Read Online Wishing for Someday Soon by Tiffany King - Free Book Online Page B

given me the gift of losing myself in a book as a lifeline. When I was reading, it didn’t matter that we were all crammed into the car together twenty-four-seven, or that we had skipped several meals. I could immerse myself so completely into a book that everything else became trivial.
    My reading was interrupted when Lucinda pulled the car into the parking lot of a laundromat.
    I stifled a groan. I knew we needed to wash the clothes, but after the stress of the thrift store, I just wanted to be back at our temporary home. “Can we do it at the laundromat at the trailer park?” I asked hopeful.
    “No, it only has two washers. Besides, Jim and I deserve a coffee break while you and Kevin do the laundry,” Lucinda said, handing me a stack of crumbled up one-dollar bills. “This is it for cash until Jim can find work,” she added.
    “Okay, I’ll make it stretch,” I said, smoothing out the bills as I went to retrieve a cart to transport our clothes into the building.
    After I loaded up the clothes and laundry soap we kept in the trunk of the car, Lucinda and Jim pulled out of the lot, promising to return in a few hours.
    I sorted the clothes into three large loads to conserve our money while Kevin used the coin machine to turn the dollar bills into quarters. At least the place was empty, so I could use three machines next to each other. It was a pain trying to keep an eye on several washers scattered throughout the facility.
    “Okay punk, thanks for your help. How ‘bout a snack?”
    “Really?” he asked, racing over to the vending machine.
    “Pick one and we can split a soda,” I added, feeling extravagant.
    He gnawed on his lip. “I don’t know, Katelyn, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
    “It’s fine, dopey boy. Mom and Jim are off getting coffee, right? Well, this is our treat. We’ll just keep it as our secret, okay?”
    He nodded. He was smart enough to know I was breaking the rules, but his desire for something to eat outweighed his conscience.
    Several minutes later, I finally had to prompt him to make a choice. He was torn between chips and his favorite candy, Peanut M&M’s.
    “Why don’t you get the M&M’s since they have peanuts inside, that way it’s like you’re getting a double treat?”
    “Good idea,” he said, grinning at me.
    I plunked some change into the vending machine for him and headed over to the soda machine to get us a drink.
    “Here you go, sis,” he said, offering me the open bag of candy as we settled onto the hard resin seats.
    “No thanks, kid, I’m not all that hungry.”
    “Are you sure?” he asked, not quite believing me.
    “Positive,” I said, trying to block out the smell of his candy so that my stomach wouldn’t growl and betray my lie.
    Kevin munched happily on his unexpected treat while I read my book until the laundry was ready to be switched around.
    A little later, while the laundry was tumbling in the dryers, I gave Kevin a ride in the laundry cart since the facility was still empty of other patrons. He loved it when I would pretend I was going to crash the cart into something, only to jerk the cart to a stop at the last possible moment. The belly laughs that poured from him made me giggle in delight. Moments like this only clarified why I could never leave him.
    Our fun came to a close as the clothes began to dry. Lucinda was seriously obsessive compulsive about her clothes getting wrinkled, and only hers mind you, which seemed like an oxymoron considering that the majority of the time we lived in the car. Though I felt the whole idea was ridiculous, I’d taken enough hits over the years to know it had to be done right. So, as each piece of her clothing became dry, Kevin and I would pull it out and shake it vigorously before smoothing it out on the folding table and rolling it like Lucinda preferred. Rolling the clothes before they were packed helped eliminate wrinkles and crease lines and Lucinda had come to appreciate this method.
    Kevin