Berger

 

The road felt like freedom. Vast and expansive with nothing but white lines ahead of me and the darkness of the sky making the street lights pop out. I didn’t know how long I’d been driving for. It must have been hours but it felt like days, endless days of silence with nothing but the wind whistling in through the window blowing the cobwebs from my mind.

Freedom, I thought. Sweet, beautiful freedom.

I hadn’t still figured out what I was imprisoned by but it felt good to be free regardless.

Maybe it’s Miranda, I thought. Was it her I wanted to be free from? Most likely not. She was the best thing to enter my life in so long but that was the problem. She was too good for me and I was reminded of it every time she straddled me and lowered herself onto my waiting cock. She was too beautiful for an old scarred up loser like me.

At last, when my eyelids began to grow heavy and I noticed the flicker of the ailing fuel gauge, I knew it was getting later. It was only then that I looked at the clock and realized it was almost midnight. I’d been going flat out for almost twelve hours.

“Christ.”

Looking ahead, I saw the beckoning lights of a nearby gas station but I was even happier to see the motel behind it. I didn’t know how tired I was until I caught sight of the vacancy sign and on cue, I yawned as I rounded the bend into the gas station.

I was the only person on the forecourt and as I stepped out and took in the smell of gasoline in the frigid air, I felt a chill down my spine. Gas stations were always a little weird to me but in the dead of the night, they took on a creepy quality. There was just something about the light they emitted and the way the snacks were stacked up with such precision even though there was rarely anyone around to buy them. And of course there were the staff. Usually behind the till one at a time with a gray pallor and zombified look in their eyes as though they’d been awake for days.

As I stepped inside to pay, I saw there wasn’t even anyone behind the till. It was just me looking up at the porn mags thinking that none of the girls on the covers looked as good as Miranda.

“Can I help you?”

I still didn’t see anyone but a voice was definitely coming from the other side of the counter.

“Er…”

A head popped up and I saw the top of some graying bangs covered in a thick layer of grease. As I approached, I realized the littlest man I’d ever seen was waiting to serve me. At first I tried to reason that he was kneeling down, stocking up a bottom shelf or something but as I got closer I realized that wasn’t the case.

“Hi there,” he said.

“Oh..hey…”

I handed over the twenty dollar bill in my hand and he took it with a smile.

“Never seen a little person before?” he laughed.

“Yeah, sorry it’s just that I’ve been driving for miles and…”

He looked up expectantly as he handed me my change.

“And I’m kinda outta my mind,” I said. “Just real tired.”

I turned on my heel to walk away then halted halfway down the aisle.

“But I have to say I’ve never seen a dwarf working nightshift at a gas station before. Do you get, like, robbed all the time?”

He cocked his head to the side. The smile was still stuck to his face as he scratched at his beard.

“Why? Are you speaking as an armed robber?”

“I’m speaking as a former cop,” I said.

“A former cop?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Early retirement,” I said with a shrug.

I reached into my pocket for some cigarettes and clutched an empty packet.

“Shit, can you get me twenty Marlboro?”

I looked up and saw he was already holding the pack.

“Nice. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. New in town?”

“You’re very chatty for someone on nightshift.”

“It’s just in my nature,” he said. “So, are you?”

“Yeah.Just passing through.”

“Going anywhere nice?”

“I don’t know yet.”

He now raised his other eyebrow.

“A man of mystery,” he said.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t feel particularly mysterious right now. Just exhausted.”

“Oh, are you thinking of getting a room over at The Nest?”

He pointed his thumb backward toward the direction of the motel with a grimace.

“I was actually. What’s it like?”

His face said it all but right now I didn’t have too many options.

“It’s… It’s something,” he said. “It’s The Nest. Been here for as long as anyone’s ever known.”

“Hmmm….”

We watched each other for a moment. I got the impression he didn’t want me to leave but I definitely didn’t want to stay.

“A weird old place, The Nest.”

Urgh… He’s not going to shut up anytime soon, I thought. Better make myself comfortable.

“Mind if I?”

“Go right ahead.”

I lit a cigarette and propped myself up on the counter. Without me asking, he dipped his hand into my pack to pluck out a cigarette. I had no choice but to hold my lighter up to the end. Cheeky little shit, I thought but for some reason I was still charmed by his smile.

“So it’s a weird old place,” I said. “How weird?”

“Are you talking as a tourist? Or as a cop?”

“I told you. I’m a former cop.”

He nodded and gave me a wink of understand.

“You can get anything at the old love nest,” he said and licked his lips. “You needing some company for tonight?”

And the penny dropped so hard I almost felt it smack the base of my skull.

“How much?” I asked although I instantly regretted it.

“Hmmm… A man of the law will surely be able to secure some sort of discount.”

He winked again. His mannerisms were beginning to annoy me but still, I leant in close to him, enraptured by the tiny man and his grand promises.

“I’ve got brunettes. I’ve got red heads and blondes and green haired punk girls. I’ve got girls as small as me and as big as you and guys that are even bigger. I’ve got-“

“Okay, okay. I get it,” I interrupted, eager to stop him before he burst into song. “Get me a blonde. I don’t really care about the height.”

“And age?”

“I don’t care about that either as long as they’re over twenty-one.”

“Nice…” he said as he picked up the phone. “I’ll call ahead and say you’re on your way.”

“Thanks. I guess.”

“Anytime.”

I turned to leave and he reached over the counter to smack my ass.

It had been a pretty strange day.