Hotel Key

Chapter 39

Twenty Years Ago

Merle woke up and rubbed at his lower back. It was sore from sleeping the night on a bench in the park. He was about to ship out for basic training. And he couldn't stand one more night at home with his father. If the man went for him again, Merle was afraid he might snap and actually kill the bastard. He wished he could take his brother with him, but Daryl would just have to fend for himself for a while. Merle had always been the object of his father's rage anyway. The man usually didn't go after Daryl. So Merle hoped that his brother would be alright. Once he was out of basic and living on base somewhere, he hoped maybe Daryl could come and stay with him.

There were a lot of geese and ducks in the park, most of them still settled down sleeping. No people had appeared except a man and his young son, But they were way down on the other side of the lake, pulling a small canoe in the water to go fishing. Merle looked around, noticing a young blonde girl that was walking over to a picnic table with a small paper grocery bag. She caught his attention not only because she was the only person around. But also because she looked too young to be in the park alone. Her hair was brushed in the front but tangled in the back like she tried to take care of it herself. She sat down at the table and began unloading her purchases. Setting her things down on the table one item at a time, she unloaded a quart of chocolate milk, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and another one of jelly, plus a bag of iced animal cookies, the kind with pink and white frosting and sprinkles on them.

She looked young to be out on her own, and definitely way too young to be doing her own grocery shopping. Merle watched her as she opened the bread and wrenched the jars of peanut butter and jelly open with a determined look on her small face. The jelly seemed to be stuck, but she knocked the side of the lid on the table a few times and twisted it open with a satisfying pop. She was wearing a small backpack that was made up to look like a stuffed animal cat. The girl took the pack off and fished around inside it until she found the butter knife she brought with her. Then she set about making herself a sandwich that she quickly began devouring, swallowing it down with big swigs of chocolate milk straight from the carton.

Merle was growing bored watching the girl until he saw some movement under the table she was sitting at. There was not only a large snake under the table. It was a copperhead snake. And the small girl was swinging her feet back and forth right above its head, disturbing it.

The girl was keeping an eye on the man on the bench when he rose and began heading in her direction. She gripped the small butterknife tightly in her hand, and thought about whether or not she should leave her food and make a run for it. When the man got close he darted his arm up under the table and came out with the biggest snake she had ever seen in his grasp.

Merle swung the snake hard against the closest tree twice, smashing its head in. Then he tossed it as far as he could out into the lake. When he turned back the girl was staring up at him with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, a bit of peanut butter smeared in the corners.

"That was a coppa-head wasn't it?," the girl asked.

"Sure was," Merle told her. The look on her face and the way she was still gripping her tiny little dull knife made him laugh. She was quite a fierce little thing. "Ya ain't planning to stick me with that are ya?," he asked. The girl shook her head but he noticed she did not put the knife down. Smart girl, he thought.

"Thank you," she said.

"Ya really wanna thank me, how about ya make me one of them sandwiches," he suggested. Merle could tell the girl was thinking this over. She was still suspicious of him, but he did save her from the snake. And she had more food than she could finish anyway.

"Okay," the girl said, turning to take some more bread out of the bag.

Merle sat down on the bench next to her, making sure not to sit too close. He did want a sandwich, but he didn't want to freak her out. He noticed the clothes the little girl had on looked expensive but not very clean. An odd combination. She handed him the sandwich and stuffed the last bite of hers in her mouth before making herself another one. When she saw how fast the man ate the one she gave him, she made another one for him too. And now that she had a better look at the man, she realized he wasn't really a man, but more like a big boy. Like the kids that lived downstairs from her and took the bus to higher school. She came down to the park a lot and she didn't recognize him as one of the homeless men who usually slept down here.

"Are you a street person?," she asked with the bluntness that only small children could get away with. Merle laughed and then coughed a little on his sandwich. The girl handed him the carton of milk, then waited for his response.

"Nah," he said, "I just come down here to get away from my dad sometimes." Merle could tell the girl understood what he meant right away and it made him sad for her. He guessed she wasn't down here eating by herself because things were great at her house. The girl didn't comment further, she just held the bag up to see if he wanted another sandwich. Merle shook his head. She packed the bread and things back up in the paper sack she brought and used a napkin to clean the knife off before she put it back in her cat bag. When she leaned down, her hair fell forward and Merle could see she had what looked like several cigarette burns on the back of her neck. It made him cringe.

"What happened to your neck?," he asked her before he could stop himself. Her response was quick and automatic.

"I fell," she said.

Fell into a lit cigarette, he thought, not fucking likely. Merle decided to let it go. There was nothing he could do to help the girl anyway. She opened the bag of cookies and offered some to him. He took a handful and they sat together quietly chewing and passing the carton of milk back and forth until it was gone. Then the girl packed up the rest of the cookies and stuck them into the paper bag with the rest of her food. Merle was thinking maybe he should offer to walk her back home when a very disheveled woman came stumbling into the park. She had on shorts that were too short for her and a halter top. One of her eyes was black and there were bruises on the insides of her elbows that looked like they might be needle marks. The woman spotted the little girl and made a beeline for the table, snatching the child up by the arm and hollering at her.

"How many times have I told ya not to wander off like this?," the woman asked her. Merle moved back. The woman's breath not only smelled strongly of stale alcohol, it also smelled like something crawled into her mouth and died.

"I was hungry," the girl argued, grabbing the paper sack and taking it with her as the woman hauled her away. Merle watched them go. The woman turned, taking another look at him.

"And ya shouldn't be talking to strange men," the woman scolded her.

"Why not?," the girl asked, "...you do it."

This made Merle laugh. He bet this girl's mother talked to a lot of strange men. And probably did more than talk to them too, from the looks of her.

"Besides, he killed a snake," the girl added.

Her mother didn't respond, just grabbed the girl's hand and hurried her back towards wherever they lived. As they left the park, the girl pulled her free hand away from her mother and waved goodbye to the man. Then she followed after her mother. Merle waved back and as his hand dropped, he felt a strange feeling creep up his spine and leave a trail of gooseflesh down his arms. He brushed it off as just the breeze but deep down in his stomach he knew that being there in the park when that little girl needed help was more than just a coincidence.