Pulling into the parking lot at three forty-two in the afternoon, I leave Amira in the running car, sprinting into the building so we can catch some sleep before having to get in that damn car again.
A little bell jingles above my head once I open the door. A young woman, no more than sixteen, greets me as I step up to the counter.
“Hello, how can I assist you today?”
“Uhh, hi. Could I get one room, one bed?”
“And how many nights?” she asks, jotting down my stay on her check-in form.
“Just one.”
She finishes writing down my information, saving my name for last.
Dominic Farro.
My father’s first name with my mother’s last.
“Okay, Mr. Farro. A breakfast truck comes every morning at nine, and check-out will be at noon. Have a great stay.”
Taking the entrance card from between her fingers with a mumbled thank you, I stomp out to the car, my feet like lead in my boots.
There are no stairs at this motel, just one long strip of rooms. Stopping in front of room seventeen, Amira and I drag ourselves out of the vehicle, suitcase handle in each of our hands as we shuffle inside.
“Don’t talk to me. Don’t touch me. Don’t wake me,” Amira rumbles, dropping face-first down onto the pillows, falling asleep almost instantly.
I’m right behind her. Throwing the pillows off the bed, I lie on my back with my arms crossed over my chest and nod off. No time for thinking, no time for dreaming.
I just sleep.
†††
Friday
March 26, 2021
It’s pitch-black by the time I open my eyes again, nothing illuminating the room except the glowing white light from the clock, the numbers reading one fifty-five in the morning.
Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I listen to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, steam drifting out from under the doorway as Amira boils.
I’m too comfortable to leave the warmth of the bed. Amira having turned on the heater, making it a toasty eighty degrees.
Turning to lie on my stomach, I rest my head on top of my hands and close my eyes, listening to the sound of Amira’s soft voice singing My Girl by The Temptations.
Her voice is haunting… deadly.
I wonder if she realizes she’s singing the same song her father would sing to her whenever he came home.
Tommy, Liam, and I would be in the living room, talking, laughing, and eating whatever food Amira and Adrianna laid out for us when Gabriel would come through the door, eyes going to Amira before anyone else. The tune would slip from his lips like habit;“I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day”hitting our ears as he gave Amira tender kisses on the head.
It's astounding how loving Gabriel could seem at times. How easily he fooled her with loving songs and pleasant memories.
I want her to stop singing, to never sing that song again. But she sounds so lovely, and the idea of her stopping sends a shooting pain down into my gut.
I listen to the whole song. An entire three minutes with my heart bleeding, stomach cramping. Pain sticks in her throat as she finishes, a croaking sound coming before weeping cries.
My body screams at me to rush up, kick the door down, and hold her. But I can't move. Agony holding me down as I listen to her whimpers grow louder.
I cry with her. Tears of my own sliding down my cheek, plopping onto the crisp, white sheet until it’s a wet, grey puddle.
