Read Online Fear and Laundry by Elizabeth Myles - Free Book Online
Authors: Elizabeth Myles
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dropping them into the kitchen garbage can.
“If you really want to play at Lynch’s on the twenty-seventh,” said Jake, steering his sister toward the door, “then we should get to work,”
“Work?” John shifted his drinking glass from one hand to the other, wiping condensation from his fingers onto his jeans. Elyse, seeing an opportunity to escape what was obviously for her a confounding situation, swiveled her chair away and picked up the telephone again.
“Practice,” Lia growled. “You know, band rehearsal?”
“Where’s your other little friend?” John’s forehead wrinkled. “The one with the hair?” He held his hand, fingers fanned, to the side of his head, miming Sierra’s Mohawk.
“Sierra. She’s out.” Lia nodded at her brother. “Jake’s taking her place for now.”
“Jake?” John seemed bewildered by the prospect, and having witnessed Lia at Jake’s throat so many times over the years, I thought I understood why.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lia sighed. “Desperate times and all that.”
John looked at Jake. “Well, I’m glad you’ve got time to horse around with your little sister and her friends,” he told him stiffly, “even if you can’t be bothered to go to school. Or look for work.”
Lia was offended. “Horse around?”
“It’s Saturday, Dad,” said Jake. “Who looks for a job on the weekend?”
“You could at least come to the store with me,” John muttered, sipping his tea. “I’m about to make my rounds in an hour.”
“Thought we covered this,” Jake said evenly. “Why would I want to come to the store with you? I have absolutely no interest in groceries. Produce holds no appeal for me whatsoever.”
John set his glass down hard, preparing to say something else.
Beside him, Elyse covered the phone’s mouthpiece. “Leave him alone, Johnny,” she scolded. “Go on,” she said to the rest of us, shooing us out of the room. I had the impression she was less interested in defending Jake than in keeping her family’s argument from disrupting her phone call.
Jake’s hand curled into a fist by his side. He might’ve stayed behind and argued, but Lia and I forcibly hauled him out of the kitchen, through the living room and out the side door into the garage.
***
“S orry about my mom trying to recruit you for party duty,” Lia said as I sat down in the garage. She angled her folding chair to more fully face mine. “You know how she gets.”
“It’s okay.” I did know, and after three years of best friendship with Lia, I was used to it. “I don’t mind helping out with the party if she really wants me to,” I said truthfully. Sweat trickled down the side of my face. As warm as it was now, I knew the temperature would drop significantly in a few hours. Late summer in West Texas was strangely mercurial, the days hot but the evenings chilly.
“Forget it.” She leaned her elbows on her knees, looking glum. “She’s so self-centered, always ordering everybody around. I swear she never thinks of anyone but herself.”
I thought of Elyse’s near-constant charity work, but kept quiet.
“What are you so mad about?” Jake leaned against the garage wall, one long leg bent and his thumb hooked in his belt loop. “So you got scooped. You’re still getting what you want. Clyde’s coming to Carreen.”
“Excuse me. Was anyone talking to you? This is none of your business.” Lia plucked a pebble off the garage floor and skipped it angrily in Jake’s direction.
His eyes flashed but I interceded before he could reply. I’d left my backpack in the living room when we came in, I said. Would he grab Lia’s song book out of it? “It’s the black and white composition book.”
In the past, he might’ve ignored me, taken his sister’s bait and argued with her anyway. But now he pushed away from the wall and went back inside.
I stared at Lia until she met my eyes. “What’re you looking at?” she demanded.
“Lia. What are we going to
“If you really want to play at Lynch’s on the twenty-seventh,” said Jake, steering his sister toward the door, “then we should get to work,”
“Work?” John shifted his drinking glass from one hand to the other, wiping condensation from his fingers onto his jeans. Elyse, seeing an opportunity to escape what was obviously for her a confounding situation, swiveled her chair away and picked up the telephone again.
“Practice,” Lia growled. “You know, band rehearsal?”
“Where’s your other little friend?” John’s forehead wrinkled. “The one with the hair?” He held his hand, fingers fanned, to the side of his head, miming Sierra’s Mohawk.
“Sierra. She’s out.” Lia nodded at her brother. “Jake’s taking her place for now.”
“Jake?” John seemed bewildered by the prospect, and having witnessed Lia at Jake’s throat so many times over the years, I thought I understood why.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lia sighed. “Desperate times and all that.”
John looked at Jake. “Well, I’m glad you’ve got time to horse around with your little sister and her friends,” he told him stiffly, “even if you can’t be bothered to go to school. Or look for work.”
Lia was offended. “Horse around?”
“It’s Saturday, Dad,” said Jake. “Who looks for a job on the weekend?”
“You could at least come to the store with me,” John muttered, sipping his tea. “I’m about to make my rounds in an hour.”
“Thought we covered this,” Jake said evenly. “Why would I want to come to the store with you? I have absolutely no interest in groceries. Produce holds no appeal for me whatsoever.”
John set his glass down hard, preparing to say something else.
Beside him, Elyse covered the phone’s mouthpiece. “Leave him alone, Johnny,” she scolded. “Go on,” she said to the rest of us, shooing us out of the room. I had the impression she was less interested in defending Jake than in keeping her family’s argument from disrupting her phone call.
Jake’s hand curled into a fist by his side. He might’ve stayed behind and argued, but Lia and I forcibly hauled him out of the kitchen, through the living room and out the side door into the garage.
***
“S orry about my mom trying to recruit you for party duty,” Lia said as I sat down in the garage. She angled her folding chair to more fully face mine. “You know how she gets.”
“It’s okay.” I did know, and after three years of best friendship with Lia, I was used to it. “I don’t mind helping out with the party if she really wants me to,” I said truthfully. Sweat trickled down the side of my face. As warm as it was now, I knew the temperature would drop significantly in a few hours. Late summer in West Texas was strangely mercurial, the days hot but the evenings chilly.
“Forget it.” She leaned her elbows on her knees, looking glum. “She’s so self-centered, always ordering everybody around. I swear she never thinks of anyone but herself.”
I thought of Elyse’s near-constant charity work, but kept quiet.
“What are you so mad about?” Jake leaned against the garage wall, one long leg bent and his thumb hooked in his belt loop. “So you got scooped. You’re still getting what you want. Clyde’s coming to Carreen.”
“Excuse me. Was anyone talking to you? This is none of your business.” Lia plucked a pebble off the garage floor and skipped it angrily in Jake’s direction.
His eyes flashed but I interceded before he could reply. I’d left my backpack in the living room when we came in, I said. Would he grab Lia’s song book out of it? “It’s the black and white composition book.”
In the past, he might’ve ignored me, taken his sister’s bait and argued with her anyway. But now he pushed away from the wall and went back inside.
I stared at Lia until she met my eyes. “What’re you looking at?” she demanded.
“Lia. What are we going to
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