Part Two
She was in a new place. This quiet relaxing in a strange hotel was nearly intolerable. There was nothing good on television. She was tired of books more than that she was tired of sitting after that flight. She needed to get out and walk.
Tossing her feet off the bed she’d tried to relax in, she jammed her feet into her boots, grabbed the bag with the picture of goofy looking clown, idly wondered who really ate at a place who’s mascot was a sharp nosed clown, tossed the bag into the trash and threw on her jacket. She’d learn, she hardly needed a jacket but for now she wasn’t accustomed to the weather. With a lack of humidity it felt cooler even if it wasn’t.
Yep, so many changes she’d have to grow accustomed to. Life for her would be different. All the little changes she’d seen so far occupied her thoughts as she walked the hallway of the hotel. Swinging the door open to cool night air she glanced toward the sky. It was so clear. Crisp. Airy.
Hands were shoved into the pockets of her jacket, the cool breeze periodically drew brown tresses in front of her face and then it dawned on her, airy. The trees seemed more decorative in nature maybe? By day she’d see there are wild trees and yucca but nothing like the woods at home. Everywhere she looked she could see and that itself made her feel somewhat vulnerable.
It seemed a very long time that she could hear only the sound of her boots hitting the pavement before it dawned on her she never called home to let her parents know she arrived in one piece. Without a break in her pace she dug her hand in her pocket for quarters for a payphone. At the moment, it hadn’t dawned on her that she was not only late for west coast time but her parents were probably in bed, had been in bed for a very long time. They being three hours ahead of her now.
Cinzia stopped at a phone booth. The scent of ‘the beach’ hung heavy in the air. That’s what she determined the smell to be. Maybe salt water smells different? She was far enough away from the beach, and it was the middle of the night, she didn’t see the piles of seaweed that had washed to shore and lay there to dry. Adding to that the mixture of the Coppertone smell, as if everyone lathered in it. Perhaps that was a subliminal thought given the signs she’d seen.
She could see the old wooden roller coaster, a parking lot and a park. A lot of shops and a sign, The Plunge. She really would have to come out here during the day. She also heard people off in the distance, on the other side of the park. Cinzia also saw the people off in the distance, seemingly in an argument.
“Testosterone levels must be high here?” With a shrug she determined it wasn’t her business and dropped the quarters in the phone when she heard a shot. Her head spun and she looked back at the people that had been arguing. Sound travels fast so the deed had been done by the time she saw it, yet the argument, from her vantage point seemed to go on as if nothing happened. She kept watching and wating to see who would drop over dead.
Then, she laughed silently when it dawned on her that a car probably backfired and turned back to the phone. There was the matter of calling her parents.. remember?
