At the Car Wash

[maddy_ricks]

I'M BROKE. LET ME WASH YOUR WHEELS. $4.

Maddy painted the words on a sandwich board and set up shop at the gas station. For a percentage of her profits, the manager allowed her to hook a water hose up to the faucet. She set up a station with buckets, soap, Windex, wet and dry towels and a cash box. On a steady diet of Slushees and hot dogs, she scrubbed cars until sundown in a bikini top, torn jeans, and a baseball cap.

"Anything for a buck," she muttered as she pocketed a few sweaty dollars and checked the time.

[Thread: Open to Anyone]

Comments

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa didn't have a car. She lived close enough to the Strip that she didn't really need one, but if she was going to change her ways she might need wheels to get from place to place. She had enough cash set to the side, both stolen and not, that she could afford a beater, something serviceable that ran decently.

And looking around for a cheap used car would give her something to do besides sulk about that twat Holly and what she said to her.

It was safely dark when she got to the gas station, having seen a notice in the paper that they had several cars for possible sale. Her money was in a cash belt under her shirt. With the mood she was in, even she could defend herself against a would-be mugger. A piece of loose gravel lodged in the tread of her left sneaker. She bent down and picked it out.

The vampire saw the sign before she saw the other brunette, and the corners of her mouth quirked upwards. It hadn't been uncommon in Hollywood to find random people doing things like washing cars, doing yard work, and taking up other tasks for extra cash. Maybe the trend was moving eastward.

"Are you between jobs too?"

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy squeezed the sudsy water from a rag and draped it on the sandwich board to drip dry. She looked up. "Who, me?"

'Well yeah, dip stick, who else?'

"No. I'm just a perpetually broke urbanite with an entrepreneurial spirit." She scratched her ear with her shoulder. The other brunette was on foot, and so not a perspective customer. This left Maddy free to dig in her pocket for a pack of smokes and light up. She was far enough from the gas pumps that she wasn't worried about lighting herself on fire.

[tiny_dancer81]

The mortal was a few inches taller than Theresa (but who wasn't?) and probably a few years older than her physical type would indicate. Almost totally breastless under the top of her swimsuit, but probably not self-conscious about it. The vampire admired her apparent lack of worry over her chest size.

"It's tough to afford the rent in the city," she said, reaching into her own pocket and pulling out a purple Zippo. Why she carried it when she didn't smoke was anyone's guess, but most other street kids had smoked when she was alive and it always helped to have someone around to light up whatever brand you preferred.

"Been doing much business?" Theresa took a peek at the cash box. "This is probably a decent corner in the daytime, lots of gambler types rushing off to the casinos to blow their vacation money."

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy snapped her fingers and held out her palm. When she had the lighter, she ignited her cigarette, and then tossed the zippo back. Probably a good thing the brunette was packing, since the matchbook in Maddy's pocket was undoubtedly soaked. "Eh, it's okay," she said. "The trick is picking a spot near condominiums. Tourists don't wash their rentals."

She kicked off her flip-flops. The pavement was warm under her toes, which were polished in a glittery aqua color.

"Munchies?" she asked. She couldn't think of another reason to go to a gas station if you weren't driving.

[tiny_dancer81]

"I usually don't eat dinner until way late."

Theresa pocketed the lighter, pointed towards the rear of the gas station, where several older cars had been parked behind a length of chain. "I saw an ad in the paper that said they were trying to get rid of those. If I can find something with decent tires and not too many miles on it, I'll toss you that four dollars to give it a wash."

Contrary to what certain people said, she was not desperate for friends, but that didn't mean she wasn't sociable. "Hope you remembered suntan lotion," she said, indicating the human's bikini straps. "The sun's a bitch here, even in fall."

[maddy_ricks]

"I'm not new in town," Maddy said. "I don't walk to the mailbox without SPF. I'm surprised you can't smell it." She sniffed her forearm, supposing that the coconut scent rinsed off by now. There was a faint sprinkling of freckles on her skin that attested to her theory. "Gross," she muttered, scrubbing at the marks.

[tiny_dancer81]

"I'm really sensitive to the sun too," Theresa said, her index finger lifting in the direction of the now-dark sky. She had, in fact, smelled the remnants of the suntan lotion, but it was just traces and she didn't want the human to become suspicious. The sound of her heart was like a really loud clock.

"And yeah, freckles only look right if you're a ginger," the vampire added. "I thought about dyeing my hair red a couple of years ago, but I decided against it because I couldn't pick a shade. Too dark and it wouldn't look any different from my real color, too bright and I'd end up looking like Ronald McDonald."

[maddy_ricks]

"You should try blue," Maddy said. "I could see you with a chunk of it near your ear." She poured her bucket of soapy water down a drain, which probably violated about 10 city ordinances, but it couldn't be any more environmentally destructive than what was poured into a Vegas gutter on an ordinary weekend.

She tossed a few sponges in the empty bucket and began to wind the hose.

"I tried pink once. I looked like a My Little Pony."

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa imagined it, and it made her chuckle-snort. She'd worn her hair down that night, and she lifted it off of her neck to expose her ears. Maybe if she changed her hair, that could be a catalyst for the larger change she wanted to make.

"So what does the entrepreneurial spirit do if car washing fails? I'm, uh, looking for a job change myself."

[maddy_ricks]

She tucked the nozzle into the wound hose. "I work in a coffee and pastry shop, but I wouldn't wish that wake-up call on my worst enemy." She wiped wet hands on her jeans. "My band plays at this place off the strip. They might be looking for a bartender or something. You could talk to the manager."

Could the other brunette see over a bar? A pair of clogs might be in order.

"What do you do now?"

[tiny_dancer81]

"Uh..."

Theresa didn't know how to explain it. She'd been a whore for so long that she didn't really think about it anymore, and she'd been blunt with Holly because there was no reason not to. She looked down at her clothes, which were much more demure than what she'd worn when she was working the Boulevard back in California, watched the last of the soap suds gurgle their way into the storm drain.

"I'm in the retail industry," she finally said, because that was both the truth and a lie. "But I'd like to get out of customer service. I don't know if it can happen before the year ends, but I want to do something different soon."

[maddy_ricks]

"Oh, god, customers are the worst," she mumbled, the cigarette bobbing wildly between her lips as she turned off the water supply. It fell and bounced across the pavement. "Oh, shit." She chased after it and made a grab before it struck Theresa's shoe. Maddy inspected the cherry to make sure it was still burning.

"One summer I got desperate and sold vacuum cleaners door to door. I liked to load on the double entendre and see if the housewives got it or not. Twice the sucking power!"

[tiny_dancer81]

"Housewives always get that joke," Theresa said with a snicker. "The suburbs are full of women who spend their days dreaming about fondling the bag boy at the A & P."

The idea of working at a bar wasn't distasteful to the vampire, and it would mean a better chance of finding willing blood donors. She could always claim she was twenty four, which was what her fake ID said. If the other brunette was able to find employment in a place like that without issues, maybe she stood a chance too.

"What band do you play for?"

[maddy_ricks]

"Fraying Nerves," said Maddy. She thought about the bag boy at her neighborhood grocery store. Would she fondle him? No. He looked like Boy George's less attractive brother, a negative quality that looked even worse when paired with an apron and rubber-soled shoes. She puffed on the battered cigarette. "I wanted to name it the Cum-Twats, but I was overruled. You like rock 'm roll?"

[tiny_dancer81]

"The Cum-Twats?"

Theresa was laughing when she said it, and she was beginning to decide that she could like this one a little. "Yeah, I like to hit this club called the Funhouse. They only have DJs, not live bands, but it's still pretty cool."

Maybe she would put a blue streak in her hair, something really bright. There was a salon near her apartment, she could check it out. "I'm Theresa," she said impulsively, putting out her small hand for the other brunette to shake.

[maddy_ricks]

"Maddy," she said, shaking it. Her still-drying hand was the same temperature as Theresa's. "I've been there. It's okay. Awesome drinks if you don't mind moving into a cardboard box, just so you can pay your tab."

But that was the way with Vegas. She wished locals could carry some kind of residency card to get discounts.

"You like to dance? I try but I look like a retarded sea monkey."

[tiny_dancer81]

"Nah, I bet you look cute out there."

Theresa wasn't egotistical enough to think that Maddy's question was a come-on, but she did like to dance. And she could do it without getting too handsy, at least not without permission. Then again, she didn't dance with guys unless she was looking for a snack.

"Maybe I'll come by and see you play sometime," she told the other brunette. "I read the trade rags a lot, and I'm sure I'd recognize a name like the Fraying Nerves. It might not be as exotic as the Cum Twats, but it's memorable in it's own way."

[maddy_ricks]

"Yeah, you should!" she said energetically. Maddy took a few finishing puffs and dropped the cigarette in a puddle. She probably shouldn't litter in the lot after they let her use it, but by the time she thought of that, the filter was a swollen, fibrous mess. "You can hang out back stage. Just tell whoever's standing there you know Maddy."

She picked up the cash box and started rubber-banding the paper money.

"Do you drink coffee?"

[tiny_dancer81]

"Yeah, sometimes." Not that it tasted like much, but sometimes she'd order an espresso and ask them to brew it strong. It was warm, like blood, and the memory of what it really tasted like was still with her.

"I don't do Starbucks, though," Theresa cautioned Maddy with a half-smile. "Corporate coffee gives me the hives."

[maddy_ricks]

"I work at Cool Beans," she said. "If you stop by when I'm working, your coffee's on me. One poor girl to another." Maddy stashed her cash box in the bucket and looped her fingers through the handle. She'd stop by the office to pay the manager his percent and then head out.

She tucked the blunt ends of her hair behind her ear and adjusted her ball cap.

[tiny_dancer81]

Cool Beans. She could remember that. And depending on the office hours here, she should get her rear in gear. It would look better, more legitimate, if she had wheels to get around.

"So I should probably let you scoot," the vampire said to Maddy, taking a step towards the chained-off part of the lot. "But I'll come by and get that cup of coffee, maybe as soon as I get a better job."

[maddy_ricks]

"Alright, cool." Maddy started waddling towards the office, heavy bucket banging into her leg. "I'll tell him you're out back. Later." She backed into the glass door of the convenience store. Already she had her mind mind up to spend some cash on a bag of Doritos and a Coke.

[tiny_dancer81]

Maddy was cool. Personable. Definitely cute. Probably not a fake.

Theresa stepped around the puddle with the cigarette butt in it, started to walk towards the back. She'd look for something practical that didn't need too much maintenance. And then she'd start looking for a real job.

Turning over a new leaf was going to be hard, but she was going to give it a shot.