Tropical Get-a-way

I booked a bargain vacation on-line. It was advertised as the chance of a lifetime. Being recently retired and unable to go on one of these tropical get-a-ways until now. With excitement in my heart, I finally arrived at my destination. As I proceeded to check-in to the beautiful resort, I was told that I would have to share my room with another vacationer. That didn’t seem so bad, I wouldn’t mind finding a new friend.

I settled into my room, looking forward to getting out and about to sight-see and learn a little about the culture of the area. It wasn’t long before a lady in a bright yellow dress showed up and informed me that she would be my roommate for the next two weeks. Her name was Daisy and she was from Texas. We sat down to get acquainted. She seemed like a nice little lady and I thought we would get along fine.

My name is Sally and I am from Arkansas. I had visited Texas on a number of occasions.   Most of the people I had met on my treks were very nice and accommodating. There was no doubt in my mind that Daisy and I would get along. Just two little old southern ladies out of their comfort zones.

After a few hours of chatting, Daisy asked if I was ready to go with her to look around the town. I readily accepted this kind invitation to accompany her. The street was lined with many booths, hawking all kinds of things for tourists. We made our way through various shops. Lots of looking but no buying. I figured Daisy was on a tight budget just like me. As we made our way down the street, I began to pay more attention to her. It seemed that her purse kept getting fatter and fatter, yet I hadn’t seen her buy anything.

After about 3 hours of browsing, Daisy asked if I was ready to go back to the hotel because she was all tuckered out. I readily agreed and we made our way back to the room. She set her purse on the table and began pulling out all sorts of things from her bag. She had scarves, playing cards, bright colored shirts, and a large sun hat. I didn’t see any way all of that could fit in there It looked as if I would be spending my vacation with a shop-lifter from Texas. Hopefully this was her only vice.

That idea was dispensed with immediately as she said, “Well, let’s get cleaned up and go to the bar for a quick drink. Then we’ll head on over to the casino for a spell.”

This little lady was not going to be sitting on the beach and reading a book or knitting type. Surely, I would be able to put up with her for the two weeks we would be stuck in the room together. I know my shopping trips with here were at an end after today.

“No thank you,” I replied. “I’m a little tired after our afternoon excursion. I think I will just relax and read a book for a while. I might even take a little nap. You go on and have fun. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later.”

I was relatively certain that I would not be joining her but I wanted to continue to be nice. I had a very peaceful evening and read my book. At nine o’clock, I decided to turn in. Sleep came quickly. At 2 a. m. I was aroused by a commotion going on in the other room. Oh no, what was Daisy up to now. I hastily put on my dressing gown and started for the sitting room. I found a very drunk Daisy and two highly inebriated older men.

“Daisy,” I yelled. What in the world is going on here?”

“We are just having a little party here. Come on over and have a drink with us,” she answered in a slurred voice.

“No, you and your gentlemen friends need to go somewhere else to party. I need to get some rest and that will not happen with yawl in here. So, take your friends and go somewhere else.”

“If this is what you call southern hospitality honey, you have really missed the boat.” She turned to her friends and said, “Come on boys, let’s go somewhere we are wanted. I’ll take care of her later.”

What in the world did she mean by that? I wondered. My peaceful vacation seemed to be turning into a nightmare. I didn’t know what Daisy would do next. One thing I was sure of was not to spend any more time with her than absolutely necessary. Maybe I should try to get out of sharing the room with her. Perhaps they could find someone else for me to stay with.

When I woke up at 7 am, there was no sign of Daisy. I breathed a sigh of relief and thought maybe she had decided she did not want to share a room with me. Perhaps I would get to stay alone in the room. That would be a blessing. I had a lovely day on the beach reading a novel and people watching. This was the way I had dreamed it would be. It was late afternoon when I headed back to the hotel to clean up before going down to dinner.

When I opened the door of my room, I could tell right away that Daisy had paid a visit there. There were stacks of clothes on the couch and watches and rings on the kitchen table. I wondered if she had used her shop-lifting skills to acquire all of these things. We would definitely have to have a conversation about this.

For the next 2 days, there was no sign of Daisy except for the increasing stacks of clothes, jewelry, and other items that she had somehow acquired. She never came to the room when I was around. This did not upset me at all. I was beginning to have a good time and relax now that I did not have to put up with Daisy.

On the day before check-out as I started packing, I checked out the bedroom that had been used by Daisy. All of her clothes and toiletries were gone. I wondered why she did not take the clothes and stuff that she had brought and stacked all over the sitting room. She was a little bit eccentric so maybe she just got more stuff than she realized and didn’t have room to take most of it. There were so many things that I couldn’t tell if anything was missing.

The morning of departure arrived and my bags were ready to go. I called down for a taxi to take me to the airport. Before the taxi arrived, two policemen were at my door. They looked around the hotel room and asked about all the stuff scattered about. I told them all about Daisy and how she had shop-lifted all these things and that I hadn’t seen her since the second day of vacation. They took me down to the local police station and then informed me that they had gotten an anonymous letter from a woman named Daisy. She had accused me of the same crimes that I had told them she did. However, she had gone back to Texas and I had possession of all the stolen goods, therefore I was the one that was going to get charged with the crime.

As I sit here in my cell, serving my sentence of one year for shop-lifting, I think of my bargain vacation. One year and two weeks for the price of two weeks. I have enjoyed the tropical climate and had an opportunity to do a lot of reading. I think for my next tropical vacation, I will just go to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and get arrested.