Throwaway People

Laundry Day

Green Acres, Camp: 8:12 AM

There was a chain link gate in the front of the building. It was overgrown with vegetation. When Jim tried it, it opened. The three of them quickly filed out of the gate with their bundles and carts of clothes. There was no one out at this time in the morning. They went up Jackson to 10th Avenue where they crossed Haverhill, then 10th Avenue to the Laundry mat. They looked like any family walking to the laundry mat.

Their clothes filled five large washers. Patty might not of paid attention, but Keyote did. It cost twenty-eight dollars and seventy-five cents. They placed their underwear in a smaller washer that cost another three dollars. Quarters had been practically poured into the machines. Had Keyote not been paying attention, she might not have noticed. In addition to the washers the six dryers used up more quarters to a total of four dollars and twenty-five cents. A total of thirty-six dollars. By Keyote's calculations that was nineteen dollars and sixty-four cents more than what they counted on the kitchen table.

As one load was finished and folded by Keyote and Patty. Jim loaded the laundry into a shopping cart and took it home. By the time he got back Keyote and Patty had folded another load and it was ready to go.

As they were folding the last load. Waiting for Jim to come back, Keyote decided to share her findings with Patty.

"I know." Patty said. "Where do you think those clothes on your back came from."

"He's got a secret stash of cash." Keyote sounded disappointed.

"It's his money. I don't think he made it all selling water. When we were sharing motel rooms Jim usually ended up paying less than me. I think he was embarrassed about it. We'd share money for meals and he could barely pay for his half. There were times when he'd have to bum money from me to buy his initial stock of water."

"I'm thinking he found money in the camp when he first checked it out." Patty noticed that one of the laundry attendants were suddenly taking an unusual interest in them. "Let's pack this last load and get out of here."

They met Jim half-way to the laundry mat pulling the last of their laundry behind them. "One of the attendants were taking a long hard look at us." Patty explained.

"Hispanic?" Jim asked.

"Yeah." Key said. "She wouldn't be one of Jose's people."

"Might not be a Guardia, but she could be a family member. Gang's like Jose's use people and their families for their own gain." Jim told Key.

Green Acres, Camp: 10:21 AM

Once they were safely back at the camp they began to separate their clothes. They were already began to crease and wrinkle as they put them onto hangers. Jim broke out the ironing board. He put an old flat iron onto the stove top to heat. Patty actually knew how to use the iron better than Jim. She worked out the worse of the wrinkles and creases.

"How did you learn to use one of those." Jim asked.

"I grew up in the poor part of West Virginia. After a mine closing nearby, my Dad was out of a job. It was a hard life. We didn't have a lot of comforts. After a while of Dad being out of a job electricity was one of the things I learned to do without."

"It didn't help that Daddy drank up a lot of our income. That is, until he blew himself up trying to create a crack lab. Daddy wasn't particularly smart." Patty sighed as she thought about her Dad.