The Macedonia Hotel, Chapter 2
The Macedonia Hotel
A NANOWRIMO
Relay writing project
By the Wayne writers Guild
Completed July 2016
The Macedonia Hotel
(This fictional piece is the product of a relay writing project by the Wayne Writer’s Guild In honor of NANOWRIMO-2015. Any resemblance to real events, people, places, or things is a coincidence and neither intended nor implied to be real and accurate.)
I extend my thanks and gratitude to the contributors who shared their time and talents to make this NANOWRIMO Relay Writing Project possible.
The individual chapters are the intellectual property of the author.
Special thanks are extended to John Cieslinski for his generous use of the book store’s back room.
–Kate Chamberlin, Coordinating Editor
July 20, 2016
Wayne Writers Guild
Meets at 7:30pm – 9:00pm, on the 2nd and 4th. Tuesday of each month
Books, Etc. of Macedon, NY
John Cieslinski, Owner
78 W. Main ST. Macedon NY 14502
Phone 585-474-4116
“C’mon, Sis. It’ll be fun, Grace’s 18-year old brother, Sandy, cajoled her shortly after their parents had gone to see a movie in the West Wayne Plaza Theater. “You spend way too much time alone in this house. Mom won’t mind. You’ll be with my friends and me.”
He playfully punched her arm. He was 13-months older than her and his friends were her friends, too, especially Randy. Sandy loved being the life of every party and couldn’t understand why, just because she was blind, being in a crowd made her nervous.
“You know my friends and there will be other’s there to meet, too. It’s only a short walk to the hotel,” he persisted.
They were suddenly startled by a loud Bam! Bam! Bam! As the front door of their home at 12 Stone Street nearly splintered.
“Let’s go, guys,” their friends, Dan and Randy yelled as they pounded on the front door.
“Here’s your long, white cane. C’mon,” Sandy said as he pulled her out of the faux-leather lounge chair, shoving her braille book onto the end table. “It’s only a short walk to the Hotel where Big Bertha is living.”
Grace knew the party would be noisy and wasn’t so sure there wouldn’t be drugs. The Macedonia Hotel wasn’t known for its “good” reputation. It was even said that it was haunted. The other three really wanted to go, so Grace didn’t feel she could just say no. Besides, Randy would be there. Grace quickly fluffed her long, curly brown hair with her fingers, swiped lip gloss on her full lips, nestled the stylish, reflective lenses on her small pert nose, and tapped her way over to answer the door.
***
They’d climbed the rank smelling stairs to Big Bertha’s 3rd floor room and could hear the loud, thudding music. It seemed to shake the whole building. As they came closer to her suite of two rooms provided by the Social Services Department , there were bursts of loud, raucous laughter. Grace tried to calm the uneasy feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach.
They walked into the suite and were immediately sucked up by the crowd. People were shoulder to shoulder, butt to belly, and only smoky air to breathe. Randy and Grace became separated from Sandy and Dan, although, Grace couldn’t tell who was where anyway. She was glad Randy had a strong hold on her hand. She could barely hear Randy when he yelled into her ear, “Here’s a chair. I’ll try to find us a soda and be right back. Okay?”
She nodded her agreement and sat down. She checked her talking watch for the time, but could not hear the tiny voice. She thought ruefully how loud it sounded in church when she’d accidently bumped the time button.
“Hi, Grace,” a nameless voice hollered and passed on before she got out her, “hello.”
As people passed by her, she detected a sweet smell. She’d heard that marijuana has a sweet smell and wondered if this was the real thing.
She reached out her hand to try to figure out what was near her. To the left she felt a wall with flocked paper on it. Her chair was a caned back and seat with curved wooden arms and straight legs.
From the arm of her chair, she gently reached to the right. Her fingers felt denim. It was just a quick touch but she recognized the feel of fabric over a zipper. With her face flushed and turning redder, she stammered, “Oh, excuse me.”
A stranger’s thick, deep voice mumbled, “That’s Okay, Honey, I’ll give you a half-hour to stop!”
Grace rushed to get up out of the chair and felt a cold liquid slosh on her head.
“Grace, for crying out loud. Where are you going in such a hurry?” Randy asked trying to keep hold of the red Solo cup of soda she had just smashed into.
“Oh, gosh, what a mess. Do you see a napkin or something?” She yelled at him to be sure he heard her above the noise.
“I’ll go get something. I found the kitchen on my way to the drinks,” he hollered back.
Grace didn’t know what else to do but to sit back down in the chair and hope the zipper creep had moved on. She sipped her soda but found that it made her queasy. She bit her lip to calm her stomach. She checked her watch again but, of course, it did not speak any louder than the first time she tried it. Her cold, sweating hands stuck on the wood arms of the chair as her fingers rubbed up and down on them. How long had Randy been gone. And, for that matter, where were Sandy and Dan?
To take her mind off her rising frustration and panic, she tried to eavesdrop on the conversations that were around her. The smoke was making her feel sicker.
She heard a boy say, “Randy’s pretty lucky. He can leave this one out here and make it with Big Bertha, too.”
“Yeah,” came a reply. “Big Bertha really knows what she’s doing. What a piece of…” but, the rest of his comment was lost as another conversation burst into loud laughter.
Grace needed to get to a bathroom very quickly. She had no idea where the bathroom would be. She didn’t even know where the door was to get out of the apartment. She stood up and took a step. She felt someone’s foot pull out from under her foot just as she put her full weight on it.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Could you tell me where the bathroom is?” she said as she steadied herself.
“Why sure, Gorgeous, it’s just down the hall. I’ll go with you.”
At first she thought he recognized that she was blind and he was being helpful, but, the way he draped himself on her and sloshed his drink on her, she changed her mind. With a quick “no thanks.” she twisted out of his grip. The twisting motion disoriented her even more.
She really had no idea which direction to go to get to the door. Her panic was heightened as she bumped from person to person. Her shoulder hit something hard and her hip slammed into something even harder; a doorknob.
As she turned the knob, she prayed that this was the door out of the apartment and not a closet. Grace tried to remember if they had turned left into Big BerthaÆs apartment or right. Her breathing was shallow and irregular with her heart thudding in her breast, she opened the door. The cooler, stale air of the hallway hit her face. Once she let go of the door, she’d be in limbo. Her mind was a blur, her hands were sweaty and cold, and she thought she would surely throw up. She tried to think. Did we turn left after coming down the hall or did we go right?
Grace pulled the apartment door closed behind her and stumbled to the right. Big, Rough hands steady her.
“Whoa, too much to drink, little lady?”
Her mind raced as his hands began to massage her arms and pull her in for a hug or something more intimate. She felt the saliva begin to well up in her mouth, her palms began to sweat again, and there was that awful taste in her mouth as all the contents of her nervous stomach shot up and out all over the stranger. Grace never heard the apartment door being flung open.
“Get your hands off of her, fella!” yelled Randy, as he put an arm around her shaking shoulders. “Grace, are you Okay? Why did you leave the party? I told you I’d be right back.”
“I’d like to go home. I’m not feeling well,” was all Grace could mumble.
***
Alone and curled up in her pho-leather lounge chair at home, her mind wandered from the braille lines her fingers tracked. Grace was confused. She wanted to believe Randy’s explanation of being delayed by giving Big Bertha a helping hand with getting another case of sodas or did he really go up on the roof with her? Everyone knows how easy it is to fool a blind person. So much depends on trust. Could she trust Randy or, for that matter, her brother and Dan again? Maybe it just wasn’t worth the emotional investment.
A key clicked in the door latch. Grace’s parents had returned home from seeing the movie and sharing a soda at The Hungry House Cafe. Her mom flipped on the light switch.
“Grace!” she said, “Why are you sitting here in the dark? You need to get out more!”
Author Bio:
Kate Chamberlin, BS, MA and Dave were married in 1970 and raised three children plus two grandchildren in Walworth, NY. Many of her stories were inspired by family, teaching career, and six guide dogs. When she became blind in 1985, the screen reader on her computer enabled her to become a free-lance writer, newspaper columnist, an on-line literary magazine staff editor, published author, and keep in touch with her ever expanding family. www.katechamberlin.com
kathryngc@juno.com
“Dream it. Write it. Read it.”
Wayne Writers Guild
Meets at 7:30pm – 9:00pm, on the 2nd and 4th. Tuesday of each month
Books, Etc. of Macedon, NY
John Cieslinski, Owner
78 W. Main ST. Macedon NY 14502
Phone 585-474-4116