her text woke him at 0659 Up up and at it as she did approximately every morning Monday through Friday he was her backup 

if she didnt text by 0710 the time he set an alarm for he called hershe never answered  if he was calling her she was already late to the game he followed the telephone call gone to voicemailhe didnt leave one with a text  Move it, sweetcheeks

often he was tempted to reset the alarm for another ten minutes but didnt he figured he wouldnt fall back to sleep in that time anif she hadnt texted him to say she was up hed pop her one more time then her circumstances were beyond what he could dohe did what he could

this morning he was no help

she didnt text

he called at 0710 then promptly fell back to sleep hard

he slept through her 0734 text shit im late 

when he woke it was 0823he could have sworn he just turned onto his hip arranged the pillow under his head and closed his eyes

0710 to 0823 the time gone in a flash

the sunlight in the bedroom changed

it was the only thing that made him look at his cellfonerecognise a text was waiting on him shit im late

Awbrutha shed be up to her eyeballs at work and wouldnt have time to respondnot that he would write her at work she was working it was a boundary he didnt cross people didnt pay other people for them to conduct personal communications on their time

besides

         he had to pick up a rental car at 0900 and it took him a halfhour to walk the distance there

he came off Traffic Way into the alley behind the old renovated hotel three contractors lost their shirts to the project one was still being sought on criminal charges the only reason he got the bid was because he was a local boy done good at least thats how he was portrayedhow he liked to see himself painted his familyan old family in town was politically connected he knew him personally he knew the monkey bit off more than he could chew when he disappeared with threequarters of a million city dollars he wasnt surprised he washowever surprised how much of the community was surprised 

just inside the alley he found a bright shiny silver dollar laying on the mustardcoloured concrete 

he couldnt imagine how anyone walking either last evening or this morning could have possibly missed it  as huge and as bright as day

fifty feet later he found a bright shiny quarter

he was up a buck twentyfive on the day

ten feet more a dime

up a buck thirtyfive

things come in threes

although he was more accustom to deaths coming in threes

still he kept his eyes to the ground

down from the shiny coinsstill behind the hotel he found a wet turd DairyQueen-tipped dark like chocolate pudding

the contrast couldnt have been more stark

definitely an end to a beginning

hed quit looking

he didnt wanna find two more shitshealthy or not

he disturbed himself to wonder if the shit was a dogs the hotel was dogfriendly  funny that it didnt maintain a small grassy park in the immediate vicinity where dogs could shit or it could have been because halfblock away was a sprawling city park or if the shit was human these days people were hardpressed to be responsible dog owners or not be miscreants

to this sense of outrage he was up four – zero 

                                                four for four three times successfully hurling dogshit at dog owners and once hurling shit at the offending miscreant  none of the four wanted to up the ante

Pick up after your dog

Pick up after yourself

they obviously spoke English

he was interviewed by a cop

one of the clutch took exception to his action and called the police with their cellfone

they gave the police a wonderful description of himhis clothing the direction he was walking the rucksack he carried

he gave the cop short shrift

it seemed to him he explained there was a city ordinance against dogs defecating in public and the excrement not retrieved by the dog owner

I think if youll follow up the complaint youll find that their jackets a mess

Just keeping people honest officer

No You cant have my name 

You have theirs

If you need a name for your paperwork A Good Samaritan ought to suffice  now if youll excuse me I have an appointment                   

0847 & 0852 & 0905,  Friday,  1  3. 19

1548,  Thursday,  14  3. 19