there was a black plastic stool behind the cash register counter

when he first saw it it struck him odd  you couldnt sit on it and manage transactions with customers boxing or bagging their liquor working the cash and coin in and out of the register drawer

so he asked it

the manager explained it was a remnant of an employee who complained that she couldnt be expected to stand her entire shift  she insisted  and legally if she must  that the company had to provide her a stool so she could get off her feet between sales and during lulls

he was confused  Didnt cashiers then have other responsibilities to attend to as we do now

Yes

Alright

You said its a remnant

I did

You the company provided the stool

Yes

Then you enforced her obligations on the floor

Yes

And she quit

No  She attempted to sue the company  Her suit failed  Then she quit showing up for her assigned hours

I take it officially shes still on the books

She is

Oh Boy

he returned early from his lunch break and pulled the stool out from amid the stacks of liquor boxes and sat on it behind the counter behind a closed cash register

he began scribbling down an idea on a long receipt he pulled out of a black plastic trashcan beside the station

So youre who writes like  it came over his shoulder

he turned

a new coworker

she wore a shortsleeved tshirt 

colored tattoo-sleeves covered her arms

as he said Yes thats my writing his eyes drifted past her red aproned hip to a slip of paper covering the face of a box with liquor bottle necks sticking up out of it

he recognised that what his eyes fed his mind was incorrectits playful dyslexia having its way with him yet again 

he chuckled

she saw where his was looking and checked her apronWhat

Not you  Behind you  The writing on the paper on the box of liquor were holding

she looked at pointed to the name affixed to the box  Lou Pusey she said

Yes  Pusey

Its a funny name isnt it

Oh Funnier than I can say in our setting

confusion screwed up her face What

As I said funnier than I can say  A little game my eyes play with me

What

Ill tell you if you can remember  Some other time outside of work

she looked at Lou Pusey on the slip of paper in black magicmarker again  and shrugged  Okay  Ill remember

You remember Ill share

when he looked at the page past her hip his eyes said to him  Loose Pussy

she unfortunately happened to be standing right there

2053,  Friday,  30  12. 16

0956,  Sunday,  1  1. 17

Bob Dylan  Shelter from the Storm  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rKEXFSw54M

9 for 9

       100 percent over 11 weeks   those were the statisTics of their failed dates their sudden fastings the misfortune forced on their relationship which twisted turned and skated on the very thin surface of her frolic in the dark malaise of the relationship she contended with with her mother

she was living with her because her mother couldnt live by herself(which he saw quite differently)  

during these 11 weeks she and her mother had visited the ER 5 times apiece 

                                                             and during this stretch he also was finally emerging from a bout with an undefined auto-immune condition that he vied against holistically rather than submit to his rheumatologists recommendation a prescription of cancer drugs to suppress pain

he had been an athlete

learning to tolerate pain was intrinsic

                            so with 2001 Space Odyssey monkey instincts and tool-making he was able to fashion work-arounds to hold things open jars and cans and handle pots and pans that allowed him to feed and manage his needs

amid this saga(or beguiling travesty) his family  at remove and elsewhere across the country  took offense(as families and cults usually do) that she wasnt with him tending and caring for him

they furthur mistook his reasoning and words(again) that he was defending her she didnt need to be defended she was doing exactly what she needed for herself

The last fucking thing I need he said is to be tended or mothered I got my hands at my pains throat  Im exactly where I want and need to be

his family his parents siblings and daughters did not agree

they gave him short shrift

they tried to annihilate his decisions tried to second guess him rather than simply listening to him to his explanation which he felt was precise and clearcut

he told them he appreciated their concern but beyond it they had to recognise that as a mature man the eldest a father
he did not neglect them fail to care and provide for them  therefore they should respect his the decisions

why would he now make deleterious decisions for himself

Trust is implicit  Works both ways

When youve made decisions I may have asked your reasoning your thought-process  but I never tried to change your minds or rework your decisions  I trusted your abilities to do for yourself

Why dont you trust me

he told them they unfortunately had their backs to his movie screen  I cant turn you around to see the cigarette burns flickering briefly in the upper righthand corner  cues to help you recognise or portend dramatic moments youre missing or that a reel needs to be changed to keep and sustain my movie my continuity  Not yours   You do not attack yours

Ive heard all this before  Youre beatin an old mule playing a broken record  Ive put on a new one

You aint listening          

his and hers their current 9 for 9 paled literally in comparison with the uncounted unknowable untoward numbers he had put up with with his family

they were a slew  and whatever number a slew was  sufficed

1757,  Munday,  26  12. 16

1236,  Toosmunday,  27  12. 16

The Heavy  How Do You Like Me Now  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVzvRsl4rEM

 

winding down a ah  atruly abysmal year ayear of discord dismay distress dishealth 

he glanced casually over his shoulder tugged his cap lower above his eyes see if anyone might have seen him knot a rope around its crepey throat  pull it taunt  watch it  slowly   generously    asphyxiate

 

                                                                what stood out to his liking this year

every morning  was the smell of fresh ground coffee the taste of raw organic eggstheir brown shells pleasured him

and the delicate sssilent ssslipping of the coffeemakers classsp  its classsp gently relenting

 

                                                                    ssslipping   he remembered

he imagined he saw her hymen trembling  break  under his youthful unsure penetrationher eyes widening(he saw himself in them)  her breasts trembling thensuddenly he was deep verydeep inside hershe gassspedhe caught his breathgasssped

they were in love

he was inside her

her body clutched himher pussy had himGAWD she arched her nails at his back she scratched him hurt in her eyes 

he hurt her he liked it

she hurt he tried to withdrawshe glaredshe wrapped her legs around him locked her ankles at his ass dug her heels in like spursshe rockedhe rode he thrusted thrusted franticallyhe stabbed her with his cockshe bucked she bucked with himfucked backher eyes terrificher eyes pleading sheGODcame heFUCKcame he fucked her in love until his stomach muscles quitcramped   he growled   he reared tall erect over her she twitched her head lolled side to side eyelids battedher eyes unseeing

his arms threatened to cramp

then smiling  

         he collapsed on top of her

   they were ssslick

he ssslipped out of her ssslid down her body sssupped at her pussy  she gassspedshe sssquirmedshe grabbed him by the hair and ground his face into her pussy

he jabbed her clit with his chin he gasped for airhe couldnt breathehe didnt carehe didnt care if he suffocated

shegasssped ssshivered his stumble pricking her  she seizedher belly rock hard GODCAME

hard he wrested his head from her weakened hands he climbed up her body grasped his cock rubbed it against her lips she lapped it he thrusted his cock into her mouth  shegasped shesssucked  she didnt take her eyes off his she didnt careeither if she couldnt breathe

he AAGHCAME

spent he went over onto his hip

she followed  she laid on top of him and then like a snake slipped up his body  she smiled  she kissed him she kissed him deeply

         then laid quietly

he felt their cream from between her legs ooze onto his thigh  

he sighedhe gently kneaded her hair the back of her head and listened to their breaths nearlyasphyxiated return

cautiously  from wherever they were hiding

1439,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  28  12. 16

1006,  Friday,  30  12. 16

The Pretty Things  the psychedelic years 1966-70    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If5T-lz2YpY