Once inside the laundromat, Viv admired the machines. The back wall held five supersized dryers, with standard-sized washing machines placed across the aisle. Viv took her comforter from the basket and dropped it into the drum of an empty machine.
After dropping three pods of washing soap into the tub, she reached for the knob. I forgot the coins. Glancing around the room, she saw a machine on the wall by the office. The sign read: Smart Laundry Cards. Viv sighed. Another smart card. Feeling self-conscious, she looked around the laundromat for someone to consult. And they say men don't like asking for directions. Me neither!
As the other machines hummed, washers swishing and dryers tumbling, she noticed the restroom sign. Since there was no available employee, she did the next best thing. She pulled out her phone.
Viv walked toward the smart laundry card sign. Isn't it bad enough that my phone is smarter than me? Now I have to purchase a smart card. It will get lost, knowing me. I might launder my comforter three, maybe four times a year, and every time I'll have to buy another card because I'll forget where the old one is. A smart card for a forgetful senior. That's me.
She read the instructions on the smart card machine and started to rant again. Twenty dollars just for the card. Definitely overpriced. Each load of laundry requires additional money. And to make matters worse, still no sign of Rex. I can figure this out myself!
After purchasing the card with relative ease and adding twenty dollars more to it for washing and drying, Viv took the newly minted card and walked back to her washer. She tapped the card on the pad and was elated when the sound of rushing water met her ears. She let the lid slip from her hand with a slam. It doesn't take much to bolster my confidence these days.
"Look what I found,” Rex said as he approached her. A bottle of baby oil and a pair of boots dangled from his hands. "These were in the last stall of the restroom, sitting in the corner."
She pulled a face. "Kind of disgusting, don't you think? I'm surprised you picked them up."
"What's wrong?" He dropped the boots and oil on a nearby chair. "Did I upset you?"
Viv sighed. "Not your fault. I'm too sensitive. It took a bit for me to figure out the washer and the smart card. And then when you showed up with those…" She pointed to the chair.
"They're kind of icky, right? Maybe a young girl with a baby was in the restroom. Young mothers are so vulnerable. She most likely left in a hurry, the infant crying, and she forgot her boots and the baby oil. Maybe she was running from someone?"
After a pause, he said, "Have a seat," then removed the boots and baby oil from the chair and tucked them underneath.
Viv ducked her head. She felt his concern and didn't know how to tell him that occasionally her imagination got the best of her. "Let me see those boots," she said, taking a deep breath.
Holding them in her hands, the same discomfort rose again. Looking carefully at the soles and insides of each boot, she commented, "These are very cheap. You can get them at any shoe warehouse. Size five and a half.
"The baby oil," she held it up, "looks pretty new. Almost full. Maybe not for a baby. What do you suppose it's used for?"
Rex's eyes opened wide. "Oh, now I get it. And here I thought I was the mind reader. Do you think a young woman was, you know, offering sexual favors in the bathroom for bored customers waiting for their clothes to dry?"
"I do," Viv said. "And she had to leave in a hurry without her boots. Just the thought of such desperation makes me uncomfortable."
Rex's face looked glum. "We've only been here half an hour. And we've uncovered a knockoff shoe operation in the alley and now a potential hookup place for desperate people seeking each other's company."
Glancing around at the stainless steel washers and dryers one more time, Viv nodded. "That's creepy. But on the bright side the machines look new. State of the art with the smart readers." She showed him her newly purchased card. “Cost me twenty dollars just to get the card.”
He held it in his hand. "I bet twenty bucks is way over the standard price for this card. Carmine must have been making a profit on these alone. But the question remains, did he turn a blind eye to what's going on in the alley and the bathroom?"
"The only way we can find out is to ask someone who comes here more often," she suggested.
"Or maybe there's an employee we can interrogate." Rex looked toward the other side of the room. There was a counter and a door marked No Admittance, Employees Only.
Rex spoke over the clamor of the machines. "Whenever I see a No Admittance sign, all I want to do is push my way inside. It's my nature to overcome obstacles."
Viv nodded at his self-assessment. "I don't see a person in charge." She pointed. "But that door has a keypad, in case you're considering a break-in."
"Is that a dare?" His eyes gleamed in anticipation. "Let's wager then. I'll get past that door and break into the back. Once I'm behind the counter I'll look around for clues and in exchange, you make me one of your fabulous dinners. And if I can't break in, then I'll make you a grill fest to die for. Ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob. What do you say?"
"You mean Sutton will make a grill fest," Viv scoffed.
"Either way," he chuckled.
Viv never gambled. So it took her a minute to accept Rex's wager. It's for fun, she told herself. He's really a character and that's what he does. Don't be so stodgy.
"Okay, I'm in," she said. "I'll be watching you break into that door from here. Oops, the washer is done. I'm thinking it will take an hour for the dryer. Better get crackin'." She laughed.
After shifting the comforter from the washer to the dryer and then tapping her smart card for payment, Viv sat down. She'd deliberately chosen a place so that she could keep her eye on Rex.
He stood with his back against the counter staring at his cell. It looked as if he was waiting for service. Then he raised his eyes and winked at her from across the room. Pocketing his cell, he slid his back down the counter, inching his way closer to the locked door. He slowly turned, reaching out to try the knob.
Viv smirked. Her mouth watered at the thought of chicken on the grill and a nice green salad. Narrowing her eyes, she kept watching. Rex inspected the keypad. So far the door remained shut. Butter and lightly salted fresh corn sounds so good right now.
Centering himself in front of the counter, Rex placed his palms on top. Then with a slight jump he pushed himself up. One knee supported weight as he hoisted himself with the other. And then he began to topple. Losing his balance, he tilted forward and fell over onto the other side. Rex had disappeared from view.
That doesn’t count for anything. He said he was going to get through the doorway. When Viv didn't see him stand up, she chastised herself. Now that was uncharitable. He could be seriously hurt.
She waited a moment longer before she raced across the room. Maybe he hit his head and passed out…
Bracing her hands, she leaned over the counter to check on him. Rex, in a sitting position, held his knee. His face scrunched in pain. "It's my trick knee," he explained. "Just give me a sec. I'll be able to stand once I pop it back in place.”
As he pounded his knee, Viv caught sight of a car pulling up in front of the Fluff and Fold. Her fist tightened into a ball.
"The cops are here," she hissed.
Rex reached for the counter, struggling to pull himself to his feet.
"Hurry up." She reached to give him a hand just as the entrance door was pushed open.
"No one belongs back here except employees," came a now familiar voice.
Rex stumbled and then righted himself with a grimace. "Knee. Hurts," he told her.
Farrah spoke. "So Redondo and Rose. We meet again. Do I need to call an ambulance?"