Louisiana Rain

by TJ Seitz

We arrived at the room and I unlocked the door. Once inside, Jackie immediately turned around, pushed me aside and locked the door before even looking at the room.

  She apologized, “Sorry about acting so weird TJ. I don’t trust these kinds of places. I was jumped once by a biker chick in Texas who was looking for drugs, money or something because I forgot to lock the door behind me when entering the motel room. I was alone and really had to take a piss so I just shut the door and ran to the bathroom. When I was finished I saw the bitch going through my shit on the bed and yelled at her. The women lunged at me and knocked me to the ground. I hit my head hard and passed out. When I woke up all my money and the baggie of pot in my purse was gone. She also took some of my clothes from my duffle bag.”

  The next thing Jackie did was pull off the bed spread and throw it in a corner. Jackie then informed me, “I worked as a maid for a few weeks in a motel once. I was disgusted with what I learned about how hotel rooms are cleaned. The sheets and blankets are almost always washed daily but not the comforters. Yuck! ”

  The bathroom was her next stop. She assured me, “Don’t worry I’m not crazy and know what I’m doing. I just want to make sure the room is properly cleaned for us to use before settling down for the night.”

  She then proceeded to take her shirt off, found a clean towel on the dresser and took a small bottle of what looked like Mr. Clean from her purse. The water in the tub and sink were turned on and steam started coming out of the bathroom. Jackie bitched, “I can’t believe what a crappy job they did cleaning this room! We are not leaving a tip for the maid!”

  Rather than instigate her on more I just agreed and looked around. The faded tan curtains were closed. The room looked like a normal hotel or motel room to me.

  The brown Berber carpet was pretty worn out and stained in a number of places but looked like it was vacuumed recently to me (meaning I didn’t see any crumbs or small pieces of paper scattered around). The bed was queen size and was neatly made with white sheets, two pillows and a pink thermal blanket all tucked snug under the mattress. There were nightstands and lamps on both sides of the bed. A digital alarm clock was on the left night stand and a push button telephone was on the right one.

  There was a dresser with clean towels, some small soap, a disposable razor, shaving cream and several tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner. A large twenty one inch TV set with a remote control and cable TV box also set on top of the dresser.

  Under the window was heating/air-conditioning unit. The room was hot, stuffy and getting humid from the hot water being run in the other room. I went over and turned it on high to cool things down some.

  To the right of the window was a round table like the one in the front office that had a pad of paper and few pens with the Best Western emblems printed on them. There was also a dark blue stuffed reading chair next to the table and a metal folding chain pushed under the table.

  The walls were covered with a tan-ish textured vinyl wall paper, like the stuff my parents papered their kitchen and living room with. A few corners were frayed and peeling away from the wall in three or four spots. There were also two wood framed cheesy prints of a log cabin and a barn hanging on the wall, one on each side of the TV, above the dresser.

  I then grabbed the remote control, kicked off my sneakers, sat down on the edge of the bed and turned the TV on. I started flipping through stations to see if anything interesting was on. I watched a show on The Comedy Network.

  About ten minutes later, the water in the bathroom stopped running and I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I figured Jackie was done with the bathroom and moved on to something else. She was cleaning a mirror on the wall with the towel and was completely naked. She then started working her way around the room wiping all the surfaces down with the towel.

  She had a lit cigarette in her mouth and was still grumbling to herself again on what a bad job the cleaning people did. She turned around, looked at me and smiled and said, “It’s cool. I trust you.”

  She explained, “I’m soaking my underwear and bra in the sink. It’s been a while since I could give them a good cleaning.”

  She then continued cleaning the room for a few more minutes.

  She looked pretty good to me, despite having major stubble on her legs, armpits and a lot of thick, dark pubic hair that went down her inner thighs and up to her belly button. Her frumpy baggy clothes covered an alluring body.

  Looking at her you’d never know that she was ever pregnant and/or gave birth. I could not see any stretch marks. She had just the right amount if curve around her hips and ass and firm looking thirty four or six C cup breasts with small pink nipples. I could also smell her pussy. The situation had me wondering and lusting for a few moments but thankfully my conscience kicked in and I quickly realized just how much she depended on me to feel safe and how wrong it would be for me to take advantage of her.

  As soon as Jackie was done wiping everything down she put out her cigarette in an ashtray on the dresser, grabbed the shaving cream and razor then headed back to the bathroom. I could hear the water in the bathtub running again. I started watching the news on CNN.

  Five or so minutes later, the water was turned off again and Jackie called out, “TJ can you come here for a little while? I’m lonely and want you to come talk to me while I shave and clean myself up some.”

  I got up from the bed, went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Jackie’s underwear was now drip-drying on a towel rack above the toilet, behind me. Her handbag was sitting on the toilet top. Makeup and feminine products where spread out around the sink.

  The tub was half filled with water. Jackie’s legs and pubic area were covered with shaving cream. She kept repeating to her-self and me, “It’s so nice to have a private bathroom. I really appreciate being able to take a proper bath. This is so much better for cleaning yourself up versus the shared facilities at hostels or women’s shelters.”

  During her bath she asked me, “Can you tell me what’s going on in the news? What were you watching on TV?”

  I focused very hard at looking at her face and in the eyes instead of her naked body. It was not easy initially but after a while the novelty of talking to nude women does wear off especially when the option of sex is removed from the tangent. She lifted her arms and legs in various positions, scraping at them with the razor while I talked.

  I told her about what was going on in Washington and what the weather was supposed to be like tomorrow. I also told her about a funny Kids in the Hall skit I saw on The Comedy Network where these two men are trapping businesspeople in a city to sell their suits to a clothier. I don’t think she understood the warped humor and gave me a look like I was weird to think that was actually funny.

  I then remembered the Mammoth Cave pamphlet I took from the front desk. I retrieved it and read through it as she finished trimming herself. We decided it would be fun to take a short side trip tomorrow on the way back before dropping her off at her Grandmother’s.

  Upon making the decision, I got up and went back into the bedroom. Jackie got out of the tub and announced, “I still need to shower before calling it a night. I’m going to look like a prune by the time I’m done.”

  I think it was around 9:30 or 10 PM.

  Just as I started getting comfortable Jackie called me again, “TJ can you please come back to the bathroom?”

  I answered, “Sure, ” got up and went over to the door.

  She was sitting on the toilet taking a dump. She complained to herself, “I think I’m still constipated,” looked up at me, smiled and told me, “Thank you. It feels wonderful to be able to relax, trust, be treated nice and helped by someone I hardly know. It’s good to know there are people like you in the world.”

  It was strange to hear those words from a naked woman taking a crap but said, “Thanks,” anyways and let her finish her business without an audience.

 
While Jackie was in the shower, before taking my pants off and getting into bed, I slipped my credit card, remaining money and car key into my right sock just in case she was setting me up. I was really talking a risk bringing a stranger home and would feel pretty dumb if I awoke stranded in Kentucky with no way to get back.

  She came out of the bathroom and asked, “Have you seen a hair dryer anywhere in the room?”

  I answered without looking away from the TV, “There might be one in one of the dresser drawers.”

  She checked and found one. She noted, “I need it for my hair and to finish drying my underwear.”

  She ran the dryer about seven or eight minutes then I her suddenly yell, “Shit!”

  She was just wearing her panties and had a look of concern on her face.

  I asked her, “What’s wrong? Is everything OK?”

  She told me, “I just ran out of that itch cream.”

  I replied, “It will be OK. Tomorrow you’ll be in Cincinnati and can go see a doctor like your friends suggested.”

  Jackie snapped back, “But in the meantime I’ll drive myself and everyone around me silly scratching myself all over.”

  I lied and assured her, “I won’t mind,” knowing that her scratching would probably keep me awake most of the night.

  She was obviously too tired and in no mood to discuss the issue anymore. She sighed and said, “OK. Can we leave the TV on all night just in case I have trouble sleeping?”

  I told her, “No problem. I won’t mind.”

  We both went to bed. Jackie commented, “You wear your socks to bed? That’s funny. Don’t your feet get too hot?”

  I told her, “My feet are sensitive and I’d rather them feel hot than tickled from a breeze or a loose sheet. I relax and sleep better that way”

  After we finished talking I rolled over and closed my eyes. She flipped through channels for a while. I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep for an hour or so then woke up to Jackie scratching herself, as expected.

  I spent the rest of the night falling asleep for a few minutes then being stirred awake again and again by Jackie scratching some part of her. We lay in bed for seven or eight hours before getting up the next morning.

  I got out of bed before she did. She appeared to still be asleep. I went into the bathroom and showered. I removed everything from my sock and put it all back into my pants pockets.

  When I was done cleaning myself up I went back into the bedroom. Jackie was fully dressed and sitting up in the bed smoking a cigarette. She had turned the TV off and let me know, “I’ll be ready to go as soon as soon as I go to the bathroom.”

  I asked her, “How did you sleep?”

  She replied, “OK I guess. The last bit of medicine must have helped some. The rash did not bother me as much as I thought it would.”

  Before leaving the room Jackie filled her bag with all the unused personal hygiene paraphilia from the dresser and bathroom as well as helping herself to a couple clean washcloths. We dropped the room key off in the front office in a lock box.

  It did not appear that anyone was manning the desk but drinks, donuts, bagels muffins and condiments were all left out on a table for people to help themselves too. I grabbed a raisin bagel, two fry cakes and a coke for the road. Jackie got herself a coffee and bran muffin to eat in the car and napkins, packets of jelly, coffee creamers and a Diet Coke for later.

 

  I filled the car’s gas tank up at a nearby self-service station. It was a little after 8AM when we were back on the highway driving North. Mammoth Caves National Park was still an hour or two away. Jackie turned on the radio and we both ate our food.

  Mammoth Caves

  Eventually it became difficult to tune into the types of radio stations we wanted to listen to so rather than listen to static or Country Music Jackie pushed her “Run Away Train” tape back into the cassette player. After the eighth or ninth time hearing the song I suggested listening to one of my tapes. She quickly glanced at my selections and said, “No thank you.”

  The song continued repeating.

  I focused on driving and attempted to ignore the music, which was beginning to annoy me. I hate listening to the same songs over and over again. Jackie just had a blank look on her face like she was thinking while she randomly scratched her arms and legs. I did not feel like talking much either until I needed help following the directions on the pamphlet to get to the park. Once we were off the interstate again at the stated exit Jackie told me where to turn. After a half hour to forty five minutes we were at the park entrance.

  We arrived at the park around the time I thought we would. There was plenty of time to take the tour detailed in the handout and be back on the road by lunch time.

  The park’s main visitor center was located in the middle of a forest. I followed the signs along the road to the designated lot and parked the car. I looked at Jackie and she seemed reluctant.

  I asked her, “What’s wrong?”

  She answered, “I’ve never been in a cave before. I’m worried about feeling too boxed in. I have issues with small spaces sometimes.”

  I reassured her by saying, “I’ve never been in a cave before either. I sometimes get claustrophobic and panic. I’m pretty sure though we’ll be fine and you can hold my hand if you get too nervous.”

  She smiled. It looked like she felt a little better. I commented, “I want to try this experience at least once in my life and since I have no immediate plans to return here any time soon now is probably the best time to do it.”

  We got out of the car and she lit up a cigarette. She asked me, “Can you wait a minute while I smoke?”

  I nodded and looked around.

  We were definitely in the middle of the woods. The air smelled moist and leafy. It was still pretty early so the morning fog was still burning off and there was a slight chill in the air. I saw several deer walking nonchalantly along the perimeter fence to my distant left.

  There were several school buses parked in the lot and a couple cars with out of state plates that appeared to be other drive-by tourists like Jackie and I. The voices of chattering High Schoolers made the moment seem less peaceful.

  There was a line of students waiting for the visitor center to open and two large groups of kids walking towards some trail signs. I informed Jackie, “We probably need to get in line soon to pay for the cave tour that we read about last night.”

  She finished her cigarette as we walked up to the building and waited with the rest of the crowd for the building to open.

  Within a few minutes the rangers opened the door and everyone started walking into the building. As we walked up though one of the teenage girls bumped into Jackie and gave her a dirty look. The girl looked about seventeen or eighteen and was a hot looking blond from my standpoint, despite her bitchy attitude.

  I didn’t get that good of a look at her because she was moving so fast to keep up with her friends but I could see that she was wearing a pair of red jeans that covered her tight little ass just right, black flip flops and a yellow long sleeve top that accentuated her breasts and had a low cut back that showed off a lot of her skin as well as a white bra strap. Jackie scowled back and shouted at her, “What the fuck is your problem? Do you have any manners?”

  The girl just ignored Jackie and continued to walk away talking to her friends eventually blending into the crowd.

  The visitor center was basically one big room. It was pure chaos at the time because of the all the students. Being in our early twenties Jackie and I probably did not look much older or different than the majority of the young people wandering around the building to the middle aged park employee taking headcounts for the excursion.

  While Jackie was stewing in a corner over the dumb blond that stepped on her foot I made it look like I was just one of the students and got two free tour passes instead of paying for them. The cashier handing out the tickets was
oblivious and I figured I could use the money I saved to buy lunch after we were done with our side trip.

  Once the vouchers were distributed the wardens began breaking the group up into smaller more manageable groups. I quickly walked over to Jackie and instructed her in a lowered voice, “We need to find a group to stand with, “ then flashed her the passes I got.

  She smiled, knowing exactly what I did and what we needed to do to get a free tour. She grabbed my hand, moved a few steps forward behind the closest cluster of teens and listened to the park ranger go over safety issues and the park’s story.

  The tour guide reminded everyone, “Please be very careful when walking on or around things. Things can get pretty slippery because of all the dampness inside the caves.

  Don’t touch or remove anything from the caverns we will be walking though. It’s a federal offence and all violators will be prosecuted.

  Kids, it all comes down to not wreaking Mother Nature so that others can’t enjoy her stuff in the future. If everyone that walked through these tunnels took a little piece of rock there would be no more caves after a few years. Also something as basic as the oils on our skin will can destroy the stalactites, stalagmites and pillars when touched needlessly.”

 

  The guy snickered after saying the word pillar and stated, “In the part of Kentucky I’m from the word ‘pillars’ means something you sleep on at night, not a pretty rock formation.”

  The crowd all laughed at his comment.

  When the clamor settled down the leader began sharing details about the Cave and Park history. He told us about how Native Americans have been living around the caves for thousands of years, that people mined saltpeter for gunpowder there starting around the War of 1812 and how individuals with the lung disease Tuberculosis used to come to the caves thinking the cool damp environment might cure them of their disease. I also learned that it was the longest cave system in the world and that there’s a section of the caves called Hades where the river Styx runs through.

  I could barely see the speaker because we were so far back and most of the kids were not really sitting still or paying much attention. When the ranger was done speaking he happily told everyone, “Please follow me now to the cave entrance.”

  Jackie and I worked our way to the middle of the group as it moved. Doing so was a good idea. They were collecting the passes as we exited the building to count how many people were in each group.

  The distance from the visitor center to the cave entrance was not very far. I was sort of surprised how well it blended in with the forest. If I was walking around I would have never noticed it until I was right there. The fog had cleared but it looked like it might rain soon. The temperature had not changed much either.

  A maintenance person was waiting for us at the entrance. They unlocked the grate covering the cave. We were all told to walk in.

  I don’t remember a whole lot about the tour. I remember thinking it was cool but not as extraordinary as I initially imagined it would be.

  The formations were interesting and in one of the caves where there were a lot of stalactites and stalagmites, the guide asked us if we knew the difference. I took some pictures as we moved along.

  Close to the midway point the pathway through the caves got a lot thinner and I started to worry about Jackie. I think the area was called Fat Man’s Misery. I looked for her. She was a few people ahead of me. She did not seem bothered and more focused on looking around or scratching herself until I saw who was standing in front of her. It was the girl that knocked into her out in the parking lot. Jackie noticed her too. I thought, “Oh shit,” and hoped nothing would happen.

  The trail eventually got wide again, leading everyone into a large cavern. The tour guide told us how many feet underground we were and that they were going to turn the lights out to show us just how dark it gets down there.

  The kids all obviously thought it would be cool and started mumbling amongst them-selves.

  A few seconds after the lights went out a large “SNAP” and “OW THAT’S MY FUCKING BRAWSTRAP YOU ASSHOLE JEFF!!!” echoed through the grotto.

  The crowd laughed. A teacher immediately shushed the group. Someone then from the other side of the group shouted “IT WASN’T ME. I’M OVER HERE!”

  The retort made the class laugh even more. The teachers quieted the crowd again.

  Just as the lights went on Jackie grabbed my hand and was standing next to me. The girl that bumped into her was looking around wildly at who was close enough to her to do what they did. She started to cry from the embarrassment because there were no obvious culprits. As we began to move again Jackie waited a while then pulled me close to her confessing in my ear, “It was me”

  I whispered back, “I kind of figured that considering you weren’t standing next to me when we entered the room.”

  The tour ended with a tall metal stairwell that went up several stories. It was a slow paced walk for me.

  I’m a natural klutz and because the stars were pretty wet I did not want to slip and fall. I really took my time compared to the kids behind us who were bitching and complaining how slow I was.

  Jackie turned around and gave them a glair because she did not want to slip either.

  I heard Jackie’s teenage nemesis on the platform below. I noticed a torquise ring on her left ring finger that was not there earlier. She was whining to her girlfriends, “Errrg. I have this annoying itchy feeling on both my hands and feet. I think I stepped in or touched something gross and need to go to the bathroom as soon as I’m out of here. I have to wipe them off before I like get that tiberosos disease they told us about in the beginning.”

  When we got to the top of the stairwell and exited the caves, all the kids all went back to the visitor center while Jackie and I headed for the car. It had started to drizzle and neither of us wanted to get any wetter than we already were from the tour.