Chapter Forty-Two
chapter forty-two
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CHARLIE
I wonder if someone actually went out of his way to cover this small, musty motel room in blue peacock wallpaper.
Maybe it was a special price that he couldn’t pass up. Along with a discount on the cheap furniture, the puce shag carpet, and the mint-green floral bedspread.
Or maybe this is how all shady motels in Mobile, Alabama are decorated.
It took one transfer and nineteen hours but I made it to my destination, care of the coin toss when I purchased my bus ticket. After spending hours looking for a motel that didn’t require a credit card or an ID to rent a room, I finally found this one. All the scraggly-haired guy at the front desk seemed to require was an extra-tight T-shirt and cash.
Luckily, I had both.
I haven’t slept in days.
I keep reaching into my purse for my phone, only to realize that I don’t have one anymore. Nor do I have a driver’s license or a credit card, or a social security number, or a passport. It’s all gone, cut up into small pieces and burned.
I am no one.
I strip all the covers off the bed and pull on a T-shirt of Cain’s that I had in my car, inhaling the fresh, woodsy smell until my lungs feel like they’re about to explode.
Aside from my memories, this is all I have left of him. Even if I don’t wash it, I wonder how long it will be before his scent is gone.
I burst out in a fresh round of ragged sobs at the thought, my arms clinging to my body as if the act will keep me together.
As if it will keep my heart from falling apart.