Strip

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mrs. Copper opened the door, looking as if she was sucking on a lemon. She was wearing a worn out grayish-pinkish bathrobe covered in coffee stains, and her hair was in hot rollers (you can't make this stuff up!) "Hey Mrs. Copper!" I said, trying to act happy. "Sorry I couldn't get James in between jobs today, I worked extra today."

Mrs. Copper just stood there in the doorway, glaring at me.

"But I'm here now!" I added. "And I brought your money! So... can I just pay you and leave with James?"

More glaring.

"Please?"

After another moment of glaring, Mrs. Copper sighed deeply, and said in her thick New York accent, "He's in the bath."

"Ok..." I said confused. "Why?"

"He spilled my coffee all over him."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Can I see him."

After another sigh, Mrs. Copper opened the door enough for me to walk in. Her house smelled like cigarettes, and vinegar. I quickly located the bathroom (Her apartment was the same as mine) and opened the door.

"Hi Molly!" James said when I walked in. He was sitting in the bathtub, and, sure enough, I could see the water was tinted a light brown from the coffee. That or Mrs. Copper really needed to get her pipes fixed.

"Are you ready to go James?" I asked.

"Yup!" James got up and took a yellow-ish towel from the hook. I helped him dry off and put his clothes back on, and then headed back out to pay Mrs. Copper, his hair still wet.

"Here," I said, handing her two 20 dollar bills that I some people had stuffed in my underwear.

"It's too late," Mrs. Copper said. "You need to pick him up earlier."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Copper," I said. She was lucky I had got there by 10:00. Dirty-Girls was open 'til 2:00. "I got here as soon as I can."

Mrs. Copper grumbled something about how she has to stop doing this, as she closed the door.

"Did you have a good day?" I asked.

"I guess," James said. "I watched 3 episodes of Jeopardy! and some Wheel of Fortune, and then I ate some frozen waffles.

"That was it?"

"Uh huh. I also listened to Mrs. Copper on the phone."

"What did she talk about?"

"Boring stuff."

"Well that's to bad." By then we had reached our apartment, and I opened the door. "Go get in your PJ's, and I'll be there in a minute to read you a story."

"Ok," James said, and ran to his room.

I collapsed at the kitchen table, enjoying the few seconds of bliss that I got to sit down. I tried calculating how much homework I had... 2, maybe 3 hours? Shit. And it was Sunday which meant another wonderful day at school the next morning.

I dragged myself out of the seat and opened the fridge. There was pretty much nothing but McDonald's bag, but food was food. I got out a Big Mac, and dug in.

Food tasted soooo good. Even when it was McDonald's. I had forgotten to eat at work (which was insane because I worked around food all day!) and we weren't actually allowed to eat at Dirty-Girls, even though they served hot wings, and stuff like that.

As I finished my burger, I reached into my bag to see how much I had made that day in tips. I think I made more in 3 days of tips than a month's pay check. As always, I put all the bills in there own piles. Every now and then I found a 20 (score!) but it was mostly ones and fives. Either way, it added up to... a lot. I shoved it all back in my bag, threw away the McDonald's bag, and headed into James' room.

He was already asleep, lying there like a little toy doll. His face was so peaceful, so free of all and any worry. I sat down on the bed, and stroked his worry-free face for a minute. Then I leaned down and lightly kissed his forehead. "Good night James," I whispered, and shut out the lights.

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Hey all of ya!

Blah blah blah

Thanks!

XOX