The Motel Room

The door creaked loudly as Heather pushed it open. The motel room hadn't changed much since the last time she had been there, nearly three years before. The walls were still a grimy yellow that was considered an "off-white". The carpet was a grungy gray that helped hide the dirt. The tv was gone, but the handle on the dresser was still hanging at an angle. Holding in all of the emotions that wanted to explode, she ventured to the back where the bathroom was. Same white and salmon colored tile, same white towels with Seven Star Motel written on the hem with permanent black marker, and the same grayish-blue toilet where Heather remembered vomiting for what seemed like decades.
The tears that stung at the back of her big blue eyes, came close to spilling over when she looked at the bed. The mattress still was lumpy and the box springs were showing through. The cover was no longer green with floral designs, but blue. It took all the courage she possessed to perch herself on the edge of that bed and remember that life-changing night. Silent tears poured down her rose-tinted cheeks as she thought about David and everything she had dreamed would be.
David was cool, cute, and suave. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome with big chocolate brown eyes, chiseled features, a mop of brown curls, and a fabulous body that made Heather quiver whenever he came near. When he asked her out on a date, Heather thought she was going to faint. After their first kiss, she started to name their kids and picked out a two-story house in her neighborhood that had a huge cottonwood in the back yard, perfect for building the world's best tree house for her two little boys and little girl.
She was young, naive, and gorgeous. Heather had mesmerizing blue eyes, a thick head of auburn hair, a body to die for, and a grace that she didn't even knew she possessed. In fact, while she thought she was decent, Heather never realized the magnitude of her beauty. Many guys sought after her, but she always so oblivious, devoting most of her time to her studies and her family. But with David, it was so much different.
David invited her to a dance club, a few weeks after their first date, and Heather had to borrow her older sister's id just so she could get in. In the process of asking for the id, her sister Charlotte, had convinced Heather to wear a scandalously short skirt and a revealing black blouse. Heather had felt nearly naked when David picked her up, but he showed his approval with a low whistle and a huge grin. They had fun at the club. The music was loud, the place was crowded, it was hot and smelled of body odor, but the drinks were cold, and David never left Heather's side.
But as the night progressed, Heather began to feel lightheaded and wondered if something had been put in her drink. She remembered reading an article about a girl going to a night club and in the time it took her to rummage through her purse for some chap stick, a guy had managed to slip a "roofie" in her soda. Heather wanted to get some fresh air, so David helped her to the car, telling her how wonderful she looked and what a great dancer she was. Heather didn't like the way his hands kept wandering, but she was too queasy to really voice her opinion.
As soon as David started to drive, Heather got this ominous feeling in the very pit of her stomach. They didn't get off at the right exit, and Heather got worried. David assure her that everything was going to be okay. That he just wanted to show her something really special. She wanted to stay awake, but she felt herself nodding off. When she woke up, she was sitting in the car and David was gone. Groggily, she had tried to figure out where she was.
By the time it hit her that she was sitting in the parking lot of the Seven Star Motel, David was back with a room key and an almost insane look in his puppy dog eyes. He literally carried Heather into room number five, and she wanted so badly to scream. But the fear in her throat was choking her vocal cords and all she could manage was a mere whimper. She remembered David tossing her on the bed like a rag doll. Heather was shaking as he tore at her clothing, using his body weight to keep her pinned down.
She remembered saying no over and over, but it was like David couldn't hear her. The torrents of tears that streamed down her face must have been invisible to him, for he kept going. Even after she begged him to stop a million times, he didn't, not until he was finished. Then he rolled off of her, sweating and breathing heavily. Blood stained the white sheets, and Heather could do nothing but cry. David smiled at her, kissed her damp cheek, and then left.
She was so traumatized, she didn't even care that he had abandoned her in some strange and dingy motel room. She was disgusted with herself, for allowing her sister to dress her up in such clothes, for being so careless with her drink, and for actually hoping that David was the one for her. Heather laid in that bed for what seemed like an eternity, crying until there were no more tears. Her head throbbed, her body ached, and she barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up.
She threw up five times, until she was dry heaving. She was weak in the knees as she turned on the shower. The water was scorching hot, and yet Heather wanted it hotter. She used every bar of soap and every clean rag the motel had provided her. And she scrubbed at her skin, trying to get rid of the filthy way she felt, until it was raw and red. Then, still wrapped up in a towel, she collapsed on the floor and fell asleep; completely exhausted, both mentally and psychically.
It wasn't until two days later that the overweight lady that ran the place came to check on her. She had thought it odd that Heather's boyfriend had left that night, but didn't want to pry. It was when after two days, that Heather didn't emerge that woman started to worry. When she knocked there was no answer. She called out room service, but Heather was now asleep in the bed that was soaked with her blood. Slowly, the woman unlocked the door and opened it. She gasped when she saw Heather lying on the bed, the sheets around her a crimson brown, as her blood had dried.
At first she thought she ws dead, but when she touched Heather's arm, Heather nearly flew through the roof. The woman called an ambulance, and after lots of questions and tests, Heather's family was contacted. When Charlotte saw what had been done to her sister, she felt a tinge of guilt. As if it were her fault that her sister had been raped. It changed Heather dramatically. The light in her blue eyes faded, she became a recluse in her mind, and she never looked at another man again.
Now, as Heather returned to reality, she wondered how the food tasted in prison where David now resided. The woman at the motel had given a good description of him, since Heather was afraid to talk. He was arrested on the spot, and at his trial, Heather quivered in fear when he walked into the courtroom. His hair had fallen into his eyes, eyes that had never lost that mad glint. The hair on the back of her neck had stood on end, many times, when she knew that he was looking at her. Maybe out of hatred, maybe out of lust, but however he looked at her, Heather had wanted to scratch his eyes right out of his head.
Sniffling, Heather wiped at the tears that had run afresh, and looked around the motel room. It was a part of her life, that she would never forget. And while what David had done to her had hurt her so very badly, she knew deep down that she would find the right guy some day. The door behind her creaked and Heather turned in time to see Nadine, the cutest two and a half year old you'd ever seen. She was chubby, with cherry colored cheeks, bright, intelligent blue eyes, and a mop of chocolate curls with the slightest hint of red highlights.
Coming around the bed she looked up into the teary face of her mother and grabbed Heather's hand with one of her own. Heather looked at her daughter lovingly, and stood up. She picked up Nadine and balanced the girl on her hip. Slowly, she left room number five leaving behind so many horrible memories. And as she closed the door on her past, she looked at her beautiful daughter, the only good thing that had come out of this, and she looked forward to the future.