Being Butch Green || ✓

Chapter 19 - What Happens in the Motel Stays in the Motel

Darkness slowly swept over the sky, turning the clouds a deep orange by the time we stopped at the dodgy motel. I reluctantly followed Jack down a narrow footpath towards the room we'd rented for the night. The motel was an eerily lit settlement standing out against the landscape, blackened by the night sky that rolled in. Crickets called to each other from beneath the overgrown shrubs as I kicked a littered Macca's bag out of the way.

"You think they followed us?" I asked over Jack's shoulder as he slotted the key into the door.

"I don't know."

I pushed past Jack into the tiny room. He flicked the switch, making the room light up. Two single beds lay parallel across the room, a dull yellow light making the room feel ancient. The carpet faded into grey lino that catered for a fridge the size of my torso and an overly round table sat in the centre of the room. It was on such an angle that it needed its leg to be propped up by several newspapers.

"The bathroom's worse," Jack noted, his head stuck through another door.

I crept up behind him, gazing into the bathroom. Spiderwebs covered every corner and rust covered the taps. The shower curtain was hanging by its last tendrils and the occasional cockroach scampered across the unwashed floor. I cringed.

"Guess it'll have to do," he mused. "You want anything from the fish and chips up the road?"

I shook my head.

He nodded, half-smiling as I walked back to where the beds were and flopped out onto one of them. I watched him grab the hotel key off the counter and stroll towards the door.

"How come they found us?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbow.

"Who?"

"Your work friends."

He huffed. "I have no fucking idea."

I bit my cheek and gently sucked on the blood that trickled from it. "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't wanna die."

He smiled. "I'll try not to let that happen, baby bro."

I nodded, falling back onto the bed. "Just don't get caught," I warned, yawning.

His footsteps left the room as the door gently latched itself shut and I drifted off beneath the covers of the hard mattress.

***

I woke up to the late morning sun filtering in through the motel window. It shone in my eyes as if to say, 'wake the fuck up, you've got shit to do today'.

I rolled over, finding Jack leaning against the edge of the window, staring out at nothing. He held a beer in his hand and occasionally took a swig of it as he ran his other hand through his matted hair. His hand promptly tucked itself into his pocket as he craned his neck to look at me as I sat up.

"Thought I'd let you rest awhile," he stated, walking over to the kitchen and settling down at the table. He placed his head in his hands and rubbed his palms in his eyes, before sighing.

"What happened last night?"

"We escaped the police and my colleagues. They know we have the file, Butch," he said grimly.

I frowned. "How?"

"I had a stern warning from them last night whilst browsing magazines."

"Jack?" I queried, panic rising in my chest. "What have you done?"

"They've given us forty-eight hours to return the file otherwise they'll kill both of us," he looked up at me. "Butch we have to get that file to the police. We can't let them have it."