do with you, Karen?” he asked as his tee shirt lifted ever so slightly, revealing only a tiny bit of tight, tan abs and the beginning of his happy trail.
“Karen,” I heard him say again, as he caught me staring at his stomach.
Embarrassed, I flicked my cigarette on the floor and looked up at him. I felt myself blushing, but I could only hope that the redness was masked by the tan I had hopefully gotten by sitting on that damn bench all day. He held his hands out in front of me, palms up, and I put both of my hands in his. He gently closed his hands around mine and lifted me up off of the green bench that I had occupied for hours that day.
Ramsey stood almost a whole foot taller than me, so I had to literally look up when I wanted to look at him. Squinting from the sun I said, “Oh God, Ramsey, I’m so embarrassed. I’m so sorry that I keep crying.”
Trying not to break our eye contact, I shielded my eyes with my hands to block the sun. I continued to look up at him when he said, “Don’t apologize, kid, just promise me that you’ll stop crying. Listen, Lauri kind of told me what happened between you and your boyfriend.”
“Ex,” I interrupted.
“Right, you and your ex. Anyway, I told her that I would love to show you a good time this weekend and get your mind off of him. What’s his name again?”
“David,” I responded.
“Jesus,” he said with a laugh. “Please don’t ever call me David again, ok?” he demanded.
“You got it, as long as you never call me Karen again, ok?” I demanded right back as he gave me a cockeyed look. I was given my name by my mother who was the Carpenters biggest fan the year I was born. Sure, Karen was a pretty name, but when Ramsey called me Kid, it did something to my body that made me know I never wanted to be referred to as anything else by him.
Ramsey spoke again, “So, then we have ourselves a deal. How about we make another one?”
I was still standing, blocking the sunlight from my eyes to look up at him, when I found myself extremely curious. “What’s that?” I asked.
“Promise me that you won’t cry for the rest of the day, and I promise that I’ll show you a great time for the rest of the weekend. You won’t even remember that dick’s name by the time you go home,” Ramsey proposed.
I lowered my right hand and held it out to him and we shook on it.
“You got yourself a deal.”
“Well come on then, let’s get the party started,” Ramsey said, seeming pleased with my response.
With that, I grabbed the coin purse I had brought down from my room that morning. I collected the five dollars in quarters that I had gotten from the arcade on the boardwalk earlier that day, and lamely placed into a giant D on the bench. As I put them back into the purse one by one, I couldn’t help but be grateful that Ramsey didn’t see that I had shaped them into the first letter of my ex-boyfriends name. Jesus, I was a loser. Once I snapped the top of the purse shut, I stood back up and faced Ramsey.
“Got all your stuff?” he asked.
“Yup. So what are we going to do?” I inquired.
“Well, what are you working with under there?” he asked as he gently tugged at my jean shorts. To my surprise, his touch tugged on more than just my shorts.
“What the fuck did you just ask me?” I hissed defensively.
Laughing, he responded, “Calm down, Kid. I was just wondering what you have on under your clothes. Do you have a bathing suit on? Do you want to go in the pool?”
“I don’t have my suit on, but it’s hot as shit out here and I’ve been in the sun all morning. I’d love to go in the pool. Do you mind if we just stop by my room quick so I can change and grab a towel?”
“Of course,” he said with that unbelievable smile. “What room are you in again?”
“208,” I told him. He held out his hand for me and once I placed mine in his, he started walking toward the stairs that led up to the second floor of the motel.
I never did stuff like this. By that I mean let a stranger lead me up to my motel room. I wasn’t afraid of Ramsey, but I didn’t really know how to act around him. I mean the last guy whose hand I held was David’s and that didn’t turn out too well. It did lead me to Jersey that weekend though. Maybe some things were just meant to be. After quickly coming to this realization, I was becoming excited to spend the day with this handsome stranger.
He walked in front of me as we ascended the outside stairs of the Seashore Motel, never letting go of my hand. Once we reached the top of the stairs, the outdoor hallway was crawling with teenagers, and it made me reminiscent of the week that I recently spent in Cancun during spring break. That was another thing that didn’t turn out too well. This was supposed to be fun for me and that’s why I was there with Lauri and that was my new intention. I was going to forget about David and start having fun.
Of course room 208 was on the opposite end of the hallway from where the staircase was. As we weaved in and out of the scantily clad teenagers, I cringed every time a girl approached Ramsey. “Maybe another time,” was always his response, and again, he never let go of my hand. We also heard shouts of, “Ramsey, who’s the new piece?” as we passed, but he simply ignored everyone and headed straight to my room.
Once we finally arrived at my door, we stood there for a second while I retrieved the plastic, orange, diamond shaped key chain that held the key to my room. As I placed the key into the key hole, I glanced down the crowded balcony and most eyes were on us. I hated the fact that all of these people now thought I was bringing Ramsey into my room to do God knows what. Now I was going to have a reputation upstate, a place that was normally my salvation. Great.
Noticing my turned head, Ramsey placed a hand on my waist and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Don’t worry about them, Kid. Nobody thinks you’re a slut. The girls are jealous of you and the guys are jealous of me. Think of it as a win-win.”
I couldn’t believe that he knew exactly what I was thinking, but it made me laugh and with that I turned the key and opened the door. I stepped inside first, only to find Lauri and her boyfriend, Danny, lying in the exact same spot I had left them in hours before. They were sprawled out on the bed they had been sharing, noshing on a bag of chips.
“Wow, this room is a lot nicer than mine,” Ramsey said as he approached the unoccupied bed and sat down. “Hey Kid, your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine,” he said with a laugh as he lay his body flat and put his head on my pillow. He turned his body toward Lauri and Danny. “So, what have you two been doing cooped up in here all day?”
Danny replied with a lazy, “What do you think, bro?”
“You’re an asshole, Danny,” Lauri snapped. “Ramsey,” she excitedly shouted as she jumped off of her bed and jumped next to him on mine. She placed her body exactly as his was and said, “I’m so glad you found Karen. What have you guys been doing?” she asked.
I was still standing fairly close to the door, once again taking in my surroundings. Our room was a stereotypical gross motel room fashioned with tacky furniture and bed spreads that looked like they were decades old. And don’t even get me started on what the bed spreads were probably infested with. The room had a musty smell mixed in with cigarettes and pot. The bathroom was pink and black and had a leaky faucet. And Ramsey thought this was nicer than his? I could only imagine what his room looked like. I also couldn’t take my eyes off of the two bodies lying on my bed. Ramsey looked amazing laid out in all of his gloriousness and Lauri looked perfect lying next to him. Lauri was a natural beauty. She had dark hair that fell to the middle of her back with the slightest of waves. She had dark brown eyes and a perfect little nose that sat right above a huge smile. Her body was long and lean and toned in all of the right places. There, lying next to each other, they looked like the perfect couple. Danny didn’t seem to mind, so why did I?
I came