Shadows of Death

Chapter 3(Christopher section 3)

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After an hour the taxi stopped on a by street along a small alley. The taxi driver turned his head back and said to Christopher who looked at the dirty and old door: "There are plenty of cheap boarding houses here, sir."

His voice was still full of hesitance. Christopher followed his gaze. On the top of the door was a small sign. On the sign was written: "Long Stays Welcome."

The taxi driver whose attention was on the taxi meter said: "That'll be 43 dollars...sir." His tone was so unsure. Maybe he was not sure if Christopher could pay this money.

Christopher picked up his leather wallet from his coat pocket and pulled out a 100 dollar bill and gave it to the taxi driver. But before he gave him the money, he said: "My suitcase...could you do me a favor and...?"

The taxi driver interrupted with eagerness: "Of course, sir!"

He quickly got out of the car and pulled out Christopher's suitcase. He set it in front of Christopher, who had already gotten out of the car too. Christopher held the hundred dollar bill toward him and waited for him to bring back the change. The taxi driver without any word left 57 dollars in his hand and in few seconds got in the car and drove away.

Christopher crumpled the 57 dollars and put in in his coat pocket. He didn't need the change, but he thought it's not normal to leave a tip for a driver who takes him to such a cheap and shabby place. He still remembered the concerned voice of the taxi driver. He picked up his small suitcase and took a step toward the alley. The motel door was the third one on the left side of the alley. When he got there he saw a paper that had written on it "Don't knock, just ring."

Christopher understood despite the bad handwriting. It looked as though this bad handwriting belonged to the owner of the boarding house, who must have been a nervous and angry man! He rang. After a short time he heard a middle-aged woman's voice scream angrily: "Who is it?"

The door opened as far as the chain behind it allowed. A woman with an angry face and short black hair appeared.

She almost shouted: "What do you want?"

Christopher said: "A room."

The woman who named Mary paused, then closed the door to open the chain. Then she opened the door completely and with irritability said: "Come inside."

Christopher entered and saw a young girl who had long blonde hair and wore blue jeans with a blue windbreaker and stood behind the counter. Her age wasn't look more than nineteen year. Besides her there was a hunting dog in the left corner of the reception who was quietly sitting on the ground.

Mary, who was behind the counter now, said to Christopher: "Close the door, boy. You don't want it to be open all night, do you?"

Christopher obey without saying a word. When he closed the door, Mary said to the girl in front of her: "Where were we? Oh. I was saying, the room is twenty-five dollars per night..."

The woman interrupted: "Twenty-five dollars?! It's too expensive!"

But Mary, who seemed upset after hearing her words, quickly replied: "The cheaper boarding house is three streets that way...sit, Jerry!"

With her hand she gestured to the dog, who was in the process of standing. The dog heard his owner's command and sat back down with his black muzzle on the wooden floor.

Mary continued: "But of course, the other places down that way are not clean as mine! My rooms are all clean and tidy. My rooms don't smell, either, but their rooms smell like rotten eggs. My rooms have phones, too." She laughed with pride. It seemed she thought after her description that this boarding house was practically a five-star hotel.

The young girl said: "Okay. If this place is clean I'll stay here. I can't stand rotten smells."

Mary nodded to show her satisfaction and with an unfriendly voice said: "Now you need to know the rules of the boarding house. One: no coming and going drunk. Don't smoke in the room. Alcohol and drugs are forbidden. Second, I don't care if you have a relationship with men but you can't have guests in your room and after twelve o'clock don't make any noise."

"I'm not seeing anyone I don't smoke or drink." When the young girl defended her dignity she looked at Christopher with shame.

Mary shrugged and said: "It's not my business. I just told you the rules."

She pause and then added: "Third: rent up front. If you want to stay more than one night, every night you need to pay for the next day."

The young girl put her hand into her jeans pocket. She took out a few folded five-dollar bills, gave five bills to Mary and said: "I'm just staying one night."

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Continue: Chapter 3 (Christopher section 4)

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