The Motel Life

by Willy Vlautin

  When I got to her room, though, it was empty. The curtains were open and I could see all their things were gone. I went to the manager and he said they had checked out that morning, the two of them, but he didn’t know where they’d gone.

  19

  THE NEXT MORNING I wrapped the dog in my coat and carried him down to the street so no one would see him. It was going to snow again. The temperature was dropping. We went all the way down Virginia Street to Landrums, the old lunch counter which sat only eight people. I got bacon and eggs, saving the bacon for the dog, who waited outside underneath the bus bench. I got a coffee to go and drank it to keep warm as we walked towards Jerry Lee’s old room. I took side streets so the dog could walk on lawns.

  When we made it back downtown I walked past the El Cortez Lounge, and as I did so, Al Casey came running out. I was across the street from him, and when the traffic cleared, he made his way over.

  ‘Jesus, Al, what happened to you?’

  He was dressed in an orange jogging suit and his face was swollen with two black eyes, his nose was bent and bruised, there was dried blood around his nostrils, his lips were cracked and covered with Vaseline. There was a bandage on his head.

  ‘Damn, I’m out of shape.’ He bent over to catch his breath. ‘Where you going?’

  ‘To my brother’s place. What the hell happened to you?’

  ‘I was walking home the other night after I’d rented a movie and a couple of these redneck bastards were waiting outside that gay bar on Virginia. The one with numbers on the outside. Near the vegetarian joint. Anyway, they called me a queer, and pushed me down and kicked the shit out of me in that parking lot across the street. I don’t know why they did it. I thought I was gonna die. It was that bad. Finally I just curled up in a cannonball and tried to wait it out. All because I was wearing a light green suit and walking by that place. I didn’t even know who the fuck they were, I’d never seen them in my life. My question is, why would you want to beat up a guy just for walking down the street? It was just terrible, Frank. And guess what movie I was renting?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, for Christsakes. It was Saturday and I felt like being in a good mood. You know? And they stole the movie. I remember one of them picked it up and looked at it, then just took it.’

  ‘Jesus,’ I said. Al was drunk, and blood from his nose began to drip on his suit.

  ‘Your nose is starting up.’

  ‘I’m a fucking mess,’ he said. He took a napkin from his pocket, tore a small piece from it, rolled it with his fingers and stuck it in his nose. ‘Guess where I’m going?’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘You know Darren Hofchek?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘He’s a guy who used to work at the pawn shop with me. The tall son of a bitch. Got the overbite.’

  ‘I’ve seen him, I think,’ I said.

  ‘Well, somehow he got two weeks in a condo up at Heavenly. You can ski right to your room. Free tickets and free lodging. We’re leaving tonight. Can you imagine that? Me as fucked up as I am, skiing down the fucking mountain. With the black eyes and the nose. I won’t be getting any ladies on this trip.’

  The napkin in his nose fell out and dropped to the ground.

  ‘Jesus,’ he said, ‘I guess I’m leaking pretty bad.’ He took the napkin from his pocket again and shoved another piece into his nose.

  ‘Whose dog is that?’ he asked.

  ‘Mine,’ I said.

  ‘It’s a good looking dog,’ he said.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said.

  ‘Well, tell your brother hello, and I’ll see you when I get back. I’d like to stay and talk but it’s colder than fuck out here, and I got a game of gin going inside. I’ll see you in a couple weeks. Tell your brother to hang in there.’

  ‘I will,’ I said, and with that Al disappeared back across the street and into the El Cortez.

  Jerry Lee’s room was at the Rancho Sierra Motel on Fourth Street. It was on the good side of Fourth, near the Gold Dust West Casino, near the Gold n’ Silver.

  Inside, it was like any other motel room, but his bed was made and his room was neat. His shirts were hanging in the closet and the rest of his clothes were folded and kept in the drawer. He kept his things like that, clean and in order and put away.

  Along the walls of the room were sketch drawings he’d done. Most were done in pencil or charcoal. One wall was covered with pictures just of motel signs, small ones the size of a piece of binder paper. The Mizpah, the Morris, the Chalet, the 777, Heart of Reno, the Sandman, the Ox-Bow, the Americana, the Ho Hum, the Horseshoe, the Riverhouse, the El Cortez, the Shamrock Inn, the Star of Reno, the Grand, the Rancho, the Austin Arms, the Keno Motel, the El Ray, the Town View, the Windsor, the Olympic, the Ace, the Cabana, the Reno Royal, the City Center, the In-Town, the Stardust, the Sage, the Fireside, the Roulette, the White Court, the Thunderbird, the Monte Carlo, the Sutro, the Lucky, the Desert Sunset, HI-WAY 40, Everybody’s Inn Motel, the Mid-Town, the 7/11, the Down Towner, the Reno Riviera, the Heart O’ Town, the Golden West, the Uptown, the Savory, the Flamingo, the Coach, the Shamrock, the Aspen, the Gold Key, the Wonder Lodge, the Time Zone, the Horse Shoe, the Mardi Gras, the Capri, the Castaway, and the Fireside Inn.

  Most of those are within a mile of downtown, and most aren’t even real motels anymore. Once they were new and held vacationers and honeymooners from all over the country, and now they barely survive as residentials. And the people that stay there, they’re on the slide too. They get worse as the buildings do.

  Above his bed there were sketches of women, most naked, some looked like showgirls, others had tattoos, some were riding bikes, one girl was parachuting. My favorite was a huge picture of naked girls playing baseball.

  On the wall behind the TV were drawings of cowboys and Indians. In some they were fighting and there was blood and guts everywhere and in others they were all just sitting around a fire. There were a lot of drawings of a woman he named Marge. Jerry Lee called her his wife. He had drawings of her swimming in the river, or sleeping in a bed, or laying in a bathtub. There was one of her water-skiing and another of her trap shooting. She was real good looking, and she was peaceful and calm, and you could tell just by looking at her that she was a nice person.

  I put all his clothes and things that wouldn’t break in garbage bags, and set them by the door. The dog got up on the bed and fell asleep while I took down all the drawings and put them between two pieces of cardboard that Jerry Lee kept for them.

  Finally, I was done, and I called a cab and when it came I loaded all Jerry Lee’s things into it and had the driver take us to my place.

  That afternoon I left the dog once again outside the hospital, in the courtyard, and went up in the elevator to Jerry Lee’s room. The room was empty, just him in the same bed alone, and he lay there watching The Young and the Restless. He had shaved and his hair was combed back.

  ‘How you doing?’ I asked and pulled a chair next to him.

  ‘All right, I guess. They gave me a bath in bed. This fat lady did it with a wash cloth and a sponge. She was sucking on cough drops and had snot leaking down her face but she was pretty nice. It felt all right.’

  ‘You look better,’ I said.

  ‘I feel better,’ he said.

  ‘I moved your stuff out.’

  ‘Were they all right to you?’

  ‘I didn’t even see anyone.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘I got to get some money, I guess, I’m almost out,’ I told him halfheartedly and sat down.

  ‘Maybe you could just pick day work. Maybe Claire needs a room painted, something like that. Will you do one thing else for me, Frank?’

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked him.

  ‘Tommy owes me a couple hundred dollars. Could you get it for me, and when you see him will you see if we can get an extra couple hundred off him?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said.

  ‘You still got tha
t dog?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘He seems a real nice one too. All he’s been doing is sleeping and eating. He eats more than any dog I’ve seen.’

  ‘Those scumbags probably never fed him.’

  ‘I don’t think they did.’

  ‘You figured a name yet?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘It’s a boy, right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said.

  ‘I’ll think about a name,’ he said and we fell silent for a time.

  ‘I’m really getting depressed now, Frank,’ he said finally, and looked out towards the window. ‘I don’t know. If anyone finds out, if the police or anybody finds out, will you get me out of here?’

  ‘They ain’t gonna find out, but if they do, yeah, I’ll get you out of here.’

  ‘I just get so damn nervous. The more I’m here the more nervous I get. The TV’s starting to drive me crazy. You find out anything more about the kid?’

  ‘No,’ I said.

  ‘Poor fucking guy,’ Jerry Lee said. ‘My whole life seems wrong now.’

  ‘You’re just in a black cloud now. It’ll pass.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Things go in waves.’

  ‘I hope they still can.’

  ‘It will.’

  ‘You mind sitting here for a while?’

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I got no place to be.’

  ‘Too bad the TV sucks. You think they could get HBO, or at least better cable.’

  ‘I like the new picture of the Indian chopping the cowboy’s head off with a tomahawk.’

  ‘I like that one too. How’s Marge?’

  ‘She’s good.’

  ‘You feel like telling me a story, Frank?’

  ‘Right now?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘I don’t really feel up to it.’

  ‘There’s nothing else to do. Nothing’s on until Perry Mason and that’s not for another hour.’

  ‘What kind do you want to hear?’

  ‘Something okay, something sorta funny, nothing too much.’

  ‘Well, I’ve been thinking about a new one,’ I said and moved the chair closer to him. He closed his eyes and I paused for a time looking at him. There was a film of sweat covering his face and the faint smell of soap about him, and his hair was combed and still damp.

  ‘Way back a long time ago,’ I finally said, ‘our dad when he was eighteen got a job as a salesman in a car dealership as a high school graduation present from his aunt. The same aunt in Idaho, I don’t know if you remember her, Aunt Bernie. The aunt I already told you about. The one that used to give him Penthouse and Hustler and Playboy for slashing tires. Anyway, she had connections and got Jimmy a job in Reno. He took the bus down here and rented a house and started working. The place he worked was like old Earl Hurley’s place. A used car lot. The uncle got him a job working for Ike Linfield, the owner of Used Car Magic.

  ‘He began as a part-time salesman, but within two months he had the top sales figures, and Ike let the only other salesman they had go, so that Jimmy could help run the place.

  ‘Then one day this lady, Iris, walked onto Ike’s lot wearing tight black shorts, a red tank top that said “Wonder Woman,” and black spiked high heels. She was looking for a convertible Ford Mustang. Ike had two sitting on the lot, a 1962 and a ’65.

  ‘So Jimmy walked her to the two convertibles. She knew how to work on cars so she popped open the hood and looked at things, moved some wires around, did a couple other things, then crawled underneath it in her little outfit. When she was done she wanted to take the ’62 for a test drive.

  ‘Jimmy went into the office, got the keys to the ’62, and said, “The woman of my dreams just walked in. Take a look at her, Ike.” Ike took a pair of binoculars out of his desk drawer and focused them on her. He looked at her for a time, then said, “You’re learning, Jimmy. Remember, let the words trickle down your tongue like they’re the fruits of Jesus.” See, Ike was a Jesus freak. He drank and smoked and cheated on his wife, but he also really loved God.

  ‘So Jimmy walked back out to Iris. He gave Iris the keys, she started it up and took them out on the road.

  ‘Jimmy watched her skinny white legs as they pushed on the clutch, hammered down on the brake, and eased into the gas. Iris watched Jimmy as Jimmy watched her. She smiled.

  ‘“You’re cute,” she said. “Maybe we should go out some time.” Then she moved her legs slightly further apart. Jimmy looked at her face. He thought of what Ike said. “Hell yeah, we’re gonna. I’m gonna blow your mind, Iris.”

  ‘“Is that so?” she said.

  ‘She pulled the car over on the side of the road and just like that, they began kissing.

  ‘Iris bought the car with cash, hundreds and fifties. It was the first sale of the week. Iris had her hand down the back of Jimmy’s pants when Ike told Jimmy to take the rest of the day off and spend it with her: “Let Iris take the controls for a while, Jimmy. Don’t worry about me, I’m gonna sit back and watch some TV. The 700 Club’s on in an hour. Enjoy the rest of the day.”

  ‘An hour later and Iris had the ’62 up to ninety as they headed east towards the desert. They had brought with them a tub of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a sleeping bag, a tent, and a twelve- pack of cold beer. They finally stopped on a dirt road miles from the freeway. Jimmy ate the fried chicken while Iris stood on the hood of her new car and shot lizards with her stainless steel Winchester .357.

  ‘“You sure are good with that gun, Iris,” Jimmy said as she picked up a part of a lizard with a stick.

  ‘“My mother told me the best defense is a good offense.”

  ‘“Your mom was one smart woman.”

  ‘Iris dropped the stick and the piece of lizard and said, “My mother taught me how to survive in this world. My mother said that each of us is like an M&M in a blender full of ice cream. We all try to avoid getting chopped up. We do most anything to avoid getting sliced, but in the end most of us get the chop and become nothing more than a part of the milk shake. With no difference, no will, all the pressure of the world beating us down, making us like everyone else. But I ain’t giving up. My mother taught me the basic three words of life. Good handgun knowledge. And believe me, it really does help a girl out.”

  ‘Jimmy threw his piece of chicken out into the desert and lay down on the hood and Iris took his pants off and got on top of him. As they did it she shot the gun over his head and Jimmy said it was the best experience in his life. The way that gun scared the hell out of him made him last for hours.

  ‘The next morning Iris got them back out on the freeway. They were heading to Reno to get married. He had his hands in her pants and she had the Ford up to a hundred.

  ‘They made a quick stop at Jimmy’s apartment, picked up his burgundy ruffled suit and bell-bottom pants, and drove on to Iris’s house.

  ‘She had a one-room house with a Great Dane/Russian Wolfhound cross named Biff. When they walked in, Iris pushed Jimmy on the bed and took him. He knew then that he’d found something more than incredible, he’d found the meaning to his life.

  ‘When they finished she told him she was gonna take a shower and then they’d get married. Jimmy was on the bed drawing imaginary hearts on her sheets when the police broke in and screamed, “DRUG RAID.” They handcuffed Jimmy naked to the bedpost while they searched the house.

  ‘They found half a pound of marijuana in a bowling bag, a pound of plastic explosives in a shoe box, an M-16 in her closet, and three grenades under the couch.

  ‘The cops handcuffed Iris and threw her on the bed next to Jimmy. They were both naked. Iris said, “I just picked this boy up, he don’t know a thing about what I’ve been doing. He’s just a man I found yesterday, a man who would have changed my life and led me down the path of righteousness. He’s the only man that understands me! And most of all he’s innocent, goddamnit! Let him go, you cocksuckers!”

  ‘“Fuck you, lady,” the police yelled.

  ‘“You think you’re f
unny, don’t you? You fucking assholes! A woman has a right to defend herself, and a woman has the right to enjoy herself!”

  ‘As they took her away, Jimmy screamed, “I swear to God I’ll bust you out! I’m your M&M, and I’m gonna be the M&M that makes it through.”

  ‘She began crying and yelled, “I love you, Jimmy. I love you so deep it hurts. It hurts so bad I think I’m dying. Take care of Biff. You’re forever mine! Goddamnit, come hurry up and set me free!”

  ‘Four days later Iris was getting a prison-issue haircut from an inmate when the woman stabbed her five times in the neck. Jimmy had already begun a plan to break her out, and had moved his things into her small house when he heard the news that she lay dead in a barbershop chair with a pair of scissors stuck in her throat. Jimmy was sad as hell ’cause he really loved Iris. Even a year on he was sure he would never fall in love again. It was a hard time, he was sad and lonelier than he’d ever been. And then one day our mother, just out of high school, walked onto the dusty lot of Used Car Magic. He sold her a two- door Toyota, and once again as they filled out the paperwork, old Ike took him aside. “Jimmy,” he said, “I think this might be the next gal for you!” Then he gave him a hundred-buck bonus and the rest of the day off. The End.’

  Jerry Lee laughed. ‘That’s a hell of a sad story, Frank, but I like it. That damn woman, she was something. That’s one sick picture. With a pair of scissors sticking out of her neck, blood everywhere. You imagine the crazed look in the barber lady’s eyes when she was cutting Iris’s hair. And poor Iris on a barber chair like that. With some crazy lady standing over you, and you don’t even know it. I liked the part about fucking while she’s shooting off a gun. I’d be scared she’d shoot me, but it’s a nice image. I’d try it. If it was Iris pulling the trigger I’d do it.’

  ‘I might have Jimmy and Biff, the dog, go somewhere next, but I’m not sure. Maybe something to do with aliens. Some sort of man and his dog adventure.’

  ‘Too bad Iris had to die. In my mind she’s still alive.’

  ‘I didn’t want her to die,’ I said, ‘but she just did. Maybe she’ll come back somehow.’