The Laundry
Lily made a mistake. She wasn’t sure exactly what the mistake was though. She was playing with her younger brother, Edgar, when Mother started yelling. Edgar had the good sense to hide as soon as he heard Mother’s anger. He was good at disappearing, much better than Lily.
Lily turned just in time to see Mother coming down the stairs. Her laughter at her brother’s antics came to an abrupt end when she saw Mother’s face. It was beet red and twisted in fury. Curious, thought Lily, Mother’s face is almost the same color as her hair!
“What are you laughing at?” Mother sneered. Lily knew better than to answer. She just shook her head, looked at the floor, and wished with every fiber of her being that Mother would continue down the stairs. She didn’t. Instead, Mother focused her full attention on her.
“What were you laughing at, Lily?” Mother asked again. “Were you laughing at me? Do you think it’s funny that I have to do laundry at the last minute? You think it’s a game? Well?” Mother loomed forebodingly over Lily; a hamper tucked under one ample arm.
Lily knew better than to respond.
“Nothing to say? Well, then, since you seem to think it’s all fun and games, you can do it!” Mother bellowed as she pelted Lily with dirty clothes from the hamper.
Lily couldn’t dodge the flying clothes. Mother’s anger fueled the barrage so all she could do was back away. She retreated until she bumped into the wall. With nowhere else to go, she crouched down to make herself as small a target as possible.
Mother soon ran out of clothes to throw and hurled the hamper at Lily saying, “I expect you to have all the clothes washed, dried, and put away before you get any dinner, young lady! No excuses!” She turned, her housedress billowing around her, and stomped back up the stairs slamming her bedroom door behind her.
Lily held still and listened for any sound of Mother’s return. Her heart was pounding so hard it was difficult to hear. Moments passed and she heard nothing. The coast was clear. She stood up, picked up the hamper, and quickly gathered the dirty clothes.
Edgar reappeared and helped. Together they managed to slide the now-full hamper down the stairs to the basement and wrestle it into the laundry room. Lily turned on the light and suddenly realized the enormity of her task. The hamper didn’t contain the only dirty clothes to be washed. The laundry room was overflowing.
There were four huge piles of clothes that took up all of the floor space not occupied by the washer and dryer. The piles were so big they towered over Lily’s head. How in the world am I supposed to get all of this finished by dinner? Lily thought. She sat on the side of one of the clothing mountains as tears filled her eyes. There is no way. I don’t even know how to turn on the washer and there is no one to ask. She let out a quiet sob.
Edgar smiled. He scurried up the clothes pile nearest to the washer and opened the lid. Then he climbed down and went to the hamper. He started pulling clothes from it and throwing them at the washer. Some went in, some didn’t. He giggled when they didn’t.
Lily sighed. Everything was a game to Edgar. He had the right idea, though. Getting upset wouldn’t accomplish anything. The clothes weren’t going to wash themselves so there was nothing to do except to get started. She got up and helped pull the clothes from the hamper and toss them into the washer.
A few minutes later Edgar stopped. “Full?” he asked. Lily climbed up the pile of clothes and looked. The washer certainly was full. The lid wouldn’t even shut completely because they had tossed in too many clothes. Lily pulled some out.
“No!” Edgar wailed.
“Oh, hush. You put too much in; the lid wouldn’t even close. Mother would be angry if the soapy water sloshed out everywhere,” Lily explained. She climbed down the clothes pile and looked around. “Do you have any idea what we’re supposed to do next?”
“No,” Edgar said plainly. He looked around the room and pointed towards the shelf above the washer. “Soap?” he asked.
Lily looked at the shelf. It was out of her reach. Maybe if I stand on the washer I can reach it, she thought. She listened for any sound of Mother coming down the steps. If Mother caught her standing on the washer she was certain to get a smack, but she could see no other way.
Hearing nothing from above, she climbed the pile of clothes nearest the washer. Hoisting herself carefully on top, she slowly stood and looked at the containers on the shelf. As far as she could tell, none of them said ‘Soap’. One box was open. It held a scoop but was almost empty. That must be what’s used thought Lily.
She moved to one side and opened the washer’s lid. She took a scoopful of the ‘soap’ and poured it onto the clothes. Edgar watched intently. “More,” he said.
Lily looked at him inquisitively. “It shouldn’t take more than one scoopful, Edgar,” she replied.
“More!” he said again.
“Ok, Edgar. I guess one more scoop won’t hurt.” Lily poured a second scoopful onto the clothes. Now, how do I turn it on she wondered.
She crouched on the washer’s lid and looked at the dials. She spun one while trying to read the words. None of them made any sense. “Ee-x-ta-r-a? Puh-l-yee-es-ta-r?”
“You sound funny,” Edgar giggled.
Lily turned around. Her frustration at the situation bubbled to the surface and she yelled, “What would you know? You can’t even read!”
Edgar cringed. Lily was instantly sorry she had yelled at him. She knew he was helping because he was hungry. Even though Mother hadn’t included Edgar, she knew neither of them would eat until the laundry was finished. Lily wished she knew why Mother was so angry all the time. Then she wouldn’t do whatever it was any more and Mother would be happier and nicer to them.
“I’m sorry, Edgar,” she apologized. “I don’t know what to do now. The words don’t make any sense and nothing happens when I turn the dial. I guess we won’t be getting any dinner tonight.”
“And why wouldn’t you be getting any dinner?”
The voice startled Lily and she looked up. “Father!” she exclaimed. She jumped off the washer and ran into his waiting hug. “I’m so glad you’re home!”
“What have you done this time? Why were you sitting on top of the washer,” Father asked.
“Mother got angry and told me to do the laundry.” Lily replied.
“She knows you don’t know how to do laundry. Why would she tell you to do it? What happened,” Father asked again.
“Mother thought I was laughing at her. I was laughing at Edgar but he disappeared so she thought I was alone. I wasn’t laughing at her! I was laughing at Edgar!” Lily felt tears well up in her eyes and tried to blink them away.
“So, she misunderstood the situation, overreacted, and told you to do the laundry as a punishment?” Father asked as he looked into the washer.
“Yes. She said it all had to be done before I got any dinner. I’m trying but I don’t think I’m doing it right,” Lily answered.
“How much soap did you put in here?” he asked.
“Two scoops,” she replied.
“Full scoops?” he asked.
“No. I couldn’t get the scoops full. The box is almost empty so I could only get the scoops about half full,” Lily explained.
“That’s enough soap for a load. Have you checked the dryer? Is there anything in there?” Father closed the washer’s lid, spun the dial around, and then pulled it out with a click. The washer hummed to life.
“I hadn’t checked it yet,” Lily replied. She moved to the dryer and pulled on the door. It opened suddenly causing her to stumble backwards into a pile of clothes. She regained her balance and looked into the dyer. “It’s empty.”
“Ok,” said Father. “Now that the laundry is started, I’ll go talk to Mother and see if this is one of her usual overreactions or something more. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear. In the meantime, go play in the side yard.” He moved towards the stairs, stopped, and pulled something from his pocket.
“These should tide you over until dinner. Give one to Edgar. Don’t let your mother know where you got them or there won’t be any more!”
Lily looked down. Her father had placed two Snickers bars in her hand. She smiled at him, “I won’t tell. I promise.”
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