SAM THE NIGHT PERSON
BY
Lisa Rusczyk
EXCERPT
“YOU CAME ALL THE way out here, miles from anything, to ask a question?” The older woman behind the desk raised opaque eyebrows at the dark blonde girl across from her. She looked younger than the rowdy college group staying in the lodge house, yet Barbara had at first assumed she was with them. She shook her head with a smile. “You could have picked up the phone. But I guess sometimes you just have to drive.”
“Well, yeah, I’m traveling around the country right now and I’ve never been to Colorado, so I thought I’d see what it was like out here. Very beautiful, by the way. Your lodge, I mean. I love all the cabins.”
“Thanks. We’re pretty empty right now. This winter’s been tough weather. Even though it’s March, air’s still icy and we get a bit of snow here and there. Still patches of it on the ground.” She put her arms up on the desk. “So, what’s your question, Miss—?”
“You can call me Azzy. It’s a nickname.”
“Used to explaining it, huh?” She smiled. “Nice to meet you, Azzy. I’m Barbara.”
Azzy blinked and glanced away. Barbara watched the young girl try to hide a deep breath behind folding arms.
“I’m looking for someone I met a couple of years ago. He mentioned the Gai Lodge a couple of times. We, uh, lost touch and I thought I’d stop by, see the place, ask if you know him. You’ve owned this place for a while, right?”
“Twenty years, but we get hundreds of people coming and going. I doubt I’d remember him.”
“His name is Sam. He has dark brown hair about down to here.” She touched above her shoulders. “It has a bit of wave to it.” Her cheeks flushed slightly. “He’s about 5’9”, big brown eyes. Dark skin tone.”
Barbara tilted her head and squinted eyes. “I don’t know—”
“He’s… He’s a night person.”
The owner stared at her.
Azzy’s lips danced. “He’s up all night, drinks a lot of coffee. He has a night job, so it keeps him on that schedule.” She folded her fingers and bent them backwards to where Barbara could see her knuckles turn white.
The woman at the desk leaned forward on her elbows, bit her lip. “I honestly can’t remember anyone like that. You said his name was Sam?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry.”
Azzy put her hands on the counter. Her wrists gave her hands a tremble. “I think he mentioned some festival he came out here for.”
“We do have one every few years, but there are many people attending. Even if I met him, I probably wouldn’t remember him.”
Azzy removed her hands and tugged the bottom of her coat. She looked down, nodded. “Okay. Well, thanks for your time.” She met the owner’s eyes and smiled. “Have a nice night.”
“Where are you staying?”
“There’s a motel about an hour from here. I’m going to head that way. Passed it on my way in.”
“Where to after Colorado?”
She glanced at the dining area through the nearby walkway. “I’m not sure.”
“Better not go up north. There’s a snow storm brewing up there, blowing east.”
Azzy tugged her coat again. “Alright. Thanks.” As she reached the door, the owner spoke again.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night? We have plenty of room.”
Azzy turned back. “Thanks, but I don’t think I could afford it. I appreciate the offer.”
“How much is that motel you’re staying at charging?”
“Thirty-five a night.”
Barbara scratched the back of her head. “I tell you what. I’ll give you a night for that rate.”
“I couldn’t…”
The owner laughed. “Sure you could. Besides, you’re safer here. If it makes you feel better, I’ll put you in cabin number 2. It has a leaking roof in one of the rooms and we can’t rent it out at a regular rate as it is. Really, someone as young as you shouldn’t stay alone in those motels in the middle of nowhere. How old are you, seventeen? Eighteen?”
“Twenty-four.”
“You look so young.”
“I’ve worn my ID on my forehead before.”
Barbara clasped her hands. “What do you say?”
“Actually, I would love it.”
“Now, give me that ID so I can fill out the check-in.”
* * * *
AZZY WAS LED TO A large cabin about a hundred yards from the main lodge. “They house four bedrooms, two baths, small kitchen and two wood closets. Feel free to use the fireplace all you want. And if you get the creeps from being alone in that big place by yourself, just hop over to the main house. There’s usually someone up and about, especially with those college kids here. They party 24-7, so you can always find them. Their lodge is attached to our lobby and house, as you can see.”
“Thank you so much, again.”
“Thank you. Pick any room you want, but for your own comfort, not the leaky one.”
Azzy chose one in the front that led directly into the main room with the fireplace, couches, chairs, bookshelves. She thought it was wonderful. After exploring, she turned on the radio and listened to a classic rock station. She sat on her bed for a while and stared at the green bag she had pulled out of her red Civic parked behind the cabin. With a sigh, she rose, opened the bag and pulled out a pill bottle. Had someone been watching her as she emptied a round, white pill from the bottle, the observer might have suspected she was recalling the death of a loved one.
She hid her pills deep in her clothes and dry swallowed the pill, then she went into the main room and browsed the book shelves. There was a variety of texts ranging from classics, popular fiction, non-fiction to poetry. She ran a finger down the spine of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, looked around the empty room, then pulled a Jonathan Kellerman novel. She smoked a cold cigarette on the porch and went back into her room, locking all the doors.
Azzy, prepared for an early bed, climbed in. She mumbled to herself with the unopened book in her hand. “Maybe they’ll stop anyway.”
The young woman never opened the book, but instead sat in the entertainment deprived room with the lights on for an hour. When she turned them off, her eyes were open for a long time. One could almost hear her brain working, plotting, restructuring, screaming.
* * * *
BARBARA MADE SOME PHONE calls that night, leaving a message on the last call she made. Around one, her call was returned.
“You’re hard to track down, son.”
“It’s part of my mystique.”
She chuckled. “It means you have something to hide.”
“Having secrets is very intriguing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have friends like you.”
“Alright. You got me.”
“So, what’s going on?”
Barbara rose from her sofa and walked to the kitchen. She was much more comfortable talking at the kitchen table. She wasn’t sure why, except that she’d watched her mother do it all her life.
“A strange girl, I mean, a young woman, came asking for you tonight. I gave her a cut rate to stay the night. I told her I didn’t know who you were.”
“What’s her name?”
Barbara told him. “Do you know her?”
A pause. “That’s a distinctive name. I usually remember people, but I don’t think I know her.”
“Dark blonde hair past her shoulders. Incredibly thick. Says blue eyes on her driver’s license, but they looked green to me. Very pretty. I liked her, but something was very strange about her. She was nervous. She came all the way out here without calling.”
“Her description isn’t familiar.”
Barbara drummed her fingers on the table.
“You have bad rhythm, Barb.”
“Bat ears.”
“Why would a stranger come looking for me?”
“Well, she says she knows you.”
A longer pause. “Where is she from?”
“Alabama. Mobile.”
“I think I drove through the state once, but that’s it. I’ve never been to Mobile.”
The owner explained to him that Azzy was trying to get back in touch with him. “She said you had told her about the lodge and a festival you came to here.”
“That is really strange. I have no idea who this woman is. What do you think?”
“I don’t know, but as I said, I like her. Whatever her intent is, I don’t think it’s bad. Maybe she knows someone you know, heard about you, got a crush on you. She blushed when she described what you look like. She said she thought you were a night person, but followed up by talking about your sleeping habits. I couldn’t tell if she was fishing for a reaction.”
“I see what you mean.” He laughed. “How’s that for mystique? Moon’s up. Maybe I should take a trip out for a night or two. Is that okay with you?”
“You know it is.”
“You’re just as curious as I am. Do you have some shoes I could wear? Maybe some clothes, if necessary?”
“I’m sure Kevin has some.”
“Great. See you soon.”
She pushed the button on the cordless. Resumed finger tapping.
* * * *
AZZY TOOK A WALK IN the morning, but it wasn’t as nice as it could have been. She met a few of the college kids and chattered with them. She thought they were nice, much more interesting than the sloping mountains and the crystal stream. They asked if she wanted to hike around the mountain behind the lodge, but she declined. Walking back to her cabin, she reflected on how enjoying landscape beauty was always so fleeting.
Azzy packed up then went to the main lodge for check-out. Barbara came down a staircase, and Azzy assumed lived she upstairs. She wondered about Barbara’s husband as she looked at her gold wedding band. She thought he’d be a talker, a playful type.
“Hi. It was great. I came to check out.”
Barbara’s eyes widened. “Oh! I wanted to ask you, would you like to stay another night?”
“Really?”
“Like I told you, we need the business and if you want to stay here, you are welcome to as long as you like.”
Azzy looked at the key in her hand, feeling she had to make an immediate decision or else the cabin and lodge would fall into an unreachable pit of her imagination. It was better for her to leave, get away from this place. The key dug through her glove and into her palm.
“Okay. I would love to stay another night. Thanks.”
The owner smiled too broadly, but Azzy didn’t notice.