Laundry Day

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Pooch stared dubiously at the machines in front of them. On the hard plastic seats nearby, Clay was once again hidden behind a newspaper and Cougar napped beneath his hat.

"Because I'm tired of smelling like ass" Jensen dumped a plastic basket of clothes onto a small table. "We ride in closed vehicles in 100-degree heat in clothes that haven't been touched by soap since we obtained them. Face it, Pooch! We smell like a herd of goats."

"So what do you care? You trying to impress someone?" Pooch glanced at the snoozing sniper, an evil smile curling the edges of his mouth.

Jensen went as pink as the shirt he was stuffing into the washer. "Shut up, Pooch."

"Jensen and Cougar sittin' in a tree…"

"C'mon! What are you, four? And stop stuffing everything in! You have to separate the lights from the darks."

"Racist!" Pooch snickered and dodged as Jensen faked a swing at him.

"Do I have to come over there, boys?" Clay rattled his paper, awakening Cougar who sat up blinking. "Just get the damn job done."

They finished loading the washers, dumped in soap and coins, and took their places on the hard plastic seats of the little Laundromat.

"I wish Aisha would get back with those burgers. I'm hungry" Pooch sighed and examined, without much interest, a pamphlet that he had found in his seat that said, "ARE YOU READY FOR THE SECOND COMING?"

Jensen took the seat next to Cougar, who had settled down to sleep again. "Why do people leave religious tracts in Laundromats? Is it supposed to be a two-for-one deal? Like, cleanse your clothes AND your soul?"

"Shut up, Jensen."

"Seriously, Pooch. Didn't you ever wonder anything like that?"

"No."

"Well, what about you, Cougs?" Jensen shook Cougar by the shoulder. "Didn't you ever want to know that?"

Cougar opened one eye. "¿Qué?"

Speaking in Spanish usually meant he had no intention of conversing, but Jensen was undaunted. "Didn't you ever wonder why people leave religious pamphlets in Laundromats?"

The sniper shrugged. "Where I come from, they don't."

"Huh. Why not? I thought everyone was seriously Catholic in Mexico."

Cougar smiled lazily up at him. "Iglesia de Madre Santa, she don't need to advertise." He stretched his arms over his head, yawned, and tipped his hat over his eyes once again.

"How'd you enjoy handling his tighty-whities?" Pooch hissed in Jensen's ear. Jensen jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. "Shut UP!"

"I don't wear em", Cougar said.

Pooch cracked up as the young techie's face turned the color of wild roses. A slight trembling of the cowboy hat told him that Cougar was also enjoying Jensen's embarrassment.

"Time to put everything in the dryer!" Jensen bolted to his feet, leaving a snorting Pooch behind him. As Jensen stuffed their sopping gear into the dryer, Pooch leaned over to Cougar. "When you gonna put him out of his misery, man?"

Cougar just smiled. "Not yet."