dreaming about kissing even though he's only two and a half years old I open my door and stand next to the car so I can get a better look at my new home The hot muggy air outside feels like the air in the city but smells different Greener I guess On the first floor right in front of our parking spot is a glass door with Reception painted on it in faded letters There are two big planters on either side of the door filled with dried out brown plants Mom comes out the door A bell jingles when it opens She reaches into the car and grabs her phone I have to pee I tell her Stay with Sammy please Miriam Mom says She shuts the car door too hard and Sammy wakes up Out he says rubbing his eyes and looking at me Out I reach over and squeeze his chubby little hand three times for I love you like Grandma taught me when I was little When I unbuckle him he climbs into the front seat and pretends to drive I scramble into the passenger seat to make sure he doesn't honk the horn He's lucky He's too young to have real friends to leave behind He didn't care about leaving his room
or his school or his favorite teacher His whole world is still with him Come Sammy He grabs my hand and we head into Reception just as Mom and Dad come out I peek behind them The room is empty Where are the people who are supposed to show us everything I ask No one's here Dad says frowning They left Mom starts taking things out of the trunk Sammy's stroller a cooler of sandwiches and snacks two small suitcases for me and Sammy and a big one for her and Dad The rest of our stuff is coming later in a truck They left I’m confused The previous owners were supposed to stay here with us for a week and teach us everything about running a motel Mom slams the trunk hard Sammy lets of my hand and starts to run out into the parking lot Dad grabs him and holds him upside down and tickles the part of his belly sticking out over his diaper His giggle is the only sound for what seems like a go million years Dad stays in the parking lot yelling at someone on his cell phone while Sammy and I follow Mom back into Reception I can smell chlorine and it reminds
set up that says me of the Y back home where Lekha had her birthday party last month I still haven't totally forgiven her for having a pool party when she knew how I felt about water I ended up helping her mom for the cake while everyone was splashing around and having fun I follow Mom around the high counter taking in the computer behind it There's a desk against the back wall and next to it a closed door with a sign Office And next to that there's a bathroom thank God Back home my best friends Dahlia and Lekha and I have a public bathroom rating system Most of the bathrooms in the city are a one or two out of ten usually tiny and dirty and smelly with toilet paper on the floor and paper towel dispensers that are empty or jammed Then there are the ones in fancy restaurants the ones we go to for special occasions which get an eight or a nine because they're big with art on the walls and automatic faucets and blasting hand dryers that actually dry your hands instead of just moving the water around This bathroom I give it a four because it's clean but it's still tiny and the toilet seat is chipped And the soap dispenser is filled with bright pink liquid that looks like diarrhea medicine
When I come out Sammy's climbing onto one of the two old couches that face each other in the middle of the room a scratched up coffee table between them Mi wam he calls to me The couches are greenish brown with frayed edges and there's a rip down the back of one of them I try not to think about the dirt and sit down and Sammy snuggles against me until he spies the display stand near the front door It's filled with colorful pamphlets the only thing in the room that's not dull and dreary Sammy toddles right over and starts pulling them out one by one and dropping them on the floor I pick them up and try to put them back into their slots but he is way faster than I am so I give up and look at them instead Crystal Caverns says one with photos of a huge cave filled with shiny rock icicles that hang from the ceiling It's magical I find a booklet called Places to Stay in the Finger Lakes Region I look inside but the Jewel Motor Inn isn't listed At the very top of the display too high for Sammy to reach there's an ad for Mabel's Diner which is right next door to the Jewel The ad says that kids ten
