Weak

Chapter Ten

The next morning we wake up around 6 AM.

“Okay, so we need to find clothes, quickly.” Mom says making the bed. My bones crack while I stretch. The sofa wasn't too comfortable last night.

“So how is this going to work. We have like five hours to get clothes, shower, and get out of here.” I say rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“Maybe you can go to the office and ask where the nearest clothing store is. I could take my shower while you and Leslie go to the store. You know what size I wear.”

“Alright. Leslie are you ready?” I say, putting on my shoes. She's in the bathroom.

“One minute!” She says. She sounds drained in a way. She walks out of the bathroom. She doesn't look well. “I'm ready.”

“Are you okay.” I asked with a concerned voice.

“Fine.” She has a slight smile on her face.

“Okay. We'll be back as soon as possible.” Leslie and I walk out of the motel room to the office. A couple walks away from the office window just as we reach the office. The old lady who works there is sitting at the window smoking a cigarette.

“Whatcha' need?”

“We're looking for a clothing store.  Is there one near here?”

“They got a thrift store about 5 minutes that way.” She points to her right.

“Alright thanks.” Leslie and I walk to the car and get in. Down the road we find the thrift store. The name is very original—The Thrift Store. At least it was easy to find. I park the car and Leslie and I walk up to the shop.  We pull on the door—there store is closed and will open at 6:30 AM. We have about a ten minutes to wait. Leslie and I sit on the ground by the door. She's still not looking too well.

“Are you sure you're okay Leslie?”

“I'm fine, Chase. I really need to brush my teeth though.” She laughs, grasping her stomach. I don't believe she's okay but I don't know what could be wrong with her. If she's not worried I guess I shouldn't be either. Her phone sounds. She takes it out of pocket and looks down at it.

“Someone worried about you?” I tease.

“It's no one.” She says dryly putting the phone back in her pocket. We sit there in silence the rest of the wait. I look at my watch—6:29. One more minute I say in my head. I hope the owner isn't late or out of business; but then an old, white station wagon pulls up next to the Mustang. From the station wagon comes out an old man—a short, colorful old man. He grabs a bag out of his car. I'm guessing that's his idea of a purse. He walks over to the store in a very feminine fashion, twisting his hips.

“Oh my! Customers.” He says with a great big smile. “Get up! Get up! We have to make you two fabulous!”

He finds the key to the shop on his high-fashion key chain and opens the door while Leslie and I stand up. We dust ourselves off and he holds the door open for us.

“C'mon in! And sorry if I kept you waiting. My time management is a little off.” He giggles motioning for us to enter. We go into the store. First impression: colorful—just like the old man. There are racks and racks of clothes everywhere. Purses and belts hang on the wall. In the back of the store there are dressing rooms. “Okay, so what are you two looking for today?”

“Well,” I say. “We just need some clothes. Also, I need clothes for my mother.”

“Okay,” he says, batting his eyelashes. “What's your style?”

“I'm pretty casual. Jeans and a T-shirt will be fine.” I say, putting my hands in my pockets.

“Aw, pooie. How 'bout you lovely lady?” He smiles at Leslie. She giggles a bit.

“I'm pretty open to anything. I can dig retro chic.” His eyes lit up we she said that. He pulls Leslie by the the arm.

“Let's go girlfriend!”

When he's off with Leslie, dolling her up, I take the opportunity to look around for stuff for Mom and myself. I get me a few pairs of jeans from the Men's jean rack and some graphic T-shirts. For Mom I pick up a few skirts, and blouses. I pretty much get things that look similar to what she often wears. I also see some black flat shoes that are in her size so I pick them out. They'll match pretty much anything. Since I have black sneakers on, I'm okay in the shoe department. I pick out a black belt and I'm done.

I look over to the back of the room where Leslie is checking herself out in the mirror. The shop owner motions for her to spin around, and she does. She's wearing a maroon colored dressed. I guess retro chic does really fit her. She looks absolutely stunning. She's pretty much stunning in everything. Leslie tries on a few more things and make her final decision on a few outfits. The owner rings us up and we head outside to the car.

“That was fun!” Leslie says twirling around with her bags. I laugh a little.

“Yeah. That was one interesting man too.” We get into the car. On our way back to the hotel I stop by the gas station to get some gas. While I'm in the store paying for the gas I pick up some toothbrushes, deodorant, and some toothpaste.

When we get back to the motel Mom has already finished showering. She's been standing naked in the bathroom, waiting on us. I hand her an outfit through a crack in the door. She puts the clothes on, brushes her teeth and Leslie goes in next.

After we have all gotten ready it's a little after 9 AM. We gather all our things and go to the office to check out. The lady at the office pretends to be sad that we're 'leaving on such short notice'. We get into the car. Leslie is really not looking that good. This time Mom asks her what's wrong.

“I'm just really hungry.”  She says, holding her stomach.

“Yeah, we really should go get something to eat. Chase do you think you could go ask the lady at the office where a restaurant is?”

“When I went the gas station there was food in there. The employees were preparing to sell breakfast plates. We could go get food from there and eat in the car.  I really don't want to to go ask that lady anything.”

“Okay, that's fine. Eating in the car isn't ideal, but okay.”

We go the gas station and get our breakfast. We sit in the parking lot eating. After we're finished we get back on the road. Leslie has her phone on the GPS, and we get back on the interstate.

Along the way we only stop for quick meals and bathroom breaks. Leslie, being the one who goes the most. Mom and I take shifts driving. There's barely any traffic and we're cruising. Everything seems so chill. We're listening to awesome music, playing games, and sight seeing. I don't know what the future holds but it's coming. It's coming fast. Here we come California.