Hot Southern Mess (Hide Your Crazy) (3 page)

I was shocked when my sister asked me to play at the reception. Playing the guitar was not something that my parents supported, since it didn’t come with a degree from Old Miss. But for some crazy reason, it had been the only thing my sister and I had ever gotten along about. She would sit in my room for hours when she was younger, quietly listening to me play. Of course that stopped once she hit the teen years, but she never said one negative thing about my passion, when all my parents did was rip it apart.

Pulling the case out from behind the stage, I opened the locks and picked Simon up carefully. Sliding the strap over my neck, I clipped the capo on, and wiped my sweaty hands on the back on my dress. Quietly, I strummed the strings to make sure he was still in tune and glanced around, waiting for my queue from my fire breathing boss.

“Attention ladies and gentleman. The bride’s sister
has a special treat for Mr. and Mrs. Greene, so without further ado, please help me welcome, Miss. Molly Anne McGlenister.”

I tentatively took a step on
to the stage, carefully watching out for the cords and equipment, as I made my way to the front microphone. The last thing I needed to do was fall and flash the entire reception with my girly bits. I hated to wear underwear, and just because this was a ‘classy’ event didn’t mean I had to have dental floss running up my crack.

The applause was
the polite type, not the warm welcome I usually got playing at the café. I offered a smile to the crowd and stepped up to the mic. 

“Hi everyone.
Umm…………well yeah, this is for you, Rebecca.”

Taking a small step back from the microphone, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My hands in
stinctively knew where to go as the music began to pour out of me. After licking my lips, I leaned back into the microphone, silently praying I wouldn’t forget the lyrics.

I sang the last words and let my hands fall away from Simon. I wasn’t ready to open my eyes. Keeping them closed during the performance helped transport me to that happy place when I played. Watching the crowd’s reaction to my music wasn’t something I liked to do. Actually, I would rather shove a hot poker stick in my eye.

The applause start
ed slowly, and then grew in leaps and bounds. The sound in the room was deafening as I pried my eyes open from their comfort zone.

My sister was actually standing on her feet
, clapping for me. A single tear rolled down my cheek when I flashed a small smile and did a little courtesy bow, awkwardly heading off the stage. Pulling Simon from his resting position, I carefully laid him back in the case and let the latches click closed. Thank god I survived that; now I needed like five more drinks, and to get the hell out of here. Too much ‘love’ was in the air, and my damaged heart had no compassion for the night, let alone the stupid groomsman that tried to get me to open my legs for him.

Chapter 3: Destroy the dress and hide the evidence.

“Fuck me,” I mumbled, writhing around in my bed to
try and release myself from the trapped sheets around me. My limbs were struggling to free themselves from the tangles, as my head screamed profanities for the sheer amount of booze I partook in once I left the reception. My arm broke free and flew across the queen size bed, smacking into a hard object.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I hissed. There was only one logical
conclusion for what my arm collided with, a body. It’s not like it was the first time I’ve brought someone home, but hot damn. Seriously, all the men at the wedding last night were not the normal pickings for me. How I ended up bringing one back to my apartment was a riddle I couldn’t solve. Opening my eyes slowly, I glanced at the body laying in bed next me. Luckily, I was graced with his naked backside, thus giving me a better opportunity to slip out of bed and run away undetected.

I didn’t do the ‘next morning’ kind of thing. It really was just about the sex for me; get in and out. I was okay with the ‘thanks for a good time, and see you later’ type sendoff; anymore conversation than that creeped me out. Sharing my bed and personal space wasn’t something I was fond of. Basically, I was a ‘get-the-fuck-out-of-my-bed’ kind of girl. Nope, this drunken, naked, bare skinned man was not the type of guy I wanted to wake up to.

I stood the
re and contemplated my next play. Should I poke him with something until he moved? Maybe drop something loud on the floor, so he jolted awake. Or, I could just leave my own apartment, returning sometime in the afternoon with the hopes that he woke up and left on his own.

My mother always drilled into our heads the art of southern hospitality, however this moment did not call for that. It called for this very naked man to get the fuck up and out of my apartment. I refused to feed this creature, because then he really would never leave. It’s like feeding the stray cats outside. Once you feed one, he lets his entire little kitty colony know that you have the goods and the next thing you know there are twenty of the damn things just waiting for all your tasty morsels.

“Fucking great,” I mumbled while hovering over the bed. My brain was still hurting from
the pain I inflicted on it last night;
why can’t I just think clearly
. Shaking my head, I gave up on trying to figure out how to tactfully remove the troll from my bed and slinked off to my bathroom. Maybe a long hot shower would help with my situation. Either that or he would magically be gone by the time I got done. I do believe both of those scenarios were a win-win situation.

Locking the bathroom door
, I flipped the shower on, cranking it over to the hottest setting, and watched the steam fill up the small space.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Reaching for my gauges off the counter, I quickly rinsed them off and slipped them into my ears. They were still tiny and I didn’t know if I would ever go past the sixteen size gauge; gigantic sized holes in my ears scared me. Slathering vitamin E oil over my lobes, I smiled at my reflection. It took me years to accept the girl that was staring back at me. Not only was I so lost in who I wanted to be, but trying to escape from the pink and glitter my mother and sister forced upon me took time and effort. I was a different person than when I first moved out; a grownup version of the inner girl I struggled with for so long. I pulled out a small pink hoop from a plastic container and pushed it through my nose. “Perfect,” I stated. Now all I had to do was wash the sex and booze smell off my body and I would be a new woman once again.

I spent a good hour in the bathroom, carefully washing all my bits and pieces and banging around some, in hopes to wake the man in my bed.  The thought of interacting with the guy out there, made me want to hurl chunks of whatever I ate at the reception last night. After drying my hair and smearing on some black eyeliner and mascara, I stuck my head out the bathroom door and silently prayed my bed was empty.

“Bingo!” The covers were in a crumpled mess on the floor and all the articles of scattered clothing I
had picked up earlier were gone; I do believe the man left. Releasing my grasp from the towel around my chest, I let it fall to the ground and wandered over to my closet. A loud crash came from behind the wall in the kitchen, which promptly sent me face first into the glass mirrored doors. My eyes grew wide with terror as I scrambled into my closet, hoping whoever made the crashing noise wouldn’t seek me out. “Seriously, fuck a duck.”

“Um hello?” a man’s voice came
from the doorway of my bedroom.

Letting my head smash against the door
, I silently mumbled a few choice words. How could I have been that stupid to think he had already left? Knowing my luck he would stay out there for hours and I would be left sitting here naked, in my closet, all day long.

“Well I know you are in here…………..somewhere. Last night was great,
but, yeah, um………..I’m going to go.”

“Last night was great,” I
mocked. Of course it was great; when is sex ever bad? Well, there was that one time with the drunk who could only rock a halfie and still tried to smash the E.T. looking thing into my vagina. That time was a total bust.

The front door closed in a sudden thud
, and I released a long sigh. Throwing the closet door open and slinking out, I couldn’t help but laugh. I seriously just sat naked in my closet, panicking about what I was going to do because I was naked
. Really, Molly?
I was in my closet of all places, full of clothes. Idiot.

The warmth of the cup sent shudders down my body; the heat scorched my lips as I took small sips of the liquid goodness. I was addicted to coffee, black coffee. I loved the smell of it brewing, the heat that rolled off the top, and the strong taste that slid down the back of my throat. It was like a little piece of heaven in a damaged and broken world. My phone started to blast Audioslave’s “Like A Stone” from the end table by the window. I already knew who it was this morning; my boss. She probably had a million and one errands for me to do today, since it was clean-up day after the big wedding extravaganza last night.

“This is Molly,” I answered with as much enthusiasm as I could muster this morning.

“Of course it’s you, Molly; why do you answer that way? Never mind. I need you to head over to your sister’s bridal suite and pick up her wedding dress and take it to get cleaned and steamed. Then bring it to me a.s.a.p.; it needs to be stored properly so it stays fresh.”

“Is that all
, Cynthia?”

“Of course not, but that should have been done last night. I’ll see you soon.”

The line went dead and I set my phone back down. One night wasn’t going to kill the damn dress. Shit, for as much as my parents dumped on that dress it should fucking hold up forever. Money was everything in this damn world. With money came status, and that basically got you a one way ticket into heaven. At least that’s what everyone in this stupid town thought. This place wasn’t me. I didn’t care that my bank account had only a few zeroes in it; money couldn’t buy true happiness. I was finally happy with who I was, now I needed to find a place that helped me deepen that love.

Grabbing my keys from the counter, I headed over to the door, stopping just before my hand reached the knob. On the wall was my framed SPIN magazine cover of Kurt Cobain standing on Pier 39 in downtown Seattle. It was that moment that I realized that was where I was meant to be. The freedom of a big city that was a melting pot of cultures, and not the southern grown type I had been suffocated daily with while living here.

“Siri, connect me with Southwest Airlines.”

Dropping my purse on the counter, I ran to the bedroom and pulled a couple suitcases from the closet. This was it; I was getting out of here.

There was something liberating about sitting in the airport, knowing that this was the start of something amazing. I had no clue what I was going t
o do when I got there, other than I just knew deep down that this was the right thing to do. There was never anything keeping me here in Athens, nothing that I wanted anyway. Seattle offered a fresh start, new possibilities, and more people that viewed the world like I did. No longer would I be trapped in a world of glitz and glamour. I wouldn’t be the social outcast that dyed her hair funny colors and had piercings that ‘ladies’ shouldn’t have. I could be free to live my life the way I saw fit; this was going to be fucking fantastic!

“We would like to now call passengers boarding in zones one and two to approach the gate please,” a ladies voice came over the speakers. Smiling down at my ticket in my hands, I stood and headed over to the gate. Taking one last look around the airport, I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. There were eight missed calls, and I’m betting the majority of them were from my former boss, since I sent her a text to pick up the dress for herself, and I quit. Powering the phone down, I slipped it back into my pocket and grabbed my carry on. This was it, I was really doing it. See you later Georgia, hello Washington!

Handing over my ticket to the la
dy at the gate, she smiled and scanned the one way ticket. I couldn’t keep the crazed lunatic look off my face, and if I wasn’t careful, I’m betting security would be called to talk to me, because I know I look like an absolute creep-O right now.

“Enjoy your flight
, Miss. McGlenister.”

“Will do.
” I grinned. Here goes nothing.

The air was crisp as I stepped outside after retrieving my luggage. The sheer amount of people milling about the airport was nuts. The best part about it
was not a single person looked at me as I wandered through the terminals carrying Simon and my bag. People even smiled at me as we waited for our luggage on the carousal; back home that would have never happened. So here I stood, basking in the cool September air, wondering what my next move was going to be.

“Taxi
, miss?” a man asked as I came back from my staring stupor.

“Oh sure;
I mean, yes please.”

The gentleman came over and grabbed my two rolling suitcases and headed back to his cab. I followed him as he opened the trunk and placed the bags into the back, then
gesturing for my guitar case. Without even thinking, I handed the case right over to him. There was something about this city that made me want to take a risk, and letting someone else handle my precious Simon was something that didn’t happen normally. The driver closed the trunk and hurried over to open my door.

“I could have gotten that, but thanks,” I said softly, ducking my head and slithering into the cab.

“Nonsense, ma’am, it was my pleasure.”  He closed the door quickly and sprinted around the car to his seat. “Where to, Miss?”

“Um, well
, I don’t know,” I said with a laugh. The entire plane ride to Seattle I spent worrying what I would do about just up and leaving home. I gave no thought into what I was actually going to do once I landed here.

“How about a hotel downtown?”

“Any particular one?”

“Nope, hopefully one with vacancy.”

The man smiled in his rearview mirror as he pulled off the curb
. There was a huge difference between Seattle and home, and the first thing that struck me was how green things seemed. Even with the fall months upon us, things were still beautiful. Back home, things were now yellow, orange, and brown. Not exactly gorgeous like this place I was now calling home.

“How far from downtown are we?” I asked, pulling out my phone and opening an app to find a hotel.

“About twenty minutes miss, as long as we don’t hit traffic early.”

I nodded my head and set out to find a place for the next couple nights. I could start on the apartment search tomorrow
, and I guess a job as well. There was more than enough money in my trust fund account, since I didn’t use really any of it while working for Cynthia. Actually, I really never needed to find a job, but lord knows I needed to do something other than just play guitar. Being a music playing bum sounds enticing, but I really should do something with my life. “Can you drop me off at the Westin, please?”

“Fine choice ma’am.”

A smile crept over my face as I leaned back in the old worn leather seats. This was going to be an epic adventure. One I’m sure my family would strongly
disapprove of, but hell, when had I ever made them happy, anyways?

My room was on the twenty-fourth floor, and I about peed my britches when I got sight of the view. Letting the heavy door slam behind me, I wheeled my two suitcases further into the room and set Simon on the gigantic bed. “Holy fish sticks,” I whispered, stepping closer to the large glass window that stood corner to corner in the large room. The buildings were absolutely stunning in a cold concrete and steel kind of way. To the right was a glimpse of the Space Needle, and to the left through a couple tall high rises I could see the bay. My eyes danced back and forth, taking in the sights. This wasn’t like Georgia, hell it was the exact opposite. Looking down at the street there were tons of cars zipping back and forth, people hurrying along the sidewalks; the hustle of the city was evident. This was a place that could swallow someone whole. A chew them up and spit ‘em’ out type deal could easily happen, and I almost wish it would happen to me.