Delacroix, Louisiana

Earth-199999

2024 C.E.

The machine I was about to operate was very delicate. If I pushed the wrong settings, it would be impossible to stop until it was too late, and massive destruction of property would occur. I had learned that from experience.

But this time, I would do better. I read over each button carefully, pressing only the ones I was sure I needed. I checked the glowing red timer located on the front left side of the machine. Perfect. I raised my hand to push the start button.

But something was wrong.

"Hey, Sam, you got any more quarters?" I called over my shoulder.

Sam looked up from where he was taking his clothes out of a dryer. "How many do you need?"

I looked back at the washing machine. It said $3.75 a load, and I only had $2.75. "Four."

"Let me check." Sam left his clothes piled in a hamper near the dryer and crossed the white tile floor to a wooden bench at the end of the row of washers. He pulled a small black backpack from under the bench and started rummaging around in the smallest pocket.

I leaned back against the row of washing machines, surveying the customers at the laundromat. There was an elderly couple pulling socks out of a dryer on one side of the room, a mother with two young children begging for ice cream on the other, and a young woman reading a magazine by the window.

As I watched, a man pulled open the glass door next to the window and entered the laundromat. He didn't have any laundry, and he wasn't carrying any sort of basket or bag, just a small black device in his right hand.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I ducked behind the row of washing machines, sliding next to Sam's backpack on the wooden bench.

Sam's eyes flicked up towards me. "What's going on?"

"Give me all your quarters!" a voice yelled from the front of the store.

Sam froze. Then a small grin spread across his face. "Quarters? Seriously?"

"What else would you steal at a laundromat?" I raised my eyes above the row of washing machines. The man who had just come in the door was standing at the front of the laundromat, holding a handgun in a way that looked like he'd never held a handgun before. He was moving the gun back and forth across the laundromat, from the kids and the mother who were hiding under a table, to the elderly couple crouched behind a clothes hamper, to the woman sitting near the window frozen with her magazine covering half her face.

Sam glanced over the top of the washing machines too. He sighed and crouched back down. "You want to deal with this, or you want me to?"

"I got it." I stood up and crossed the creaking floor of the laundromat to the man with the gun. I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Sir, I'd like to ask you to put the gun down," I said in my most professional-sounding voice.

The man pointed the gun at my head. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Bucky. Who are you?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "You got any quarters, Bucky?"

"No, I don't, actually. I had to ask my friend for some."

"Who's your friend?"

I pointed to the left side of the laundromat. The man's eyes flicked to the side—just for a second, but that was enough. I grabbed the handgun, twisting the man's arm to release it from his grip, and shoved him towards the ground. He slid all the way across the laundromat and crashed into a pile of clothes hampers.

I closed my fingers around the handgun. The metal crumpled in my vibranium fingers like hot wax. I opened my hand again and let the pieces of the gun fall to the floor.

The would-be quarter robber pulled himself out of the clothes hampers and looked at the gun on the floor. Then he looked at me. Then at the gun.

"You can keep it," I offered.

The man jumped to his feet and dashed out of the laundromat.

I picked up the pieces of handgun and tossed them into a nearby trash can. Then I walked back to the back of the laundromat, where Sam was now zipping his backpack shut.

"I found the quarters," he said.

"Thanks." I took the quarters from Sam and inserted them into the coin slot. The machine made a happy beep.

Finally, I pushed the button to start the washing machine.