Wendy Chapter 9: Phone Call

A phone call changes everything

Chapter Nine: Phone Call

 

I spent Thursday running errands and doing chores. At the end of the day, I was glad to relax with a good book and go to bed early.

 

It was the next day that I found out why my tips were getting sparser and sparser. Friday was normally a very busy day, dealing with businessmen checking out and preparing for the weekend customers. I checked off my first room and saw Dave exiting one of my check outs, room 306. Room 306 had been a particularly nice gentleman I knew from past visits, a generous businessman who invariably tipped well when he checked out, usually on a Friday. And there was Dave, coming out of 306, stuffing some bills in his pocket. That rat b*****d. He was the one stealing my tips. Eric said to look out for someone who didn’t belong on my floor, but I never suspected Dave.

 

I was two doors down, and when he looked up, Dave saw me watching him. He smirked and finished stowing the money in his pocket. I knew, and now he knew I knew. By the time I made it to my lunch time bench, I was overflowing with fury. How dare he steal from me! After everything else. And he must be doing it out of spite. The few dollars I gleaned in tips made a difference on my small income, but to the executive housekeeper, the head manager of the entire housekeeping department, it would be small change.

 

Eric was working first shift that day and met me for lunch. I unburdened myself to him. Eric had a few choice words to bestow on Dave.

 

“Is there any way I can prove it? I want him to go down for everything, I want him punished for all he has been doing and not get off on anything.”

 

“Well…” Eric said, considering. “No, I don’t think you can prove it, but I can tell you what to do to make sure you get some of your tips despite him. You get here an hour earlier than him. Get your check-out list and look in each room before he gets here. That way you’ll get at least some of your tips.”

 

One more thing Dave was taking from me. I was more determined than ever to get him fired. My mantra had become ‘He’ll regret messing with me.’ I said it again, the b*****d. I channeled all my anger and outrage into that one idea, making him accountable and getting him fired. 

 

I was curious to know how the investigation was going. Ms. Harvey and Mr. Hetrick said they would interview the staff. Had they done so yet? No, Eric would have told me. Well, they wouldn’t do anything today, and then there was the weekend. I was unsure how the other employees would respond. I was counting on Brenda to be honest and supportive, but you never can tell what people will do when in tight spots. Some stand strong and some fold under pressure. I was pretty sure Brenda was made of stern stuff, but I couldn’t help worrying.

 

Worrying got me where worry usually gets me: nowhere. At the end of the day I was exhausted as much from the physical labor of the day as from constant stress and mounting ire. I never knew anger could be so exhausting. Well, a nice hot bath would help that. I hoped I wouldn’t have to fight Pam for the bathroom as today was her day off.

 

My mind was wandering through a thicket of worry when I pulled into the driveway. It was when I got out of the car that I saw the Charger at the curb, and just as I thought, ‘Ross,’ it pulled away, peeling rubber. I knew it was him.

 

“Pam!” I shouted as I entered the house. “Pam, where the hell are you?”

 

She emerged from her room with a sullen look and the monosyllable, “What?”

 

“Pam, that man is not allowed in this house. Ross is absolutely forbidden to come here!”

 

“It’s my house too.” She looked mutinous.

 

“The lease is in my name and we had an agreement when you moved in, my rules or you can hit the highway. I will not have a woman beater in my house.”

 

Pam glowered at me.

 

“Do you understand? If Ross comes here, I will call the police.”

 

***

 

I took my hot bath, which was a little less relaxing with Pam stewing in one corner of the house. Still, it helped unkink my tight muscles. I retreated to my own room with my laptop in the hopes of taking my mind off Ross. I was still browsing recipes when Eric called at 6.

 

“Wow, Wendy, do you ever stop thinking about food?” he asked when I explained what I was doing.

 

I laughed. “Pretty much, no. Nothing is so interesting to me as food. Although I had an interesting encounter with Pam today.”

 

I explained what happened.

 

“Jeez, you can’t seem to catch a break, can you?” Eric asked.

 

“The stress with Dave is starting to get to me. I hate work. I used to look forward to my days. Now I dread going in. And I don’t need more trouble when I get home.”

 

“Are you going to be safe?” The concern in his voice was clear.

 

“I don’t know, Eric. I honestly don’t know. People like Ross are crazy. All I can do is tell him to leave me alone and call the police if he doesn’t.”  I sighed. I thought I escaped all this when I moved into my own place.

 

 

***

 

The weekend passed in a blur of work and stress. Dave was working both days and rode me hard. Brenda managed to inspect some of my rooms, but Dave sent me back to fix three supposedly inadequately cleaned rooms on Saturday and two on Sunday. As much as this angered me, I was glad to have not been physically trapped by him. The two incidents, the night of the flood and the day he gave me my written warning, grew in my mind. I had been unsure of what had happened the night of the flood, but it was all too clear now. He was definitely using physical intimidation. And who knows, he might have done more than intimidate me if Eric hadn’t shown up the night of the flood. I took to hooking the spray handle of a bottle of cleaner onto my pocket so I had it ready at all times. A good spray in the face would slow him down if he decided to attack me.

 

Mentioning this to Eric during lunch on Saturday had an effect on him. He was working the west wing both days but after that, he managed to find reasons to walk down third east, my hallway, throughout the day. 

 

I knew better than to wonder why Dave picked me out. I was young, I seemed meek and mild mannered, I appeared to have no one to take care of me. Other than that, I could remind him of his mother or ex-wife, he could have a thing about brunettes, maybe his sister’s voice sounded like mine. It could be anything. No matter what it was, it was not my fault and it was not a personal reflection on me. I hung onto that. It was not my fault. I was not helpless and I would see him punished.

 

 

***

 

Having seniority and putting in our requests early, Eric and I both managed to get the Fourth of July off, and that was now less than a week away. I’d miss the time-and-a-half pay from working a holiday, but it was worth it to me.

 

Sunday afternoon, as I was grabbing a sheet set for the bed in 314, my phone vibrated and thrummed with Beethoven’s Fifth, Pam’s ringtone.

 

“I’m busy, Pam,” I started, but a masculine voice cut me off.

 

“Listen, b***h. You call the police on me, I’ll kill your a*s.”  A sudden cold grabbed my stomach. Ross.

 

“Don’t you f*****g tell me what to do,” his thick voice went on. He sounded drunk.

 

I didn’t know what to say.

 

He laughed, an ugly sound. “That’s right, just shut the f**k up.”

 

I watched my finger as it punched the disconnect button.  In a moment, Beethoven’s Fifth sounded again, but I did not answer. I held my phone as if it were a poisonous spider. I didn’t know what to do. Ross was insane. An insane man said he would… Panic flooded me. He couldn’t, could he? Yes, he could. I saw his face as it had been at Taco Hut when he was yelling at Pam.

 

I was still looking at the phone when Eric startled me with the words, “Wendy, do you need--” He broke off.

 

I jumped and looked up. May hands were shaking so hard my phone rattled against my cart handle. 

 

“Wendy, what’s wrong?”

 

“Oh my God, Eric, he said he’d kill me.” My legs had frozen, had become wooden. Blood pumped cold through my veins.

 

“Dave threatened you?” Eric’s face swam into view.

 

“Not Dave. Ross. Ross just threatened to kill me if I called the police.”

 

For a moment we looked at each other. Eric’s face shifted from his compassionate concern for me to a hard look of anger.

 

“Where does this guy live?” Eric demanded.

 

“No! No, Eric, don’t go vigilante on me. You don’t know him. He’s crazy. He could stab you, shoot you, anything.”

 

Guilt smothered me with even the idea that Eric would get hurt�"or worse�"thanks to me. What to do?

 

“I can’t do anything but call the police.”

 

I dialed 911.

 

***

 

I convinced the officer I spoke to that I should meet him at the police station, rather than him coming to the hotel. The dull boredom of waiting for the officer wore down my panic. When all was done, I was left with a brochure on domestic violence and the address for the courthouse. I’d have to be there tomorrow.

 

I got home to find Pam stretched out on the couch, watching TV. I sat down on the ottoman, took the remote control and turned off the TV.

 

“Hey--” Pam started.

 

“Do you know what Ross did today?”

 

“What he does is none of your business,” she snapped.

 

“It is when he threatens to kill me. Why did you let him use your phone?”

 

“He didn’t use my phone. He couldn’t have. I had it with me…” She trailed off.

 

“Are you willing to admit there is something wrong with him now that he has threatened me?”

 

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Her attempt to defend herself and Ross was pathetic.

 

“Ask the police whether they think I am lying. Ask the judge tomorrow if he thinks I’m lying.”

 

“The judge?”

 

“Yes,” I said, “The judge I will be seeing tomorrow morning to get a restraining order against Ross.”

 

Pam was silent.

 

“Ross is in serious trouble now. He’s not too smart, is he? He’s probably being arrested as we speak. Why did you let him use your phone?”

 

“I didn’t know, ok? I was in the shower.”

 

“He was drunk and you invited him over when I told you he wasn’t to be here?”

 

She was silent again.

 

“If he comes to this house, he will be arrested. If he comes to the hotel, he will be arrested. If he follows me in the grocery store, if he bothers me at a gas station, if he comes anywhere near me or calls me or texts me or contacts me in any way, he’s going to be arrested.”

Author's Note

All comments and observations welcome, nit picky details, broader issues, I appreciate it all. Thank you for reading.

Reviews

[AUU]

1. "It was the next day….they had been getting sparser and sparser." I feel as though these two sentences can be condensed into one with fewer words. Not a problem if you disagree, I understand it's Wendy's voice, and it's important to keep that.
2. "Rat b*****d." Yes. You can't see it right now, but I have the most satisfied grin on my face when I read that.
3. "How dare he steal from me?" I'm not sure if a question mark works here. I know it's grammatically correct, but for some reason it just doesn't look like. Like Wendy is making a statement more than asking a question.
4. Eric had a few choice words to bestow on Dave." I'd be interested in knowing what Eric said about Dave. Your sentence leaves it to my imagination, but I feel like reading Eric's words would be more impactful of his character.
5. It's cathartic to see Wendy being so bothered by this. Nice job stringing me along like this.
6. "My mantra..." love this. "He'll regret messing with me." I think another "rat b*****d" is in order. Lol
7. I like how the Charger has become Ross. Very menacing.
8. The reader in me hopes Pam and Wendy have a little pow-wow and work through their s**t. The writer wants tragedy.
9. Nice repetition with the food.
10. "I thought I had escaped all this…I'm not sure if the "had" is needed. Nice subtle wink to her past, and…her abusive stepfather. Right? You've mentioned him before, not sure enough to really have it sink in though. Although since this is first person, I'm not sure if it would appropriate to write about something a character clearly doesn't want to think about.
11. Wendy gearing up, thinking of ways to she could defend herself is realistic.
12. Does Wendy know something about Dave's home life, or is she just throwing everything at the wall hoping something sticks?
13. Hmmmm. I think it's the Fourth of July, and not July fourth. Might not matter since it's Wendy's voice.
14. I think it's time-and-a-half. Maybe add a pay after that to clarify any possible confusion.
15. Why is the time important when Wendy looks at the call?
16. Ross is just a miserable s**t isn't he?
17. Why did Wendy watch her finger as it punched the disconnect button? I think that sentence reads a bit awkwardly because the wordiness.
18. Eric trying to get involved is a nice touch.
19. (or worse) When you copy/pasted your writing from the text document your --- dashes turned into ".
20. I feel as though the "I decided," is redundant with the following action. "I dialed 911."
21. I'm curious why Pam is still with Ross. I can read between the lines of course, I'm just curious. I'm also amazed how ignorant Wendy is. It's even a bit aggressive of her the way she's poking Pam about Ross' stupidity. She's getting cocky. Well done with that. It's clear that her work life is so nuts right now she's having issues reaching out to Pam.

[SweetNutmeg]

Thank you once again for such detailed feedback.

About Wendy knowing anything about Dave's personal life... she was just throwing at the wall, groping in her imagination for whatever reason any person might behave in such a manner. Did wondering about that detract from your reading experience?

I had her watch herself punch the button because she felt like she was outside of herself and acting without any volition on her own part, like part of her brain just took over. It was a surreal experience for her. That didn't come through?

All your feedback was very helpful. I really appreciate your time and attention.

[AUU]

I like your explanation for the button, but no, unfortunately it did not read like that for me. It read just as plain anger.

[Shep]

Dave and Ross should be Cell buddies no doubt in my mind. they are like two peas in a pod. another awesome chapter.

[SweetNutmeg]

Thank you. I can't say it enough, I really appreciate it.