I was glad I’d been able to find an outlet, but I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to actuallyhearwhat I’d written, so I put it away for the night. I went into the living room and thanked Katie for sending McKenzie the text earlier that morning, giving her the day off.
“Of course. I was happy to do it,” she said. “How was she today?”
“Okay, I think,” I answered. I wasn’t sure if Katie knew about McKenzie’s brother, and if she didn’t, it wasn’t my place to tell her. “She didn’t say a lot about what was bothering her last night, but she did seem to be feeling better when I dropped her off at her truck.”
Katie gave a solemn nod. “Thanks for looking out for her.”
She and Dallas told me about their day while I kept quiet about mine. Then Dallas mentioned they were going to watch a show before they made dinner and asked if I wanted to join them, but I opted to lie down for a few minutes.
I was physically exhausted, but my mind was wide awake. About half an hour later, I realized staring at the ceiling wasn’t doing me any favors, so I decided to get up and do some laundry. When I’d first started staying there, Katie insisted on doing every little thing for me, including throwing my wash in with theirs. But once I started to regain my footing, I’d gotten into the routine of heading down to the musty basement in the morning after they’d left for work to wash a load so I wasn’t tying up the water in the old house while one of them was in the shower.
With my earbuds in, I turned on some music and piled my heap of dirty clothes into a basket. I carried it through the hall and into the kitchen, opening the door that led to the basement. Balancing on the rickety steps, I pulled it shut behind me in case Emilia wandered in and got curious. I descended the stairs, an old Blink-182 song playing in my ears. When I got to the bottom and turned toward the machines, a shriek pierced through the music, and I nearly tumbled backward.
There was Dallas, sitting buck naked on top of the washer with his legs spread and Katie—thankfully, still in a bra and some shorts—standing between them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep me from seeing Dallas’ whipped cream-covered dickorthe patches of white stuck to Katie’s chin.
Sothat’swhy they keep all that shit in the house!
“Fuck,” I shouted, dropping my basket to the concrete floor, sending my clothes scattering as I covered my eyes with one hand and plucked my earbuds out with the other.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys were down here.”
“We thought you were resting,” Dallas cried.
“I was,” I said with a shudder, squeezing my eyes shut. But it was too late. The vision of Dallas and his banana split dick was already burned into my retinas. I’d never be able to listen to “All the Small Things” ever again. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d do laundry. How was I supposed to know you’d be down here receiving mouth to south resuscitation?”
“Oh my God,” Katie muttered. “Kill me now.”
“You couldn’t have put a sock on the door or something?” I asked. “Maybe a Tide Pod? I mean, youarein the laundry room.”
“You can open your eyes now,” Dallas said.
“I’d rather not.” I’d never get that image out of my head as long as I lived.
“We’re covered,” Katie said, but I opened my lids slowly, just in case. Sure enough, they’d both managed to get their clothes back on.
Katie’s cheeks were flaming red, and Dallas’ face was partially obscured by his hand.
“Sorry, guys,” I said, piling my clothes back into the basket. “I’m gonna…go be anywhere but here.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Katie said, tugging at the hem of her shirt. “You can use the machine.”
“I think I’m gonna pass on that.” I nodded toward the stuff in my hands. “In fact, I might just burn these and start over.”
Dallas shot me an annoyed glare. “Really? Youdoremember we all had to hear you have sex in the bathroom that one time at Sunday dinner, right?”
“Not my proudest moment,” I said with a wince.“Listen, I’m gonna go out and grab something to eat if I can find my appetite again. Maybe I’ll go for a drive. At any rate, I won’t be back for a few hours.”
Katie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Seriously, you don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Oh, I do,” I said, backing away toward the stairs. “Because I’ve got to go buy some bleach to wash Dallas’ whipped cream wiener out of my head.”
Dallas grabbed the aerosol can and popped the top, pointing it at me. “You better watch it.”
I scrunched my nose. “Again, I’d really rather not.”
He threw a towel at me, but I dodged it, ran up the stairs, and was in my car in less than ninety seconds. I headed to a local pizza joint and picked up a pie. But I didn’t open the box right away. Instead, I found myself driving down the same roads I’d been on the night before until they led me back to the house with the upstairs apartment and a truck parked outside. Before I could stop to ask myself why I was there, I was climbing the iron staircase, pizza in hand.
I tapped out three rapid knocks on the door, and onlythendid my mind pause long enough to wonder what the fuck I was doing showing up at McKenzie’s unannounced—or at all. But I didn’t have long to consider it because she appeared, wearing an oversized fuzzy sweatshirt, leggings, and no shoes.
