Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
As darkness pressed in and the night sky filled with stars, we came to another small hotel right off the interstate in Florence, South Carolina. Groggily, we made our way inside. A kind older lady was behind the desk wearing a name tag that said Nancy.
Silently, I prayed we wouldn’t need a credit card as we checked in. That was a hard lesson at our last stop. While we could sleep in the car, I didn’t feel very safe doing so.
“Hey ladies, how are you tonight?” she greeted.
“Tired and hoping to get a room,” I replied with my fingers crossed like a child praying this worked out.
“I need an ID and credit card.”
Lyric nervously bounced from side to side. She looked to me, I looked to her.
“I’m sorry, Nancy,” I explained, reading her nametag. “we don’t have any credit cards.”
The white-haired woman smiled, “Well, you’re young, I see. You are eighteen right?” We both nodded. “Nineteen,” I shared.
“Well, honey do you have a debit card? We need a card on file in case you damage the room. I know you won’t be messing things up. But my son, Braxton, he owns the place with his brothers, and he’s adamant we get the card.”
I hear Lyric hiccup beside me fighting back tears.
“It’s okay, thank you for your time,” I began as the front doors opened and a behemoth of a man strolled in. His face chiseled with a look of stone eyed in on this little lady behind the counter. Immediately, instinct took over and I shifted. Moving backwards to stand in front of Nancy, I was preparing mentally for battle. When the man who clearly stood over six feet tall began to walk past me but like he was headed behind the counter, I moved keeping my body between him and the little lady.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said trying to keep my voice firm. “We were here first and Ms. Nancy isn’t finished checking us in. If you could kindly wait over there. Personal space and all. Ya know, women, we can’t be too safe,” I tried to brush off the fear running rampant through me. I was failing at sounding strong and casual, but what options were left? I couldn’t let him hurt us or this kind lady.
The man laughed loudly before his face shifted back to stone. “Who are you?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and didn’t know what to say. Taking him in, the dark washed jeans, black t-shirt, and a leather vest that was covered in patches, I wasn’t sure what to do or say to this man. His hair was dark and pulled back in a long pony tail with rubber bands every inch or two all the way down to keep the hair in place.
Lyric extended her hand to the stranger, “I’m Lyric, this is my cousin Melody. We’ve been on the road all day. We’re passing through and a little road weary. You can understand. We just wanted to get a room and head up to bed. But we’re not finished here yet, so just a little space for the next few minutes and everything will be okay.” She gave him a fake smile and I wanted to bop her on the head. We don’t befriend the dangerous men! Obviously that was a lesson that didn’t stick in her brain.
The man smirked looking beyond us to Nancy. “I’m Braxton, friends call me Tiny.” I fought back a laugh because he was anything but tiny. He looked to Nancy, “hi mom, sorry I’m late. I didn’t think Joanie would call out again after the last time I fired her ass. I’ll get someone else soon.” He walked beyond me, leaned over and kissed his mom on the cheek before turning back to us. “Room is on me,” he explained, “give ‘em a key, momma and head to bed. I’ll finish the shift.”
I didn’t know what to say so I stood there like a fallen down log unmoving.
Lyric, though, she seized the opportunity. “Thank you for your kindness, Braxton. I know this is kind of odd. But Melody and I are new to the area, we are starting over in South Carolina, all the way from Montana. We need jobs and clearly you need someone to fill in. If you don’t mind taking a chance on two farm girls, we could use the work.”
“Either of you good at cleaning?”
We both nodded because we could pass a white glove test in a heartbeat. He studied us for a moment.
“Pay is shit. I got the business after a deal went south. This was the collateral. Hate this shit. Can’t afford more than minimum wage.”
Lyric beamed up at the man. “That’s fine. We’re happy with anything.”
“Got no benefit package either.” He studied us with every word.
“We’ll be fine, sir.”