Chapter 2
I slide the debit card toward him. “Can I pay for three nights?”
“You sure you want to stay here for three nights?” he asks. That should be a sign for me not to get the room.
“Um, two?”
He shrugs and tallies the total. I swipe my card.
The man pushes the keys toward me. “I gave you room 201 in the front. Lock your door, okay?”
I take the key from him and nod.
“There is no internet. The hot water is noisy. And, well, we have some roaches. But they don’t come out often.”
“Thanks. Is there a grocery anywhere around here?”
The man chuckles. “No, but there is a corner store. Just down the street on the left. Mug’s. You can’t miss it. Gina’s Diner is right across the street.”
I smile, trying my best to keep a good attitude. Roaches. I mean, what do I expect, though? It’s not the Ritz. It’s a place for me to regroup for a night.
I leave the motel’s main office and step out into the night air. Only one letter in the neon sign of the word “Motel” blinks. The night feels so still and eerie.
I tug at the tote bag that I got at Keke’s. Allison was right. Keke bought the dress from me. She gave me three thousand dollars for it. If she only knew that the dress was worth about four million dollars.
The yellow and green sign of Mug’s shines brightly against the night sky.
I push the door, and the smells of incense and Indian music greet me.
Taking a basket from the side of the door, I walk down the first aisle and pick up a bar of soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.
Donuts, I should buy some donuts. Maybe a sprite.
Hmm, I should get some roach spray. Maybe one can of Raid.
Nope, two. I dump two cans of Raid into the basket.
I adjust the tote on my shoulder, feeling something digging into my side. I remember the chalice.
I should get dish soap and maybe a rag to gently clean the cup.
It doesn’t take me long to get to the cashier. The pimple-faced teenage boy gives me a small smile.
“Is that it?” he asks.
I nod, and he scan my products.
My eyes catch a bottle of homemade mulberry wine.
“It’s good. The owner’s mom makes it,” the cashier states.
I take a bottle of the wine and pass it to him.
The bell over the door rings, and four boys walk through the door. All of them are in dark green T-shirts and jeans.
I can tell something is off because the cashier tenses and begins to scan my groceries quicker.
“That will be $78.30.” His voice trembles a bit.
The scent of stinky sweat and hair grease was the first thing I noticed. A smooth-faced Asian boy stands next to me.
“Hey, Mami, you new around here?” he asks as he leans on the counter.
I give him a tight smile and hand the cashier one hundred dollars. “You can keep the change.”
My survival instincts were telling me to move fast.
“Street, come say hello to a neighborhood newbie.”
I hear the jingling of chains before I see the boy called Street. He was a tall white boy and looked like he could be a wide receiver if he ever played football.
“Where you going, pretty lady?” Street asks as he bends his head. Did he just sniff me?
“Excuse me.”
“Why are you in such a rush?” A shorter dark boy asks. A toothpick hangs from his mouth.
I sigh. “I am on my period. I can feel the clots coming out of me.”
All their faces turn green, and as I step forward, they all move aside. As expected, little boys freaked out about a period.
Before I can make it to the door, I hear, “I wanna see the clot.”
“Dude?”
“Man, you’re sick.”
I turn to see an average-height boy with a tan complexion and green eyes. He is wearing a green cap backward.
“I am not about to show you my underwear,” I reply.
“Yeah, you are,” Green Eyes replies.
“Um, guys, I am going to call the police,” the cashier states.
They all turn back and laugh.
“Now, drop those drawers, sweet face.”
That was it. I had enough. An abusive ex, a horrid wedding day, selling my dress, about to sleep in a roach motel. My life is about to be fucking ruined.
“Men are the new bitches, aren’t they?” I turn to walk away, and I have no idea what happens.
Maybe it’s the Tae Bo CD that I use for exercise, but my feet kick forward hard, connecting with Green Eyes’ balls.
As he bends over in pain, my fist and his chin meet.
He falls down to the floor, groaning in pain.
I don’t stay. I leap over him while they all stand in shock.
I run as fast as I can, returning to the motel and to my room.
I can hear their voices in the street.
“Where the fuck is she?” one of them screams.
I step inside, shut the door, and turn the lock. Leaning on the door, I sigh and laugh softly. I can’t believe I just did that. I feel…powerful. I switch on the light, and I almost turn it off.
Mold. That’s the first thing I smell. I can’t see it in the room. But I know it’s there. A full-size bed sits in the middle of the room. The brown and maroon sheets look like they have seen better days. A wooden table and chair sat in the far corner of the room with a lamp with no lampshade on it.
Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?
To my left sits a small AC unit below the window. I step to it and press the power button. It coughs, sounding like an old woman who smokes cigarettes, but there was a cold breeze coming out of it.
At least that’s a good thing. I drop the bag on the table and poke my head into the open door of the bathroom.
You know, it could be worse. Beige tiles and a white—well, it used to be white—vintage tub.
The shower has no showerhead, just a steel pipe protruding out of the wall.
The toilet and sink are both white and basic.
Okay, it’s not so bad. I kick the threshold of the bathroom door, and four German roaches run out. I scream, scampering back into the bedroom.
I grab the Raid and begin to execute every roach in sight. I should open a window. But I need all the roaches to die. However, I don’t want to die from Raid inhalation. I shuffle to the window and crack it open.
I grab the mulberry wine and pop the cork. Drinking on an empty stomach was a bad idea.
I take a sip and grimace. “This wine tastes like a bad decision.” But I had a day of bad decisions, right?
I chuckle to myself, thinking about how crazy this day has been. I am a runaway bride who was saved by a…
What was Moira? A witch? A fairy? Was she even real, or was my brain developing a new coping mechanism?
No, she was real. And so was the chalice. I take it out of my tote, and it feels hot in my hands again.
“I should give you a gentle cleaning.” I take another gulp of the wine, and grab the dish liquid.
It takes me ten minutes to clean the chalice.
I dry it with a paper towel.
“You are exquisite.” I hold it up to the light, loving the soft shine of the gold.
I drift a little while walking back to the bed.
The chalice twinkles in my hand. “You’re divine.” I trace my hands slowly over the vines and the woman.
“You deserve to be drunk in.” I pour the wine into the chalice. I remember the warning Moira gave me. But really? I think she may think the cup would have lead in it. Or something magical would happen.
“Cheers. May I find joy, love, and happiness after the first sip.” I raise the chalice high, then take a sip.
I close my eyes, waiting for something to happen.
I open one eye, blurting out a laugh. “Not a shit happened.”
I should finish the wine. I stagger to the bed, but I do feel very, very…sleepy.
ARIC
“I told Melissa, a week in Miami is the answer,” Cherry says as she throws her long legs over my lap.
I look down as she wiggles her teal-covered toes.
“Anyway, Ophelia is getting married to that millionaire she met on the yacht. Lucky girl.” Cherry continues her endless chatter.
“Why did you bring her here again?”
“To fuck,” I whisper. “I don’t think I want to anymore.”
“Ha, no. We are fucking. Let me out.”
I close my eyes, breathing in and allowing the exchange to happen.
I stretch my chest out and roll my neck, inhaling.
“Did you hear about the runaway bride? It was all over the news. So—”
“Do you want to fuck?”
Cherry’s jaw drops, and she quickly catches herself. “I remember when sex was sweet and magical.”
“Well, bippity boppity fucking boo. Let’s fuck.” I pull her leg, lifting her to sit with her legs on either side of my thighs.
Cherry throws her red hair over her shoulder. “You are so crass, Aric.”
“And you love it.” I grab her ass and press her down to grind against my cock.
She bites her lip and leans down to kiss me. Slowly, she moves off my lap and begins to kneel in front of me.
I begin to pull my black shirt out of my pants. “How long has it been?” I ask.
Cherry smiles. “Too long, Aric.”
“Almost a month.”
“Yeah, I’m going to fuck her into oblivion.”
Cherry snickers while her hands unbuckle my belt, making quick work of my zipper and button. I inhale when her hands wrap around my cock and bring it out.
She licks the side of my cock. Every time she avoids the head, I can feel myself becoming pissed off.
“My cock is too thick to be a fucking popsicle. Cease the tongue play and take it into your fucking mouth.”
Cherry looks me in my eyes as she begins to swallow my cock down her throat. There is something about not having to tell a girl to breathe through her nose. I love that Cherry knows how to suck my cock.
“Fuck, Cherry, your throat feels…” I break off, enjoying the feel of her tongue rippling under my shaft.
I bend forward and spank her ass. My fingers thread through her hair. Wrapping the long red length in my fist, I lead Cherry into a rhythm that is pleasurable to me.
“Fuck, you have the mouth of a Galilean whore,” I mutter.
“That’s not nice.”
“Stay out of my fucking head and allow me to nut,” I reply.
Cherry pauses, her eyes fixed on mine.
“Not you, sweetheart. Continue with what you’re doing.”
Cherry resumes sucking me off, and my hips lift, thrusting hard into her mouth.
“Just like fucking that, Cherry.”