Chapter 7
At 6:45 PM Susan was feeling hungry. She walked over to The Sea Twitch Restaurant, which was just down the street from her motel room. She got a table in the corner where she wouldn’t feel like she was that lady eating alone. She ordered a shrimp dinner – broiled – as she would try to stick with her reduced-fat, low-calorie, weight-loss plan. For a beverage, it was just bottled water. She already knew that coastal tap water was a special kind of nasty.
Fifteen minutes later the food came. It was good and filling. As she began to eat, she noticed a guy who looked like Mark eating with a friend. Susan’s mind drifted back to Boone (North Carolina).
She recalled that night they went sledding at Hardin Park Elementary School. There was a nice, gentle one-hundred-yard-long run beside the school. They doubled on Mark’s fast plastic-bottomed sled. She remembered him holding her tight. She felt so safe. How did it all go wrong?
The exceedingly debonair, young waiter returned and asked if she wanted dessert. She declined. She was now ready for an alcoholic drink.
Susan closed out her bill and headed to the tiki bar in the back. A local rock band was tuning up. Wow, the bass player looks pretty hot. I wonder how big his penis is.
She ordered a Zombie mixed drink. She wasn’t sure what kinds of alcohol were in it, but it was hitting the spot. Soon the sound check was over and the six-piece band was playing a mixture of classic rock and alternative covers. They sprinkled in a few power ballads.
The room was beginning to fill up with a mix of locals and tourists. The band was finding their groove. In Susan’s mind, the guys were hitting all the right notes, especially the bass player with the dirty blonde mullet. God, I want him.
She clapped earnestly after every song. She had another Zombie. Half-way through her drink, she winked at the bass player like a boy-crazy teenage girl. He winked back at her and wiggled his tongue between his left index and middle finger. She knew what that meant. He wanted to feast on her vulva. Wow, who knows how this night will end up? What a vacation! Do I really have to leave? Maybe I can extend it.
The tunes and the hours flew by. She began to pulse and gyrate with the beat. She finished her fourth Zombie. She was completely sauced. I wonder if I can walk. Thank God, I didn’t drive. I’d never make it out of the parking space.
Then the lead singer of the band made an announcement: “Well, folks, this is our last song. We thank you for coming out to The Sea Twitch tonight. Enjoy your weekend here at Carolina Beach. Don’t forget to tip your bartender, waiters and waitresses.”
When the song ended, the bass player made his way over to Susan’s two-seater cocktail table. He was going in for the kill. He smelled an easy good time.
“Do you always drink alone, miss?” he asked in a most nonchalant manner.
“Only when I’m waiting for my man,” Susan countered with a drunken lisp.
“And, where is your man?”
“I think I’m looking at him right now.” Susan peered into his dark blue eyes and smiled, almost menacingly.
He smiled back. “My name is Greg – Greg Tussle. What’s yours, fair maiden?”
“Suuuuusaaan.” She was drunk.
“Do you live around heeeere?” He was drunk, too.
“Next door … well, for one more night.” Susan was trying to hold her head up, but her left elbow slid off the table. She just smiled.
“Oh, you’re staying alone in a motel down heeere?”
“Yep, The Dauphin Reign Mooo-tel. Room one-twenty. Could you walk me home, big boy?”
“I’d be glad to, Miss Susaaan.” Greg was licking his chops. If he could only get his limp rod up, it was going to be an easy score.
Greg paid her bar tab and walked – and at times almost carried – Susan the two blocks back to her motel room. They almost fell over the hood of a parked car on the way. They finally were able to stagger up the motel stairs, successfully arriving at the landing, giggling like school kids on their first drunk.
Susan’s right hand fumbled about in her handbag, finally finding the motel room key. When she got the door open, it was 12:49 AM. Greg was semi-erect by 1:11 AM.