Page 29 of The Bones We Break
After reaching the motel again the sun has begun to rise over the trees, a warm orange glow illuminating the sky, flocks of birds flying overhead. Entering the motel again, I’m hit with the same musty lemon scent that practically clings to the walls.
“Mornin’ sweetheart.” Darlene’s voice penetrates the silence of the room, her presence bringing a sense of home to the place. Her head pops out from over the front desk, the signature rollers still in her greying hair. “You sleep okay?” She asks with genuine concern and I nod. “Yes, thanks. The room is great. In fact it’s more than I could ask for.” I say.
Darlene shakes her head and shoo’s me with her hand, the bangles clattering together on her wrist. “No need to thank me, sweet! I’m just glad you got the rest you needed. Will you be stayin’ for another night?” I lick my dry lips and ponder on her question. Would another night hurt? I still need to find a way of getting out of here. I’ll never make it on foot and I can’t use all my cash on lifts from strangers.
“I.. I think I’ll stay another night, if that’s okay? I don’t want to put you out.” I bring my hands together in front of me to stop me fidgeting as Darlene stands from her chair, another unlit cigarette in between her fingers and leaves the office to stand in front of me. She lifts her hand to place it on my shoulderbefore rubbing my upper arm. A stab of loneliness infiltrates my emotions at the gesture.
“Don’t be silly, sweet. You ain’t puttin’ me out.” She says softly, her eyes filled with so much warmth. She tips her head down and notices the bag on my arm.
“Ahhh, I see you’ve met my son, Charlie.” She says, a small laugh slipping from her thin lips. Her son? I look at her confused, trying to piece the bag and her son together.
“He runs the store next to the motel.” She starts, gesturing to the store with her free hand. “He’s a sweet boy, that one, a little awkward at times but he means well.” My brain instantly catches up with the information she’s feeding me and I click together the pieces of the puzzle. The man at the store is Darlene’s son. I should have figured it out when I noticed the southern drawl in his accent but I wasn’t sure.
“Oh, yeah. I went pretty early this morning to grab some things. Your son, Charlie, was a great help.” Darlene beams from my praise of her son and I can’t help but smile back at her. I shuffle on my feet, itching to move.
“I should get go-” I begin to say before she cuts me off.
“Before you scuttle away, there’s something I need to show you, sweetheart.” My stomach instantly plummets, the anxiety of the unknown feels like a ton of bricks but I do my best to feign indifference. Darlene places her hand on my back and gestures to me to walk back outside of the motel and around to the side where a small garage sits alone. The square object is made up of mismatched bricks and a silver, chipped shutter on the front that reaches from the worn roof to the gravel floor. Trepidation has me slowing in my tracks at the thought of what’s inside the almost derelict garage. Whatever’s inside probably hasn’t seen the light of day for years, possibly decades.
Darlene drops her hand from my back and begins to walk towards the garage at the same time as fishing into the back pocket of her worn, denim blue jeans for a set of keys. Curiosity begins to get the better of me and I follow her until we’re both standing outside of the metal shutter. She places her cigarette in between her lips and crouches down to push a silver key into the ancient looking padlock before pulling it out and lifting the shutter up. The loud racket of the metal scraping on the runners has me creasing my eyes and tensing my shoulders, and a dust cloud follows in its place and I begin to cough into my hand as it tickles my throat.
“Just a bita’ dust sweetheart, it won’t kill ya.” Darlene says and laughs at my outburst. I manage to catch my breath and peer inside the dark garage.
A musty aroma hits me first then it changes to an almost petrol smell. It’s pretty bare apart from the odd tools scattered around in open boxes and a few worn tyres lined up against the exposed brick wall and then, there’s a huge object in the middle of the space that’s covered in what I’m guessing was once a white sheet, now dirty and grey with oil marks all over it.
Darlene steps into the dark garage and stands on her toes to reach a light switch. It takes a couple of seconds for the ceiling light to turn on before sending the dark shadows away. I step further in, knowing now that nothing inside is going to kill me.
“There’s something in here I want you to have, to help you start somewhere fresh.” Darlene says, her eyes shine with unshed tears behind her glasses and I can’t help but tilt my head to the side in question. She doesn’t say anything but grabs hold of the sheet that’s touching the dark grey floor and begins to lift it away, revealing the hidden object. At first a worn and what looks to be a sanded down bumper comes into view, then the headlights on either side, before trailing over a long bonnet,a windscreen then a roof. I don’t know much about cars, but I recognise this one instantly.
A run down1967 Chevy Impalacomes into view and I can’t stop the gasp that escapes my mouth. “I.. er, what is this, Darlene?” I realise I’ve asked a stupid question the moment I say it.
“It’s a car, darlin’ what did you think it was?” Her tone is full of sarcasm, I laugh at her backhanded comment.
“I know it’s a car, but what’s it doing here?” I ask, my eyes still roaming over the vehicle, a million questions ping ponging around my brain.
“This, sweetheart.” She starts and stands closer to the car, then places her hand on the bonnet, the once black paint is sparse and chipped in places. “Was my late husband’s car, a project really, of sorts.” She gazes at the car with so much adoration, as if everything about it reminds her of her husband.
“We both own the motel, but whenever he had some spare time he would spend a couple of hours out here, just tinkering away on it.” A tidal wave of sorrow washes over me. You can clearly see from her body language alone that she misses him terribly.
“It’s been sitting here for a couple of years now after he passed and I want to give it a new life, ya know? Just like you need a new life.” She looks up at me as she speaks and my mouth instantly drops open.
“No, wait. I could never take-” I try to protest against her offer but it lands on deaf ears. “I want you to have it, Annabelle. My husband, God rest his soul, would hate to see it sitting here, wasting away. You can give it a new life, and this baby can take you to a new life.” A few tears slip from her eyes and trail down her weathered face and I instantly close the space between us,dropping my bag to the floor and wrapping my arms around her frame. I hear her sniffle then she backs out of my embrace.
“Lord, I’m gonna ruin my makeup.” She lifts her glasses and runs a finger under her eyes. I let out a short laugh whilst trying not to cry myself. I can’t help but wonder what that kind of love would be like. To spend the rest of your years together, to know every little detail. Their hobbies and fears, so deep in your soul that when one of you leaves this earth, the pain lasts forever until you’re reunited again in another lifetime. That’s what Darlene had with her husband, I can see it written all over her face. The love and loss is so deep.
She takes my hand in hers, facing my palm upwards before laying a single car key in my hand, then closes my fingers over it. “Take it, sweetheart.” She whispers to me and drops my hand. Prying my fingers open, I look at the key again and nod, tears falling onto my skin.
“I’ll take it.” I start, the tears flowing more freely now. “I’ll take it for your husband.”
Three fucking days.
That’s how long it’s been since my precious little wife ran away from me. Practically left me for dead on the living room floor of our home. Blood pouring from the gashes on my head into the soft fibres of the carpet. The devious bitch drugged me then whacked me over the head before fleeing like the little coward that she is. Annabelle has another thing coming if she thinks I’ll just allow her to walk away from me. I think she’s forgotten who she belongs to. Her place in my life. And I’ll make good on my promise that to remind her exactly who owns her, who’s feet she will kneel at for the rest of her miserable fucking life.
I will ruin her, shred her to pieces until she’s nothing but a barren wasteland, an empty shell, a useless hole for me to fuck whenever and wherever I want to. My wife will return to me one way or another, and I won’t take no for an answer.
I’m coming for you Annabelle.
I spend another extra night at the motel, almost frightened to leave. The place had become a safe zone for me, like a second home. I enjoyed Darlene’s company too, her witty sarcasm and loving tone brought a smile to my face every time we spoke. She didn’t pry on my situation or ask much about the bruises on my face, but I felt like she deserved some insight on what I was dealing with, after all she’d taken me in without charge, made sure I was eating and sleeping well and let’s not forget her husband’s Chevy that I still didn’t know how to fully accept, but I wasn’t going to tell Darlene that.
