Starla (The Ladies of Karnage Novella Series) by Jennifer Culbreth Page B

our bags and carried them up the stairs.
    We followed up behind them, turning a corner and meeting a shorter round lady behind a desk, a book in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Around us was a small pantry, shelves covered each wall and all packed with various toiletries and snacks. The man who had been carrying my bags set them down in front of the desk, “Aye, Ana, looks like you have company. And from the weight of those bags, they must be stayin’ a while.” He turned back to me and winked jokingly.
    “Oh, you must be the two I’ve been waiting on. ” Her voice was filled with excitement as she stood from her chair and smiled. “Come on over, let’s see if we can get you situated.”
    “Thank you for helping us up, guys,” I said to the two men who had come up with us.
    “Welcome, las. If you’d like to come down and get a drink, well, you know where we’ll be.” He patted his partner on the back and headed toward the stairs.
    It was then that I noticed the leather cuts, or vests, that they were wearing. Across the back at the top was insignia to a motorcycle club, the Kings of Karnage, in the middle the angel of death, and the bottom had a patch of their territory, Dublin chapter. Ana, who we found out owned, operated, and lived at the hotel, helped get us checked in and then showed us down a long hallway to our room. We were at the end, on the side facing the main street below. There was a small bed on each wall, two small dressers, and one closet in the room. At the corner of the room was a small bathroom, and a fan by the window.
    “I know you are probably used to havin’ something to keep you cool, but we don’t have air conditioning,” she apologized. “It doesn’t get real hot, but if it gets warm up here, just open the window and the fan will cool you down.”
    “Ok, thank you, Ana,” I said to her as she fluffed our pillows one last time. She was a sweet woman, her chocolate brown hair peppered slightly with gray, and beautiful eyes that made you feel at home when you looked into them. I figured she was used to being here by herself most of the time, and was probably glad to have company. The rest of the doors to the other rooms were all open, showing their vacancy.
    “Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?” she asked me from the doorway.
    “No, ma’am, I think we are going to go down and grab a bite to eat and then get some sleep. Do we need to lock the door or anything?”
    “Oh no, dear. And please, call me Ana,” she smiled warmly, “I’ll just be down the hall if you need me.” With that she turned and vanished down the hallway to her room.
    “Did you see the size of that bathroom?” Joni came out, her mouth hanging open in shock, “It’s tiny. I don’t even know if I’ll fit on the toilet.”
    “Don’t fuss. We’ re in Ireland, and we’ll make the best of it while we’re here,” I scolded. I was tired, and not in the mood to hear her whining.
    Joni was my best friend, and I had found ways to tolerate her, but she came from a wealthy family and wanted for nothing. When I had to get a job to save up and help pay for my ticket, her parents just threw her the cash. I was worried about how she would cope being somewhere that didn’t have the luxuries she was used to, I could only hope that she’d eventually look past that part and focus on the reason we came, which was to have fun.
    “You wanna go get some food? I’m starving. That plane food was awful,” she snickered and I chose to ignore the tone in her voice.
    “Sure. I just wanna get cleaned up and then we can head downstairs,” I answered as I escaped into the ‘tiny’ bathroom.
    I made my way to the sink and pushed the door closed with my foot. In the quiet bathroom I could hear the faint sounds of the laughter and partying of the people downstairs. I looked up in the mirror, dotting concealer over th e dark bags under my eyes and wiped a bit of cool water along my chest. I spritzed on