Chapter Eighteen
Sam pulls off of the freeway, driving down a dusty dirt road until he comes upon a small gas station. The bright red paint is peeling free from the rusting gas pumps, along with the small mini-mart’s matching red paint is. Sam parks next to the unhinged door that leads into the mini-mart, getting out and stretching.
He squints up at the sky, the bright orange sun at its highest point; it’s noon and is beating mercilessly down on the un-air-conditioned town. Sam strolls through the small isles, feeling the beady eyes of the gas clerk on the back of his neck as he grabs a bag of potato chips.
Melody wakes up to the tapping sound of a crow dropping seeds on the orange hood of Sam’s car. She stretches her neck around, taking in her surroundings, trying to remember how she got here. She moves her arms, stretching them above her head, before looking down at Sam’s jacket.
Her heart slows, for a moment the world slips away as she runs her fingers across the frayed edges where the jacket shows the most age. Her lips slide into a smile as she remembers the first time she’d worn this jacket: after their first date.
They were exiting the wooden doors of a small café where Sam was playing his first solo performance, walking around the building to the side walked. They walked in uncomfortable silence; Melody’s apartment was another three blocks and she was trembling so hard from the late night fall air that her teeth were hitting each other. Melody had jumped when she felt something heavy and warm being draped across her shoulders. She felt up her arm, her fingers finding the frayed ends of the sleeves before she slid her arms into them.
Sam had stood next to her, staring down at his feet, seemingly unfazed by the slight ice wind slapping against his sleeveless arms like knives. Melody had smiled, stopping at the intersection; the little red hand across the street was holding its hand up at her to stop.
She looked Sam over. “Thank you. I'm not used to Wisconsin falls yet.”
He smiled back at her, only a few inches between them, their breaths turned into vapors as it hit the night air and intermingled with each other.
To this day she doesn’t know what had made her kiss him that night. Maybe it was the caffeine surging through her veins or maybe it was the air that settles itself around Sam, so safe and warm.
He smelled like ink and musky deodorant as he veered closer to her. Her heart pounded beneath his leather jacket, it had never beat like that before, and it scared her.
“Sam…” It almost sounded sad when it made it past her lips, which was odd because sad wasn’t even close to the cornucopia of feelings brewing within her stomach.
He kissed her, he was actually kissing her. Something inside of her sang with joy. She had never been kissed like that before.
Melody unlocks the car door, blushing as she stretches in front of the car.
Sam walks over to her, leaning against the hood of the car, Slurpies in each of his hands, one blue and one red. Melody reaches out and takes the red one, thinking that the lid is fastened. She squeezes the cup too tight, sending the syrupy ice sloshing over the rim of the cup and onto Sam’s white shirt.
She slaps her hand against her mouth. “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry.”
He smiles, holding the stained part of his shirt away from his chest. “There are some napkins in the glove box, can you go get some?”
She leans her shoulder on the passenger seat, shaking her head at the napkins and paper bulging out of the cracks of the glove box before pulling the plastic handle. A pile of take out menus, paper, straws and eating utensils fall out onto the seat beside her. She rifles through the mound, searching for a napkin, but instead finds a box, small with black felt stretched around it. Melody glances up at Sam, who is still holding his shirt away from his skin and taking a quick gander around the gravel parking lot. She sticks her thumb nail into the seam of the box, a creaking noise sounds as it flips open.
Melody’s breath catches as the diamond ring stares up at her, catching the sun light and showing all of its intricate details of vines and leafs around the band of the ring.
She stares at it for what seems like forever, when Sam leans into the car behind her.
“Hey, what’s…?” his gaze falls on the ring, dropping the stained shirt against his chest. “Um…I was going to… ha you don’t know how long that’s been in there…”
This isn’t how he wanted this to happen. He was going to plan this big dinner and do something corny like hide the ring in her drink or something, not stand in this crappy gas station parking lot with a Slurpee stained shirt. His head pounds with how wrong this was.
Melody stands up, holding the box out at him, sending him staggering backwards a few steps. “Sam, were you going to propose to me?” she asks.
He looks down at his shoes; the dust from the parking lot is making them a dull shade of blue. His gaze meets hers. He knows that this is what he wants, to be with Melody for the rest of his life, he knows she loves him, that Jet just took advantage of the fact that Sam had been gone for a long time and she was lonely.
Melody’s lips twitch with emotion before they shape themselves into words. “You want to marry me, Sam? Spend the rest of your life with me?”
He grins, sitting his Slurpee on the roof of his car as he walks up to her, gently taking the engagement ring from her fingers. He slowly gets down on his right knee, the gravel poking through his jeans.
“Yes. There’s no other way I’d rather spend it. I love you Melody,” his cheeks warm, “Will you marry me?”
Melody holds a hand to her mouth; her finger tips tremble against her smiling lips. She nods, pulling him up to his feet. “Yes.”
His cheeks spread into a wide smile as he takes her left hand in his, placing the ring on her finger before sweetly, gently, kissing her.
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Adam sits across the road in his black pickup, watching them, his anger overflowing. Sam and Melody jump back in the car, it hiccups before pulling out of the gas station parking lot. Sam holds tight to Melody’s hand as he presses his foot against the gas pedal, coming up to speed on the freeway.
………………………………………….
They make it through Wisconsin in one day; night creeps up on them, trying to drag them down into sleep. Sam parks the station wagon outside of a Holiday Inn.
“Come on, you can sleep when we get in.” Sam says as he shakes Melody’s arm.
He throws their back packs over his shoulder, wrapping his free arm around Melody’s shoulder. The lady at the front desk jumps at the sound of the doors as they ding open. She plasters on a corporate smile.
“Welcome. How may I help you?” she asks in the chipper voice that she is paid to speak in.
Sam smiles as he sets their bags down on the polished white tiles. “Two rooms please, just for the night.”
The hotel clerk taps her perfectly red painted finger nails against the keys of the computer. “I’m sorry but there’s only one room left…” her eyes bounce between Melody and Sam, “Would you like it?”
Sam looks down at Melody leaning against his side, wondering if she’s ok with sharing a room with him. She shrugs, too tired to do much of anything else. “Sure.”
Sam pays for the night and slides the room key into his back pocket. “Are you going to be ok with this?” Sam asks as he hits the up button for the elevator.
Melody leans against the wall, yawning as she nods. A dinging noise sounds and the doors slide open, revealing a green and blue carpeted hall way. He slides the card into the slot, unlocking the door and pushing it open for her.
Melody grabs a few cloths out of her backpack and retreats to the bathroom. Sam sits on the end of the bed, looking around at the contents of the room with its weird swirly colors in the carpet, two beds with the matching green bed sheets and two identical mounted lamps.
When Melody emerges from the bathroom, now in baggy sweat pants and an old t-shirt, stretch
ing her arms above her head as she says, “It’s so nice to get in comfy close.”
She furors her brow, her eyes searching the small hotel room for Sam but he can’t be found. “Sam?” she calls out before grabbing the extra room key card and wonders down the hall.
She pops her head around the corner into the lobby. “Um, have you seen the guy I was with when I came in?” she asks.
The woman at the counter, her chipper facade now gone and boredom is pushing her face down into a sad droop, lazily pointes down the hall at the fitness room.
Melody thanks her and saunters down the hall, her slippers making soft patting noises against the forest green colored carpet. Her feet halt in front of a glass door, a key pad mounted on to the wall next to it. She presses herself against the glass, checking the weights and treadmill for Sam, but the room is practically empty except for one bulky man in the running shorts sitting on the work out bench, hunched over and watching a late night talk show. With a sigh she turns to her left, peaking through the rectangular window that leads to the pool before pushing the metal door open; chlorine burns her nose as she watches Sam swim laps. She rolls up her pant legs, sitting down on the tiles at the edge of the pool, gently swinging her feet in the water.
She smirks as she pushes on his back with her feet, playfully pushing him deeper into the water.
Sam’s head pops up out of the water, taking a gulp of air before realizing it is Melody sitting next to the pool. His lips twitch into a mischievous smile before grabbing Melody’s feet with his wet hands and pulling her into the pool, splashing and laughing. Her head breaks through the surface of the water.
“Sam!” she shouts with more surprise than anger.
Her sweatpants weigh her down in the water, clinging to her legs, as Sam wraps his arm around her waist pulling her against his chest. Melody pushes away a drop of water dangling from his nose with her index finger as he gently drops his lips upon hers. She pulls herself away, laughing as she playfully splashes him.
“Come on, it’s getting late,” Sam says, smiling. He grips her waist and lifts her up onto the side of the pool before he pulls himself up next to her. Melody quickly wrings her cloths out, walking, quickly, beside Sam.
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Adam angrily watches from a distance as Sam wraps Melody into a towel in his arms. Flames of hatred dash through his perfect eyes.
Sam pads down the hall towards the elevator with Melody, dripping with water, and snuggling underneath his arm.
Adam climbs the stares to their floor, hiding in the shadows as he follows them down the hall to their room. He curses himself as the door clicks open, Sam and Melody blocking him out as the door shuts behind them.
“I'm gonna change, since you took it upon on yourself to give me an unnecessary bath,” Melody says before she grabs Sam’s pajama bottoms and her tank top, retreating to the bathroom.
Sam smiles to himself, plopping down on the foot of the bed. He counts the amount of cash left in his wallet; just enough to buy a medium sized pizza. He rifles through the phone book, finding a pizza chain that can deliver. He flips his phone open, carefully punching in each number to make sure not to call the wrong one. A post pubescent young man takes his order and guarantees the pizza will arrive to Sam hot and under thirty minutes.
Melody slips from the bathroom, rolling the waist of the plaid bottoms down so they fit. Sam grins, his arm reaching out for her, gently guiding her down to him. Melody happily nestles her head into his shoulder; she has forgotten the soft mix of coffee and ink that has always seemed to roll off of him in waves.
Sam’s fingers run through Melody’s hair. “Um… can you tell me about it? What Jet did?” Sam asks, sheepishly.
Her skin boils with regret and shame, her palms sweat, but she has to tell Sam, she owes him that much. She nods, pulling away just enough to make eye contact with him. “Yes. What do you want to know?” she tentatively asks.
Sam’s Adams apple bobs; he wants to know but how can he even ask for the information when he can’t get the words out? “Wha-what did you feel when you um, kissed him and, um, stuff?” Sam asks.
Melody nervously plays with the ends of her hair, her eyes flickering from Sam’s eyes to his lips. “I don’t know… I mean obviously I felt something, but that wasn’t what kept me coming back… I don’t know I guess I felt needed. At times I felt dangerous, or lonely, but most of the time I was just there to… fix him.”
Sam nods, scratching the back of his neck, his stomach twisting itself into knots; he didn’t know that she didn’t feel needed. “Did you think that I don’t need you?”
The air around Melody’s skin grows more and more uncomfortable with each second that drags by. “I-I don’t know… sometimes I get this space inside of me that needs to be needed by someone that needs to be saved. I’ve been like this my whole life, Sam, sacrificing my happiness and relationships because I try to save someone that is just so broken…” Melody meets Sam’s green eyes, her own fog over with tears, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for this, Sam. I don’t know why I am like this! I wish I could hold myself back, keep myself from giving them my happiness because they have none,” she breaks into a sob, slurring “I'm so sorry” in between sharp intakes of breathe.
Sam has always known how caring she is with people, dedicated to make them happy; it’s why he first fell in love with about her. The muscles in his arm twitch as they reach out for her, looping around her back before bringing her against his chest.
“Melody… I’ve always known about your compassion, it’s one of the many reasons I love you. Some people are just so low that they take advantage of your kindness, I wish they wouldn’t, but they do,” he pulls away, holding the sides of her face in his hands, “I will always need you to push me in the right direction and pick me up when I've fallen. And I promise you I will always give back to you what you have given to me.”
Now Sam is the one beginning to cry, his fingers trembling as he uses them to cradle her head in his palms. Melody lets out a breathy laugh and leans in, kissing him sweetly, brushing the tears of his cheek with her thumb. They both jump at the loud knocking coming from the door. Sam smiles down at her, his face and eyes red with emotion.
“I forgot, I ordered pizza,” Sam laughs.
He clears his throat, trying to break apart the last few sobs, as he jogs down the little hallway to the door. The pimpled faced delivery boy hands him the greasy box of cheesy goodness before taking Sam’s cash and wishing him a good night. The door makes a soft click as Sam shuts it, sauntering back to the bed where he sets it down, flipping the lid open to reveal the greasy gooiness that is pizza.
When Sam is satisfied with eating half of the pizza, all on his own, he lays down next to Melody. Her greasy fingers are beating the buttons of the remote mercilessly as she searches for something on the TV that would suite her mood. She ends up settling for an old black and white romance movie from the mid nineteen-forties. Sam slowly creeps closer to Melody as she sinks more and more into the melodramatic plot.
When the two lovers kiss under the soft Paris moonlight, two doves fly across the screen caring a banner that reads The End. Melody’s insides flutter around with pure joy for the lovers’ happy ending.
“Aw that was so cute… Sam?” Melody gushes.
A soft snore comes from her lap, sending her eyes down at the sleeping figure of Sam, fast asleep on her legs. She scoots out from under him, pulling the comforter down so that it’s lying on top of him, and tip toes over to her own bed.