A few minutes later Laura came downstairs. "Crystal, didn't you see my clothes on top of the washer?"
"The clean ones?" She set the paper down. "Of course. I set them on top of the dryer."
"They aren't clean," the writer corrected. "I was going to take a shower before starting the laundry."
"What do you mean?" Confused, Crystal rose and walked over to the laundry area. "They're all folded."
"I always fold my clothes."
"You fold your dirty laundry?" She shook her head with disbelief. "I should have known. If anyone would fold their dirty laundry, you would. I'm surprised you don't iron it too."
"Only when I'm in the mood," Laura teased, reaching for a coffee cup. "If you see a basket of laundry on top of the washer, it's dirty. Just for future reference."
"Fine. Even if it looks clean, it's dirty." She turned and noticed Laura's outfit, a light blue baseball jersey and white pants with a matching blue stripe. Looking down, she saw the matching blue and white stirrup style socks. "What are you dressed like that for?"
"I'm on a softball team. Jenny's going to be stopping by in a few minutes to pick me up."
"You play softball? Somehow I can't picture you getting all dirty and sliding around the bases."
"I usually don't slide and yes, I play softball. Our team is called Ameilia's Airhearts. We're sponsored by Ameilia's Pub and she thought this was a good play on words. It's fun and it's a great way to get together with my friends." Laura poured herself a cup of coffee. "Do you play any sports?"
Crystal laughed. "I haven't played ball since I was a little kid and I knew then that I sucked." "Ah, you just need practice. If you aren't doing anything today, you're welcome to come along." "Thanks but no thanks. Getting hot and sweaty knocking a ball around isn't myi.e.of a good time." Laura shrugged. "Suit yourself. Did you get the paper this morning?"
"Yeah, it's out on the deck."
"In how many pieces?"
"Hardy har har," Crystal said. "Go drink your coffee. I'm gonna go take a shower." "If the wash finishes, I'll put it in the dryer for you."
Crystal came downstairs after taking her shower to find that Jenny had arrived, dressed in the same uniform as Laura. "Oh, hi Crystal," the therapist said with a smile. "How are you?"
"Fine."
"Hey Jen, we'd better get going," Laura said, picking up her cleats and glove.
"You want to come along?" Jenny offered to Crystal. "We're playing against the team from The Falcon."
"Naw."
"Come on, it'll be fun," she offered again. "You can watch Babe Ruth over here knock the ball over the fence a dozen times." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the now embarrassed Laura.
"No, really, I
"
"What are you doing today that's more fun than hanging out with a bunch of fun loving people and getting some fresh air?" Crystal fidgeted and looked in the direction of the washer. Jenny followed her gaze and shook her head. "Nope. Doing laundry isn't good enough." She reached over and tugged on the blonde woman's elbow. "Let's go."
Crystal stopped short when she saw Jenny's vehicle. "What the hell is that?"
"It's a Thing."
"What?" She walked closer to the pumpkin orange classic. "It looks like German army Jeep with the top down."
"It's a Thing. Well, that's what it ended up being called. Technically it's a Volkswagen One-Eighty-One." Jenny walked up proudly to her car and opened the back door. "This one is a seventy-four. The seventy-threes are the hardest to find but this one works with unleaded gas." "Must be a bitch to get parts for," Crystal said, still giving dubious looks at the Thing. She shot a look at Laura when she saw the smirk directed at her.
"It's a perfectly safe car," Jenny said, walking over to the driver's side.
"Except when you get in one of your moods," Laura said, hopping into the passenger seat, directly in front of Crystal. She turned in her seat to look at her roommate. "She's been known to confuse the Thing with a racecar from time to time."
"Bite me," Jenny said tartly, sliding into the driver's seat and putting her key in the ignition. "I'm not the one with six points on her license." She placed a hard plastic hairband on to keep the wind from whipping her hair about and put the Thing in reverse. The clutch slipped twice before engaging, causing the car to lurch and buck. "Sorry about that."
"No problem," Crystal assured, looking around for the seat belt. She had to dig between the seat and back to find the two ends but when she did she put it on and quickly tightened it into position. Laura saw what she was doing and smirked.
"Yeah, no problem."
"You know you two can walk if you don't like the way I drive." She paused long enough to glance at the oncoming traffic before darting out and into the lane. "Ah, I knew Betsy would be fine once she had her oil changed."
"Betsy is what she calls the great pumpkin," Laura explained. "I always called it a piece of"
"Don't say it," Jenny warned, turning on the AM radio and finding an oldies station. "You know how temperamental she is." "Everything has a personality with her," Laura explained.
"Speaking of personalities," the therapist said, "don't be surprised if Donna and Wendy are all over each other. Kelly said she saw them at Ameilia's Tuesday night and they were acting like they were back together."
"Wonderful. That means Toni is going to be bitchy."
"Maybe not. Kelly said Toni was trying to get back with Linda."
"Like Linda would take her back after what happened."
"Hey, you never know, Laura. She took Toni back once before."
From the back seat, Crystal listened to the gossip, the multitude of names and who was doing what to whom mixing in her mind until she had no clue what was going on. All she figured out from the conversation was that Laura was good with a bat and played right field while Jenny was the first baseman.
They pulled into a dirt parking lot, Jenny beeping the horn and waving at her teammates that were gathered around the bleachers. Minutes later Crystal was settled on the bleacher near first base, Jenny's cooler sitting next to her. To the stripper's disappointment, Jenny had only packed various kinds of sodas and juices to drink, no beer or wine coolers. Several women were also sitting on the bleachers, most talking amongst themselves about one or more of the players. Crystal saw the opposing team along the third base line, the Falcon's jerseys red in contrast to the Airheart's blue. The umpire blew her whistle and the blue team took the field while the red team began swinging bats to warm up. "Wish us luck," Laura said as she jogged past her.
"Oh, so you know Laura, hmm?" a husky voice asked, causing Crystal to turn to the side to see who was speaking to her. A woman with short red hair and wearing a blue jersey stood before her. "Lucky Laura."
"I'm her roommate. Crystal." She held her hand out and found it quickly incased in a firm grip.
"Peg." Crystal felt the woman's eyes checking out her body and shifted uncomfortably. "So you look kind of familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"
"Oh please," Jenny called from her vantage point ten feet away at first base. "Ignore her, Crystal. She's got more lines than the phone company. Rogers, when you are you gonna feel up to playing again?" she asked. "And I mean softball," she added before the redhead could get out a smart aleck reply.
"Um, no I don't think we have," Crystal said, pulling her hand back and looking toward home plate. The pitcher was done with her warmups and the batter was getting into position.