Chapter 3

           Jackie had slipped out earlier to visit Joe, the guy who ran the diner in town. Joe usually closed the diner around nine, but he stayed open for her. He comforted her and empathized with her situation since he had inherited the diner from his parents. Jackie has known Joe since she was little. He was a year ahead of her and Jodi in school. He was able to console her a little, but more importantly, Joe was able to restore her hope. She was able to come up with an idea. They could turn the hotel into a retreat and wedding destination. Of course, it would take a lot of money to advertise. The real problem was could they book big events in time to make the next loan payment to the bank and more importantly make the payment for their father’s care.  

           It was 11:30 by the time Jackie made it back to Garvey's. She couldn't believe all the cars were still outside. She figured everyone would have gone home by now. She parked the four-year-old Toyota her and Jodi shared in a free spot and got out. 

            The closer she got to the bar the louder the music was. “Wow. The place hasn't been this lively since the crash.” The closer Jackie got to the bar windows she saw something that she wasn't sure she was seeing. She stopped dead in her tracks and her mouth dropped open as she realized she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. People were having sex in the bar. Jackie struggled to snap herself out of shock as she strode to the door. She whipped it open. 

Everybody kept doing what they were doing like she never walked in. The moans and music echoed in her ears. The smell of beer, cigarettes, and sweat filled the air. “Hey!” she yelled.

            A couple of folks turned her way, but they kept having sex. Some of them had the nerve to say, hey, back to her, and then returned to their debauchery. One blonde, who was known to be easy around town, waved at her.

            Jackie quickly turned to close the door and locked it. She promptly turned the hanging sign to say ‘Closed’ to the outside world. When she turned back around, Jodi was standing in front of her in nothing but her bra. “Okay, I know how this looks.”

            Jackie looked at her like she grew a tail. “Really, because it looks like you let an orgy break out in the bar!” she yelled. Jackie made her way to the other side of the room to get to the hotel lobby entrance. She struggled not to look at the patrons’ acts as she made her way by. She shuttered with embarrassment as she heard a man exclaim in pleasure.

            Jackie burst through the doors with relief as she looked out at the familiar green décor of the lobby. Jodi followed her. She closed the door behind her.

 “I can't imagine what kind of excuse you have for this,” Jackie said through clenched teeth. “We're fighting for our very survival and you’re having an orgy.”

Jodi shrugged. “It started off as a little fun and it got out of hand, but I'm glad it happened.”

            “What?” Jackie asked with wide eyes.

            “Yes, if we’re going to lose the place, we should go out with a bang.”

            “You are unbelievable,” Jackie said as she threw her hands up in the air.

            “Look, are you going to join us or not?” Jodi asked flatly.

            “God, I could just knock the hell out of you. We could lose our license over this.”

            “We’re losing the place anyway,” Jodi countered.

            “You’re cleaning the mess up by yourself in the morning,” Jackie snapped and headed for the elevator.

            Jodi let out an exasperated breath and went back to the party.

                                                                         -------

            It had been two days since the orgy and Jackie still wasn’t speaking to Jodi. Jackie had gone out of her way to avoid her. Jodi decided it was time to make peace; especially since she had an idea to save the place. She knew Jackie wouldn’t like it, but it was worth a shot – and it could actually work.

            Jodi knocked on Jackie’s room door. No answer. Jodi tried the knob; it was unlocked. She turned it and poked her head inside the door. The commode water was running. After a moment, Jodi heard water running out of the sink faucet. She opened the door wider to enter and then softly closed it.

            Jodi sat on the edge of the queen size bed.

Jackie opened the bathroom door and stopped when she saw Jodi.

“The door was open,” she stated.

            Jackie walked into the room and stopped at the round table a foot away from the bed.

            “I thought I’d break the ice. Look, I’m sorry you’re upset about what happened a few days ago. I know you see it as disrespectful. But, I have to say, I am not sorry it happened. Everyone had a good time. However, I understand that it’s not your thing.”

            Jackie took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking these past twenty-four hours. You are who you are. Who am I to judge you or anyone else for the choices they make. I just wish you and . . . our guests did it somewhere else. I mean we do have a hotel with a 98.5 percent vacancy. But, things happen. I can’t stay mad at you forever.”

            Jodi gave her a small smile. “Good because I have an idea that might save our bacon.”

Jackie’s face brightened. “Really? Me, too.”

Jodi nervously nodded. “You first. Can’t wait to hear it.”

“We’ll become an event center. We’ll advertise to businesses to have their retreats here. We could also advertise as a wedding destination.”

            “Oh,” Jodi said as she struggled not frown.

            “You don’t like it?”

            “I like it, but I think it’s too late for that. By the time we advertise those services and receive reservations, the bank payment will be due. I was only able to buy us sixty days. It could take thirty days just for magazine advertising to hit the public. I don’t think the bank manager will let us pass another round. I had to give him a blow job for the extension. He’s not going to fall for that twice.”

            “You what? Oh, never mind,” Jackie said, flustered.  

Jodi acted like Jackie didn’t respond to her revelation. “Advertising new services on the internet might be a waste. People are so annoyed with pop up ads now that they complain about it in casual conversations.”

            The right side of Jackie’s lip turned down. “Hmmm. What was your idea?”

Jodi’s hands lightly clenched the comforter. She knew it was radical, but they needed cash and fast. She knew she had to do a hard sell for Jackie to go along with it. Maybe easing into it was the best way.

            “Jodi?”

            She gave her sister a smile. “Trina and I split seven-hundred and eighteen dollars in tips Saturday night.” Jodi was surprised when Jackie burst out laughing.

“I bet you did,” Jackie commented as she continued to laugh.

Jodi started laughing, too. Then, she jokingly eased into another statement. “If I knew what was going to happen ahead of time, we would have made a killing.”

Jackie giggled. “I have to admit we would have. We could have charged money at the door and raised the costs of drinks after midnight.”

While Jackie was in a good mood, Jodi dropped the bomb. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Jackie shook her head with amusement. “Ha, not likely.”

“Yeah . . . likely.”

The smile faded from Jackie’s face. “You can’t be serious.”

“Serious.”

Jodi knew her twin’s wheels were turning. She knew Jodi’s idea.

“I can’t believe I just walked into that. You want to . . . allow people to have sex in our bar for money?” Jackie asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Hear me out. That’s all I ask.”

“I ought to charge you for hearing this ludicrous idea.”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, all right, it’s not like we have guests to attend to.”

“Let's say we give this a trial run. I’m not saying we do it forever. Just long enough to get us out of the hole we’re in. We’ll open the bar in the evening, as usual, to serve the regular customers. At midnight, we’ll charge twenty dollars per person and thirty-five dollars for couples. People who are already in the bar who want to stay for the after party pays to stay. We’ll raise the costs of drinks by seventy-five cents at midnight, too. This could also generate revenue for the hotel. We’ll charge sixty-nine, ninety-five per night. I mean some people who want to fuck might not want to do it in the bar, like husbands who don't want their wives finding out. If word gets around, we could make a killing. Saturday night we had thirty people in the bar. That's nowhere near our maximum capacity.”

Jackie plopped down in a blue chair next to the table. She shook her head. “It’s a plan that will invite trouble we don’t need or want. What if the wrong types come in?”

“That’s why we have security. Billy had to lay off a couple of his guys in New York. They’re desperate for work. They’re willing to come if we go through with this.”

“Oh god! You already started planning the next orgy, haven’t you?”

“Just getting feedback and help from friends just in case. But, I wouldn’t just do it without running it by you. We’re partners.”

“I’m glad you remembered that. With that being said, do you realize what the gossip will be about us in town?”

“Who cares? Gossipers aren’t paying our bills and they’re not about to be homeless like us either. Have you thought about where we will live if we lose this place? We sold the house to keep the hotel. We didn’t get that much for it because of the market.”

“Okay, forget about what other people think. Let’s discuss what Dad will think when he finds out and you know he will.”

Jodi pressed her lips together. “Jackie, Daddy has Alzheimer’s disease. He’s not going to find out, and if he does, he’ll forget in twenty minutes. When we visited him last month, he didn’t know who we were. Remember what he had said when we told him we were his daughters?”

Jackie propped her head up with her hand as her elbow rested on the table. “Yes, of course, I do. That his daughters were ten and we were grown women.”

“That’s right. No one can save us now, not even him. I know this plan is wild, but I think it’s worth a shot if it could save our lively hood and our home.”

Jackie frowned. “I know what’s on the line,” she mumbled. “But, I don’t think I could prostitute myself and I sure as hell don’t want to watch you prostituting yourself.”

“Oh god,” Jodi groaned as she flung her head back in exasperation. “I’m not going to prostitute myself. If I want to join in, I will. If I’m not in the mood, I won’t. People will come to fuck each other, not us in particular.” Jodi raised her head and looked at Jackie, “And for the record, I don’t expect you to prostitute yourself or even participate. I run the bar most of the time, anyway. I run the bar and you run the hotel end.”

“Oh great, we’ll just be one step above being a whorehouse than actually running a whorehouse.”

Jodi’s emotions rose in her throat. She fought to control it, but she lost. “We can’t afford to deal with the stick that is permanently lodged in your ass, right now.” 

Jackie’s eyes narrowed on her sister. “This isn’t about me being . . . conservative. I can’t go along with this even if I wanted to. This has to be illegal.”

Jodi’s anger subsided as quickly as it came up. “How? We’re not going to offer hookers, we’re offering a place where a bunch of people can fuck and watch other people fuck. If they want a room to fuck in, well, we do run a hotel.” 

“What if -”

“Let go of what if and think about what’s going to happen if we don’t come up with cold, hard cash in thirty days. The retirement facility bill will be due in thirty days. We barely paid the last one. Dad gets kicked out of there and shipped to a VA facility where they are short staffed, meaning they won’t take proper care of him – or we bring him back here and then we lose Garvey’s to the bank. All three of us will be out on the street.”

Jackie rubbed her face with both hands.  “If we don’t panic, we can come up with something else.”

“Like what? Selling drugs? That’s worse than what I’m suggesting. If you can’t do it to keep Garvey’s, do it for Dad.”

Jackie rammed her hands in her dark, tight curls as she agonized over their future.