Say When

E I G H T E E N

"Is this fabric softener?"

"Nope. That's detergent too." I loaded more clothes into the cylinder of the washing machine. I could see Jax's confused expression in the reflection of the silver panel. A little distorted but still confused. I smiled.

"I thought only fabric softeners were liquid and the detergent was powder."

"See here," I put the bottle eye level with him, "It says detergent. They come in liquid and powder. I'll return it." I'd run out of fabric softener and asked him to run to the store and buy another. Little did I know it would turn into a laundry lesson.

Jax could talk ad nauseam about art and design, color contrasts, and sfumato. But knew nothing about the mundane things. Laundry. Cooking. All that stuff went over his head. I played annoyed but really it delighted me. There was something I could teach him after all.

"No, we're keeping this one. I'll go back and get the right stuff. I can do this." He comedically closed his eyes and shook out his arms and shoulders like he was preparing for a middleweight boxing bout.

"I believe in you." I snickered as he exited the laundromat. It was our little ritual now. For the past three weekends, Jax was at my place bright and early on Saturday morning to help me. Outside of work and school, I was with Jax.

It was a relief to not have any secrets between us. I still didn't know all the details of how the entire operation worked. Jax and I agreed it was best that way. The idea of it all still made me uncomfortable but I understood. Something Robin Hood-esque about it all. Take from the rich, give to the poor.

It was all easy to accept because it meant that the other things I'd imagined when he went missing weren't true. There was no one else taking his attention and I was still his.

I finished feeding coins into the machine by the time that Jax returned with a blue bottle of actual fabric softener. I applauded and breathed out the sound of a roaring crowd. He bowed. He also presented a bag with toasted bagels with cream cheese and orange juices. My stomach growled. We went out and sat in his car while the clothes flipped in a sudsy bath.

"Any birthday plans?" He asked me. My eighteenth birthday was in six days. I sat my aluminum foiled wrapped bagel on the dashboard and reached into my purse. I pulled out envelopes and handed them to Jax. He opened one and reached inside.

"What are these?"

"My paychecks. I don't have a bank account so I haven't deposited them. When I turn eighteen I can open an account without my Dad." I still hadn't told him about accepting and enrolling in college.

My birthday was becoming something of a countdown for me. I felt that once I was legally an adult, even if he reacted badly, I could still do what I want. I could still pack up and leave, sign all my college forms on my own and everything.

If I told him before then it could be disastrous. I'd run through all of the scenarios possible and quite a few of them involved him calling the school and withdrawing my acceptance. But not once I was an adult. Once I was eighteen, my life was my own.

"This is all they're paying you?" Jax squinted at the numbers. My forehead wrinkled and I grabbed the envelopes back from him.

"I'll get there."

"You're going to have to work a lot of shifts, love." He took a bite of his bagel and I gulped down some juice. Minimum wage wasn't great but it'd get to my goal...eventually. Hopefully.

"Where have you always wanted to go?" He asked. We were back on my birthday. I thought about it. One thing quickly popped into my head.

"A club." Jax looked surprised by my answer.