The Last Motel by Brett McBean

hair. Quite a good-looking guy, apparently. Well, that’s what my wife said.”
    She chuckled. “He told me his name was Michael.”
    “Really? Maybe they do have something to hide. Why else would you park your car around the back?”
    “Have they?” Madge said. She hadn’t noticed it when she went to visit Wayne. “I wonder why that is.”
    “Who knows?” Morrie said.
    “I’ll be glad when they’re gone, let me tell you. Not to mention the father and son in cabin four. The father’s also a bit weird.”
    Morrie chuckled. “You’ve really got a colourful bunch tonight.”
    “I know. That scream earlier, that was the son. He got frightened by a spider in the shower.”
    “A spider?” Morrie chortled.
    She didn’t bother bringing up the moustache. She kept that to herself.
    “I suppose you get all types working at a motel.”
    Madge nodded slowly, reflecting back to some of the more memorable customers.
    “I’ve seen some very important people slink in here, with disguises on of course, with ladies who didn’t exactly look like their wives.”
    “Oh, tell me more,” Morrie said.
    “I can’t say any names, I’m afraid. But let me just say that some of the most important members of government, prime members let’s say, have been here.”
    Morrie lowered his glass and gaped at Madge. “Really? You have to tell me who, come on?”
    She shook her head. “I can’t. Believe me, I would love to expose some of those men.”
    “Any hints?”
    “They’re still alive.”
    “They? You mean there’s been more than one?”
    Madge shrugged. “I just keep my mouth shut, and try not to laugh at their pitiful disguises.”
    “Wow,” Morrie said. “What else have you seen?”
    “Oh, you’d be utterly disgusted by what I have found in the mornings over the years. One time, and this is probably the most heartbreaking and awful thing I’ve ever found…” Madge found that even after all these years she was still affected by the memory. Tears flooded her eyes. “I’m sorry, I usually don’t cry in front of strangers. Not that you’re a stranger.”
    “I know what you mean,” Morrie said.
    She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. She took a drink then a deep breath. “One morning, about five years ago, I was cleaning one of the rooms that a young woman, must’ve been about eighteen, had stayed in. She had left very early that morning. When I went into the bathroom to clean up, there was blood all over the floor. I was shocked. I couldn’t imagine why there would be so much blood, until I saw it lying in the corner. It was a newborn baby. It was sheathed in blood. I quickly picked it up and brought it into the shower to wash off all the blood and gunk. It still had the umbilical cord attached. I don’t know, I guess I felt like I had to do something, but I already knew it was dead. I’m not sure if the poor thing had been born dead, or if it died from exposure. I like to think the former.” Madge rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put a downer on things.”
    “I can’t believe somebody would do that.”
    “I know, but think of the teenager. She obviously was so scared and had no one to turn to. To have the baby in a small motel in the middle of nowhere and then to leave it, well, you have to feel a bit sorry for her.”
    “I don’t know,” Morrie said softly. “It’s still wrong.”
    “I never said it wasn’t wrong, just that she must’ve had a terrible home life. No support, no love. The boyfriend or whatever, the bastard, obviously wasn’t around.”
    Morrie barely shrugged. “I guess so.”
    “Well, anyway, that’s in the past. It is probably the most awful thing that has happened. Mostly there have been a lot of affairs and the like. I can always spot a disguise.”
    Well, most of the time .
    “A lot of gay men that are married?” Morrie asked.
    “You bet. They always forget to take their wedding ring off. And you can see it in their eyes. The