You know . .
.
. NO
his feathers startledthey ruffled looked like an excited grouse
You going to let me finish wha .
.
.
. No
. . . What, what I was going to
say?
Why
a dour chalkish fog coated his feathers
Ya really havent noticed that every time you start with You know I shut
ya down
No, I hadn’t.
Brother
I think, no, no I know . . you
misunderstand me.
Misunderstand explainhowever brieflybriefly when you begin Ya know yare making an
assumption Ya gotta quit with thatwhen your
boy visits hes all over you when ya persist
Yes, yes he is, he’s quick on me,
but that has nothing to do with you and me . .
. .
Actually it does Its immediately why I say NO
his eyes grew largepierced his
feathers
May I?
nonchalant Please
When I say you misunderstand me,
I’m actually saying . . DO you kno . .
.
. STOP No DO
The Do is understood.
a deer caught
in headlights stunned eyes couldnt try selling bland better than he was now with
his look atop his preposterous remark
Ya thinkin of running for
office Christ
No
Do Not understood Not anywhere in the English language
It’s implied . Do you know . . You
know.
A question an assertion are not
the same thing
Save it for an ignoramus
no sooner
than their exchange a small junior high Hispanic boy approached them and asked
if they had a dollar he could have
he said No
grouse asked what he needed a dollar
for
the boy said he wanted to buy a
bagelhe didnt have any money his parents
werent coming to pick him up for another hour was he gonna starve to death
grouse went into his pocket he
had cashseparated a couple of dollar bills he gave one to the boykept the other in his hand and told the boy hed
follow him in he was going to get a
coffee refill
Excuse me, what do you say when someone
gives you a dollar? made your dreams come true
Huh?
Don’t you say thank you?
Ohyeah. Thank you for the dollar.
Yes. You know . . muchas gracias,
muchas gracias.
the boy looked confused he repeated Thank you.
he looked up at his buddy as he stood
and laughed at him
What . what are you laughing at?
When yare back
moments later a teenaged boy in black
jeans gym shoes black hoodie drawnup over his head hiding his face approached two
girl who were seated at a table beside him
he
grabbed the chair his buddy had been sitting in and turned it to sit beside the girls
HEY
the kid heardhis head motioned but he ignored him
he stood up crossed to the kid and
rapped him in the ribs with the back of his hand Up Out Before you help yourself to an
unoccupied chair you ask if its being used ask if you may
as the kid stoodhe swept it out from
under his ass before he moved
he didnt acknowledge him
no
skin off his ass
he
set the chair back in place
his buddy came out of the coffee
shop preceded by the kid with a bagel
he walked over and sat down
So why did you
laugh at me as I went in for a refill?
Ever occur to you man that that kid may not understand Spanish
Looks can be deceivingI mean yare smarter than you look
1550, Twosday,
2 11. 21
1437, Day-between-Two-Ts, 3 11.
21
