Chapter 38. Jenny
JENNY
Alice cut Simon’s hair shorter, doing away with the long bangs, and sweeping it back.
Once he’d shaved off his beard and mustache and dyed his hair, he looked like Elvis—but Elvis when he was younger and in those Hawaiian movies.
Not how he looked in his Vegas shows. Her mom had said it was drugs and that Elvis didn’t take care of himself, but Jenny had wondered about that.
Maybe he had people like her mom who made him do things he didn’t want to.
Jenny mixed and applied the dye she’d picked for herself, then sat on their bed and waited with the plastic bag covering her hair. Simon shared his plans. When it got dark, they’d walk into town.
“There’s probably a bar or something open. People in small towns like this, they leave their keys in their vehicles all the time.”
“What if we can’t find a car?”
“We’ll keep trying.”
She didn’t know what that meant. How far would he go? She didn’t want him to break into someone’s house. She decided not to ask. They’d find a car with someone’s keys in it.
Jenny watched The Young and the Restless with Simon. On the other bed, Alice also seemed to be watching, but Jenny wasn’t sure if she was truly paying attention.
It was time for Jenny to rinse her hair. She didn’t want to use the towels because she might get color on them, so she squeezed most of the water out by hand, and left it damp.
Simon whistled when she came back into the room. “Nice, babe.”
She gave Alice the items she’d bought for her at the drugstore and Alice took them into the bathroom and had a shower. She came out wearing the new T-shirt. She kept pulling it away from her front like she thought it was too tight, but Jenny thought it looked good.
Simon got up to peer out the side window, the one closest to Alice’s bed. “Some dude just backed up a Buick and knocked over part of the fence.” He laughed.
Jenny knew he meant the little white picket fences that lined the lawn in front of each teepee. She also knew what car he meant.
“He’s staying in the yellow teepee. I saw him parking this morning. He was trying to get me to talk.”
Simon turned around. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“It was on my way to the store. When I came back, he wasn’t outside anymore, and then we were busy coloring our hair. I forgot.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked if I needed a ride and tried to give me his business card. He’s here for a couple of days.” She made a face. “He sells jewelry.”
Simon looked out the window again. He was quiet for a moment.
“How old is he?”
“I don’t know. Like forty or something.”
“Big?”
“Kind of, yeah.” Why was he asking all these questions? She wished she hadn’t said anything about the man.
“We should take his car.”
“What? I thought we were going into town?”
“This is better. It’s a guaranteed car, and we don’t have to walk. When he gets back tonight, you can knock on his door and ask for a ride.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You want me to get in a car with him?”
“No. I’ll be waiting nearby. When he opens the door, I’ll punch him out. One blow to his head and he’s down. We’ll leave him tied up. You said he’s here for a couple of days, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So we put the DO NOT DISTURB sign up and no one will find him.”
His plan made sense, as much as any of this could make sense, but Jenny couldn’t help but feel a whisper of betrayal. He was using her as bait. To tempt a man.
“What if he pulls me inside the room?”
“I’ll give you the hunting knife, but you won’t need it because I’ll break down the door.”
“If we steal his car, the hotel people are going to know it was us.”
“They only ever saw you, and we changed our looks anyway. Trust me, it’ll work. By the time the maid or someone finds him, we’ll be across Alberta.”
“He looks strong.”
“I’m not going to get in a fistfight with him.”
But it could turn out that way if Simon made a mistake. There was nothing else she could say to him, though. She could tell by how his jaw was set and the way his eyes glimmered that he was happy with his plan. Whatever concern she shared, he’d have an answer for it.
She glanced over at Alice, who was watching her with a disappointed look. Jenny’s cheeks burned. She preferred when Alice was angry. That disappointed expression made Jenny feel like Alice could see inside her and believed she was capable of something more.
They spent the day watching TV. Simon was restless, often getting up to stand by the bathroom window and smoke. She still hated the smell but decided not to say anything.
She felt strange about their fight. When he was by her side, he was being sweet, holding her hand, rubbing her shoulders and her calves, but she wished she could be alone to sort out her feelings. Could people really say things they didn’t mean when they were angry?
It was warm in the room, even with the air conditioner.
Jenny got a bucket of ice from the machine outside the office, walking quickly through the parking lot and hoping the salesman didn’t return.
She dreaded the night and what she was going to have to do.
She told herself it would be okay. The man was creepy. He shouldn’t hit on teenage girls.
They chewed on the ice and watched more TV.
Simon continued to check the window by Alice’s bed, but the salesman didn’t return until five o’clock.
Simon was excited when he saw the man’s car.
Jenny’s heart raced. She packed their belongings.
They were going to wait until dark to steal the car, but she wanted to be ready—and she needed something to do with her hands.
Alice didn’t have a bag, so Jenny added her things to her backpack.
Simon looked out the window again at seven o’clock. “Shit! He’s gone.”
“What do you mean?” Jenny walked over to stand by him, as though she might be able to see something that he couldn’t, but she had the same view. The man had left the motel.
“He’s probably out for dinner.” Simon turned to Jenny. “Good time for us to get food too. Did you see anything other than the coffee shop?”
“There’s an A&W, but what if he comes back and sees me?”
“Tell him you need a ride later. Then he’ll be waiting for you.”
Jenny hated the sound of those words, “Waiting for you.” It made her feel gross, but she didn’t tell Simon.
She felt Alice staring at her again. She knew that Jenny was upset.
It was a relief when Jenny left the room to get burgers, fries, and milkshakes.
When she returned, the man’s car wasn’t back.
She was hopeful. Maybe he’d hated the motel and checked out early.
They ate their meals, while Simon studied the road map.
Then he paced the motel room, sucking loudly on the milkshake and looking out the window.
His constant movement was making her dizzy.
She wanted to shout at him to sit down. He hadn’t tied Alice up again, and she had her arm flung over her eyes, like she was sleeping, but she was probably just as annoyed as Jenny at Simon’s pacing.
The hours passed. It was dark, and the man was still gone.
Jenny curled up on the bed. She was tired of watching TV, tired of being anxious for the last few hours.
The fear had slipped into something else, something darker, a slow-building dread, mixed with a sadness she couldn’t make go away.
Simon’s words haunted her. The man and his gold jewelry.
Tom, Ruth, and William in a basement. The police officers.
What was the point of any of it? They were running away, but would life really be any better? She imagined their future, working bad jobs, no money, with a baby.
She got up and found her green sea glass in her backpack. She rolled it in her hand, felt the smooth edges until her eyelids grew heavy, and she let herself slide into sleep.
“Babe, babe.” Simon’s voice was insistent and close to her ear.
She blinked her eyes open and turned her head to look at him.
“The salesman’s back.”
“What time is it?”
“Six in the morning.”
She sat up. “Six?”
“Yeah, he just staggered out of his car to his room.”
How could he sound so happy? Like stealing a car was going to be fun. He wasn’t worried at all. Simon stepped away from the bed and flicked on the light. She squinted at him.
“We should do this fast,” he said, “before he passes out, or leaves again.”
“What if he has a gun?”
“He won’t have time to use it. Come on.” He clapped his hands together.
She got up, used the bathroom, and dressed in jean shorts and her yellow baby-doll blouse. Simon let Alice use the bathroom, then tied her to the chair again. He clipped the knife sheath to Jenny’s waistband, under her blouse, and showed her how to unsnap it quickly.
“I’ll walk behind the teepees and cut in between. Don’t knock until I give a signal.”
She nodded, took a breath, and left their room. She wouldn’t think about anything other than how they needed a car. That was all that mattered. She felt Simon behind her for a moment, then he disappeared into the gap between their teepee and the one beside them.
The sun was up, slanting through the buildings, and stretching long fingers across the pavement. The air was already warm and scented like summer. Grass, flowers, pine trees. Nice smells. Peaceful. Horror movies were wrong. They always made bad things happen in the dark.
She slowed as she neared the man’s teepee, waiting until she saw Simon sneaking through the gap. He was now standing at the side of the teepee. He gave her a thumbs-up.
She knocked lightly. No answer. Simon made a gesture. She rapped harder.
A groan, some loud muttering, and the door opened. The man blinked at her and rubbed his scruffy chin. His orange silk button-down was open to his belt buckle, revealing his gold link chain, which rested against his hairy chest. He gave her a creepy smile.
“Hello, sweetheart. Change your mind?”
Her mind blanked. She was supposed to say something. Think.
“Can I get a ride?”
He lifted his brows, and hooked his thumb into his belt, inadvertently dragging Jenny’s gaze lower. She jerked her eyes back up to his face, but he was already smirking.
“In your car,” she added. “To the store.” She grabbed at a thought. “For cigarettes.”
“Got cigarettes in here, sweetheart. Don’t waste your money.” He was stepping backward into the room, inviting her inside. Where was Simon? She looked to the side.
A mistake. The man’s expression was changing.
He sensed the danger. He was reaching for the door. He was going to close it. She stuck her shoe inside the doorframe. He looked down.
An arm was coming over Jenny’s shoulder from behind, hitting the door open, then pushing past her. Simon barreled into the man before he could react.
A hard cracking sound. Metal on bone.
Jenny pressed her hands to her ears. Simon hit the man with the gun until he fell to his knees, then slumped forward, face down. He was still.
Simon looked at her. “Get out of the doorway!”
She stepped inside and closed the door. Simon was astride the man, pulling his arms back and bending his legs, then tying his wrists and ankles together with twine like he was a cow.
“Is he … is he alive?”
“Think so.”
Simon tugged the man’s wallet out of his pocket, flipped through it, and removed the cash, shoving it into his own pocket. He looked at the man’s driver’s license.
“You should be more careful who you let in your room, Bruce. Didn’t your mom teach you not to trust strangers?” He snorted and flicked the license across the room like it was a bottle cap. Then he dropped the man’s wallet and kicked it under the bed.
Jenny didn’t like this swagger. She’d thought it was an act when Simon had been like that in front of Alice and Tom.
Just a way to keep them scared. This man was unconscious.
Simon didn’t need to gloat. He was moving around the room.
Going through the man’s luggage, taking shirts, tucking them under his arm, and sniffing his cologne.
He made a face and dropped it into the suitcase.
He found the man’s jewelry samples in a leather case and rifled through them.
“I can’t tell if any of this is real.”
She didn’t say anything, but Simon obviously wasn’t waiting for her opinion. He was already taking the case and picking up keys and a pack of smokes off the table.
“Let’s go.”
He opened the door and looked in both directions, before hanging the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the handle. He gestured at Jenny. “Okay. Come on.”
They both traveled behind the teepees this time until they made it back to their own. Jenny sat at the desk while Simon shoved everything he’d taken from the man into one of the pillowcases, including the jewelry samples. He hid the now-empty leather case under the bed.
Alice was looking back and forth between their faces. She was trying to seem strong, her chin out, eyes angry, but Jenny knew her expressions by now.
Alice was scared. So was Jenny.
She’d seen Simon beat a man. She hadn’t stopped him. She’d stood there, frozen. As if she was watching a movie. Alice had said that not stopping something was as bad as doing it. Jenny felt those words in her stomach.
Simon untied Alice and tucked the twine into his backpack. He pointed in her face. “We’re almost there. Don’t do anything to screw it up.”
Alice sat on the edge of the bed, massaging her shoulder, then stood and stretched her back with a wince. She looked at Jenny, but Jenny couldn’t meet her eyes.
Simon swung his pack over his shoulder and picked up the heaviest pillowcase—the one he’d loaded with the jewelry. Jenny did the same with her pack and the other pillowcase.
Simon grabbed Alice’s wrist with his free hand and pulled her to the door, where he took a moment to look around, before walking outside with her. Jenny stayed close on their heels.
When they reached the Buick, Simon flipped through the keys he’d taken from the salesman. Jenny looked around. The parking lot was quiet. No sign of maids or other guests.
Simon unlocked the back door. “Jenny, go.”
She slid inside, the velvet bench seat soft against her bare legs. She shrugged her pack off her shoulder. Simon tossed his pack and the pillowcase onto the seat beside her.
The passenger door was opening. Simon pushed Alice in first, shoving her over until she was sitting in front of the steering wheel. He dropped in beside her and pulled the door closed. It was heavy and made a loud sound. She looked around. No one seemed to have noticed.
“Start the damn car and get us out of here.”