Summer's Spell

Chapter 8 -Apartment Life

"Ding dong, ding dong.

"Go away,"Sheldon shouted angrily. The ringing continued.

Sheldon dragged himself out of bed to answer the door.

"Yeah," he said sharply. He opened the door to find an adorable girl in pigtails looking up at him.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" she said, noticing his tired expression and his ruffled hair.

"Quite all right." He couldn't be mad at the little girl.

"You look like you could use some girl scout cookies."

"Ok, how much are these?" he said pointing to the peanut butter.

"$6.00"

"No thanks." Sheldon had learned to stretch his dollar. He knew that cookies like these only sold for a dollar or two.

"Look, I normally don't do this, but since I woke you, you can have them."

"Well, how about if I buy them for $3.00."

"You have a deal, sir. Thank you."

No much for his nap The apartment had extremely thin walls. If it wasn't a vacuum running, it was loud conversations, tv, music, barking dogs, loud cars, hair dryers.

As he headed toward the kitchen, he thought about supper. At least he had cookies for dessert. He searched the cabinets and settled for mac and cheese along with a peanut butter sandwich. As he started to cook the macaroni, he realized that he had no clean clothes. His clothes were strung across the floor in his room. He gathered them into the laundry basket and searched for coins. Just when he was ready to head out the door, he smelled something burning. Oh, no, he left the burner on too high. Oh, well, the macaroni was past its expiration date anyway.

The laundry room was on the first floor all the way to the end. Sheldon took a few steps outside when a ferocious black dog approached him, barking relentlessly. Sheldon froze.

"Buddy, come here boy," a woman shouted from a distance.

Dogs are supposed to remain on leashes at all times. Gee, why do these people continue to let their dogs run loose, he wondered.

All the washers and dryers were occupied. This must be typical for a shared laundry facility, he thought. Back home his rental property included a utility room complete with his own washer, dryer and plenty of shelf space and storage space.

This is all just a hassle – the expense, the trips back and forth, the barking dogs, Let me give bathtub laundry a try, he thought. The idea was outrageous, but why not?

"Rub a dub scrub in the tub," he sang to himself. He rinsed, then hung up to dry on the balcony.

A voice from below shouted, "Hey, hanging laundry outside is against the rules, and besides, it looks tacky!"

He realized it was the same lady with the big, black dog. "Yeah, and your ferocious dog almost attacked me, so I don't want to hear it!" He slammed the patio door.

He stepped inside and went through the mail on his desk. More bills. He started out with $3.000. That money and his wages from work would be enough to get him through. Wrong! This dump alone cost him $1500 a month.

It only made sense to move back home. Summer was the only reason he stayed, and now she's gone psycho, but she was still on his mind.

And he loved the anonymity here, but hated living in the ghetto. Maybe he could replace his middle name with his last. It might help with the shadow syndrome.

The breaking news showed live coverage of a convenient store robbery on the other side of town. Imagine that, in broad daylight. The decision was made for him. Sheldon took that as a signal to go home.