black coffee
Black Velvet
Medjool dates
Tao Te Ching fortieth chapter a dear friend was turning forty on
the twentyfifth
Returning is the motion of
Tao./Yielding is the way of the Tao./The ten thousand things are born of
being./Being is born of not being.
washing his hands in the bathroom
sink after his morning movement like
setting a clock he reached for a hand towel off the
rack beneath the window and looking down he noticed the Q-Tips in the paleblue
tin trashcan
they were from after his showers
the past two eveningscleaning up for work
freshening himself
they startled him
the can was eight inches in
diameter
at ten oclock two Q-Tips were
butted end-to-end perfectly forming a ninety degree right angle
across from them two others
formed a perfect x
cleaning his ears he randomly cast the Q-Tips into the trash
that they would form
anything was debatable mebbe his cats were fucking with him but that they aligned and
formed a liberal comparable RX bothered him
it bothered him so much that finishing
drying his hands he picked the tin up and emptied it into the kitchen trash that
he was taking out later
RX granted the letters were offset R
x they reminded him of his boyhoods Rexall drugstore on the street sidewalk just out front of it at
the foot of the concrete steps leading up into it he fought his most vicious teenage
fight stood toe-to-toe fists wailing no
defense a feral onslaught of spiteof bile a rubber match
Kustedek a tall dark kid towering over him throwing roundhouses
all his punches were up
and inside
Kustedek bled all over him
then one punch caught Kustedek on the point
of his jaw and dropped him just as adults rushed to separate them
he pulled away from their hands
and staggered up an alleyway to escape
last he saw of Kustedek were the soles his shoeshis toes pointing to the sky adults crowding around him
home his parents were sure he had
a concussion
he heard later that Kustedek
ended up at the hospital to have his face stitched uphis nose set
that was late junior year
he never saw Kustedek again not that he was looking for him
although he imagined Kustedek would want to meet againthe depths of his dislike
for him summonsed that thinking he wasnt
remembering that he won their last two fights
R
x
funny what it spawned in his
brain
he hadnt thought of that in forty
years
he bought his first box of condoms
at the same Rexall
then rubbers were kept behind the
counter
you had to ask for a pharmacists help
that day the pharmacist was a
woman
Can I help you?
Yes
Id like to buy some condoms
Condoms?
Yes
Which condoms?
he smiled at her
I dont know Whacondoms do you like I think its important she likes them Whawould you suggest
she smiled very large You know what? I could kiss you.
Kiss me
Yes.
As a matter of fact, I’d let you
date my daughter.
he was a big hit with the
pharmacist
I wish more boys thought like you
did.
they
did whateenage boy didnt want to get
laid
the manufacturers had improved
their product over the years an tried-an-true a loyal consumer he was still
buying their brand
no kid ever rapped on
his front door an cried DADDY!
0924, Twosday,
23 4. 19
