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A heavy textbook rested on Danny's lap as he rhythmically tapped a yellow highlighter against the leg of the chair. The other Laundromat patrons occasionally glanced at him, some sighing loudly or clearing their throats to get the attention of the student as he bent his head over his book.
Finally, a middle-aged woman with a slumbering toddler on her knee piped up and demanded, "Cut out that racket!"
Her shrill voice echoed against the machines and Danny quickly lifted his wide, blue eyes in her direction. He gulped and reached for his messenger bag. "I am sorry, ma'am," he apologized quietly as he placed his highlighter in the front pocket of the bag.
Danny turned his eyes back to his textbook, but found it difficult to concentrate amid the whirring of the machines around him. He preferred to study in his dorm room where he could tap his writing instruments with as much zeal as he pleased, but although he knew his mid-term was in two weeks, he had to rework his customary, nightly study sessions so that he might have some clean clothes.
He sighed as he put away his study materials and turned his head toward the washing machine next to one he was using to find an empty green laundry basket. He didn’t know to whom it belonged since he had already counted the number of present patrons in relation to the hampers which they had brought with them.
How could there be an extra one, then?
His heart started to pound, but he quickly took an inhaler out of the pocket of his corduroy jacket and, putting it to his lips, swiftly pumped it and took a deep breath as he returned it to his coat. He didn’t really need the inhaler, but it brought him a certain security when he felt these convulsive occurrences arise.
He took another deep breath as he turned to gaze out of the windows. It was quite a heavy downpour tonight, and Danny watched the fat drops of rain pelt against the glass.
Danny’s mind wandered back to his home, thinking of his next holiday visit. He thought of his mother’s aged face that would be brightened by a delighted smile as she would carefully push on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. She still wore the same perfume, and she was always reading, cooking, or sitting on their back porch crocheting another scarf or beanie for him.
“Why you chose a university in the coldest part of the country is beyond me, Daniel,” she would scold as Danny sat in the rocking chair next to her, a hot cup of tea in his hands.
His father remained in his workshop throughout the day, and although he himself was quite drawn in years, Danny admired his father’s passionate work ethic. The only time Dr. Soong would leave his isolated state was for dinner, and afterwards he would retreat to the den with Danny’s brother as Danny helped his mother clear the table and wash the dishes.
Danny would much rather be with his mother during that time as he knew how awkward these visits were between Laurence and their father. They never did get along after Laurence left for boarding school years ago, and now, every holiday, they had to endure each other's presence, and the way it was endured was by a half hour glaring at one another in silence before Laurence stormed to the back porch to smoke a cigarette, muttering bitterly under his breath.
Danny suddenly snapped out of his reminiscence. “Billy,” he whispered to himself.
Their birthday was next week and he still needed to get his other brother a gift. Perhaps another model airship as it seemed to be the only thing that held his attention for longer than five minutes.
Danny gazed out the window again, trying to think of a way to come up with the extra money to take the bus over to the Personal Care Home where his brother now lived. After all, he had struggled to find the money for which to do his laundry, and was now in possession of a mere handful of change.
He suddenly heard the frantic splashing of steps through deep puddles as a young black man with thick glasses hurried underneath the awning of the Laundromat. He was trying to balance a heavy looking, unzipped backpack over one shoulder, but slipped and fell with a thud onto the damp cement with a loud grunt, his glasses falling to the ground.
Amidst the not-so-discreet giggling of the other patrons, Danny quickly stood up and rushed out the door. He knelt down to pick up the glasses as the man desperately spread his hands out over the pavement in search of them.
His hand found Danny’s thigh and it rested there until Danny reached out and gently took his wrist, placing the glasses in his hand. “Are you injured?” he asked him.
The young student carefully put his glasses back over his eyes and he blinked rapidly to regain focus. He found a bright-eyed man wearing a white collared shirt and a somewhat wrinkled jacket, and his dark hair was combed back neatly and gelled flatly against his scalp.
He coyly smiled at the stranger and, embarrassed at the scene he had made, quickly shook his head as he turned to his backpack to find some papers slowly getting soaked from the falling rain. “Oh, God,” he declared. “My chemistry notes!”
Danny helped him gather up the damp papers and offered his hand. The man took it and he was lifted up and led inside the Laundromat where he took the empty seat next to Danny’s.
“Oh, man,” the student mumbled. “My test is in two days and this is all I have.”
“They are not badly damaged,” Danny assured him as he returned with a roll of paper towels. He intricately tore off a few sheets and laid them flat across a table in the back. He proceeded to take the three wet pieces of notebook paper and lay them across the towels and placed another sheet over them, pressing gently. “This will suffice until you are ready to leave,” he said as he handed the paper towel roll to him so he could dry himself.
The young man, who smiled bemusedly at this quick improvisation, took the roll of towels and said, “Thanks. I’m Geordi, by the way. Geordi La Forge.”
Danny sat next him. “Daniel Soong,” he replied.
Geordi paused in wiping his wet face as his eyes grew wide. “Soong? As in Dr. Nicholas Soong?”
Danny nodded. “Correct. He is my father.”
Geordi’s grin grew even bigger and he dropped his wet back pack onto the floor. “Oh…wow…I mean,” he stammered. “Wait…you’re in my calculus class, aren’t you? You sit in the very front row. 10 am, Dr. Montgomery’s class?”
Danny’s eyes widened, too. “Why, yes. I guess this makes us classmates…Geordi.”
“Indeed, Daniel.”
“You may call me Danny.”
Geordi nodded. “Danny…wow. It’s great to meet you. I’m an admirer of your dad.”
Danny cocked his head, curiously. “Is that so?”
“Well, of course! I’ve read all of your dad’s articles on artificial intelligence and mechanical advancements in space exploration. Your dad is the reason I want to be an engineer. He’s an absolute genius!”
Danny looked away and saw the other patrons in the Laundromat staring at them, and Geordi cleared his throat. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to…get carried away. I’m sure you hear that a lot.”
“Quite the contrary,” Danny said, turning back to his new friend. He leaned in and whispered, “This is actually the first time in a long time that any positive critiques were directed towards my family name.”
Geordi sighed and nodded. “I see. Well...his theories are quite…outlandish, I'll admit, but at least he has the guts to ask the kind of questions that even the top scientists don’t even dare ask…and that’s what I admire.”
Danny gave him a genuine smile. “Thank you, Geordi.”
“Well,” Geordi said, placing the roll of paper towels on the table behind him. “Thanks for helping me again. I felt like a complete idiot because I wanted to study for my test while I did laundry, but then remembered I had left my notes back in my dorm. I hurried back as fast as I could so I wouldn’t hold up the machine.”
“I, too, tried to study,” Danny told him, leaning back in his chair and feeling more at ease. “However, this is not a suitable location as I find the machines to be quite loud. I was watching the rain when I saw you outside.”
“I’m glad you did.”
They sat in an awkward silence as Danny covertly looked at Geordi. He appeared to be shorter in stature than he and was perhaps a year or so younger, as well. He wore a thin red hoodie that had a hole that was fraying underneath the left pocket, and underneath the hoodie he wore a black polo shirt.
Danny also noticed under his hoodie, around Geordi’s neck, was a silver chain with what looked like a square pouch with his student ID in the front sleeve of it. It was curious as to why he would wear this around his neck, and Danny lifted his eyes to Geordi’s thick glasses.
Danny tried to mentally calculate the thickness of the lenses by millimeter until Geordi’s eyes suddenly looked into his, and Danny could see the magnified brown pupils that were slowly fading in color.
“You’re looking at my glasses.” he muttered.
Danny looked away and down at his hands, slightly discomfited. “I did not mean any harm.”
Geordi laughed softly. “It’s okay, man.” He was quiet again as he looked at Danny and couldn’t help but admire, from what his darkened vision would allow, the perfect angles of his face. “I have macular degeneration.”
“But…you are so young.”
“Yep…I am…” was all Geordi could say. “Hey, you’re a triplet, right?”
“I am,” Danny answered, glad that the subject had changed. “My brothers and I were born exactly three minutes apart.”
"Really?" Geordi asked, doubtfully, but with a grin. "How do you know that?"
"Our father timed it." Danny was slightly confused when Geordi laughed as he didn't see the humor in this fact, and he rubbed his hands bashfully between his knees. “There’s William, Laurence…and then me.”
“Are they here in school, too?”
“No. I am the only one in school at the moment. Laurence was only enrolled for a semester and then was put on academic probation, but he left. He travels a lot now. I never know where he is until I see him again on break. And Billy…he lives at Willowbend.”
Geordi’s nodded and quietly cleared his throat. He knew that Willowbend was a long-term care facility, but it still surprised him that an offspring of Soong’s would end up there at such a young age.
“Our birthday is next week and I would like to see him,” Danny continued. “However, I am concerned about how I am going to get there as I am—“
Danny’s washing machine chimed, indicating that his clothes were finished. He quickly stood to retrieve them as Geordi smacked his own forehead, saying, “Oh, man! I forgot about my machine. My clothes have been sitting in there for fifteen minutes now.”
He stood and went to the machine on which the green laundry basket was and moved the basket aside. Before removing his clothes, he reached into his hoodie pocket and sighed. “Great…just great.”
Danny stopped in the middle of transferring his clothes to the only available dryer. “Is something the matter, Geordi?”
His friend shook his head and groaned. “Ugh! What a day! Stupid pocket. I knew I should’ve gotten this hole fixed. Most of my change fell out! All I have is seventy-five cents!”
Danny put his hand in the pocket of his black jeans and pulled out his remaining change. He grimaced and looked at Geordi. “It seems we are both at a loss,” he said. “It appears that I only have one dollar, twenty-five cents.”
His head suddenly perked up and he grinned at his friend. “If you are comfortable with the idea, I will gladly share my machine with you so that we may combine our change.”
Geordi was taken aback at this random act of kindness. He thought the guy to be a bit too trusting as they had only just met ten minutes ago. However, the guy did help him when he fell and was eager to quell him of his fears of having soggy chemistry notes.
“Um…sure,” he answered. “That’s great. That’s…thank you. I’ll pay you back.”
“It is not necessary,” Danny said as he continued to load the machine. He looked back at Geordi. “Do you need help?”
“No!” Geordi declared, but then softened his tone. “Sorry…no. I can manage.”
Danny watched as Geordi struggled with his small armful of clothes as he walked to their dryer. A pair of blue boxers with tiny images of space shuttles fell from the pile unbeknownst to him, but Danny was able to catch them before they dropped and stealthily threw them into the machine without Geordi noticing.
After they settled their clothing into the machine, Danny added the precise amount of detergent, closed the lid, and inserted their change. They grinned at each other as the machine whirred to a start as it flashed one hour’s time left on the cycle.
Geordi put his hands in his back pocket and instantly laughed. “Oh, wow…I don’t believe this.”
Danny looked at him curiously. “What is it?”
“Wouldn’t you know?” He pulled from one of his back pockets two faded, one-dollar bills, and he looked at Danny with a perturbed expression. “I really didn’t know, man. I’m not a cheap skate or anything. I totally forgot I put my money in my…Jesus, Danny. Here.”
He handed Danny the cash, but Danny waved it away. “No,” he said, softly. “How about you pay me back with a coffee? There is a café close by that has late-night student specials.”
Geordi chuckled. “Okay. Sounds fair. Let’s go.”
Danny picked up his messenger bag as Geordi threw his damp back pack over his shoulder. They exited the Laundromat and trotted three doors down to the small coffee shop. Their entrance was quite abrupt as they darted inside to escape the sudden torrent of rain, but thankfully the only inhabitants of the shop was a girl who had fallen asleep on her laptop and a barista wearing a cloth purple headband.
“Hello, Danny,” she greeted.
“Good evening, Gina,” Danny replied. “This is my friend, Geordi.”
The barista leaned over and rested her elbows on the counter. “Nice to meet you. What can I get you two?”
“I am afraid we only have two dollars between us,” Danny informed her. “Would that be enough for two coffees?”
“For you, Danny, it’s enough. I’ll bring them to you.”
Geordi waved in appreciation as he followed Danny to the sofa in the corner by the window. He stopped suddenly in the middle of the seating area, however, and blinked his eyes briskly under the dim lighting. “Um…Danny?” he called out, his voice wavering.
“Yes, Geordi?” Danny called back as he placed his bag at the foot of the sofa.
“I, um…I lost you…” his voice croaked.
Danny could sense in his features that Geordi was becoming slightly flustered. He walked over to him and tenderly took his hand. “Follow me. I will guide you.”
Geordi nodded as they both walked toward the sofa, taking baby steps gingerly across the floor.
Danny felt his new friend’s fingers intertwine with his and Geordi squeezed his hand as Danny looked back at him, intrigued. However, he continued to lead him. “You are doing well. We are almost there.”
Soon, they were at the sofa and Gina looked at them as she stood nearby, two fresh coffees in her hands. She waited until they were seated comfortably and announced gently, “On the house.”
Danny looked at her, his mouth dropped in surprise. “Gina, that is not—“
“It is, Danny. It’s my Rainy Day Special.”
Danny and Geordi nodded in thanks, and she walked away as Danny handed his friend his beverage. “Do you require cream or sugar?”
“Nah, this is fine,” Geordi whispered as he took a grateful sip.
They both leaned back into the sofa cushions and sighed in unison.
Geordi broke the silence, saying, “Thank you, Danny. For everything.”
“It is what friends do, Geordi,” Danny replied. He raised his eyebrows eagerly as he remembered Geordi’s two dollars. “Keep your money since we did not need to—“
“Nah,” Geordi said, reaching into his pants pocket again and handing Danny the cash. “Keep it anyways.” There was a moment of silence between them as Danny looked at the dirty, crumpled bills in his hand. “Use it to go see your brother.”
Danny grinned. “Geordi…I don’t…are you quite sure?”
“It’s what friends do.”