Dede’s hands were so full, she couldn’t knock. She had to kick the door of Room 217 to get Tony’s attention.
Slow minutes ticked by as she waited outside in the frigid air. She stepped to the left, checking the room next door: 218. She pondered whether she should give that door a kick, for good measure. Earlier that day, Tony had gone to the motel office and rented 218 as well as 217. The adjoining rooms were connected by an interior door. He said it would be good for business. He wanted to keep an eye on the new girl.
With a creak of door hinges, Tony finally opened 217. “Get on in here, Dede. I want my coffee.” She hurried inside, shivering, and set the cardboard tray on the counter.
In a snappish tone, Dede said, “You know we could tell them at the front desk that our coffee maker doesn’t work.”
Tony pulled a chocolate frosted Long John doughnut from the white paper bag she had delivered with the coffee. He took a bite before he responded to her.
“I think I told you. I’m not too keen on having people snoop around in here.”
He picked up a coffee in a tall foam cup and carried it to the desk, where he set it next to the laptop computer. Sipping from the cup, he studied the screen.
Dede walked over to the bed on the far side of the room and lifted the bedsheet, studying the limp form beneath it.
“I see you uncuffed her.”
Without turning away from the computer, Tony said, “She’s out. Don’t need to keep her tied up if she’s unconscious. Don’t want to bruise that peach.”
Dede reached out to the girl on the bed and pinched the fleshy part of her right arm. The girl didn’t respond. She continued to breathe deeply, her mouth open. Her curly hair fanned out over the pillowcase.
Dede walked back to the desk and doctored the other coffee with cream and packets of Equal sweetener. “You absolutely sure they won’t come looking for her?”
Tony snorted. “That girl is white trash. Guaranteed. They’ll figure her for a runaway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Shit, Dede. What kind of girl you think trolls through the ads on Backlist.com?”
“They still might look. She’s a missing kid.”
“Let them. They won’t find her.”
“What if her friend talks? Coco, the black girl?”
“She won’t. I took care of that. Coco gonna keep her lip zipped. I’ll keep tabs on her.”
His fingers scampered across the keyboard, typing fast. “We’ve got a live one,” he said, smiling. “I’ve hooked him.”
Dede bent over his shoulder to read the words on the screen. He jabbed her in the gut with his elbow and said, “Back off. I don’t want to smell your stinking breath while I’m working. You need to gargle some Listerine.”
She walked to the empty bed with an injured expression. Kicking off her shoes, she sat and reclined against the headboard. After a moment’s silence, she said, “We gotta move on.”
Tony didn’t answer.
Dede spoke again, more forcefully. “I got a feeling. There’s too many things going to shit around here. It’s risky. Let’s pack up. We can leave her here. You’ve got the pictures; they’re being downloaded already, on the P2P network. You’ll make your profit off her.”
Tony let out a deep sigh. “We’re not leaving money on the table, Dede.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
He swiveled slowly in the chair. Pointing at the sleeping girl, he said, “Do you know the payday I’ve got lined up for that over there?”
When Dede opened her mouth to speak again, Tony cut her off. “Since when have your instincts been worth a shit? If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be working the massage parlors in Mobile. If they’d have you; they can get those Asian girls now. They’re younger than you, better looking. And they don’t even have to pay them anything. Those bitches don’t speak English.”
Dede drank her coffee. She didn’t argue.
He said, “You’ve come up in the world since you started listening to me. Just try to deny it.”
She shook her head. The red waves obscured her face.
“Remember at the Happy Ending Massage? You’d turn tricks for ten to twelve hours straight; then sleep on the floor of the back room. I felt sorry for you, I’ve told you that. It’s one thing to work those Chinese like that; but goddamn, you’re an American.”
Tony left his chair and sat beside Dede on the bed. He massaged her thigh with a tattooed hand. “What did I tell you back then?”
She shook her hair back from her face. “That we could get out, do it on our own instead of working for someone else.”
“Damn straight.”
“And if we grew it, I could be management.”
“See? Was I right? That’s what we’re doing right now.” He pointed again at the unconscious girl. “Everything’s cool. I’ll know when it’s time to move on. I always do. Remember when they busted the parlor in Mobile? Jerked his license? I could feel it coming. We got out in time.”
A knock on the door caused him to jerk his hand away. In a sharp voice he said, “Who is it?”
“Housekeeping,” said the voice on the other side of the door.
Tony rose from the bed. He unlocked the door and cracked it open. He smiled as he spoke.
“My girlfriend’s still running a fever. Just hand over the towels and stuff.”
A woman’s face appeared in the opening, as if she was trying to see inside.
“She still sick? How long has it been?”
Tony whistled. “It’s bad. You don’t want to catch it, ma’am. Just drop all that by the door. I’ll pick it up.”
Dede could see the woman’s eye at the crack of the door. “What about the sheets?”
“Later,” Tony said, as he pushed the door shut and locked it again.
In a fierce whisper, Dede said, “See? Even the hotel maid is sniffing after us.”
She would have said more; but Tony’s phone rang, and he shot her a warning look. He picked up the cell phone, checking the number on the screen. His face was guarded as he answered.
“Who’s this?”
As he listened, his expression transformed to one of satisfaction. He flashed Dede a triumphant grin.
“Is that right? I ought to let you sit down there and rot, you little bitch.”
Dede sat up straight on the bed. She whispered, “What?”
He shook his head in warning before speaking into the phone again.
“Have you been behaving yourself?”
The voice on the other end of the line filtered into the hotel room: a girl’s voice. Dede couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Tony dumped the remaining doughnut from the paper bag and snatched up a pen. “Slow down,” he said. He smoothed the bag on the desktop and began to write on it. “Okay, tell me where.”
A moment later, he ended the call. To Dede he said, “Remind me never to listen to you.”
She edged away from him, scooting back toward the headboard.
“What was it?”
“Baby’s coming back.” He balled up the paper bag and threw it at Dede. It bounced off her chest and rolled across the bedspread. “There’s the directions. Go get her. We are back in business. I knew it. Good thing we got an extra room.”
Dede picked up the paper ball. “You sure it isn’t some kind of setup?”
Tony fished the keys from his pocket. He crossed to the bed and handed them to Dede. Before returning to the chair, he gazed at his reflection in the mirror over the dresser, running his fingers through his hair.
“The problem with you, baby, is that you’re so fucking negative. That’s why you can never make it on your own.”
Their eyes met in the mirror. Tony smiled suddenly, showing his teeth like a wolf.
“Mandy misses her daddy. And she needs some candy.”
He picked up one of the bottles on the desk and shook it. The pills inside rattled.
“Now get off your lazy ass, she’s waiting.”