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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