The Bad Batch Short Stories

15. Wrecker and Laundry Day... again..

Wrecker and Laundry Day...
Wrecker stood at the ramp with a small cart loaded with the supplies he would need for the laundromat. With his arms crossed against his chest, he gave out a long sigh. "Why do I have to do this?" he whined to Hunter as he was walking down the ramp.
"Everyone else is going to be busy getting supplies. Sunny is going with you so don't worry," Hunter told him.
"But Tech is the one who usually does the laundry," Wrecker tried again.
"But you already gave him your list of supplies you need, and... Who was it that spilled the vat of syrup after they were told no more pranks?" Hunter asked the last part in his "dad voice".
Wrecker groaned dramatically and threw his head back. "Finnnee... I'll do the laundry."
Sunny appeared next to Wrecker as he tapped his foot waiting for her.
"Hey big guy; you ready to go?" she asked as she craned her neck to look at his face.
"Yes," he said grumpily.
"Oh, don't be such a grump. We'll get this done and then go do something fun." Sunny took his hand and led him down the street as he pulled the cart. They walked only one block just as one of the wheels on the cart came off, unbalancing the whole contraption.
"Aw, come on!" Wrecker groaned as he picked up bags of laundry and container of soap.
Sunny helped him put it all back into the cart and held onto the detergent. Wrecker gave the cart a few shakes and then lifted the whole thing over his head and set it on his left shoulder. "There, that's better anyways," he said with a smirk. He looked down at Sunny and said, "I could give you a ride too, if you want."
She giggled sweetly as she held onto his arm and said, "That's ok. It's a nice day for a walk."
They continued on but their path was blocked by a group of shady looking young men loitering on the corner. "Hey there sweet thing, why are you with this thing when you could be with me?" One of them said.
The others behind him snickered and laughed. Wrecker just looked at them and growled on earning a few "oh, I'm so scared," or "bid deal", among a few other choice words.
Sunny was less than impressed. She set down the container of detergent and beckoned the loudmouth with her finger. "Come here. Come closer," she said to him while she held a neutral face. "We weren't properly introduced," she said as she held out her hand. The loudmouth had greasy hair that he gave a swipe as he sauntered up to her. He kept glancing between Wrecker and his friends behind him. "I'm Sunny," she said as the young man grasped her hand. With a sudden jerk and tug, Sunny had twisted the creep's hand backwards at an unnatural angle. With a little nudge he fell to knees with a gasp of pain as he struggled in her grasp.
Sunny readied her intense face and with a low firm voice said, "Don't talk to me or my friend here, ever again. We're going to be coming back this way in a few hours. You see us coming, you cross the street. Got it?" Sunny's face was pressed closed to the young man's, and she could see the fear in his eyes. He nodded his head furiously, "Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Sunny released him with a push that left him off balance and gave a fierce look to the rest of his friends. They scowled at her as she walked past with Wrecker in tow. He kept his eyes on them, ready to make a move if they did. Finally they were clear of the small group of thugs and Wrecker looked down at Sunny. "Hey, you could've let me take a swing at them," he complained.
"Not that what you did wasn't impressive. I'm impressed but still," he said quickly.
Sunny was shaking out her right hand, trying to hide the tremors that were racking her body. "If I let you take a swing at them they'd be dead. They're pretty harmless and I didn't like them disrespecting you." She looked off to the side so Wrecker wouldn't see her face.
"It's nothing I haven't heard before, mesh'la. You don't have to protect me," Wrecker said in a more serious tone.
"Well, hopefully those punks will lay off everyone else for the day," she said to him.
They arrived at the laundromat and set up camp. Wrecker started to load the stacked washers while Sunny exchanged credits for tokens at a small machine up front. She showed Wrecker the small lines on the lid of the detergent used for measuring. "Ohh," he said with understanding. He finally understood what Tech's directions meant. They had another bottle of detergent for Hunter that was fragrance free just for his blacks and civilian clothes.
"Alright. Let's set a timer and go grab a snack," Sunny said to Wrecker.
His face lit up as he guided her out the front door, his large hand on the small of her back. Despite his previous grumbling about having to do laundry, Wrecker was more than content to do the mundane chore with Sunny. They had been dating for a few weeks and he was constantly surprised by her. She was always kind and compassionate towards others, firm with Tech and Cross when she needed to be, and of course was perfect with Omega. They hit up a cart selling meat sticks and then a juice place for a smoothie. The timer was set to go off so they headed back. There were a few kids playing limmie (bolo ball/soccer/fútbol) in the street and Sunny could tell how much Wrecker wanted to join in. "Go ahead. I can manage," she said. He scampered off and dropped to a knee to ask the kids if he could play with them. They agreed and showed him the boundaries of the game.
Sunny watched for a while from the sidewalk, grateful for the warm weather and small moments like this one. She adored Wrecker and his strength and loved that he could be so gentle. "Not too hard, Wreck, or you'll kick their ball to the next planet!" she called out to him. Some of the kids giggled as Wrecker sighed. He kicked the ball and ran forward, scooping up one of the smaller kids under his arms so he could be fast too. He dodged and swerved, the small boy giggling the whole time, until they reached the goal line. Then Wrecker set down the boy and let him kick the ball into the goal. Wrecker lifted him up into the air yelling "goooaalll!" along with the other kids. They all climbed on top of him as he knelt down. Now their game turned to a dog pile and Wrecker was on the bottom. Sunny lost sight of Wrecker underneath all the elbows and knees of the group when he suddenly stood up with a roar. The kids were hanging off his arms and neck, laughing and screaming at the mountain of a man. Sunny laughed along, truly enjoying the moment with Wrecker and all the kids.
"Whew! I think I need to take a break!" he called to them. He made his way over to Sunny who was drinking him up with her eyes. "See something you like?" he asked her as he walked inside the laundromat. Sunny blushed, secretly loving that he could make her flustered.
He drank some water as Sunny pulled clothes from the dryers and they began folding most of the clothes. Sunny had finished and sat up on the counter, bringing her eye level with Wrecker.
"See, laundry day isn't that bad," she said as she leaned in to peck his cheek.
His eyes brightened and he put a hand on her cheek to hold her in place. He brought his lips back close to hers and said, "I think your clothes are dirty and need to be washed. Maybe you should take them off and I'll wash them for you."  He closed the distance between their lips and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Sunny placed an arm around his neck as she indulged in his affections. She broke away from his kiss and kept her forehead pressed to his. "Handsome, strong, and knows how to do laundry? I think you're a keeper." She smiled as she kissed him again, glad she had him in her life.