The First Morning

2

Rachel got up before he did. Tim knew because she was not quiet about it. At all. Like, purposefully loud. She peed with the door half open then stumbled into her clothes, an Andy Capp ball of hoodies and soft but vitriolic swearing for three minutes while she wrestled herself into at least four layers of outer wear. Mumbling violently about the lack of coffee she pushed outside, the door slamming behind her.

Well, he was up.

Tim powered up his phone to check the time. It was 7:12 AM and his phone was holding pretty strong with a 62% charge. He inanely thought that seeing a phone he had used all day yesterday with a decent charge the next day was the most unbelievable part of this trip so far.

He hopped up and trudged to the bathroom, grabbing a new pair of jeans and shirt as he went. Tim pissed and considered his cleaning options. They were severely limited, leaving him to do what he could to de-stinkify a bit. He ran the water until it got as hot as it would (which was warm-ish) and used a wet towel to scrub himself down. He rubbed a dry part of the tower across his teeth and pawed his hair into a semblance of ok. Gross. He put his old boxers and new (to him) pants on. The pants were a bit snug and from Old Navy but he could deal with those things. He pulled the shirt on, the Hershey one (all yellow with “I Survived the Sooper Dooper Looper!” written proudly on it) and felt a bit like a charlatan. He had not survived the Sooper Dooper Looper, had in fact never heard of it. Sounded fun though. These musings were just to keep Tim from having to confront what awaited him.

His socks.

He had no idea what to do. He absolutely would not re-wear the pair he had on yesterday. The mere thought of slipping those slime rags up his feet made him shiver. Wearing no socks with shoes was almost as bad. Almost.

He walked back into the main room as Rachel entered from outside. She brought with her the smell of the tobacco and chemicals she had just incinerated. She was in a bit of a better mood. The nicotine now in her blood was one reason, the Starbucks in her hand was undoubtedly another.

“Should I ask?” He asked.

“Nope.” She took a long sip out of a frozen drink that had a thousand calories or he’d wear his socks.

“O.K. Then. I have a problem. I need socks.” Tim felt unaccountably embarrassed to be saying this. This journey was a gift to him to save his soul and he couldn’t go on without fresh socks.

“I totally get it.” Rachel locked eyes with him over her drink, utterly serious. She continued to sip on her Frappuccino until it started to slurp and sputter despite most of it being left. Tim had the strong suspicion he was being mocked.

“No, I mean it. There’s a small store near the park we can get socks. I already checked.” He wasn’t sure if this was more of her mind reading or a mutual sock fetish and didn’t care. That was really all he needed. Socks.

Rachel folded and packed their clothes, along with a pillow, most of the towels and the toilet paper.

“What? Everyone does it. They expect it.” Said in response to his disapproving gaze. He didn’t take things that weren’t his.

“Pff.” She blew his concerns off and gestured towards the now packed duffle. “Lets go.”

Tim took the bag without comment, gaze sweeping the room a final time to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. He’d feel like he forgot something for at least the next twenty minutes anyway.

Tim stepped gingerly into the early morning, shoes in hand, and walked towards the car. Seeing that the salesman’s car was gone was a relief to Tim. He wouldn’t need to mention the incident to Rachel, or think about it. The car was open for Tim to toss the duffle bag into the back seat. Rachel had emerged from the room as Tim started poking around in the back of the car. He wanted to see if they had overlooked anything that may be useful. Plus, he knew Rachel would need time for a cigarette.

Tim didn’t find anything and Rachel was in the car before he was, frowning out the window at him like he was holding her up. He got in the car to find that Rachel had connected her phone to the car and their destination was highlighted in the center console.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. It’s perfect. They have socks, clothes and some basic crap. It’s also right near where we’re going.” Tim couldn’t argue with socks so he just nodded and sat back, buckling up. Not because he really wanted to but because if he didn’t the car was a real pain in the ass about it. It was way too early to deal with that dinging.

Rachel drove away from the hotel and they both remained silent, lost in their thoughts. Waking up in this reality made this feel much more real to Tim. He knew he had to see this through. He had at least a couple days and he knew he should think on why he was in this situation. Learn his lesson and earn the everlasting love of God. Except he had no need. Tim knew exactly what he had done, was still doing, to damn him from God’s grace. It wasn’t a situation he could fix. Rachel hadn’t even hinted at the possibility and he hadn’t asked.

The very fact that he was here did give him hope. Clearly there was something he could do to redeem himself. Damned if he knew what though.