Chapter 4

As I drove up the ramp to the top of the embankment, the little motel was right ahead across the side road, next to a Chevron station that was dark and closed for the night.

I parked the car behind the gas station, just as Sharky's note had instructed me to do.

Cookie emitted a frustrated moan as I turned off the engine.

I took the key from the ignition and turned to her. "What's the matter?"

She raised one leg onto the seat and twisted her body toward me, her face a mask of anxiety. "I don't know if I can go through with this, Jackie. I really don't."

I put my hand on her shoulder and she let me. "Cookie. We've been over this. What else can we do? This guy Sharky means what he says. He's got us where he wants us. I've talked to him. You've seen him. We ain't gonna' get nowhere crossin' this guy."

"I'll just sit there, Jackie," she said, folding her arms and summoning her defiant nature. "I'll just sit there and do nothing."

"Cookie. Believe me, that ain't gonna' work with this guy. You're just gonna' make things worse... "

"But, Jackie... "

"Listen to me!" I said firmly, taking both of her hands in mine. "I suggest we play along. I think it's best that we humor this pervert. If we want to get everybody out of jail and save the carnival, I suggest we do exactly what this guy asks us to do and we get it over with as quickly, and as painlessly, as possible."

"Jackie!" she protested, craning her head at me as if I could summon some quick solution to our problem.

"Cookie. Please understand that this is none of my fault. I didn't plan this... "

"I know that," she said quickly.

"Look. I know this might not be the time or the place for me to say this to you. I know we never was the kind of family that talks about how we feel about each other... But I just want you to know that I would never hurt you and that... "

She put her hand over my mouth and looked into my eyes.

"You don't have to tell me that, Jah. You don't have to say it to me. We both know how we feel about each other. And that's that."

Cookie hadn't called me Jah in years. It was how my sister said my name when she was just a diapered, little toddler and I used to have to follow her around and keep her out of trouble.

I took her hand away and squeezed it. "Alright." I told her. "Let's get it over with."

Sharky's unmarked, Ford police car was parked right in front of room 17, the farthest door from the dark, motel office. There was only one other car in the lot and that was parked in front of room 2.

He let us in before we even knocked on the door. Smiling his cold smile as he saw me and Cookie standing there.

"Come on in," he said holding the door, "I was wondering when you'd get here."

I led the way and Cookie took my hand and followed me. I couldn't see my sister behind me, but the way that Sharky's smile faded, I know she must have been scowling at him.

The little room was a standard motel accommodation. There was one double bed, against the wall in the middle of the room, and a dresser and a TV, anchored to a metal stand, at the opposite side. A writing table and a chair were near the closed curtains of the large window. There was an open closet, on the far side of the room, and a door that opened on a bathroom with a shower.

Sharky told us to have a seat and I took Cookie to the foot of the bed and we sat down.

"Wanna' beer?" Sharky said as he pulled two cans of Pabst from the five left of the six-pack on the dresser.

I was about to tell him that Cookie didn't like beer when she said, "Yes," loudly and held out her hand.

Cookie and I both opened our beers and Sharky bent and held his hand out to collect the tabs. Then, as I heard Cookie take a large gulp, I watched Sharky deposit the tabs in the, plastic lined, trash can, noticing the large gym bag, on the floor, next to the dresser.

"So," he said as he turned back to us, "no trouble finding the place?"

"No," I answered, nervously playing with the can in my hand.

Sharky took a beer and opened it now, taking a long drink from the white labeled can. He leaned back, sitting against the dresser now and crossing his arms as he asked, "Did the carnival do well tonight?"

"Yeah," Cookie replied, "until Jack ran into YOU!"

Sharky smiled his icy smile at her and said, "Yeah. I guess so."

He just kept his stare and his grin trained coldly on my sister as Cookie looked nonchalantly around the room and took another gulp of her beer.

"Good beer?" he asked her.

Cookie looked at the can and shrugged. "I guess so. I don't like beer."

Sharky laughed and took another drink from his can.

"That outfit looks so sexy on you, kid. I forgot to tell Jack to have you wear it, but I'm glad you did."

Cookie shrugged again and finished her beer and Sharky quickly got her another one, popping the top before he handed it to her and depositing the tab in the trash can.

I took a swig of mine.

"Do you know just how pretty you are?" he asked her.

Cookie took a drink from her fresh beer, looking up at him over the rim of the can. "I've been told," she stated. "I don't pay no attention. What does it matter?"

"It matters to boys, Cookie. Boys like pretty girls like you. You ever have a boyfriend, Cookie?"

"Once."

"Only one?"

"Only one I liked."

"Oh but I bet lots of 'em like you, Cookie."

"Maybe so," she stated, "but it don't do you no good to get serious over boys when you're with the carnival and travelin' all the time."

"Smart Cookie," he said and then he laughed and took another sip from his beer.

"I can't get over your name," he said to her. "I laughed when I read the police report, on your father, this afternoon."

"Officer Sharker's a funny name too," she said, bending and setting her open beer on the carpet.

Sharky stood and then bent to the floor, picking up her beer as he looked down the front of Gina's white blouse.

"Let me set that on the dresser for you," he said.

Cookie sat up and put her hand to the neckline of her outfit, making sure that all the buttons were fastened.

Sharky watched her for a moment and then he said, "Well, we all know why we're here, don't we?"

Cookie, sitting against my left thigh, said, "Yeah. You want to see me and my brother do the deed."

Sharky smiled and I saw his eyes flash that ice-like stare. "Smart girl," he said. "Right to the point. I like that."

I took a gulp of my beer now. It tasted bitter on my tongue.

"So, how do you want us to do it?" Cookie asked.

"Well, I don't want you to just do it. I want you to lead up to it."

"Lead up to it?"

"Yeah. A boy shouldn't just jump on a girl. There has to be a little romance."

"Romance?" Cookie exclaimed. "But this is Jack!"

"So? Jack is a boy. He's a gentleman, aren't you Jack?"

"Yeah," I said. "I guess so."

Sharky reached over and took my beer and set it on the dresser next to Cookie's.

"Do you usually just jump a girl's bones, Jack?" he asked.

"No."

"Well, what do you do, Jack? How do you get things started-- usually?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I guess I kiss 'em."

"You kiss them?"

"Yeah."

"Well, do that then. I'd like to see you kiss Cookie. Get her in the MOOD, Jack."

Man, I started to shake as I turned my head and looked into my sister's familiar face. It was the oddest feeling that had ever come over me. I was scared. Really scared.

I swallowed thickly. My mouth had gone dry.

"Can I have another sip of my beer, Sharky?"

"Sure," he said, reaching over and handing me the can. "There's another six pack, in the trunk of my car, if you need more."

I took a long swig, feeling the warm beer burn in my throat as it went down. Then I handed the can back to Sharky.

He set it on the dresser and then he took a step toward us and got down on his haunches so that he was at eye level with me and Cookie.

"Okay now," he said, as if he was directing a movie, "kiss her."

What else was I to do? The beer was having a slight effect on me now and I turned toward Cookie and leaned to her, pressing my lips against hers. They were warm and soft and I felt them tremble a little, against mine, as my eyes stared directly into hers and she looked widely back at me.

This, I guess, is what the sports people mean when they say a nothing result is like "kissing your sister".

"Is that a kiss, kids?" Sharky said, disappointingly. "Come on! You can both do better than that!"

I pulled back for a moment, looking into Cookie's pretty face, and then I said, "Close your eyes, at least."

"Alright," she said, and then her eyelids fluttered shut and I pushed my face to hers again and pressed my lips firmly against her own.

We sat there, like that, for a long minute. Side by side, breathing into each other's faces through our noses, with our closed lips pressed together and our hands on our laps. And then Sharky said, "Hold it, kids. This isn't getting us anywhere and I'm getting a little ticked."

I opened my eyes now and turned my face to him. I could sense the anger building in his voice. "Sorry, Sharky," I said. "But this just isn't natural. And it's not easy for us."