216. Laundry Day (1) 

It was noon on Friday. Friday was wash , Kerry’s least favorite day. Doing the wash was a pain. He had to gather together all dirty clothes. He had to turn the shirts slacks inside out to save wear and tear the outside of the shirts and slacks. He to empty all the junk out of all pockets of his clothes.

Then he had to quarters for each load of wash—four for the and three for the dryer. It’d be so to have a weekly maid, like his downstairs . Kerry piled all his clothes into the laundry and went downstairs. He was relieved to hear as he approached the laundry room; no one using the machines. He put laundry soap and into the washer, and set it at Warm and Regular Wash. A few minutes later, it full of soapy water. He stuffed in half the dirty clothes. This was going to be two-load day.

He placed the half-full basket on of the churning washer. He shut the laundry door and walked back upstairs. He set his timer to 35 minutes. When the washer was , he’d reload it and put the first load the dryer. He sat down and opened the to the California section: "Truck Runs Over Crossing ," said the headline.