Chapter 17: Walking a Mile

Shading her eyes from the sun, Cindy watched the boys playing in the wading pool. She had already been sitting by the pool for two hours and was getting bored. The boys were beginning to get tired and would want to eat soon. In a way, the timing was good. All of them would have to get out of the sun soon or she would have to apply some more sunscreen. She decided to give them another ten minutes.

So far, the trip had not met her expectations. Getting through security at the airport had been a hassle. She had shuffled through the line behind businessmen who went through the actions fully prepared for each step. They had been irritated with her for holding up the line. She’d been required to take off her shoes and those of the boys. In a way, she had been insulted that a mother traveling with two kids was treated as if she were a terrorist.

She had not remembered airplanes being so crowded or the seats so uncomfortable. With her extra weight, the seats were too small. Fortunately, she was traveling with the two boys and could move the arm rest out of the way. She remembered getting hot meals, but they had been served sandwiches that were mostly bun, a little turkey, wilted lettuce, and a packet of mayonnaise. It had been bland and even the boys hadn’t been that thrilled with the meal.

The plane arrived late. They had gotten off the plane with a headache and feeling like they had been beaten. The boys were tired and irritable. She was feeling pretty bad and George’s happy greeting fell on nearly deaf ears. It seemed to take forever for the luggage to arrive. That seemed strange to her. As far as she could tell, most of the travelers had carried their luggage with them.

Dinner that night at the hotel had been nice, although it was not the great treat she had expected. It wasn’t that the food was bad, but it was just rather bland and unremarkable. The service wasn’t bad, it was just slow. It seemed as though the waiter just assumed that they had nothing better to do than sit around and wait. She wondered if her impression was correct or just a result of the fact that she was tired.

While eating, she had looked around the room at the other people in the restaurant. Most of the clientele were men; with just two women in the entire place. For the most part, everyone was seated alone at a table looking bored and eating their meal with obvious disinterest. A few tables had two or more people, but they were talking business. All in all, the clientele looked like a pretty miserable group of people.

Several times during the evening, she had looked across the table at George with a tired smile on her face. It was obvious that he was happy to see his family. She wondered how many nights he sat in a hotel restaurant with that same bored expression on his face as worn by the men around them.

At least she couldn’t complain about the beds. She had slept well that night, as had the boys. Of course, with the boys in the room there wasn’t much she could do with George although they had spent a little time in the bathroom. Being tired, she abandoned her plans of rewarding him with a little action in the bathroom. She wasn’t really in the mood to do much more than give him a hand job in the shower.

In the morning, George had gotten up early and went to breakfast so that he would be on time for the classes he was teaching. She had spent the extra time getting the boys up and dressed to go down to eat. The worst thing of the whole morning was not having a cup of coffee before dealing with the boys. By the time she had gotten them dressed, she was ready to kill for a cup of coffee.

The elevator trip to the main floor had taken forever. The boys had pushed the buttons to every floor. She didn’t really mind how long the trip took except that the elevator was loaded with business men. They frowned at the boys and muttered under their breaths in irritation at the delay in starting their business day. Cindy wanted to hide, but it was obvious that she was their mother.

Breakfast had been a major disappointment. Although the breakfast buffet looked good, the scrambled eggs were barely warm, the slices of bacon were brittle little sticks, and the pastries were slightly stale. When she had seen the price, she was offended. About all she could say about breakfast was that the coffee had been good, although she suspected that they could have served dishwater and she would have liked it by then.

After breakfast, they had gone back to the room where the boys watched a little television on their unmade bed. She had looked out the window. There wasn’t much to see other than buildings of large businesses. They weren’t in Baltimore, but just outside of the city near a business area. There was absolutely nothing to do anywhere near the hotel. She was stuck in the room with two young boys, and with nothing to do. It was a mother’s worst nightmare.

Around ten, they had headed to the pool. She had initially felt embarrassed at wearing a swimsuit because of her weight, but realized that they were the only ones around the pool. Thinking about it, she realized that made sense. Everyone in the hotel was traveling on business and would be busy at work. She wondered if life around the pool would pick up after work.

Deciding that ten minutes had passed, she called out to the boys, “Let’s go up to the room and dress for lunch.”

“Okay, mom,” John said while climbing out of the wading pool.

“I’m hungry,” Joe said rubbing his belly. It took him a little longer to get out of the pool.

“Me, too,” Cindy said smiling at the youngest boy. She had expected them to argue, but they must have been hungrier than she had thought. She spent a few minutes toweling them dry.

Gathering their towels and stuff together, the three of them headed to the room. Upon entering the hotel, the boys raced ahead to see which one could reach the elevator first and, hence, have the honor of pushing the button. John easily outran Joe. The little guy arrived well after John had pushed the button.

The trip up the elevator was just as long as the trip down had been. The boys made sure they pushed the buttons for every floor. Each time the elevator stopped, Cindy had to hold them both back. At least this time, they were the only ones on the elevator.

Entering the room, Cindy was pleased to see that the beds were made. The boys wiggled out of their swimsuits and stood waiting for her to help them dress. She rummaged through the luggage and found outfits for the boys. It took her ten minutes to get them dressed. When she turned around, she saw that they had unmade one of the beds. She sighed at the sight.

She dressed in the bathroom hearing the sounds of the television blaring from the room. As much as it hurt to admit it, living in a hotel wasn’t all that comfortable. There wasn’t sufficient room to move around. Four people filled the room to capacity and the boys took up a lot more room than the size of their bodies would suggest.

Dressed and ready for lunch, she left the bathroom. She took a moment to look at the room. The clothes from the luggage were strewn around the bags. The boys had brought a couple of toys and they were scattered around on the floor. The one bed was unmade. There were only two chairs around a small table and a desk against the wall. She frowned at the thought that she hadn’t had a chance to enjoy the benefits of maid service. Clapping her hands, she said, “Let’s go eat, boys.”

The two boys bounced off the bed and ran to the doorway. The short break had restored their energy and they were ready to move again. She walked down the hallway while they raced to the elevator. There was a little pushing and shoving while the boys fought over who would push the button. John managed to push the down button, but Joe countered by pushing the up button. By the time she reached the elevator, the boys were satisfied with their individual contribution to calling the elevator.

The first elevator to arrive was headed up and she had to hold the boys back. It was another minute before the elevator returned. Getting on, the boys immediately pushed the buttons for all of the floors. Cindy looked apologetically at the two men in the elevator with her. They looked irritated, but also as if they understood.

At lunch, the boys ordered hamburgers hoping to get a fast food burger. Cindy had ordered a salad continuing her diet. All three of them were disappointed in their selections. The massive burgers were nothing like what the boys had expected. The French Fries just didn’t taste right. Cindy’s salad was smothered in fattening salad dressing. They ate what they could, but weren’t very happy about their lunch.

Once lunch was over, Cindy sat at the table wondering what she could do with the boys. Her thoughts were interrupted when George stopped by the table and said, “Hello. Enjoying your morning?”

Excited by everything they had done that morning, John answered, “We went swimming. It was great.”

Smiling at her husband, Cindy said, “It was a nice quiet morning.”

“What are your plans for the afternoon?”

Cindy shrugged her shoulders and answered, “I don’t know. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Not really. There’s not too much to do around here. You might consider taking the rental car into town,” he answered. For the first four days here, he had tried to find something for them to do while here. There just wasn’t that much for them to do. Any sightseeing would require that they go into Baltimore and that was a real hassle.

“I’m sure that we’ll figure out something,” Cindy said. She decided that she’d ask the people at the check-in counter. They were from around here and could probably recommend a ton of things to do. After lunch, the boys would probably want to take a short nap.

“Great. I better get back to work,” George said. Friday afternoons were always the worst day. Everyone was tired of class and would be looking forward to the weekend. He knew that half of them would want to leave a little early. He usually ended class early on Fridays. He added, “I should be done about four.”