Ten Cent Saloon

Time for another [Fiction] Friday post!

This is a continuation from my posts on June 25th and July 2nd.

This week's topic: In her right hand a woman holds a loaded gun, in her left, a coin that just came up ‘tails’…NOW WRITE…

The cowgirl stood poised before them, her right hand waving a shiny silver pistol and her left hand opening and closing on a dime showing its tail side. Every fifteen seconds, she winked at them and pointed the pistol up in the air. Lights flashed all around her, illuminating her blond braid and causing her smile to look even more menacing. The sign below her glowing golden high heeled boots read "Wild West Motel and Saloon."

"Do you really think we should crash here tonight?" Lou wrapped his arms around Cat as she blearily looked up at him.

"I will stay in a rat infested cabin if it means I get to sleep for a few hours. It feels like we've been driving forever!"

"Point taken. Shall I check us in?"

Cat looked at the cowgirl that represented the motel that was already beyond sleazy. She doubted that anyone had stayed there in a long time. Yet, the cowgirl was still lighting up for those who had chosen to stray a little further from the strip. And the sign in the window advertised "Ten Cent Slots." It was also 102 degrees out at three o'clock in the morning. She wasn't in the mood to get back in the car and drive someplace normal, like the Aladdin.

"Do you think they check the rooms with a blacklight?" she thought aloud.

Lou smirked. "I have our key." And it actually was a key. Not a plastic card like at the fancier places.

Cat fell asleep on the rickety bed that smelled of something she didn't want to think about, her last thought being that she would take a long shower in the morning.

After they each showered under the few drips of water the rusty pipes brought forth, they made their way to the strip for a brunch buffet.

Cat was pouring syrup on her stack of six pancakes when she heard some whispering and snickering behind her. She turned around abruptly, spilling syrup on her flip-flop protected foot.

"Hey, aren't you Miss Kitty? I remember you from 'Girls Up All Night.'" A tall man with more hair on his face than on his head was sneering at her and focusing his eyes on her chest area.

Cat shrugged. "I think you must have me mistaken for someone else. I work at Banana Republic."

"I bet the heart shaped birthmark on your thigh would prove otherwise." He grabbed at her skirt in an effort to lift it up. Cat smacked his hand before he could do any damage.

"Excuse me! You have the wrong person. Do I have to call security?"

"What's going on here?" Lou rushed over, sensing Cat's distress.

"Your little lady friend here is only the best stripper on the strip, to put it nicely."

Cat glared at him and turned to Lou. "He has me mistaken for someone else."

The man took out a flyer that had an ad for "Girls Up All Night" with a picture of a short brunette girl who very closely resembled Cat. "Now try to tell me I'm wrong."

"Well, you're wrong. So go away and let me enjoy my vacation."

"Hope to see you in another show soon" he shouted behind him as he left.

Cat picked at her pancakes, unnerved.

"Are you okay? Should we leave?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "Let's just enjoy our food and take a little tour of the strip."

Lou studied the picture of the stripper and looked up at Cat. They looked too similar for it to be a coincidence. He wondered what she was hiding. He decided he didn't want to know. Everyone had skeletons in their closet and his were no exception. Cat didn't know the real reason that Elaine left him. He only told everyone, including himself, that she was the one who left because he didn't want anyone to know the truth. He figured he was safe on the other end of the country and with a new name, but it was only a matter of time before the truth caught up with him.

"It's not me, okay. I'm ready to go check out some hotels now. What about you?"

"Um, yeah. Let's get going. Where to first?" On the way out of the buffet, he pitched the flyer in a trash can, not giving it another thought. He was too distracted with his own thoughts to notice Cat breathing a sigh of relief.