Saturday, September 3, 2011

Handful of Sand Chapter 41 Page 2

The bathroom door flew open. Selina appeared at the doorway. She had removed most of her disguise, though her hair was still gray. At that time she was dressed in a sports bra and knee-length pants. After a glance at the can on the floor, she ordered Sandy, "Go to the bathtub and take off your shirt."

Sandy obeyed. She went straight into the bathroom, failing to notice the articles of clothing and padding from Selina's disguise that the latter had left on a counter. Sitting at the edge of the bathtub, the girl threw off her shirt. She picked up the handheld shower and turned the water on. Her armpit and the front of her shoulder were burning and she could not stand it.

"Wait, Sandy, don't!" Selina cried when she appeared at the doorway.

The warning came too late. Sandy had sprayed the water under her armpit. The good news: the burning in her armpit eased a little, and only just a little. The bad news: the whole side of her body - the side of her breast, her waist, anywhere the reddish orange substance washed over - was on fire.

Selina came over and took the handheld shower away from Sandy. She handed a bottle of baby shampoo to the girl in pain. "Rub this on."

Sandy ripped off her bra to get at her burning skin. She hurriedly applied the shampoo to the diluted orange substance.

Selina then passed Sandy a couple of hand towels. "Dab. Don't wipe."

Ten minutes later, Sandy was seated on the bed, wrapped in a towel. Her skin still burned, though it had become a bearable irritation. Guess she had found one of Selina's weapons.

"What was that!?" Sandy asked as she raised her hand to scratch her armpit.

Standing beside the teenager, Selina pulled Sandy's hand away. "Pepper spray. Don't scratch."

"Pepper spray? Does pepper spray really hurt so much?"

"This isn't the usual that's sold in stores," Selina told her, "this one's more concentrated. Sandy, don't touch my things. Some of them are really dangerous. You're lucky I don't keep acid sprays."

Sandy could not agree more.

***

Selina had left the room later that night.

Alone, Sandy was bored. Her only company was the television. She was sleepily flipping through the channels. Action movies were not interesting since she had recently survived a scene from one. The comedies were not funny enough for her. And she did not feel like romance, not when her life was in danger.

Then Sandy came across the adult channel. Filled with curiosity, she was suddenly awake.

Sandy glanced around. She was alone in the room. Momma Lois was not there to forbid her. Neither were there any adults. That was her chance to view the forbidden channel.

Just in case, she set the volume low.

Time passed as Sandy watched. Peeking out from under a blanket, she observed with embarrassment the features of the human body and mating rituals that she had never seen before. Strangely, the more she watched, the more her curiosity grew. The more she learned, the more she wanted to know.

Suddenly, Sandy heard the door opening. She hurriedly grabbed the remote control and switched the television channel. She was not sure how long she had been watching - it must have been hours.

"You're still awake?" Selina asked as she entered. The black cap and jacket that she wore were wet.

"Yeah, I"-

"Never mind," Selina interrupted as she stepped over to her bags, "Get dressed. We've to leave, now."

"What? Why?" Sandy suddenly felt the lateness of the night adding weight to her eyelids. Dressed in a shirt and shorts for sleep, she was too lazy to put on any underwear. Instead she picked up the jacket from the floor and started looking for a pair of pants.

"They're close," Selina replied as she stuffed a few pieces of clothing into the bags, "I got careless. They're looking for two females, one of them a teenager with brown hair." She zipped the first bag close.

"That's me?" Sandy pulled on the pair of cargo pants she had worn earlier. Then she regretted it when she felt a little irritation in her side. There must be traces of the pepper spray on the pants.

"Yes." Selina went into the bathroom.

Sandy took the opportunity to look into the green bag for a fresh pair of pants. But before she could pull a pair out, Selina was out again with the small blue bag.

Selina pushed the blue bag into the larger brown leather one. She pulled out her car key from the pocket of her pants and held it out to Sandy. "Take both bags to the car and put them in the back seat." She closed the green bag and held it up for Sandy.

Sandy accepted the key and the bag. "Then I wait for you in the car?"

"Yes, but sit in the driver's seat," Selina instructed, "Put the key in the ignition but don't turn it on yet."

"Okay," Sandy agreed. She lifted both bags and, as Selina held the door open for her, stepped out of the hotel room onto the corridor. It was still raining. The low wall on the other side of the corridor did little to shield her from the weather.

Sandy walked along the corridor in the direction of the parking lot. Dim lights on the ceiling and from the street lights provided some illumination. The bags were heavy and Sandy struggled to carry them. It was the lack of sleep. It robbed her of her strength. And that irritating itch in her side was not helping.

As Sandy turned to mumble a complain, she realized that Selina had not followed her. She was alone, overburdened, itchy and tired.

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