he was talking to his ferals

                             to bigfoot wee  they were the outdoor cats  indie and october were indoor  he talked to his pets like other people talked to imaginary friends argued in their heads chastised or talked themselves up
and to ghosts 

he talked aboutwhat he suddenly realised  was a prejudice inherent to himself  it had nothing to do with their leanings or taste  this was in regards to what he fed them

he didnt feed them canned fish catfood 

it seems everyone knowsnot that a cat ever said so that cats like fish  a pussycat purring beside a fish skeleton  the fish stark like a hard pencil sketch complete with head and tail  maybe even its eye Xed out  maybe though thatd be redundant

But Im suspect he tells them over the course of feeding them carrying plates outside setting plates down inside  Im suspect  I just dont think youd like canned fishgobble it up  as compared to the other flavours the turkey chicken liver beef I feed you 

to october a calico(if you know cats youd know calicos are female) I wouldnt think youd like it despite how you eat like a garbage disposal No But its occurred to me I realise thats my prejudice (he was opening a can of Savory Salmon savvy marketing) I really doubt indies going to eat any of this hes been with me for seven years as of June First an I can say with confidence that Ive never fed him a can of fish catfood  Though much of that has been predicated on a special diet the vet put him on when crystals formed inside his bladderJesusChrist  Imagine pissing bits of broken glass

october swam back and forthback and forth at his ankles like a shark

he doubted she heard a word he said

indie was alreadyhe was sure in the laundry room where he took his mealshad always taken his meals even before october showed up in the arms of his girlfriend  Can we keep her? I can’t keep her at my mother’s, but can I keep her here? 

he had cats all his adult life 

rather

he had cats everyone in his life wanted and then left with him

the last pet he outright wanted and had was fatty  he wasnt good with names if he didnt have to be

fatty was a Samoyed Husky cross  a big boy at nine months  he didnt get bigger  he was shot to death by a sheep rancher in Montana police didnt do a thing His family’s been here since the valley was settled, sheep ranchers all, more than a hundred years. We suspect you won’t be here a smidget of that time You’ll be gone. he thought they were trying to impress him with their learned vocabularyhad been saving up that pearl for a while to put some outsider in his place See? We aint backwards. Besides, Fletcher’s been no trouble for us. Not in years. You, on the other hand, have been here a couple, three, four times . . haven’t you? 

Oh dont say it so dismissively You peoplethe townspeople the men have an issue with long hair I have a right to defend myself a right to call an ignorant white fuck an ignorant white fuck  Who knew they knew the word ignorant

as he put the plate of Savory Salmon down for indie he said Well big guy Im afraid this is my prejudicemy figuring you wouldnt like fish food However in my defense since I opened a tin for stormy many years ago in Minnesota I was shocked to find a fish eye staring up at me out of the feast A bold accusing eye Maybe you can appreciate my long delay to feed you fish

indie sniffed itlapped it he turned his head aside and went instead for the kibble he had also put in a bowl beside his water and in that interval october bounded in and fell face long into the salmongobbling like a wellpaid hooker at cocks sticking out of the flies of financiers custommade suits 

bigfoot and wee had also made short work of the salmon

Yup his prejudice

1641,  Reggae Friday,  25  5. 18

1308,  Saturday,  26 5. 18