Addicted

Chapter Six

"Wild Nights Inn." Harry said, skepticism laced thick in his voice. His nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked at the shabby, run down motel. It looked like something out of a horror movie. The paint was chipping off the outside walls. The cement sidewalks were cracked. What flowers and other plants there were, were brown and dead. Letters were missing from the sign next to the turn in. If it was dark, I would bet that the lights flickered and that some were out all together. I could already imagine that eerie blueish glow.

"You know," he said. "I saw a cardboard box down the road. It's in better condition... And I'm pretty sure you could afford it. Better than this dump." I scoffed in annoyance and removed my stack of cash. Harry stayed in the truck while I went inside and rented a room.

The lady behind the desk had eaten too many cheeseburgers in her life. She was slightly bent over and had a hump in her back making her look like a female Quasimodo. She reeked of cigarette smoke and sweat like the rest of the room and looked as if she'd never heard of a toothbrush. What few teeth she had were yellow and black. I had an intense yearning to find a toothbrush and some crest whitening strips and leave them in the tip jar. Here's a tip: brush your teeth.

Before I could ask to rent a room, she fell into a coughing for. Her face turned red and she waved her chubby hands around. I watched, not sure what to do. I began to wonder if she'd sucked one of her last few teeth down her windpipe. The coughing ceased. There was a disgusting gurgling sound and then she grabbed a styro-foam cup and spit into it. What a lovely thing to do in front of a customer.

She took a cigarette out of a pack laying on the edge of the desk and lit it up. I stared at her, trying to keep my expression neutral as she took a long drag and blew the smoke out. You almost hack up a lung and you're gonna smoke a cigarette. Makes loads of sense.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a gravelly voice. I cleared me throat and stepped closer to the desk.

"I was needing to rent a room. Your sign said you had vacancy."

"Right." She turned towards the ancient looking computer, the cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth. The lady clicked the mouse several times in a row and hit a few buttons, her force becoming stronger each time. "Piece of shit computer!" She grumbled and smacked the side of the monitor. "Happens all the time." She laughed, looking up at me.

I forced a smile and looked away. I couldn't handle those teeth.

About ten minutes later she finally got the computer to work.

"Name?"

"Lydia West." I replied. The keyboard clicked as she typed it in.

"How many nights you lookin at?"

"I'm not quite sure. How much is it a night?"

"Fifty. Or twenty-five per night if you rent for a week."

"Go ahead and put me down for a week." More clicking. "Will you be paying with cash or credit?" I opened my mouth to respond but she spoke again. "We only take cash." Then why bother asking? And how about a sign? 'Cash only.'

"Cash..." Some mouse clicking and then button tapping.

"That'll be one hundred seventy-five bucks, princess." She grinned. Her left eye closed and opened so fast I barely caught it. Was that a twitch or a wink? Princess? Was she hitting on me?

I handed her the money and she dropped a key in my hand.

"Room twenty seven. Enjoy your stay." I nodded and quickly left the office. Harry was sitting in his truck watching an old man assault a snack machine when I came out.

"Are you really going to say here?" He asked when he met me at the back of the truck to get my bags. "I think this shithole doubles as an insane asylum." I followed his gaze to the Old man who was now screaming at the snack machine about the bloody devil taking his soul and now his money.

"He just really wants that Twinkie." I shrugged, and walked to my room with my treasure chest.

"Come on, Lydia. This place is sketchy. Even the name is screwed up. Wild Nights Inn? It sounds like a brothel." I gave Harry a look and opened the door to my room. The smell from within explored and smacked us in the face like a brick. It smelled like feet, dust, and beer.

"Holy shit! Someone grab the febreeze!" Harry shouted, his nose scrunched in disgust. I walked inside and he followed behind me, complaining about the smell the entire time. My patience with him was wearing thin.

I looked around the room. It was tiny, barely big enough for a bed, tv, and a chair that sat in the corner. There was another door in another corner. It was wide open. I could see the bathtub, sink, and toilet all at once. The walls were a dark maroon, and the carpet, an ugly dark green. There was a huge stain in the middle of the floor. The curtains were striped, faded and moth eaten along with the bedspread. The television was one of the old fashioned ones that could only be controlled by the buttons on the side, and had a set of rabbit ear antennas setting on top of it.

"The carpet looks like baby shit." He said. I gritted my teeth, but stayed quiet. "Would you like help?"

"No, that's okay. I'll just go find the insane guy outside with no soil. Maybe he finally got his Twinkie and we can share it." I rolled eyes.

"Stop being difficult." He responded, setting my bags on the bed. "I'm trying to help you."

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He was right. He was trying to help and I was being difficult. It was just annoying that he kept making stupid remarks. I realized the place was a dump. He didn't have to pointier s erg wrong thing. I needed a place to stay and this was the cheapest place I could afford for longer than two nights.

I needed to stop letting him get under my skin with his snide remarks. In his own weird way, he was trying to help.

With a shrug, I walked to the bathroom to inspect it. The bathtub was a stained light yellow color to a certain paint. The rest was the original white from the water line up. The knob that controlled water temperature was covered in grime and soap scum. The shower head was broken and was just hanging there.

The back of the toilet was chilled and broken in several places. The sink was barely attached to the wall. There was a huge that stain around the sink drain.

I sighed. Because of my aunt, I was stuck in this dilapidated shit hole. As bad of a shape it was in, it was so not worth the price I paid for it.

I walked back into the room and stopped mid step. Anger coursed through me. Harry was unpacking my bags.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled and rushed forward. I yanked the sweatpants he held in his hand away from him and shoved against his chest hard.

"Lydia, what-"

"How dare you unpack my things?! Haven't you ever heard of personal space and privacy? That is my stuff! You have crossed a line!"

"I was just trying to help!" He yelled, raising his voice at me for the first time.

"I don't care!" I screamed back. I pushed him over to the door and opened it. He stumbled over the threshold as I forced him out of the room and slammed the door in his face.

Right when I was starting to tolerate and appreciate his efforts to help, he violates my personal and private space. That was a boundary he had no right to breech. What gave him the right to unpack my things?

Nothing. Not a damn thing.

A/N sorry for taking so long to update guys! I'm juggling school, work and a boyfriend. I'll try to update sooner. Love you all!