The Lion Tamer (Completed)

Chapter Ten - The Domalio

As the light faded, Leo decided that he had to make a choice. They had already passed a few motels that would have served nicely as temporary homes but for some reason they never seemed far enough away from Philadelphia and John Pronti to satisfy him. As one appeared around the curve of road and Eddie pointed to it, asking if they could stop, Leo would keep his foot pressed down on the gas, letting it fall behind them until gone from sight.
By this time, though, does it really matter? He thought. A mile or two more won’t make any difference, will it?
He estimated that they must have logged at least three hundred miles or more by now and with night coming quickly he had to choose the place where they would stay for the next few days. The thought he couldn’t remove from his head, though, was that he might also be choosing the place where they might die as well. Then DropDead’s face would appear to him, the white smile and thousand-yard stare of pale blue, his grin reaching back and changing his face to show a mask of what he really was under the spare wisps of hair and waxy skin.
The next one I see, no matter what, that’s where we will stay, he decided silently.
It was longer to the next motel than either expected and over a half hour before they saw signs for the Domalio Motel. The sign was cheery, a billboard with lights shining down on the image of a young boy and girl splashing into a pool with their loving and smiling parents watching from behind them. The sign said the Domalio was only a few miles ahead, off Waltesbury Road (alt. Rt. 34)
The lot was almost empty save for a couple of station wagons and Leo got out and went to the office to check in while Eddie waited. The motel was a two-story building and spread to either side of the main office for about one hundred yards. Behind were the black and leafless trees of the surrounding woods. The motel could easily be seen from the main road. He came back out with a key and moved the car to a space near the end of the building. The two removed the supplies from the trunk again and climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered room 14B.
When inside, Eddie pulled the duffel bag from his shoulder and dropped his weight onto one of the beds, rolling his body out and laying down. His clothes were rumpled and creased from the hours of cramped sitting in the car and he stretched his long legs out and put his arms out from his body. Leo put down the rest of the bags and pulled the single chair from a small round table in the room and sat down.
The curtains were closed and Leo took a habitual peek as he pulled one aside a bit. The sky had blackened very quickly since they had pulled into the motel and the road that ran along the front of the parking lot was empty, lit only by one white and desperate streetlamp.
Eddie had sat up now, and he looked to Leo.
“Should we call Ma?” he asked.
Leo, still keeping the drape aside with his hand and staring out the window into the darkness simply shook his head.
“But she doesn’t know where we are,” Eddie continued. “She’ll worry about us.”
“We’ll call her tomorrow. She’ll be fine ‘til then, okay?” He let the curtain fall back in place and turned to Eddie.
“Look, Ed, we can’t let anyone know where we are. Not right now, okay?”
“But what if we just let – “
“No, Ed,” Leo said, cutting him off. “We’ll let her know tomorrow. That’s how it’s gonna be, hey?”
Eddie continued in a half mumble to himself, “Just let her know we’re okay, you know?”
“Here,” Leo said and reached into his pocket. “This place seems quiet enough,” he said, pulling a handful of silver coins out. “Get some snacks for us for tonight, okay? Something other than chips though, we got enough of that. And get some sodas, too. I saw a machine on the first floor right near the bottom of the stairs, can you do that?”
The words brought an eager expression to Eddie’s face and he smiled as Leo handed him the change. He got up and reached for the door handle and Leo warned him not to be too long.
“Okay, Leo,” Eddie answered and left.
With his thoughts to himself now, he felt the familiar doubt creep back into his brain and it reached to him with a hollow voice. There weren’t a whole lot of options here. He wanted to drown out the spectre voice from his head and he got up and turned on the television. It took a few second for the tube to warm up and when it did he heard the distant sound of an evening news broadcast coming to his ears, like a haunting. The picture began to clear and a news anchor, very handsome and gray near the temples, was letting the weatherman take over, the man’s name was Chip or Skip but Leo couldn’t be sure.
John is going to give me a week, of that I’m sure, he thought as he watched Chip or Skip the weatherman point to a red curved line on a bright and childish-looking map. He said something about a warm front. John will wait and maybe he will calm down, but I’m not thinking he will. Chances are he’s going to keep his ears out for any word on my progress and wait to hear that Slow Eddie Lumskin is dead. Then, maybe he’ll be satisfied. If he hears that nobody can find Eddie or his brother then we go into another file, and that file will be labeled Fuck em’ and Kill Them Both. And they will, once they find us.
Leo thought about Timmy and the choice he made when asked what finger was he willing to lose…which one could he live without?
Jesus Christ, Leo thought, I wish I only had that decision to make. Jesus, how I wish it were that fuckin’ easy.
Eddie stood on the railed walkway and listened. He heard the wind rustling leaves below on the surface of the parking lot and he heard a distant and unseen whistle from a train. He clenched the change in a tight fist and then walked down the stairs. The wind felt cold against him and he wished again for a moment that he had not placed his coat on top of the old man back in Philly. He pulled his cap down further over his ears and looked around at the bottom of the steps for the snack machine but saw none. Then, a bit further down the drab cement walkway he saw light coming from a small window and headed toward it. A square of yellow light came out of a small window in a steel door and he peered inside. He smiled when he saw the two snack machines standing in the corner and then a young boy came into his view.
He had long hair, longer than a boy’s hair should be, Eddie thought. The boy left his view and he heard a giggle from inside the room. Cold now, he opened the door and was greeted by a nearly empty room. The boy turned and next to him was a girl of the same age, maybe ten or eleven. She had blonde hair that was almost white and it hung in carefully planned braids that fell down on both sides of her head. She had a pretty face and eyes that were surprisingly deep and brown. Both stood in stunned silence as Eddie entered and stamped his feet on the floor in the hopes of quickly warming them. Inside was comfortable and he quickly was able to loosen his muscles. He immediately saw that there was a pinball machine that was out of his line of sight when he looked in the window. The two children stayed motionless and moved out of his way as he approached. He stopped short of touching the machine and turned to look at the two children, who still hadn’t let their gaze fall from him.
“Your ball,” Eddie said in a steady and droning voice.
“Wha…” said the boy, still fixed on Eddie.
“Your ball…it’s ready,” he answered.
The boy blinked a few times and then seemed to come back from the trance he had put himself into. He looked down to the glass top and saw the silver ball ready to be launched. He put the ball in play while the girl (who now Eddie thought might be his younger sister), clamped onto a doll with one hand and scratched her cheek with the other. Eddie smiled at her while she continued to stare at him.
“Why are you so big?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Eddie said. “Maybe I’m a superhero.” He thought that might be the best answer he had ever given when asked that question. That was what he was going to say from now on. The girl nodded and then began to pay attention to the boy.
The boy played pretty well, but after a few nice hits on the flippers, the ball ricocheted from one bumper to the next and then raced down the mouth before he could save it.
Eddie laughed and the boy threw him a sour look. The little girl held her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. It finally erupted into a squealing laugh that she could no longer contain.
The boy stepped aside and let Eddie slip a quarter into the machine.
“Hold this,” he said, handing the fistful of change to the boy who let his jaw drop a bit in response.
Eddie lasted about five minutes with three balls but he matched and got a free game. The boy nodded.
“Pretty good,” he said.
“Yeah.” Eddie turned to the girl and asked her if she wanted to play. As she was ready to answer, the boy interrupted.
“Her? She can’t play.” He said with arrogance in his voice.
“I can too. You never let me,” she answered.
Eddie let the girl take his place and she handed him her doll. The passing of it from her hand to his seemed to make it shrink two sizes.
Eddie leaned over behind her and coached her on, clapping when she successfully saved the silver and pointing to where she should try to aim.
“What’s your name?” Eddie asked.
The girl was about to answer when her brother cut her off. “We’re not allowed to talk to strangers,” he said.
“But we been talking already,” Eddie answered. He concentrated on the last ball that the girl had, pointing to where she would get the most points. The ball caromed off the upper bumpers and rocketed down the space between the flippers.
“Yeah, well,” the boy started, “we’re not supposed to.”
“My name is Lauren,” the girl said and stuck her tongue out to her brother after he admonished her with a look.
“Well, I’m Eddie,” he said and was about to ask if they wanted to play again when the door opened and a man appeared. He was in his forties or so and wore dark-rimmed spectacles and had close-cropped dark hair.
“Hey, dad,” the boy said.
“Hi daddy,” Lauren added.
The man nodded and said nothing. He paused as he looked at Eddie and told the children it was time to go. The boy said goodbye and Lauren called him by name as took the doll back from his meaty hands.
The boy, at reaching the door, reached back into his pocket and pulled out the change that he had been handed and he turned around.
“Here, and,” the boy whispered and handed the coins to Eddie and looking over his shoulder to his father who waited, “my name is Michael.” He smiled tightly and spun on his heel and joined his father who was waiting by the door and hadn’t taken his eyes off Eddie. Finally, he left and Eddie used the remaining coins to buy what he could from the two machines in the corner.
When Eddie came back to the room, Leo was dozing in the chair with his head slumped forward onto his chest. Eddie put the arm full of wrapped snacks on the table and helped Leo onto his feet and guided him to one of the beds where he let him down on top of the covers. He removed his shoes for him. Leo began snoring strongly now and he rolled onto his side and Leo managed to get some of the covers over him.
He climbed into his own bed without undressing and fell quickly asleep with the sound of the television in his ears.