Junior Year Box Set

There was dead silence; they all looked at me as if I’d said aliens had landed on the roof. I got up and started for my room. That was when they all started talking at once. I told them to hold their thoughts until we got to my room. As I changed into my swimsuit, I told the guys what to expect. I sent them out of my room, telling them if they had more questions, they were to ask Brandon. He gave me a dirty look when Alan followed him to his room.

◊◊◊

The woman from the bar found me soaking in the hot tub.

“We like to be paid up front,” she explained.

I pointed to my towel where I’d put the money. The woman counted it and put the cash in her purse.

“They’ll be at your rooms in five minutes,” she said and left.

I got out of the hot tub and went back to my room. I took a quick shower and put on a pair of shorts when there was a knock at the door. I had closed the door adjoining the room with Jim and Brandon. I didn’t really care to see my friends have sex. I about had a heart attack when I recognized my date. It was Candy, Flee Johnson’s girlfriend. We’d always teased him she must be a stripper. We hadn’t been too far off the mark.

Her big smile evaporated when she recognized me. I didn’t want to talk to her in the hall, so I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room.

“You can’t tell him. This was just a misunderstanding. I, ah, oh, this was my first time,” Candy rambled on.

I didn’t believe her for a second, so I just stared at her.

“I could trade with someone else,” she offered.

That was where she lost me. I found my pants, pulled out my phone and took her picture.

“I want my money back, and I want you gone.”

“What was the picture for?” she asked.

“If you give me any trouble, I’ll send the picture to Flee, and you can explain to him what you do behind his back.”

Candy went to the bathroom, and I heard her arguing with someone on her cell phone. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and the woman from the bar was there with a mountain of a man. He had to be six-seven and almost 300 pounds.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t do refunds.”

I looked at the woman and then at her muscle. I didn’t need this headache.

“Fine. Take her and leave,” I said.

“I also need you to delete the picture you took,” the woman said.

I grabbed my phone, showed her the picture and deleted it. She seemed satisfied, and they left, taking Candy with them. I smiled to myself. The woman should have just given me back my money. I got ready for bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

◊◊◊ Saturday October 3

I woke up at my usual time and realized it was an hour later due to the time change. I had a few tasks on my to-do list to complete before we left. I packed my bag and got ready for the day. Then I went downstairs and asked to talk to the manager. A woman in her fifties greeted me, and when I said it was serious, she took me to her office.

I explained in detail what had happened last night. I also told her about the two men from Alabama that had talked to the ringleader.

“So, what did you want me to do?” the manager asked as she looked nervous.

“I’m not looking to cause you or the hotel trouble. I would personally like to keep the matter as quiet as possible,” I said, and she seemed to relax.

The last thing they would want was police involvement. I also knew the hotel would ignore hookers in their bars as long as there wasn’t any trouble. It seemed to me they had a slick system in place.

“So, why are we talking?” the manager asked.

“I want you to ban her and her associates for thirty days.”

“What prevents me from just ignoring this?”

“Because if the Ritz-Carlton gives its word, you’ll stand behind it,” I said.

“I’m sorry you had a bad experience, and thank you for being so reasonable in your request. I’ll make it happen. Is there anything else I can do for you?” she asked.

I thanked her. I then found a quiet spot to make a phone call I really didn’t want to make. Flee at first didn’t believe me. I sent him the picture I’d taken last night. My phone had a feature where it automatically uploaded my photos to the cloud in case I accidentally deleted them. I asked him not to call her for another hour or so because I wanted to be on the road before Candy found out I’d told him.

◊◊◊

When we got on the bus, we all laughed when we saw it actually had a stripper pole. The guys had smiles on their faces from last night. I was proud of Alan because he reminded them that what happened on these trips, stayed on them. He must be growing up.

As we drove to the highway, the bus driver asked if we wanted to stop at Krispy Kreme. He pointed out that they had their ‘Hot Donuts Now’ sign turned on. We ended up with a couple dozen. When I bit into my first doughnut, it was a religious experience. It melted in my mouth. If I lived here, I’d weigh 800 pounds. As we left Atlanta, I had a new favorite doughnut.

◊◊◊