Ride or Ruin

Hotel Oak Ridge

We ate breakfast at Lily's before I packed into the car to head back to town. Moving to Oak Ridge was sort of on a whim and now that I was actually here, I realized I needed a plan. I had enough money from savings that I could coast for a while, but I would need a job and a place to live. I didn't remember much about the town but what I did remember hadn't changed. There were two bars, the one in the middle of town that we went to the night prior, and one on the outskirts. There was the market, the gas station, and the motel. There was a hundred-year-old hotel as well, with an attached diner.

Lily and I drove around town looking at the different shops and amenities. The tour took less than half an hour but I made my list of places to apply. Back at the motel, I finally found the manager, who refused to let me into my room. "Check in was at four." He grumbled, the wrinkles in his face so deep I could see layers to his frown.

"I know, but I couldn't check in yesterday because you weren't here." I was trying to sound reasonable. "Yeh, cuz check in was at four. Ya missed it, we gave your room to someone else." The anger was beginning to build in me and I wished Lily hadn't stayed in the car. Her attitude might make things worse, but it also made me feel better. "Ok, so get me another room." He shook his head slowly, all his movements looked to be in slow motion, almost sloth-like. "Ain't no more rooms, girl. Ya missed your check in."

I wanted to yell at the man, to demand a room and my money back. "Ya can check the hotel down on main street. They might have a room for ya." In my mind I was screaming at him but in reality I only grabbed my bags, huffed dramatically, and headed back out to the car. I explained the situation, making it sound less aggravating, and we headed to The Oaks hotel.

The hotel was the tallest building in town with only three stories, the courthouse stood opposite it and they both looked grand with beige brick and castle-like construction. Inside the hotel, animal carcasses and heads hung on the walls as trophies. I cringed at the sight of them, realizing the country here was different than the country in Washington. A giant fireplace took up one wall with Victorian seating placed around it. At the desk was a woman who looked young and old at the same time. There were tell-tale signs she was in her fifties but she was so well-kept she could pass for thirties.

As a child, I remember exploring the hotel one summer night when mom had rented the presidential suite. The suite was named presidential not only for being the largest in the building but also for housing an actual president who would visit the small town decades ago to hunt local cougars and bears. There were rumors the basement held a secret passageway to a tunnel system that went throughout the town. They used to use the hotel for speakeasies and to store contraband in the tunnel system.

The woman introduced herself as Marley as I gaped at the grandness of the fourier. "I'm sorry, I used to come here as a kid. I thought it was big back then but being back, I really didn't realize how big it truly was." She smiled warmly and I already liked her more than the creepy old man from the motel. I asked for a room but she politely turned me down, "We're all booked up right now for the biker convention in town."

Panic struck me again. Would I need to return to Washington? I hadn't thought about what would happen if I couldn't find a place to stay, even for the night. The next closest town was an hour away but I came back here to be closer to Lily. If I wanted to be alone, I would've traveled somewhere else. The urge to call my mother suddenly hit me, something I hadn't done since before the breakup. I've been too afraid of how she might react.

Noticing my distress, Marley put a finger up, "You know, I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Baker have a room available in their home. I could call on them and see if they could take you in." I jumped on the opportunity, "Oh, yes! Is it a long-term rental? I just moved here and will be looking for a place to live." Another warm smile lit up her face, "I'll ask for ya, just give me a minute."

She disappeared into the back and I turned excitedly to Lily who was glued to her phone, uninterested and snapping her gum. When Marley returned she handed me a piece of paper with an address and phone number. "There, just down the street, they said you can stay as long as you want. Once you're settled in you come on back here, the diner next door is looking for a waitress."

I tried to contain my excitement at this, maybe there is hope for me here. I thanked her profusely and Lily and I continued on to find my new home once again. The place was only a block and a half away, a small cottage that sat between an auto body shop and the post office. From the outside, it looked out of place to the surrounding business setting. But once inside, I realized it was, in fact, its own small business.

Wall to wall were shelves of staged dead animals of every size. A chill went down my spine as hundreds of beady eyes followed me as I walked to the front desk. A plump woman with short, permed and white-blond hair greeted me as though I was her long-lost granddaughter. Her character made me more at ease but the place was not what I expected home to look like. I asked if this was where the room was and she confirmed the basement had been up for rent for quite a while.

The roller-coaster of events this town was putting me through was starting to give me a headache. Based on my current options, however, I had no choice but to agree. I went from a fancy apartment with Rickie to living alone in the basement of a taxidermy house. With a sigh of exasperation, I followed Mrs. Baker to see my new home.