Unit 14

The laundromat is long and narrow, with the machines down one side and a counter at the back where two taps stand under a card that says KOMBUCHA. ELLE WEST is lettered on the front glass in gold. The pipes overhead are painted black, and the light is the cold kind. The woman at the counter turns a page.

Only the last dryer in the row is running. The door says UNIT 14 in serif letters, and behind the glass a white sheet goes round and round. You stand in front of it. The spin thins to a hollow hum.

Under the floor a latch lets go. The dryer slides along the wall on a track, with a long iron sound, and in the wall where it stood there is a seam, and in the seam a hatch. The handle is streaked with fingerprints.

If you want wine, says the woman, not looking up, it's on Eleventh. Vintage. Ask for Jean.