7The road was hot, heat radiated off of it in waves and Buz Murdock wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve and sqinted his eyes looking a head. They were traveling through a part of Texas and it was winter in most parts of the country, back in New York there was snow, Buz was sure of it, he just wasn't so sure if he perferred the heat they were in now or the cold they would be in back in New York.
"If it's this hot in winter around here I would hate to be here in July," he commented. He said what was on his mind partially because he wanted to and partially in an effort to get his best friend to talk. Tod Stiles had been eerily silent that day, not saying more than 'uh-huh' and 'yeah' and it was starting to get on Buz's nerves.
"Yeah," Tod replied. He had never felt so hot in his life, sweat was just pouring from him, rolling down his back, under his arms, on his chest. His shirt felt heavy on him, weighing him down, oppressive in the heat, he started feeling like he couldn't breathe, he scratched his arm.
"Tod, what is up with you, man? You went to college, I should think you could give better answers than your grunts and single words!" Buz snapped, annoyed.
"What do you want me to do?! Speak Latin or quote Hamlet to you?!" Tod snapped back, taking a gasping breath and scratching his chest. Without asking he made a turn at a sign that said 'One mile to Paseo Verde', he had to get out of that shirt, get cool somehow.
Buz sighed. "No. I guess the heat is getting to me, I'm sorry," he said.
"It's okay," Tod said.
Their eyes fell on Paseo Verde, population: 24 according to the sign coming into town. Two rows of buildings lining a dirt street, the essential businesses a town had to have, a general store, clinic, post office, sheriff's office and the place Tod was heading- a flat, dumpy, hotel on the edge of town. It was painted a faded, ugly green that was blasted with dirt and sand from the Texas winds, Tod pulled up to the little office and looking through the glass door could see an old man reading the paper and eating an apple.
"Go in and see how much the rooms are," Tod said. He didn't know if he could get out but one time and that would be into a room he hoped, he scratched his neck.
"For this place I hope it's not much," Buz said. He hopped out of the car and went through the glass door to a tinkling bell that scared the old man, causing him to jump and look at Buz startled.
"You coulda killed me, sonny!" the old man exclaimed.
Buz smiled. "Sorry. Guess you're not used to having many coustomers around here, huh?" he asked. He looked from the old man to catch a glimpse of the little office, it was done up in dark wood paneling with fading green shag carpeting. There were framed photographs on the walls and the counter was made of the same paneling on the walls with a white top, whereon lay papers and trash and the signing book.
"No, can't say as I do. But I reckon you're one so that's a changing. One room?" the old man asked. He was thin as a rail with tired, watery blue eyes and wore a light shirt with a tan sweater, there was no air in the office and Buz didn't see how the old man wasn't sweating out his body weight with the sun beaming in on him.
"Yeah. With twin beds if you've got it, I have a buddy with me," Buz said.
"Female?" the old man asked, looking at Buz with a hopeful smile.
"'Fraid not. It's my traveling buddy Tod, who is unfortunately male," Buz said with a laugh.
"That's a shame," the old man said with much disappointment.
"It'nt it though? How much?" Buz finally asked.
"Dollar a day. How many days you planning on staying?" the old man asked.
"Probably one, we're on our way to Dallas to take jobs for a few weeks anyway," Buz said. He pulled out his wallet and gave the man the dollar for the night's stay.
'Oh well, it's a dollar I didn't have two minutes ago," the old man said.
Buz grinned. 'There you go! That's how I would look at it," he said.
The old man handed him the key. "Room four, it's on the end to the right of the office here," he said.
"OK, thanks," Buz said. He walked back out and pointed down to the end as he walked that way.
When he got to the last door he put the key in the nob and opened it, light fell into the small dark room and the smell of being closed up for a while came out. Buz flicked the light switch next to the door but found the lights didn't work so he went to the small table by the bed and turned on the lamp.
"Great. I told that old timer we needed twin beds," he said. He looked at the queen sized bed in front of him and sighed.
"I don't care, I'll sleep on the floor," Tod said. He came in carrying their bags, dropping them in the floor he stripped out of his shirt as quickly as he could.
Buz looked at his friend's normally pale, hairy chest and lean stomach, he had red rashes all over his torso, neck and arms. "Tod, I think you have heat rash or something, maybe you should get in the shower?" he suggested.
"Yeah, I think I'll do that," Tod said. He sat down on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off as Buz picked up their things.
The room's centerpiece was the bed with a small table on each side of it and a chair by the door and one by the window with a small round table as if to eat on. Directly in front of the bed was the door to the bathroom, both rooms were painted in a light tan that may have been white at one time, the bedroom had the same green shag carpet as the office had had but the bathroom had cracked white linoleum. In the bathroom was a sink with a medicine cabinet above it with a slightly broken mirror, a toilet and a white tubbed shower with a curtain that had seen better days.
Tod took off his pants and headed to the bathroom in his white boxers, once the door was shut he slid out of those he got in the shower and turned it on, letting the lukewarm water pour down on him. He tried but he couldn't get any cold water or hot either, not that he wanted any, still though he was content, anything to cool him and relive the itch and heat. But the longer he stood there and the longer the water ran down his body the dizzier and sicker he felt, he reached for something to hold on to but each time he did his hand came up empty. Leaning against the wall he closed his eyes a moment praying the dizziness would stop.
"I gotta get out of here," he said to himself and turned the water off. Suddenly though his dizziness worsened and his heart beat changed, his vison started fading out and he passed out, falling into the bathtub with a smacking 'thud'.