CHAPTER 2
Spending the next hour getting acquainted with the woman, Scott played his “A” game. My head throbbed; the music was loud, and the beer aided in deteriorating my condition. I think she said her name was Melanie or Shelly or something along that pronunciation. I listened to every other word when I was sober. All bets were off when I was drunk.
Scott’s lips found comfort against hers shortly after the alcohol dulled their senses. They seemed to forget my presence and I should have just slipped off, but I made the mistake of tapping him on the shoulder to say goodnight. He misunderstood my desire to leave alone since he hastily threw a few twenties on the bar and motioned for his companion to grab her shoulder bag. Once we were outside the bar and able to hear ourselves think, my attempt to explain how I wasn’t looking for them to leave fell on deaf ears. We reached our hotel floor and I hastily exited the elevator and said goodnight to the frisky couple. My room key fumbled to hit the moving target of the lock and no sooner did I rest my back against the inside of my door did my exhaled sigh provide relief.
Two swallowed Advil capsules from my travel bag needed water to aid the elixir down my throat. I knew that I should not mix with alcohol and the water would hydrate my condition. Before I could get to the bottle, the pounding began. This time it was not in my head. It was at my door. Loud and repetitive, the banging sustained until I swung it open. Scott pushed past me with the woman in tow.
“JoJo! Change of plans. Can’t find my room key. What’s in your room bar, anything good?”
Distracted by his rapid firing of words, my response was curt.
“The same alcohol that’s in your room!”
My voice was raspy from the taste of the pills. Deaf to my words, Scott pillaged through the alcohol supply in the fridge while I grabbed for a bottle of water. In dire need of liquid, I gulped it down and turned to Scott. Before I was able to speak, the woman quietly interrupted my intent.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, I’m going to freshen up.”
She disappeared into the bathroom with her oversized bag, allowing my attention to return on Scott. A devilish grin accompanied his plopping down on my bed. I watched as his legs crossed and his hands rested behind his head. I was irked.
“Scott, I need to go to bed.”
A wink accompanied his response. “Okay.”
My heart beat a little faster.
“Listen closely, I have a fucking splitting headache and I won’t be part of your orgy. Now take your woman…”
Cut short by the sound of the bathroom door opening, our attention focused on her entrance. The painkiller had not taken affect and though my vision was blurred, I was still able to see her outline. Changed out of her tight outfit, she stood clad in only a white silk robe. I remained silent as Scott sprung from the bed laughing. Gently pushing my stiff body into the recliner, he sauntered over toward the stereo. The mood set, he sat back on the edge of my bed and looked in her eyes.
He reached for her hand while taking hold of her robe handle. Gently tugging, the weight of his movement untied the already loose knot, revealing her tight stomach. Although it was winter, her skin was a darker complexion than I perceived. Scott extended his tongue to outline her mid-section before moving upward. I should have moved. Said something. I tried to, but it was as if my vocal cords were gone. I never cheated on my wife and this was not going to be the entrance point. His hands moved upward, caressing her body. I had to stop it. I tried to speak but the combination of the alcohol and painkillers had me close to delirious. What came out of my mouth resembled a gurgle more than any coherent sound. Scott gave me a smile before looking back to her.
“Don’t worry, buddy, I won’t deprive you of such a lovely lady.”
My mind was screaming for them to get out, but my mouth would not comply. Realizing what Scott had in store, she laughed.
“Both of you will cost three hundred, honey.”
Even if I were fully functional, Scott still would have beaten me to the punch. Springing from the bed, he turned with a mortified look on his face.
“You’re a hooker?”
A bit surprised, she looked at us in disbelief, unable to decipher if he was kidding.
“Uh, I told you I was. Down in the bar.”
Eyes wide with embarrassment, Scott was finally at a loss for words. Nervously glancing in my direction, he barely regained his composure.
“You did not! You certainly did not! I do not pay for sex!”
A glance at my glazed expression caused her to break out in laughter. We looked completely asinine. When she could not stop, even at Scott’s insistence, he mumbled under his breath and stormed out of my room. Watching the door click and lock itself shut, I turned back toward the hooker. Trapped in my room, I was completely powerless to get her out. I was on the verge of passing out when I saw that she was rummaging through my wallet. My expression made her giggle before she tossed the wallet aside.
“I’m getting my money ahead of time for you, baby.”
My shock turned to rage. Unconsciously, I grabbed for the first object I could find. I could not think nor had my vision gotten any better. While I clutched the corkscrew sitting on the wine tray within my reach, she slithered on her knees toward my chair. Displaying the same devilish grin as Scott earlier, she seductively spoke the last words I heard her say.
“I’m going to make you feel much better, honey.”
And just like that, I was gone.
Everything went black.
Day 2
Thursday morning
I was unsure how many times I heard the noise before I knew that it was knocking. The television was on again, but this time I could not tell what the reporter said. When I eventually adjusted my eyes and was able to think clearly, I headed for the front door. Stopped in my tracks, I noticed a chair wedged under the doorknob. I stared at the restraint until the pounding resumed.
“Who is it?”
Silence trailed my inquiry. It was deafening.
“Housekeeping. I cannot get in. The door is stuck.”
“I’m fine, thank you. I don’t need anything.”
The voice paused. “But sir, I need to clean the…”
“JUST LEAVE THE FUCKING TOWELS OUTSIDE!”
There was silence until I heard the cart roll away. Surprised by my outburst, I left the wedged chair where it was and checked the rest of the suite. There was no sign of the hooker. I checked my wallet and my cash was still there. My watch, my wedding ring. Everything was in the room. Except the hooker.
I brewed a cup of coffee and attempted to sort things. I took my vitamin and hit the toilet. While watching myself pee, I suddenly realized I was in a different set of clothes than I last remembered. Visually shaken, I lost my balance and missed the porcelain bowl. I returned to the bed, ripped the sheets off and searched everywhere. When I did not find any sign of it, I looked on the floor and under the couches. I could not find it anywhere. I could not find any trace of blood. I could not find the blood or the corkscrew. I did not know if I was relieved or disappointed. I did not know why I changed my clothes at some point AND I DIDN’T KNOW WHY THE FUCKING TELEVISION KEPT COMING ON!
I dropped to the floor and stared. Not at the television or anything in particular. Just a blank stare. By 10:30 a.m., I regained my composure and gathered my belongings. I needed to get the hell out. With the flight home in two hours, I did not want to run the risk of staying any longer. It only took two knocks on Scott’s door before he opened the lock. He looked as bad as I felt. His eyes were red and I could see the Alka Seltzer tablets on his table.
“Joe, I’m sorry about last night.”
“Forget about it.”
I did not want to have the conversation. I just wanted out of Romania.
“Did you get rid of her?”
Almost swallowing my tongue, I looked at Scott with a sudden bolt of energy.
“What?”
“Did you send her away? Tell her to leave?”
“Uh, yeah. I gave her a few bucks and sent her away. She probably went back down to the bar and found her next client.”
I unknowingly made so much sense, that not only did Scott buy it, so did I.
He seemed relieved in his words. As we checked out, he chuckled how stupid we must have looked. I reassured it would not be the last time a woman made us look foolish.
We waited at the gate to board the flight back to J.F.K. airport while Scott spent his time reviewing the contracts. Still struggling with the last two days, I wanted to tell what was swirling in my head but pondered the outcome if it did not go over well. Would he think I was nuts? Was I? Would he tell my wife? Or work? Believing that I might have snapped left me in a peculiar position. I might have gone over the edge, but how did I know for sure? If I somehow did kill her, I was obviously not aware of my actions. Do you sanely kill someone and continue with your day, or do you block it out? Maybe blame it on an alter ego? If I told Scott and he reacted badly, would I be forced to kill him?
“Scott.”
Rising from his documents, his attention was mine. “Yes?”
“I think…”
“Hey, what’s the commotion over there?”
He did not allow a moment to finish his question before he walked over to a crowd of airline employees. Not concerned with additional problems, I paid little mind to what he was talking about until his returned. Once seated, he lifted his documents and feigned interest. I was baffled.
“What was that about?”
“Shhh! Make believe everything is okay.”
Indicating with his eyes as if I should have picked up on what he meant, I nodded before he continued.
“The police discovered the body of a young woman an hour ago.”
“What does that have to do with us? Do you know how many people get murdered…”?
“She was found hacked up in a dumpster around the corner from our hotel. They said she was a known local prostitute.”
Had my arms not been crossed, my slight trembling would have been a dead indication of guilt. I sputtered my words.
“And? Oh. Do you think?”
“Do I think it was our hooker? Unless it’s damn coincidental, I’d think enough people saw us leave with her. Don’t you?”
I shrugged to convince both of us.
“I don’t know, like I said, she could have gone back to work.”
Quiet for a moment, he swayed his head side to side.
“She could have...”
Scott’s voice tailed off. He was also trying to convince himself. I needed more information.
“Did they say anything else?”
I watched him think how to phrase whatever he was going to say. My teeth dug against my lower lip. Finally, he just shrugged.
“They found her naked, with one of her thumbs missing.”
“Her thumb was missing?”
“Sick, huh?”
His remark lingered until the intercom above us crackled. Through its rusty, old wires, we made out the flight attendant’s voice, announcing that our flight was boarding. My haze broken, I reached for my bag.
“Let’s just get the hell home.”
We boarded our flight under the watchful eyes of a larger group of law enforcement than noticed earlier. Not until we finally lifted off the ground forty minutes later, did I feel any relief. The plane delayed on the runway twice and each incident gave me indigestion. Once we were safely on our way, I tried to get some rest and searched through my travel bag for my eye mask. My frustration grew as it eluded my grasp until I oddly came across one of my socks. It shouldn’t have been in this bag. Something was inside of it.
I dumped the content of the sock into the bottom of the bag before quickly reaching for the airsickness bag. Unfortunately, I drew enough attention that two flight attendants and Scott thought I was dying. It took a few minutes and a can of ginger ale to bring me back to breathing properly. Once I reassured everyone that I was okay, I sat and waited until the attention was off me. As I looked in the bag again to make sure I was not crazy, I realized that was a poor choice of words. I was not crazy for what I saw. Yet, I might have been for what I had done.
I had the hooker’s thumb.