by Walter Allen

Created on: November 13, 2008

"One quarter. Two quarters. Three quarters. Four quarters. Five-Dang it." The fifth quarter rolled out of the money slot on the washing machine. "Take the friggin' quarter." Benny shoved the fifth quarter back in a little harder this time. A couple of clanks and clinks and the quarter rolled out. Again. "Come on. I don't have another one." He tried again. No luck. Again with more force. Out came the quarter.

"Fine." Benny pressed the coin release button. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. Nothing. "Dude, I don't have the patience for this today. C'mon." He pressed it repeatedly. Again and again. Four or five times. Nothing. Heavy sigh.

"Look, you. I don't have time for this, and I don't have another quarter." The washing machine said nothing back. It just stared blankly at Benny and waited for an acceptable offering to the suds god.

Benny breathed deeply and tried not to rip the metal monster from the wall, Taking the offensive quarter in his hand, he left the little laundry room of his apartment complex and traipsed back across the courtyard to Apartment 1. His puppies greeted him at the door. Their tails wagged, and their tongues fell out of their mouth as they panted and pleaded with big eyes for their father's approval. "Move, Papi. We're not going for a walk now."

Benny looked in the martini glass he kept on the side table by the door. No change in there. He picked up the monkey head coin jar and pulled out the rubber stopper. Before he could stop it, pennies and nickels and dimes fell all over the floor. Pansi, the smaller of the two poodles, went running and hid behind the sofa. Benny closed his eyes and took in a long breath of air.

When he opened his eyes again, he got down on his hands and knees and began searching through the pile of change. No quarters. Anywhere. He began shoveling the copper and silver change back into the monkey head. Pansi stayed behind the sofa. Papi, the older of the two, sat diligently beside his dad and waited to be taken on his afternoon walk.

Once the primate head had been sufficiently restuffed, Benny looked around the room. "If I were a quarter, where would I be?" His eyes fell on the other pile of clothes, the ones that he had decided could wait to be washed until pay day, five days from now. He got up and immediately tripped over Papi. "Dangit, dog, we are NOT going for a walk." At the sound of his raised voice, Pansi ran down the hall. Benny could hear her land on the bed, her favorite hiding place when he lost his temper.

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