Night Crew
Bossman saw to it that Freddy would be eating his supper alone for the time being. It was one of those rare occasions where territorial boundaries were drawn. It wasn't like the last time, either. Didn't seem right, neither. But here, maybe I should back up a bit.
Bossman, old Mr. Tigger--just like that tiger from the cartoon with the bear in it--had said that if he ever caught any of us skippin' out with Marylou, he'd see to it that we'd remember not to from then on. And Marylou had a pretty good time of it, trying to get us to, one by one. Without letting on about it, too. We fussed and we hollered, but she'd pretty much picked us all off, one at a time. Freddy was one of the last to quit resisting. Rumor has it that Freddy's father had left his mother, and his mother thought Mr. Tigger would be the best thing for her son, at least until she could square away the others. Freddy sat in his room most of the time, looking out the window...
I heard through the grapevine that Mrs. Callipygian, Freddy's mom, had met old man Tigger through some friends of hers at the club that she and the others had been frequenting since no one could remember when. "Just give him a try, Nancy," her friends had kept repeating. And until she couldn't have for another one of her son's "displays," she kept putting off the inevitable. But her friends finally talked her into it. "It's just for a little while," they consoled her.
And so she brought her son to the Bossman. There had been the usual agreement, the one with the clause in it that sent shudders through Freddy's mom: "...until further notice..." Tigger and Mrs. Callipygian had looked each other in the eyes for a long time. Then she left. She'd be back. She knew she would.
Bossman slapped Freddy on the sides. "What's yer name, boy?" he had asked. Freddy didn't say anything. "Be that as it may," Bossman went on as if Freddy had answered; "you just keep yer paws off Marylou." When Freddy didn't respond, Bossman smiled at him, a sinister smile. That's the way he'd do it, too: he'd smile that awful smile and then give you the look: like--to him--you were a bowl of soup, or less.
Freddy got worked into the swing of things just like the rest of us, only you could tell it was different with him. Bossman had him on the dryers, but you could always switch with somebody. Freddy stayed with the dryers though, never switching with anyone, and he kept away from Marylou. Those dryers were hot, too. You'd be over there on your dryer, sweating like mad, and you'd think it was rough, and then you'd look over toward Freddy's dryer, and there he'd be, calmer than ever. He wouldn't look at you sometimes, like he was somewhere else. You'd say something to him, and he might look, but not always. Then, later, he'd be in his room, looking out the window at the trees. Marylou had her work cut out for her this time. But she didn't seem worried. In fact, she seemed about as complacent as Freddy, only in a different way.
Weeks went by. Marylou had tried quite a few subtle tactics to get Freddy to notice her, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, either she gave up, or her tactics became so subtle that you couldn't tell anymore if she were still attempting to woo him. It's hard to say with Marylou. Can't tell what she's trying to do half the time, but she usually gets what she wants. Bossman would come by and rough up a few of us, but he was always nice with Marylou. That part didn't seem right, either. But that's the way it is sometimes.
And 'long about when you thought things would truly be different with Freddy, he spoke up to Marylou. In a big way. In fact, that's what got him in trouble. Bossman walks in and flips on the lights so you could see all the dryers real bright. He goes over to Freddy's dryer, and of course he's not there. He's off with Marylou. Some of us got off our dryers or our washers and hid. Then Bossman goes out in front of the Laundromat and calls, "Freddy! Freddy! Git yer tail over here!" He walks off into the night calling for him.
Later, I saw him holding Freddy by his neck and shoving him into his pickup. "You start that rackit," Bossman was saying, "and off we go. I told you what would happen. Didn't I!?" Bossman wasn't asking, he was telling.
They drove off the next morning. Everybody kinda kept watching the road after they left. About an hour later they came back. You could hear Bossman venting. "Wonderful!" he sarcastically yelled. This is just wonderful!" He unloaded Freddy, by his neck again. "Now I gotta keep you locked up a whole week! Stupid vet goes on vacation every time you need another one fixed. Moronic lazy vacationing vets'll be the ruination of me yet!"
Well, like I said, Freddy's gotta eat his supper alone for a while. Bossman's got him locked up in the main house. I climbed a tree across the way from his den, and Freddy was sitting in there on Bossman's keyboard. He was looking at the trees. He didn't have that faraway look like he usually does when he's looking at the trees. It's hard to read his thoughts, he has such a poker face, but I swear his expression was different somehow. He was saying something to me, but I couldn't hear him on account of he was inside. You shouldn't have opened yer yapper, I was thinking. Then I curled up in my tree and took a nap.