get a whole bunch of money. When we got to Western Union, Isaac got out and I just stayed in the car, my arms crossed across my chest and my lips tight. Apparently Isaac had dealt with this kind of anger before with someone else because he knew that it was better just to leave me alone than it was to try to talk to me. He came back ten minutes later, a large envelope in his hand and a smile on his face.
“Hey, you’ll never guess how much money my Mom sent!” I shrugged and he shook his head, shaking off the fact that I was still miffed. “Five grand! Five thousand dollars to blow for a month! She said that she would wire more if we wanted it, too!”
I quickly forgot my anger and looked into the envelope he held. Sure enough, inside was $5,000 in 50s, 20s, 10s, and 5s. My eyes were wide with amazement and I started to laugh. “You know what kind of things we can do with this much money?”
“I don’t know, what?”
“We can go to Disney World!!”
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it breaks my heart to find my mailbox empty. please don't make me cry...
Chapter 12
Chapter Index