Fear Thy Neighbor (3)
With 12,000 dollars saved, she rented a room at a local boarding house in Georgia and found a job at a Frisch’s Big Boy. She spent six years there, working as a waitress. When she’d had enough of Georgia, she’d said her goodbyes and headed south to Florida.
Alison liked the warm weather, though she didn’t care for the humidity in the summer. However, she loved the laid-back lifestyle. She’d stopped in Tallahassee but didn’t like that remote area so then headed to Tampa Bay, where she found a place to live and a job. Now she was on the move again.
Driving south on Interstate 75, she figured she could head for the Keys, where no one would care where she was from or who she was. These were her thoughts as she drove at a steady pace along the interstate. She checked the gas gauge and saw she was down to a quarter tank. The Jeep was a gas hog. She pulled over at the next exit, and after parking her Jeep, she went inside a Circle K convenience store and bought a large coffee and a map. She gassed up, then pulled to the side of the parking lot to look at the map. The closest city was Fort Charlotte. She would stop for the night, rest, then head for Key West first thing in the morning.
As she was about to pull out of the parking lot, she heard a cry. Stopping, she eased the Jeep toward the pumps, where she thought the cries were coming from. Turning off the ignition, she got out of the Jeep and walked toward the sound. What she saw broke her heart—a cat with two small kittens, the mother cat stretching to find food in the nearby garbage can.
“Oh, sweet girl, look at you.” Alison bent down, careful not to startle the cat. While she’d never had a pet, she’d worked in a pet store in high school and so knew a little about momma cats and their kittens. “You’re hungry, huh?” Momma cat meowed loudly and took a couple steps toward her. Alison spoke in a soothing tone—at least she hoped—so she wouldn’t frighten her. Momma cat came right to her, snaking around her legs, the two kitties meowing for attention, too. Without giving it another thought, Alison scooped up Momma cat and her kitties, opened the passenger door of her Jeep, and sat them in the seat. She petted the kitties, and they meowed even louder. Gently closing the door, she returned to the driver’s seat. “Okay, girls, we need to find supplies.”
Decision made, she took the Tucker’s Grade exit to Highway 41, driving down the old state road, searching for a cheap place to stay that allowed animals. She spied an older place to her right—the Courtesy Court Motel, a typical L-shaped building, single story. She’d seen many old places like this in her travels. A sign in the office window read LOCALLY OWNED, PETS WELCOME. This usually meant cheap rates. Since it was the middle of summer, the July heat kept most local folks indoors or swimming if they were lucky enough to have a pool or had the time to spend a day at the beach.
Alison parked next to the office but left the Jeep running so she could keep the air on for the cats. “Be right back,” she called over her shoulder, even though she knew they couldn’t hear her.
The motel, painted a bright orange with a green flat roof, was probably built in the early sixties and stuck out like a sore thumb. Each room had an old iron chair and side table beside the door. Hardy foxtail ferns flourished in yellow pots on either side of the entrance. A bell jingled when she stepped inside the air-conditioned office.
An older woman with snow-white hair, sapphire eyes, and an apron tied around her thick waist greeted her. She smiled, wiped her hands on her apron, then took a pair of eyeglasses from the desk. “I was baking—can you believe that? In this heat. I swear, I think this heat is frying my brain. Now, what can I help you with?”
Alison couldn’t help but smile. It should be obvious to the woman, but maybe she offered other services besides the motel.
“I want to rent a room for the night,” Alison said.
“Of course you do,” the woman said. “Just you?”
Alison nodded. “And my cats.”
“Okay, just sign your name here.” The clerk pointed to a large leather-bound visitor guest book with an alligator embossed on the front. “What kind of cats do you have?”
“Just some old strays I picked up. That’s it?” Alison asked while signing her name.
“Yep, nothing fancy here, but fresh linens, good mattresses, and cable TV. We don’t have Wi-Fi, so if you’re looking to play on your computer, you’ll have to try the Holiday Inn further down.”
“No, I don’t need Internet.” Alison didn’t have a cell phone or a computer. They were useless since she didn’t have anyone she wanted to speak to. If she really needed to search the web, she used the library.
“Then it’s thirty dollars a night plus ten bucks for a pet deposit. And we only take cash,” the older woman explained.
Alison took a twenty, two fives, and a ten from her wallet, handing them to the woman. “Thanks. So I guess you’re going to give me a key.”
“Of course. As I said, this heat has fried my brain.” She removed the key from a drawer to room number two. “This is close to the soda machine; there’s an ice bucket in your room if you need it. Ice machine’s next to the soda machine in the breezeway.”
Alison took the offered key. A real key—no key cards to scan here. She liked this place already.
“Checkout is at noon,” the lady told her.
“I’ll be long gone by then, but thanks,” Alison said.