Laundromat (The Magician – Chapter Five)

This is the fifth chapter of the serialization novel I am working on, The Magician – < click there to read the other chapters if you missed them.

Want to listen to this instead of read it? Check out M. Ray Davis’ podcasted version!

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Laundromat

The laundromat in one of the older neighborhoods of the city of Allium was showing its age, just as that neighborhood was.   Half of the washers and a third of the dryers were taped off because of disrepair.  In one corner, piles of laundry that had been left behind were strewn, looking unkempt.  Dingy fluorescent lights flashed at times and the walls were yellowed.  A patch of drywall looked to be recent, the edges of it roughly slathered and allowed to dry without smoothing.  Ceiling tiles showed their age and one was completely missing.  The entire place could use an overhaul.

The hum of the dryers melded with the constant whirls of the washing machines’ spin cycles and the drone of the aged air conditioner from somewhere in the walls.  The floral notes of laundry detergent and the scent of fabric softener masked the mildew smell of overused washing machines. 

A man entered the building, wearing a pair of blue jeans that were ragged and frayed.  An oversized black and white flannel shirt draped his shoulders, unbuttoned to reveal the gray shirt he wore underneath. He carried a rucksack over one shoulder while the straps of a pop-up mesh hamper were held in his other hand.  He took note of his surroundings with an efficient and meticulous scan.

“Why are we meeting here?” he asked quietly, putting the rucksack in his arms up on the immovable counter, sturdily braced to the wall.  “Surely there are better laundromats than this.”

A woman stood up, having been hunched over one washer.  Her long brown hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, some of the locks already falling out of their containment.  She wore a bright pink tank top and black yoga pants with the comfortable confidence of an attractive woman.  Completing her attire were a pair of tie-dyed gym shoes, the no-show white socks barely visible round the bottoms of her ankles. She removed the final articles of clothing from the washer as she tucked one lock of hair behind her ear.  She looked at the man with a bemused smile.

“Wow, you surely dressed the part,” she replied with a laugh.  “You look like a hobo.  Where’d you get the clothes?  The thrift store?”

The man smoothed the ragged jeans as he looked contemptuously at her own outfit.

“You’re one to talk, Kimmie.”

“You’ve seen me in clothes like this before.  Whereas I have never seen you in a flannel.  I didn’t know you owned any jeans with holes in them.”

“I borrowed them from one of my colleagues, actually,” he returned.  “You told me to try to dress like I was from this part of town.  I knew we’d be meeting in a less refined situation, but I didn’t expect something as tumbledown as this.  So again, why did you choose this dilapidation?”  

“Because it is the closest one to my apartment,” she replied.  “You did leave the location for this rendezvous up to me.  Since it’s laundry day, I decided this would do.  My washer is out and the repairman can’t look at it until Tuesday.”

He frowned as he eyed the ceiling tiles once more. 

“This place is a dump.”

She shrugged as she pushed the wire-rimmed laundry cart across the small section of the room to the dryers.  

“You’re the one who wished to remain inconspicuous,” she chided softly as she swung open a dryer door chosen at random.  “Besides, there usually aren’t many people here.”

She looked pointedly at the older couple situated at the other side of the laundromat, the only other occupants on this floor of the building.  The woman was sorting a heaping laundry cart of clothing into dryers as the man was engrossed in some sort of race on his cellular phone, the sound loud enough that the pair could hear it across the way.  Neither of the two elderly people were even paying attention to the pair.

“Fair enough,” her companion replied.  He opened several washers and began to sort the laundry into them by color and wash cycle.

“Ever fastidious, Tan,” she murmured as she gathered another load of wet clothes from a washer into her cart.  “Anyway, you said you had news?”

The man nodded as he began to dole out the quarters he would need for each load, stacking them neatly in rows upon the machines he was using.  He eyed the couple across the room and spoke low.

“I did some surveillance the other night.  She is exactly as you suspected.  Her magic is impeccable.  I do believe she has the fabled Tamberlane gift.”

The woman smiled.

“I knew it.  She’ll likely control it better than he did since she also has the Birdwhistle cunning in her as well.”

The man had zapped the machine with some magic to get it to start the cycle.  He glanced over to see if the elderly couple had noticed.  They continued to remain engrossed in their own circumstances.

“Merlin’s beard!” he exclaimed quietly.  “I had forgotten that she’s a part of that line as well.  I am hoping the better part of the Rankin grit is there too.  You think she will be willing to help, given all of the magics of her family lines?” 

The woman nodded as she pulled a folded newspaper out of her bag.  She pressed it towards him surreptitiously.  

“What’s this, Kim?” ​He regarded her with a quizzical expression.

“I was able to glean some of what you requested from our archives. My colleagues assisted, though I was careful in explaining why I needed the information.​​ All they know is it is for a research project.  It helps that I am taking over for one of her advisors.”

He noted a peek of a manilla envelope within the folds of the newspaper.  He tucked it into the crook of his arm and nodded slowly.

The woman took to folding the first load of laundry, already dry, into neat piles as a second family entered the building. Unlike the elderly couple, the newcomers were loud and obnoxious.  A middle-aged woman entered first, looking worn and haggard.  She hauled an industrial sized hamper and was followed by two teenage girls who had their faces obscured by their phones, acting catty as they argued with each other.  A teenaged boy followed, hauling a second hamper, overflowing with an assortment of articles.  He was complaining about having to carry something so heavy.  A man trailed behind all of them, yelling at four smaller children that followed while on his cell phone, the speaker on.

“But I wanted the chocolate one,” one of the little ones simpered.

“Quit your whining or I’ll give you something to whine about!” the man shouted.  He put the phone back to his ear.  “Oy, George, you still there?”

“Yes,” came the reply through the cell phone, loud enough everyone in the laundromat could hear him.  “Maybe you should call me back when you have some uninterrupted time.”

Tan raised his eyebrows at the woman as he heard the man reply. “No, no.  I have the time now.”  He cocked his head towards the other door and she nodded as he cast a spell that would continue to fold her laundry as they stepped outdoors for a moment.  They slipped into the alley behind the laundromat.

Even with all of the city traffic buzzing by, the alley was less chaotic than the inside of the laundromat was.  Tan pulled the envelope from the newspaper and looked down at it.

Kimmie noticed his hesitation and spoke.

“I am told she is brilliant and a tireless student.  She may be just the tool you need. She’d just need a little nudge to figure all of this out.”

Tan sighed as he let his bravado fall a bit.  He knew his companion would not say a word about the slip in his character.  She knew him too well to do that.

“You don’t think she’d be captured as he was, Kimmie?  After all, Malatesta knows just how to con others into doing his bidding.  I still haven’t figured out how yet.”

She shook her head.  “She remains entrenched in the family and social circles they inhabit.  Her wild streak is not as impetuous as others have been in the past.  As a result, she would not be indebted to Malatesta as easily as Godding was.”

Tan frowned.  “Our biggest regret was we could not get him to see reason.  If only we knew how he became so indebted.  I know… I know Ben would have…”

He shook his head as he trailed off.  He took a step towards the window and looked inside.  Tucking the envelope back into his newspaper, he nodded.

“I will look over these later,” he replied.  “Your laundry is done, dear Kimmie.  I’ll contact you when I get all the tricks lined up for play and when I have more news from my eyes.”

She nodded as she walked back towards the door.

“Tan, be careful.  Malatesta’s a great deal stronger than he was when we were younger.  I don’t know how, but he has become powerful.”

“So have I, Kimmie dear.”

“He has a great deal more protection too.  And you are missing your right-hand man this time.”

Tan frowned, a brief flit of sorrow crossing his face.

“I do have others I can count on. But I’ll keep my wits about me.  Take care.”  

With that, he leaned against the brick wall of the building and perused the newspaper.  He watched from the corner of his eye as the woman disappeared into the laundromat, collected her things and left, never giving him a second glance.

Click here to read the next chapter – Nestor

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Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction written by K. S. Wood, and thus is copyrighted 2023. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.  All rights reserved.

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