The Breeze

"Don't tell me the Judge was a friend of Poppa's." I said smiling.

"Worse, he ate in the restaurant every Friday night. I think the thought of missing Poppa's hot shrimp salad turned the case around. The Judge questioned the rookie. When a Judge asks questions, cops get nervous. The rookie was so confused that he admitted he never saw what was in the bag. He actually only heard the girl say six beers comes to twelve dollars plus tax. Then it was well maybe she said six buds."

"Are you sure it wasn't six spuds?" the judge asked. of course the kid wasn't sure anymore. Then the judge asked Poppa if the girls every referred to french fries as spuds. "Sure," Poppa says with a smile. "Case dismissed the judge says."

"I don't see why that would piss off the chief." I said.

"It was the lecture about training rookies that did him in. The judge jumped the chief in open court, then called him to his chambers. He says to the chief, if you got to arrest somebody make it a tourist. Don't you ever clog my court with a horse shit charge like this again."

"So now me and Poppa are on his list?" I asked.

"One and two and I don't know who is on top." Ruth laughed.

"Well if he busts the game, he is going to be lookin' for a job." I said.

"He knows that, but now if you were DWI or had a joint on you, that's another thing. I really came by just to warn you."

"Thanks but I'm so clean I squeak," I said.

"So you never married?' she asked.

"No and I'm not gay." I replied with a laugh.

"I didn't think that, I know better." she said with a secret smile.

During one of my visits to the beach, she and I had been a thing. At the time I had been a patrol officer in my hometown. We had a hell of a two week party, but it ended when I left. During my next visit I was informed that she had married a straight john. Some kind of banker or something. Then two years ago Maude informed me they had divorced. Since our time had come and gone, I didn't even call her.

"Do you remember the time we sat on that dune all night. I never talked so much about myself. Women are supposed to listen to men talk." she said wistfully.

"I remember, that was the night before I returned home. It was what? Six months before you married the straight john." I said cattily.

"You can't still hold that against me. After all a girl has to look out for herself. You sure as hell weren't offering to marry me." she said.

"You do have a point there. Then again, I'm still not interested in marriage." I said. "So why the friendly warning.?"

"I'm not interested in marriage either. What I am interested in is a good time. So how about buying a girl a drink?' she said.

"Sure, but tonight I have to stay around to help Lori," I said.

"After we all finish dinner, why don't you and I go up to Thirty one?' she suggested.

"Sure, why not. There is some cold beer up there." I said.

"Good, then there will be some cold beer and a hot broad." she giggled.

Whenever the bell in the office rang, I left Ruth to help Lori. What with the constant interruptions nothing much happened. I did fill a lot of the gaps in Ruth's life story. For instance she told me that she wanted to be the first female Holden Beach chief of police. I figured there was a good possibility, especially since she was already a lieutenant at only thirty five. Ruth left shortly after midnight promising to return for the opening of the game.

With my niece pretty well trained in the operation of the motel, I opened the game on Wednesday night. I began my list of calls with the most important people first. I called the mayor on his private line. He was unavailable, but asked to be set for the next Tuesday night. I agreed, then wrote him on the schedule. I allowed only seven players at the game, which did not include me of course. I filled the game with Poppa John and six prominent citizens. As I called, they were allowed to bring either players or non players but I had to know which. Most came alone, some did ask to bring their girlfriends. Only one wanted to bring a player. It was early enough in the scheduling to allow.

I left Lori in charge of the Motel, while I went to play poker with the locals. I opened the room at seven. The players began to arrive around nine. By midnight the table was filled. The game ran until six the next morning. It was tradition, that the game ended at six. When the chips were all cashed, we had three winners of varying degrees and five losers. Poppa John, I was happy to see was a small winner.

As usual, there were a few good players and a few really awful players. The good ones usually split the lousy player's money. I was one of the good players. That night I won over five hundred dollars.

Aunt Maude had made the rules for the game and I adhered to them even though she was no longer a player. A player could buy in for any amount between one and five hundred dollars. The game was run strictly by table stakes. No one could be forced from a pot because he was short on money. When a player tapped out, he could not buy in again for the next hour. It was an imposed cooling off period. The maximum bet was five dollars, but there were no limits on the number of bets. Aunt Maude had never cut a pot, because she was a good poker player. The house player, either Maude or me, either won enough to keep the game going or we carried the game ourselves. Thirty one wasn't a casino, it was a friendly game, which is why the cops didn't bother us. Not if they wanted to keep their jobs. On any given night a member of the town council or the mayor was likely to be playing at my table.

Since the game had been closed six months, the number of people wanting to play far exceeded my table capacity. I was forced to call them to set the games. I knew that in a few weeks, I would have games which ran with less than eight players. I expected that like Maude, there would be nights, I would sit at the bar, drinking beer with Poppa John.

Ruth showed up the next night. Like any cop, she didn't need an invitation. Most of the rookies knew about the game, but never came to see it. That is unless their trainers wanted to impress them. I had always expected that some rookie would see Serpico on TV and bust the game, just to be a prick. I wouldn't be at all surprised. Of course he was likely to put the cuffs on a judge.

Ruth hung around till one of the breaks. "So what are you going to do tomorrow.?' she asked.

"Probably sleep all day. These games last until sunrise." I informed her.

"Well wake up around six in the evening so that you can take me to dinner. I promise, I will be worth the meal?" she winked as she went down the steps.

"Johnny boy, you better watch that one. She has plans for you." Poppa informed me.

"It wouldn't surprise me a bit." I replied.

The second game ended with me a few hundred bucks ahead. Poppa broke about even. I was glad he hadn't lost. He seemed to have mastered the game since my earlier memories of him as a poor player. He and I sat at the bar having our first beers of the night.

"Poppa when did you learn to play poker so well. I remember you as being a less than great player?" I asked.

"Your Aunt Maude gave me lessons on those nights when nobody showed up. She was a really good poker player. I think though, you might be even better." he said.

"Nobody was better than Maude. She just got clumsy playing with you yokels." I laughed.

"Probably some truth in that," he admitted. He stood then walked to the front window. "I see the pimple faced kid is back. When is he going to finish that painting? It looks pretty good to me now."

"I think, about the time Lori goes back to college." I said.

"You're probably right, I see them come in and eat together 'bout every day." he said.

"I know, I figure she is safe with him." I said.

"She sure is pretty, I don't know what she sees in that boy. He is always covered in paint." Poppa said.

"I don't know either, but I'm getting one hell of a paint job from it." I laughed.

"People are beginning to use this place as a landmark. I heard one of my girls tell a tourist to go a mile past the funny looking Motel, the fishing pier would be on the left." he laughed.

"Tell me how you do it Poppa? I mean you play cards all night, then go open the restaurant." I asked.

"I don't do much at the restaurant during the week. My wife runs it most of the time now that you opened the game. On weekends I work the hell out if it." he said with a grin.

"Well, I am going to have to run you out. I am not like you, I need some sleep." I said.

"Me too, I guess I'm getting old." he said.

I found Lori asleep on my sofa. I woke her, then sent her home to sleep. She left still dreamy looking. When I checked everything seemed to be running fine, so I lay on the sofa myself. I slept in one and two hour shifts between the check ins.

Lori arrived after lunch to fill in while I got some real sleep. By six I was back at the desk. Things began hopping as we checked in guests steadily until nine. During the first break we had Lori drive to Poppa's for sandwiches. I was actually staring into space when Ruth came into the office. She was mad as a hornet. "I thought you were coming to take me to dinner?" she said.

"I thought you were kidding," I answered, not wanting to admit I had forgotten all about her.

"If you thought I was kidding, you are as stupid as you look," she said angrily.

"I'm sorry, how about tomorrow instead," I suggested. "I promise I will show up on time and even dressed."

"Okay, but this is your last chance buster. If you don't show tomorrow, I come looking for you with a gun." she said finally smiling.

"Look, why don't I call Poppa's. Lori is down there now getting us a sandwich. I can have her pick up something for you."

"Okay, but afterward you and I are going out. The kid can look after the place for you."

"I try to never argue with a cop," I replied.

"Good policy," she admitted.

I made the call to Poppa's while Ruth stood guard over me. Lori returned a short time after. The three of us ate in my small dining area. Even while we ate, a tourist checked in. The season seemed to have begun in earnest. After the shrimp dinners, Ruth and I left Lori. The kid had the cops number and my cell number. I had bought a cell, when I decided that I could risk leaving Lori alone at night. I made it a habit to never leave her alone after ten. She mostly ran the office while I played cards. She was locked into a bullet proof room, with orders to open the door for no one. The panic button sounded a siren to alert everyone even remotely near the Breeze. I was taking no chances with Lori. Her father would kill me if anything happened to her.

Ruth understood that I had to be home by ten. She didn't much like it but she understood. We didn't even move the cars, we simply walked along the beach to the fishing pier. The night was cool and the ocean was still the ocean, dark and mysterious. We talked as we walked along.

"Johnny, now that you are back for good, do you reckon we could see each other on a regular basis? I mean, we really were a good couple." Ruth said.

"Ruth honey, you know I love you, but you are pushing too hard. Right now I am up to my ass with the Breeze. If things work out between us they do, I just can't drop everything right now to chase after you." I tried to make it sound true. Ruth knew the difference.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I am going to stop chasing you. When you find the time call me. If I'm not too busy, I might go out with you." she snapped. She also turned around to walk back to her car. I followed after her but didn't even try to talk to her. It would only have gotten me into more trouble.

Ruth didn't even say goodnight, she just got into her car and drove away. I stood in the parking lot until her tail lights disappeared down highway 421. It didn't matter much to me what she did. I was just too tired of the crap involved with women. Not that I didn't like to have them around. I just didn't need the involvement. There was a good chance that I would meet a few tourist now that the season had begun. Tourist were a lot less trouble, at least in the romance department. In every other department, they were a pain in the ass.

I sent Lori to her room, while I watched TV. I was the one who checked in guest all night long. I even had to turn a few away. It was indeed a remarkable night for me. I had lost a potential lover and gained a motel full of guests. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about either.

The next morning, I was sure that I was worn completely out. I hadn't been able to sleep for more than half an hour at a time until the motel was filled at four. Lori came to wake me at seven. She asked me if she could bring me anything from Poppa's.

"Go, then you come back and run the place. I have to get some sleep. I was up all night." I said.

"Too bad, you could have stayed with your cop slut. At least if you had done that, you would be in a better mood," she said with a laugh.

"If your father hears you talk like that, I am going to get killed," I said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I don't tell them everything," she said as she walked to the door.

I slept till noon, then relieved Lori on the desk. She wanted to hit the beach. Why shouldn't she, she was young and extremely attractive. I watched her go to her room to change. When she returned she was in one of those tiny little bikini swim suits. I wondered how her father let her buy such a thing. At least she wore a beach jacket for some small sense of decency. That swimsuit sure bordered on indecent.

I didn't mention it since it was really none of my business. Besides I got busy with the motels check in and outs. It was turning into a pretty decent summer considering I just reopened the place. I expected a lot of my income to come from room thirty one, but most of it actually came from the motel.

I thought I had it made at least the summer. Then it happened, something always happens when you think you have your life in order. The woman who checked in on that hot June night was not a real beauty. She was very attractive for an older woman, there was absolutely no doubt about that. If it hadn't been a Friday night I wouldn't have been the one to check her into the motel at least not at midnight. On a weeknight I would have still been playing poker.

I seldom paid any attention to the people who check in, but she was definitely the exception. First of all she was tall, almost equal to my six feet. She was also honey blond, no doubt from a bottle. If it was a dye job, it was an expensive one. The give away that it might not have been her birth hair color were her eyes. They were brown, but not quite brown either, they were some really dark color was about all I could tell for sure. She was thin almost thin enough to border on being sickly looking. She might have been unattractively thin, had it not been for the cut of her clothes. She had probably paid as much for her off white silk blouse as I did for all the clothes in my closet. Her tan cotton slacks were similar in color to those I wore, but the similarity ended with the color. Her slacks hung almost straight from her waist to her sandals. She was a truly beautiful woman, at least in the model sense of beautiful.

I checked her in and should have forgotten her, but I didn't. Something about her lingered in the room. Maybe it was her perfume or a premonition, either way something kept her on my mind until I went to sleep at four am.

It was Tisha. who delivered the bad news. She came running into the office. At 9am while I tried to sleep behind the counter. She tried to speak but nothing came from her mouth except a low moan. It was the sound an animal makes when it is hurt bad. "Tisha, what is it?" I asked trying to calm her down. She tried to speak but didn't have the air.

I went around the counter and held her against my body. "Come on baby, take a deep breath and tell me what is wrong. I can't fix it unless you tell me." I said.

"Room twenty two, the women in there is covered with blood. I think she is dead." she informed me. Twenty two was on the rear of the building away from the traffic noise. I had picked it for the beautiful blonde.

"You sit here and call an ambulance. I am going to take a look," I said lifting her pass Keys. I hurried to the rear of the building. Running along the walkway wide open took the wind right out of me. It had been too long since I had done any real physical therapy. When I reached the long concrete patio, I walked slowly past the other rooms until I reached twenty two. It was next to the end of the building. When I reached the door, I took a deep breath before I turned the lock. The first view was of the dresser which had several small items spread over it. I turned my head slightly to the right to get a glimpse of the woman spread across the bed. She was covered with a blood stained sheet. I walked slowly to stand beside her. I felt for a pulse knowing in advance there would be none. When I touched her body it was cold and clammy. A sure sign that she was dead and had been for sometime.

While I waited for the ambulance, I took a look at the dresser. I found some change piled on a napkin, a key ring filled with about twenty keys, a small purse which appeared to be closed and a wad of cash. The bills were small but there were several of them. I looked around for her luggage, there was none. The clothes she had worn the night before were piled shelter skeeter on the floor. One leg of her panty hose dangled from the chair beside her bed.

I took a look in the bathroom, no tooth brush was anywhere to be found. She hadn't spent much time in the bathroom, because she hadn't staked out her claim on it yet. I knew from experience, women tended to stack bottles of this and that on the vanity. It is like a cat marking her territory. This one was as empty as it had been when she checked in.

I stepped out the door looking for the car she had driven while checking into the motel. It sat in the parking space near the stairs. I liked the car, though not as much as I had liked the Lady. I locked the door, then returned to the office. While Tisha and I waited for the very slow ambulance, I pulled dead lady's registration card. I had noticed her last night, but hadn't even looked at the card. She listed her name as Mary Amos, and her address as somewhere in Asheville N.C. Her car was described as a Chevy Lumina. It was a pretty little thing, but I didn't know one car from another. She had given a plate number as required by law. I had to doubt it's authenticity. She had written it without checking. Not to many people know their plate number. Most of them guess at it for the registration form. No sense walking back outside just for the plate number. Like all the other motel owners, I tended to ignore the law on that one. As long as something was in the space, I was happy.

I finally heard the siren approaching. I walked out to the parking lot to direct the attendants. I expected them to have already called the police. I was correct in my assumption because right behind them came an unmarked car. Naturally the car contained Ruth and Eddie. I motioned the ambulance men to follow me. They followed behind me with their gurney in tow. I led them to the body in the rear room. Tourists began to look out their windows as we passed. This isn't going to be real good for business, I thought.

The para medics checked the woman for a pulse, then left the room before calling the medical examiners office. At that time it officially became a crime scene. "Okay Johnny, what do you know about the woman?" Ruth asked as she stood waiting for the Medical Examiner.

"Just that, she checked in last night around midnight. Nothing unusual about her." I said handing Ruth the registration card. "Next thing I know Tisha came to the office to tell me we have a corpse in twenty two."