Chapter 21

The next day, at the midday break Rose made a bold move. She went to ask Dava, her boss in the laundry, if she could bring her 'amator' to the laundry during the lunch break.

She explained that Dace wanted her and, although she hated to admit it, she was afraid to shower in the laundry without Theta there to protect her and she did not want to go to the public baths.

Dava studied Rose for a moment. "You have proven to be an exceptional worker. You do not complain, you do not ask for breaks and the quality of your work is very good. However, bringing one's amator to shower in the laundry is not usually permitted."

"Yes, ma'am." Rose was clearly disappointed as she started to walk away.

"Wait." The stout woman said. "It is not usually permitted, but you are a good worker and" she looked cautiously about to make sure they were alone "I too, despise Dace. As long as you do not get caught I will permit it. If you do get caught, then you must know that I will tell them that you did not have my permission."

"Thank you!" Rose said with a big smile and she hurried off to her compartment.

Because of the events of the previous day, there was nothing in the compartment for her to fix for lunch except for rice (Her and Aaron decided to take turns cooking and shopping). She poured some in the pot, added water and stirred it with the stick. About 20 minutes later the rest of the group returned for their midday meal.

After everyone had eaten their skimpy meal of rice, Rose took the one towel they owned and the soap and said to Theta "Doctor, would you come with me?"

"Uh, where are we going Rose?"

"I need to show you something in the laundry."

As they walked to the laundry Rose explained that the laundry vats were drained everyday before the midday break, and that they had permission from her boss to shower in the laundry room.

"A real shower?" Theta asked incredulously.

"Yea, close enough."

Theta sat on the floor with his back toward Rose, keeping an eye out for Dace as she took her lukewarm shower.

She dried off quickly, dressed and then announced "Your turn."

"You know, Rose, before we get out of here you and I are actually going to shower together!"

Rose blushed. "But we have to keep watch for Dace."

"Yeah, yeah..."

The water that came out of the aqueduct piping reminded Theta of the scene from "Singing in the Rain" where Gene Kelly stood under a gutter and rain water poured out on him. Theta didn't care. It felt great! And that soap Rose had found at the concession area wasn't bad either.

Rose stood by the doorway, keeping guard while Theta showered. She was getting worried because he was taking so long. Finally she stuck her head back in the laundry and hissed "Doctor, hurry up!"

Theta reached up and pushed the lever that closed the gate valve, causing the water to shut off. He dried himself with the same damp towel Rose had used and then got dressed.

"That was great, Rose!" he said as he came out of the laundry, running his fingers through his wet hair. "But when are you going to wash our clothes? Not that I don't appreciate having clean underwear everyday."

"I'll wash them when I have enough tokens to buy everyone another set of clothes."

"Ah." He paused briefly, "And speaking of shopping..."

"Yeah, I know! Rice is getting a little old, I have to replace the bucket I smashed yesterday."

"Ok, just checkin'"

When they returned from work that evening they handed Rose the 28 tokens they had earned that day, along with the 20 tokens from the day before.

Rose then went across the passageway to get Rican and the two women headed to the concession area.

At the food vendor's standRose purchased the usual stew ingredients, another 5 pound bag of rice, 3 loaves of bread and half a dozen apples. The total came to 12 tokens.

Next she had Rican take her to the garment booth. "I need clothes for all the members of my team." She told the woman.

Rican showed her earth tone, baggy pants with drawstrings at the waist.

"How much per pair?"Rose asked her.

"6 tokens." Rican replied.

"I don't suppose you get an employee discount or anything, do you?" Rose asked.

Rican looked at her for a moment, then turned to the woman behind the counter. "Give her 5 pairs of the trousers for 24 tokens." She said.

Rican then picked out sizes for each member of the team including Rose.

Rose thanked her and handed over 24 tokens.

The next stop was the Cooper, to see about a replacement bucket.

"Seven tokens seems like an awful lot for a bucket!"Rose exclaimed to the man.

"Well, it is fine craftsmanship and a great deal of work!" The Cooper said.

"Do you have a used bucket, or a sample bucket that's cheaper?"Rose asked.

The man rolled his eyes, dug around under his table and produced a well worn bucket. He plopped it down on the table. "Three tokens." He said.

"I'll take it." As she paid the man Rose thought about the fact that her angry outburst yesterday had cost her an entire day's wages.

With just nine tokens remainingRose purchased another towel for four tokens and was on her way home with five tokens still in her pocket, she then decided she would try to save five tokens each day.