It was nearing three in the morning, which meant it was nearing the point where Linda could function with any sort of clarity.
Beside her, Patricia was snoring in uneven spurts, the usual sounds of her slumber. Behind her, Wee Mary Beth let out a ceaseless string of grunts interrupted with squeals that startled Linda each time. Her knuckles had become white from the tight grip she kept on the wheel, and her fingers itched for the cigarettes she had given up in her early teens. But it had been one of those nights.
Patricia stirred, then sat upright, rubbing angrily at her eyes and frowning. “You’re still driving?”
“I’m looking for a hotel.”
“Thank God, I sleep like shit in a car and you look like hell,” Patricia peered out the windows into the inky black of the night. “Where are we anyway?”
“The last sign I saw said something about Peach Springs,” Linda said slowly. “I think I’ve made a wrong turn somewhere.”
Patricia grumped and Wee Mary Beth let out a sympathetic squeal. Or it was just a normal squeal, it was hard to tell. “That’s what happens when you don’t use GPS.”
Linda ignored Patricia. Lights appeared and a speed limit ordered Linda to drop her speed down to something more appropriate for a small town.
“Look, there’s a hotel,” Patricia said, smacking her palm against her window.
Linda took a quick glance at the tall sign, “Hualapai Lodge,” she read.
“Triple-A certified,” Patricia added brightly. “That’s gotta mean something, right?”
Linda shrugged. She hated sleeping anywhere that wasn’t familiar, but the Lodge didn’t seem to have enough pretensions to the place to stop her from adjusting whatever room they gave. She turned into the dusty parking lot, turned off the car, and waited a moment to observe her surroundings.
“We going in?” Patricia asked after even the engine had stopped ticking.
“WASH YER WINDER!” Something slapped against the Pruis window, and Wee Mary Beth and Linda both let out a sharp squeal.
“Hey!” Patricia shouted, banging on the window. “Hey man! Take it easy!”
Outside the car, someone dressed in the lumpy baggage of a huge coat, sagging pants, and a raggedy cap that seemed out-of-sync with the desert surroundings continued to spray down the window with water that was more sand than actual water.
Linda stepped out from the car, anxious to dispel the sound of her startle. “Excuse me, sir, I must ask you to leave.”
“AIN’T NO SIR, AND YOU GOTTA SPEAK UP CAUSE I’M DEAF!” The coat screamed at Linda, never once stopping in their work.
“Maggie!” Someone shouted from beyond the parking lot. Linda looked over to where the voice had come from and saw another woman dressed in the professional attire of Lodge staff. “Maggie, I told you not until morning!”
“CAN’T HEAR YOU MISTHILDE!” The coat, Linda assumed was named Maggie, shouted over her shoulder. “AND IT’S MORNING ENOUGH ANYWAY!”
“If you can’t hear anything, why are you still talking back?” Patricia asked, coming out from the car and leaning against the door frame.
“CAN’T LET NO ONE GET AWAY WITH TALKING BACK AT ME, SPEAK UP!” Maggie answered.
Linda felt a headache swarming in behind her eyes. At least this time she could pinch the bridge of her nose and squeeze her eyes shut.
Patricia saw Linda go through her usual routine of irritation and smiled even brighter. “How much you charging us, Maggie?”
“GONNA BE TEN DOLLARS, BUT I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
“Maggie, get out of here before you get me fired,” The girl Maggie called Misthilde shouted, running over towards the group. “I am so sorry about this,” She began when she got closer.
“S’okay,” Patricia said, eyeing up the neat job Maggie had done on the window. “It was dusty anyway. Maggie, if you help me get Wee Mary Beth inside, I’ll give you twenty.”
“You’ve got a pet?” Misthilde asked, her face pulling.
“It’s a piglet,” Linda said, her voice revealing the extent of her exhaustion.
“YOU’VE GOT A DEAL!” Maggie announced, dropping her rag and spray bottle to hold out her hands. “GIMME THE PIGGIE.”
“Please don’t—“Linda began, but before she could finish, Patricia had already hauled out the piglet and dropped it into Maggie’s waiting arms.
“DAMN CUTE THING!” Maggie roared, tickling Wee Mary Beth under the chin.
“Do you allow pets?” Linda asked, wondering where she had gone wrong in life.
“Maggie’s the owner,” Misthilde said with a shrug. Linda and Patricia looked first at Maggie, then Misthilde, their faces almost reflections of confusion. Misthilde looked back at Linda and Patricia, then over to Maggie. “Go put the pig in room 206, Maggie.”
“I DO WHAT I WANT,” Maggie yelled, even as she turned towards the Lodge.
“Is she really the owner?” Patricia asked in awed wonder as Maggie went into the lobby.
“She’s the owner’s demented mother-in-law,” Misthilde clarified, only turning back to Patricia and Linda once Maggie was out of sight. “But she thinks she owns the Lodge today, and it’s one of those days that it’s just easier to entertain her. Please, come inside and I’ll get you set-up.”
Linda wanted to refuse, leave the pig behind, get back into her car and drive until she found some quiet place to pull off at and get some sleep.
But Patricia came around and grabbed up Linda’s arm, leading her into the Lodge’s lobby. “You’re too tired to care.”
Linda agreed.
