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Vacation
She was wearing a red bikini that almost matched her stringy hair. She sat down at the edge of the hotel pool and slowly dipped her feet in. Her toenails had purple polish on them. She sighed deeply as she kicked her feet underwater. A chubby child in an inner tube paddled by and nearly brushed her.
He sat across the deck in a chair and looked at her. She had done most of the driving here and her left arm was darker than her right. Her eyeliner was running from being out in the sun. Seeing her hunched over shoulders, he got up and walked towards her.
“Are we talking?” he asked.
She shook her head and let her body fall into the water. Her hair bobbed to the surface like seaweed. He admired her consistency.
While she was underwater, she puffed her cheeks out like a child and looked around at the legs around her. Most were doughy pale tinted blue from the water. Some were hairy man legs, some were fleshy woman legs. Her own legs were too skinny and could use a shave, she thought.
He was still standing at the edge of the pool when she came up for air. She blinked back the water from her eyes and climbed out of the pool. Her swimsuit bottom gaped and puckered at the thigh as she struggled to get out. She walked past him and headed for a bleach white towel hanging on the chair next to where he had been sitting.
“Why won’t you talk to me, bitch? What did I do that was so wrong?”
She wrapped the towel around her middle and didn’t say anything. He looked at her matted hair.
“Go back to the room and run a goddamn comb through your hair.”
She held out her hand for the key. He gave it to her and saw her walk away. Her large feet left wet footprints all along the concrete. He followed behind her, watching as the footsteps grew fainter and fainter.
Inside the room, she sat crosslegged on the bed brushing her hair. He sat in a chair opposite her. She grimaced with pain. The black makeup streaked on her cheeks gave her the illusion of crying.
“We have to.” He said. “We can’t take care of it.”
“It ain’t an it,” she whispered. She walked over to the mirror and began to part her hair. Her face was large in the mirror, his seated body smaller and in the background.
“Either way. You’re with your folks and I’m barely making it as it is.” She tugged at a knot. “Besides, I ain’t fuckin’ no pregnant belly.”
She whipped around and turned her back to the mirror. “Well, it ain’t my belly you’d be screwin’!”
He walked up behind her and put his arms around her. “Ssh, baby, you’re right. But why’d I want to see a pretty girl like you become a mom? Besides, it’s like a vacation for us. We spend the night here, then tomorrow we’ll see the doctor and it’s all over.”
Her head was buried in his chest and his hands smoothed her wet hair. “I did like the pool.”
“See, like a vacation. Let’s go back, baby.” He reached around and goosed her. She smiled.
Down at the motel pool again, they swam together. As the water moved around her flat tummy, she felt something moving inside her. She wasn’t far along enough to have it kick, but she felt like there was a body inside her. She wanted to cry.
