Night of the Crane | By @WendyyWolfe

18. Showers and Toilets

As promised, Sargeant Reese returned in exactly one hour.

"Leave the dishes and follow me."

They got up and went after him except for Carolyn, who stayed behind to clean the galley.

Reese took them back through the main room and making a u-turn into a parallel hall, just a few steps in he stopped in front of two doors.

"Girls on the right, you men in the left."

Lacy and Krisslyn with puppy in tow opened the door and went in.

The room was sparsely furnished with two twin beds, two writing desks with a lamp and two foot lockers. Beneath the beds were drawers. Stark white sheets with a blanket and pillow were folded nicely at the foot of each bed.

Lacy scrunched her nose.

"I guess we have to dress our own beds," she frowned placing the puppy on the floor.

He immediately squatted leaving a tiny puddle behind him as he ran off to sniff around the new surroundings.

"Ugh, really? Now I have a mess to clean as well."

Lacy looked around the small room coming to yet another conclusion.

"Well it looks like we have to find out where the bathroom is because these are definitely not ensuites."

She rolled her eyes and stuck her head out the door.

Reese was still there at door talking to James.

"Uhhhh, Reese? Where are the bathrooms in this place?"

Reese turned to her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Lacy," he pointed down the hall. "The room at the end. Showers and toilets," he said with a nod and returned to his conversation with James.

"You men get some shut eye. Tomorrow starts early. I'll round you up at 0:600."

James nodded as he and Macallan disappeared into their room and Reese turned and walked off nodding to Lacy as he went.

She turned back to Krisslyn with a scowl.

"Charming," she grunted. "Will you come with me Krizz?"

Krisslyn shrugged. "Yeah, I gotta go anyway."

The girls took off down the hall just as James was shutting their door.

"Goodnight girls," he jested lightly. "Sleep tight."

"Oh sure James we're gonna get right on that," Lacy answered. "We just can't wait," she added with a sigh.

Krisslyn looked back with a knowing smile and James chuckled closing the door behind him.

At the end of the hall were double doors and Lacy jerked them open and stepped in, Krisslyn on her heels. They faced a white tiled wall with a sign that read, 'men left - women right' with little arrows pointing the way.

Lacy took the right and around the corner was nothing fabulous. A simple long hall with four sinks on the right next to four toilet stalls and on the left four shower stalls.

"Welp Krizz, this is it. Reese wasn't kidding. Showers and toilets."

But Krisslyn wasn't answering because she was digging through the cabinets under the sinks.

"Ohhhh look Lacy! Everything to we need for showers! Towels! Wash cloths! Soap! Shampoo! Even robes!" She exclaimed looking back at her cousin. "Come on, let's shower! I still smell like puke," she said with a fake gag.

Lacy shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it's showers first," she agreed with a small smile joining Krisslyn at the cabinets.
Krisslyn clapped and started grabbing things, handing them up to Lacy.

Krisslyn's enthusiasm was contagious and soon the girls were standing under steaming hot water. Savoring every moment.

•••

Macallan already sat on his bunk with his head in his hands.

"Don't waste your time with those thoughts Mac. We got an early day tomorrow so let's sack out."

Macallan threw his legs up on the bed not even bothering to get undressed or take his boots off.

James looked at him. "Okay, suit yourself then, daisy."

James shook his head. Damn these young people.

They could be so moody.

He flipped the light off by his bunk, threw the sheet over the bed, grabbed his blanket and lay down. Pretty soon he was snoring.

Macallan knew he wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon. James's light snores didn't help matters but he knew that wasn't really the reason for his restlessness.

His mind wandered aimlessly, and his emotions changed with his every thought. Fear, confusion, relief at finding a safe place to hole up and anger, because he lost his friend only to have him replaced by someone he could barely stand to look at. Macenna.

Long lost. Leaving Macallan to take care of a sick mother and fend off an alcoholic father.

Macallan grit his teeth.

And that one other thing he could never forgive.