A Gray Life: a novel by Red Harvey Read Free Book Online Page B

monster running around.”
    * * * *
    Rap. Rap. Rap.
    What the…?
    Rap. Rap. Rap.
    Ashley looked at the clock on the dingy nightstand. 3 a.m. Perfect. Check-out wasn’t for another nine hours. Couldn’t be housekeeping. It had to be either Grease-ball or someone else. Neither possibility motivated Ashley to open the door.
    Maybe if she ignored them, they would go away. Ashley reached for a sheet to cover with. Her hands came away empty , and she remembered why. She wasn’t in her bed. Instead, she was sleeping in a strange bed, on top of a comforter. All of her clothes were still on; the thought of putting on her pajamas had seemed ridiculous.
    Rap. Rap. Rap.
    “Hang on.”
    Ashley took the gun out from under the pillow, safety on. It got tucked into the back of her jeans, as she assumed it was where guns were naturally placed.
    She went to the door , the one with all the phone numbers and grotesque sayings written on it. The doodles distracted her, as some of the sayings were accompanied by pictures.
    Come see Carmella, usually found in 3B . A stick figure with Gloria-like jugs was drawn next to the words.
    More knocking and Ashley stopped reading the door advertisements.
    "Who is it?"
    “Hello? Sorry to bother. I got a flat tire. Got a phone I can use?"
    It was a woman, and she was in trouble. Surely, it would be wrong not to help her because of immobilizing fear. Ashley cracked open the door.
    "Hi, are you--?"
    The maiden in distress shoved herself into the room. Her exaggerated motions forced Ashley backward. It took a balancing act her to keep her ass from falling to the ground. After seeing the expression on her unwanted guest's face, she was glad to not be in a vulnerable position.
    "Can I help you?"
    "Yeah, you can take your business elsewhere."
    There was a palpable anger coming off of the stranger. Ashley wanted to know why it was directed at her.
    "What business?" Ashley tried sounding tough.
    The smile the woman gave was horrifying. Brown stains on her teeth ruined what little beauty she possessed.
    "I don't have to spell it out for you. Just know that you gots to go now."
    "I paid for this room. I'm not going anywhere."
    It was a dangerous answer for Ashley to give, but she gave it anyway.
    " You fuckin' my man?"
    How many crazy people do I have to meet in one day?
    "I haven't done that with any man, ever."
    "I saw him carry your bags over here. Larry isn’t nice to just anybody."
    Larry. So Greaseball had a real name. If he had been nice to her, it was because she was the rare twelve-year-old to check-in at Coach Inn. Then again, she could've been the umpteenth child he had done business with.
    "If you were watching us, then you saw him walk away too."
    "He did that 'cause he knew I'd be watching. After we went to sleep, I woke up and he was gone."
    Ashley wasn’t following the lady’s logic. Her voice was laced with panic, and her words barely came out in one piece.
    "Okay, well he's not in here."
    "Do you think I'm stupid?" The woman stepped even closer to Ashley. "He slipped into the room next door." She nodded to the entrance of the adjacent room.
    "If you’re so smart, why didn't you knock over there first?"
    Ashley woulda thought she slapped the woman for the response her words got her.
    "Fucking whore! Where is he?" She flashed a shit-stained grimace.
    "He's not here. " Ashley repeated.
    S he sounded calm. Inside, her nerves were like spaghetti and she was ready to collapse. The anxiety felt better than fear all on its own.
    "You're lying to me."
    "Not at all."
    "Prissy little cunt." Grease-ball's girlfriend drew her hand back and hit Ashley so that she saw white.
    It took her a second to recover, and her brain scrambled. The gun ! the paranoia within her screamed. Ashley took the gun out. Pointed just right, she knew she could get the lady to back off like she had made the boy back off earlier.
    "Point a gun at me?" The woman kicked Ashley in the stomach.
    Ashley managed to hold on to the gun as