One Drop of Golden Sun

Ch. 4 Keeping Your Tongue Safe

*Ray

Shopping with her sister Beth was not for the faint of heart, or anyone in need of iced lattés on a regular basis. While Ray was proud of her general toughness, she was weak and needy when it came to lattés.

"Make it stop, please," Ray begged the retreating form of her sister's back. She picked up her pace to not lose her in the crowd of shoppers. Discount home furnishings on a Saturday without cold refreshments was another day in hell that should have been paradise. "We have everything I need. I only have one bedroom!"

"Do you have a showermat and your own set of dishware, yet? I thought not. Keep walking. We'll find something that fits the budget," Beth said, not turning, and not showing any pity.

"Dishware? What is dishware? And what is this showermat you speak of? What am I supposed to do with it?" Ray could only come to the conclusion that her sister was out of her mind.

"Trust me, Ray, you don't want random roommates touching the things you put your tongue or wet body on."

Thirty minutes ticked by one by one as Beth found the items she wanted for Ray and they stood in line for an eternity in order to pay for everything. Ray's suspicions were fully confirmed. Her sister was a full-time resident of Cray-Crayville.

Hangers, towels, bed sheets, dishes, soap (so many kinds of soap) and detergents, mats of all sorts to keep her feet from ever touching the floor, and Tupperware. Not to mention pans (how many pans did she need, there were only four burners on the stove), utensils and bleach. Lots of bleach.

"For the bathtub," Beth informed her.

"I though the mat was for the bath."

"The mat is for after the bath. The bleach is for before the bath. In the tub," Beth hissed under her breath. "Unless you want fungus growing on your feet."

Another customer in line turned and frowned. "Bleach is detrimental to aquatic life. It should be banned, and there are plenty of alternatives."

"Detrimental? I'm not using this sh—" Ray started to say.

"I saw the bathroom this morning, believe me you need it!" Beth interrupted.

Ray took the bottles of bleach and harsh cleaning detergents out of the cart and with a grim set to her lips, put them on the floor of the check out lane. "If it kills fish, I don't buy it."

"That a'girl," the plump woman said. "Get some baking soda, vinegar, and melaluca oil. The ocean will thank you for it."

"Ray," Beth said, "you have to clean that bathroom. It's been years, the build up was an inch thick in the tub."

"You won't turn me into a fish killer. Unless it's dinner. That's different. I'll pick up some natural cleaning stuff later."

She ignored Beth after that, but gave the woman a quick fist bump. Both of them pursing their lips, annoyed, walked in silence to the car. Ray cracked first.

"Can you drive me to campus for books? And then, I have to check out this place near the zoo for a job."

"What am I, your fish-murdering chauffeur? I told Russell we would be back by ten and it's already half past."

"You rock. Thanks! With all the books I need to get, it would be tough to ride my bike and this way, I'll have a better chance of being hired. So, book store first." What she wanted to say, was 'coffee shop first', but Beth was getting that harried, blood-shot, 'been locked up in a dungeon for a few too many years' look to her that Ray noticed whenever they spent more than an hour in each other's company.