things always come in threes all good things come in threes    Nah  things happen in threes

the three that occurred inside the market were better than the ones that happened after he leftholding a sixpak like a football in his arm and climbing into his buddys car

backing out the woman across the aisleup from them driving a black F150 backed out without looking 

                                                                                                           had he not yelled STOP at the top of his lungs she would have clobbered them broadside

the uncomfortable hesitancyaccusationadmission following a near-accident ensued 

                                                                                        which they alleviated by pulling forward into the space so she could back up furthur then cut her wheels left and leave

after getting a pass on that calamity leaving the parking lot two other drivers cut off their lane angled across it off the tailend of a parked car rather than making an appropriate lefthand turn as they neared the intersections 

                                                                                                              awkwardly the drivers veered right to make it around them and refused to make eye contact

What the fuck he muttered as he exhaled

You can say that again.

What the fuck

Thanks, you believe that? Nearly hit three times inside a minute inside the same damn parking lot.

Well they are private property an no one has to honour the rules of the road which otherwise would be ticketed on the street 

      An everyones in a big fuckin hurry

Unbelievable. 

they made their way to an exit out of hell

descending a ramp to the street he chuckled 

                                               Mymy things are coming at us in threes today  My three inside the market were better

You had three inside?

I did I would have said sooner but you were playing pinball wizard 

they took a right 

                 no sooner was he on the road he stroked his directionallooked left checked his sideview mirror worked his way over two lanes to get into a lefthand turn lane

while he maneuvered he didnt talk to him he knew he could only do one thing at a time

they stopped at the redlight

Thanks for not talking to me as I made my way across traffic.

No sweat ya cant do two things at once ya cant do two things at once

I can’t.

        Now you were saying about your three things.

Yes Im even more tickled considering the three weve suffered on top of them 

One 

     the guy directly ahead on me in linewe were fourth an fifth in line six feet apart he shouldnt have worn sandalsdont ask me why I looked he held a tall bouquet of sunflowersshould have cut his toenails before he came out Turns out hes an impulse buyer 

                                  He grabbed a bag of Doritos a bag of Cheetos from a display at the edge of checkout Moving forward above the magazine rack was a display of barkTHINS dark chocolate pretzels with sea salts He juggled the Doritos and Cheetos to his arm holding the bouquetcellophane creaking then with his left hand he clutched one two then a third bag of pretzels 

                                      I wanted to ask him if he had a match although I resisted hed have lost one or all the pretzelshe was barely hanging onto them  Finally he was able to place his items on the conveyer belt He walked up with one item an walks out with six To his obvious reliefvisibly they bagged the products for him to leave

That’s nuts.

I gotta agree I thought women were who made compulsive purchases  My apologises ladies 

That was the first?

Yes Im impressed Apparently good fright serves you well usually had I stopped there you wouldnt remember Id mentioned three things

the arrow went green

he made a left

once he completed the turn and they began down curvy Santa Ysabel he said If I wasn’t almost hit three times I probably wouldn’t have remembered; thank you for not talking as I turned.

Yabetcha

And?

Number two on the hit parade 

                                Because I noticed the guys toenails I had to look away My head came upI looked left down the aisle that runs before the cash registers  Waiting with a cart parallel with the aisle so not to obstruct it was a buxom attractive Mexican woman brown skin long curly jetblack hair all set off indubitably by her white facemask huge black eyes  she was gazingoff in her head somewhere while she waited an ofcourse she would because I was looking  she leaned over the cart handle to her purse that hung from the childs seat an leaning forward her blouse billowed open just for a couplethree seconds an Im looking down her blouse her breasts exposed My my Then she stood upright again oblivious to the peek she provided 

                                                         I ran her on Replay an watched her another fivesix times before Compulsive began juggling snacks

Jesus! How the hell does that happen for you?

Im observant an just less than half the population I donpay any attention to at all

Men. There is that. he nodded approvingly

There is 

Three 

       since Compulsives juggling obscured or I fogged Breasts replays I looked past her up the aisle an caught this woman a blonde floating like on water towards meyou familiar with that kind of gaitthat effortless propulsion walking is floating its freaking attractive ya don see it too often she was floating man middleaged  keeping it together though not my cup of tea she wore an emblazoned tshirt 

                                                       Wha it say

they approached a STOP four cars converged at once right-of-way seems they forgot

finally the gentleman across from them on Ysabel proceeded into the intersection tipping the stacked dominoes so he proceeded forward and after passing through the two women made lefts behind him

Wha it say 

             An before you answer recall that she was floating as she walked Thats a hint

A hint? what was on her tshirt?

Yes

Floating you say, a fluid gait.

Yes I donsee it very often

Floating . . 

              I have no idea. 

they were approaching another STOP

after crossing the intersection they continued

I’ve no idea, I can’t guess, maybe if I wasn’t driving.

No  Okay 

           Emblazoned across her chest gold cursive letters Goddess  Fuck if she didnt moving like a goddess too It was sensational

That’s crazy, absolutely crazy; I wish I had your threes rather than mine.

Thats understandable however I must say I wish when number two happened she would have been three

Three? Why would you say that?

Imagine shes the third  she leans forward her blouse opens shes Awa she has three breasts 

                                                                                                    Gotta tell ya Im running that in my eyes right now

You and your imagination; good thing I’m driv . .

. . Shaddup  I cant do two things at once

1615ish,  Twosday,  22  6. 21

1237,  Thursday,  24  6. 21

 

Frugal? You haven’t half a clue what frugal is; you got five minutes I can tell you.

he talked like he was going to jump

                                     like a suicide  convinced by his convictions

convictions can make jumpers of everyone

he wasnt a convict

so he opted to hear him out

frugality in this day and age seemed hyperbole

hed like to hear hyperbull 

                           a beast without modesty

I got the time whacha got

My brother; want him, need a brother?

No thanks got three

I got five, we could lose him, wouldn’t be missed.

Too frugal

Can squeeze a penny. 

                        He lives within his means like they were prison walls. He maintains price-points, if a store can’t hit them he does without, the way he sees it the item isn't necessary, and while he rarely wants, he’s extravagant for others.

A thoughtful guyhuh

Oh yeah, full of thoughts.

So whas the knock 

Bags. Paper bags, plastic bags, he has them in abundance, readily plies us with them.

Why does he ply us  the family Ill assume  with bags

Because we toss ours.

Recycle them

Yeah, we don't keep them around, then we turn up short when they’re needed. He pulls our butts out of the fire and forces us to listen to him harangue Waste not, want not; waste not, want not; waste not, want not. Epizeuxis, he says, to drive home his point.

Because hes frugal

Yes. Frugal. I did say plastic bags, right?

Ya did.

I went to visit him. He rented a bigger car so everyone could ride together to our nieces’ soccer games; it was a weekend tournament.

An example of his extravagance

Yes, yes. The parking lot was full so he stopped us at the gate and left the sports complex to park the car somewhere in the neighborhood. He missed the warm-ups and was almost late for the start.

The girls won their games, so they had to return for the afternoon brackets. He went to fetch the car but everyone insisted we walk together.

We got inside, started off, one of the girls pipes up What stinks!  It smelled like someone stepped in dogshit. It was awful.

Everyone who could check their shoes did; nothing.

We rolled the windows down and when we got home he checked his shoes too, everyone rechecked their shoes, no dogshit. It was strange. He left the windows down while we went inside for a light lunch and relaxation.

 

A light rain came up as we were driving back to the complex. We rolled the windows up again. No sooner had we than we could smell it again.

I was sitting directly behind him, and looking down, tucked just underneath bench, under him, I saw a large blue plastic bag, it was folded in half.

I pulled it out, unfolded it, opened it, and got blasted in the face with the stench. Someone shit in the bag. I gagged, nearly tossed my cookies What’s this? I shouted as I hurriedly closed and refolded it; everyone cracked their windows.

He caught me in the rearview, What’s what?

A blue bag.

I picked it up, tossed it in the car.

You didn’t look inside? Didn’t feel a weight?

I did not. Looked like nice big blue bag somebody carelessly left on the parkway.

Yeah, well, let’s discount they were careless.

Frugal muthafucker.

Yah thatsah   frugal 

Afternoon,  Saturday,  12  6. 21

1220,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  23  6. 21

 

      touchstone  a touch stone 

                                   when a touchstone is wood  a gravemarker not a gravestone

how it feels different under his fingers than stone its quiet catches at his whorls and loops gently tugging them reminding him of her brushing his hair not because he was lazythat couldnt do it himself but because he wanted her to do it for him  humoured she chastised him You’re a big boy now, you can brush your own hair. 

she wasnt well hadnt been well for what seemed to him a long time

brushing his hair was one of the few things she could do that didnt exhaust her 

it gave them time alone she talked as she brushed his hair he loved the music of her voice they didnt talk about important things they talked about how they felt about things he listened intently to her because he was very sure when she died he would forget her voice and he wanted to fill his head to bursting with her breath her words to pushback against forgetting how she said them her cadence her particular words phrases

he tried hard to memorise them so when he would say them he might see her face and hearing them maybe catching an echo of her voice  desperately knowing he wouldnt have them if she hadnt said

1722,  Twosday,  15  6. 21

1243,  Monday,  21  6. 21

Jordan Rakei - Wind Parade  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8xZB5bWTbI 

Steam Down feat. Afronaut Zu – Etcetera  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL6mMhkkyL4

 

itd been an odd couple of days

an he wasnt one accustom to being taken unawares 

                                                       he had an imagination to fathom most interactions but muthafuck back to back days found him spungroping

there were two conversations

with two women

 

 

Have you ever heard of a malignant narcissist?

Narcissistyah malignant narcissist no Sounds redundant

Ohno, not really, not within the confines of terminology, it’s a blend of disorders: narcissism, and antisocial personality.

Do tell do tell

You think I’m kidding you?

Ah ya know better than to kid me Do tell

I will, I will. 

             they were on the telephone but he could imagine her canines showing as she smiled wryly Internally they’re fragile, they’re aggressive, suspicious of those around them, they see things in black and white. A malignant narcissist has no remorse if they’ve harmed someone . . and they’ll do whatever it takes to get what they want . regardless.

So in a word Republican

Let me finish, please let me finish . .

. . Yare not

No, they’re apex . . creatures . .

. . Im grateful you called them creatures sounds dangerously close to apex predators

They could be, very possibly; they feel empowered by hurting or harming others. No one is superior to them.

 

That it

Jesus, isn’t that enough?

Why arent ya letting me cut to the chaseuse shorthand Republicans

Comon, certainly not all Republicans, can’t allow you such a blanket statement.

If the shoe fits wear it Theyre pernicious theyve align themselves like goosestepping Nazis But given I might be overlybroad perhaps perhaps not  I donwanna take away any bows or curtsies they might wanna take  theyre certainly due for allowing the metastasis  Im being generous to their cause 

                                                                                   Were talking about this why

My exboyfriend.

Your exboyfriend If hes ex why is he bubbling up into our conversation

He’s bubbling up because of his mother. 

Why would an exboyfriends mother matter

A mutual friend’s father died and we ran into each other at the wake.

Ah thank you That makes sense bu . .

. . But why Im bringing her up, the malignant narcissist, is because she, after divorcing his father, probably prior too, slept around, and she didn’t do it cautiously or quietly.

She a looker

A looker. She’d tell me she was insatiable, I love cock, howbout you, honey, you suck my boy’s cock?

Jesus

Jesus? I’d suck Jesus’s cock.

                                    I’m speaking for her.

Yes  I follow

                   Audacious

Audacious, good word. You want to know what’s audacious?

Im all for new definitions interpretations

Of late she’s been going to wakes and funerals of fuckbu . .

. . Whoa Are you going to say   fuckbuddies

I’m not proud about it; but I am. What’s with men unable to keep their dicks in thei . .

. . Stop you What have you done with my friend Really  Dicks in their pants

Dicks in their pants.

Awright

You keep interrupting.

Yare talkin like someone off the street

I’m relating how she talks, I'm not pulling any punches, sparing her. She’s vulgar.

he almost said Do tell do tell

And because she’s been showing up and disrupting these ceremon . . 

. . Cant be too somber if these men were known . . you know

Their survivors have to contend with the aftermath of their relative’s indiscretions. He’s dead; the dead don’t contend.

I can see that

Yes, yes.

           So recently families are hiring bouncers for the entrances to keep her out.

 

 

You knew my husband.

I knew him before you knew himknew him in high schoolthe year out then I moved away

But you knew him.

To be accurate I knew of him On occasions we ran into each other  We were acquaintedwe didnt pal around

Oh, the way the family talked about you . . 

. . I dated his sister 

                      I was out of high school she was in that might have been memorable

It was more than that.

Wha can I say Nice to be remembered

You are memorable.

Yare kind to say 

It wasn’t an amicable parting. 

                                He walked out on me and the girls.

He walked away from his daughters 

                                       Youll excuse me I can understand it takes two to tango Spouses may not be forever  But children are blood

Since he disappeared on us, after all the shit to find him, he hasn’t seen his daughters.

Has not seen his daughters 

                                I donknow I can talk about this Im seeing red

He caught wind our eldest was going to marry. He was peeved, outraged, she didn’t ask him to walk her down the aisle. 

       He wasn’t invited. 

He threatened to come anyways. 

I have no words 

                    He didnt come

He did not, however her cousins, really big men, posted up at the entrances in case he thought to show. They agreed he wasn’t coming inside.

Bouncers at church

Yes, now that I think of it, they were bouncers. 

                                                 Ohmy, I didn’t think that at the time; I was just so grateful for my nephews and how much they love their cousins.

Bouncers. They were bouncers.

They were

What made you think of that? 

I couldnt say

1313,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  9  6. 21

1549,  Father’s Day – Sunday,  20  6. 21

https://www.tikvahlake.com/blog/how-to-identify-a-malignant-narcissist/

IQ EQ

EQ IQ

        nothing really more to understand about their differences  how did she say

Ahyes

           Make no mistake, it’s only a value judgment.

                                                           implying where he might decide to come down would be errant

No all his Noes droned inside his head  Can we rescind judgment an agree to evaluation  Theres more than greyscale the fine gradients you prefer to assign thingsmore to it than subtle reliefs  more to the blackest white an whitest black or if someone can distinguish the difference in the slivers that exist side by side

I cant 

      Anyet somehow you insistrather you believe not think  but believe   believe you can

 

Intelligence Quotient  Emotional Quotient

EQ IQ 

      she was hardheaded  she insisted IQ was the be-all determinant of individuals

Would you shaddup 

I’m not going to shaddup . .

. . Then Ill talk over youYou piddle on your smartphone don deny it  daily likely  it serves up IQ tests an I dare say you partake in virtually every test provided  An every test you take verifies what its algorithms have learned from you you have plainly identified tests you can no more resist than a junkie can a fix

Nice loop 

          Those tests confirm your desired reasoning quantitative reasoning knowledge of the world your visual an spatial processes  working memory  short-term memory  Frankly the tests confirm you because  you need to be confirmed 

she screwed up her face

                          I wouldn’t say I need to be confirmed; however the abilities you cited are important to me.

Yes they are  You are redundant 

                                    That said  what of recognisingidentifying peoples emotions  interacting with them you have to be able to evaluate an understand how theyre feeling too

I can.

You can if you have to if yare forced to  but you prefer keeping people at arms length  thats how you relate to them

I constantly invade your space

I make you uncomfortable

 

she didnt say 

               This is where you usually chime schadenfreude  which tends to make me think of a delectable visuallyappealing apple-cinnamon strudel

I’m aware of you.

Yare aware of me because I spur you intellectually  

                                                      An I enjoy our conversations  your necessity to scribble graphs Venn diagrams statistics  your cool logic

But ya don like it when I heat things up emotionally 

Ya know that I was raised by bitch wolves  wild strong and powerful 

Nothinghuh

It’s your show, your trying to show me up.

I am not  You have the capacitythe intellectual capacity  but you might get hurt 

                                                                                    he laughed curtly 

Wha are the odds

 

afternoon,  Reggae Friday,  11  6. 21

High Noon,  Saturday,  19  6. 21 

 

     it was like in the Rembrandts apostles religious series portraitures on black backgrounds in the subtle whorls behind the mysterious visages Rembrandt painted artefacts the individuals utilised and would identify their prowess

          this evening closing his eyes he saw in his blackness a quiet unassuming aperture a supplefluctuating spiral that turned in either direction or ceased and pulsed or spasmed oddly not one to look away or prettify things it looked like an anus  funny he thought how often others are uncomfortable with anuses some preferred sphincter which he didnt care for 

                        Picture it

   Whadaya see

wha he saw without fail was the famous Egyptian Sphinx animated fantastic  writhing thrashing clawing to keep its head above the mottled hot sand that churnedthat turned into loathsome quicksand 

he preferred anus had affection for it  no love for sphincter

 

2254,  Saturday,  19  6. 21

1219,  Sunday -- Father’s Day,  20  6. 21

 

Hey, uncle, Dad, check out this photo that popped up my phone this morning; it's pretty cool.

they were seated across and beside him he angled it so they could see it at once

it was a selfie of his nephew at a campsite a glittering lake behind him his beard must have been four inches long a Grizzly Adams shot if ever one was taken

It’s from the summer I spent in Idaho working Forest Service, flyfishing and camping weekends . .

. . When you weren’t at the bar  his father said

Actually, Dad a droll disdain registeringthough not divisive obviously a point of contention obviously a father-son son-father dig the bar was above the lake, above the river that fed the lake.

I never saw your beard that long When did you work in Idaho

Five, five six years ago . . this summer . I think.

Nice beard

Thank you.

Though you know me Im confused

I don’t know you to be confused . . 

. . You don’t know him as well as I do.

I know your Dad to often be confused but I think its the disorientationthe dark to sudden bright that coincides when he pulls his head out of his ass Ostriches aint got nothing on your old man

his nephew laughed

Yare welcome to it if ya like 

                              Notice he aint smilinhumoured He has a hard time laughing at himself

I don’t appreciate being the butt of a joke.

But you wear it so wellhowever if I may returning to the photograph and that itlemme know if Im understanding correctly the photograph self- if you will selfpopulated on your phone

Yes.

I need more than yes 

                       How does that happen

I store my pictures in the iCloud.

Ive heard of it

Your uncle wouldn’t know an iCloud from a rain cloud.

Maybe from a raincloud  but not a fogbank I-Cloud you say

I store, automatically, all my photographs in the Cloud.

So photographs can selfpopulate

A clever feature, I think, that Apple provides its users, if they wish; for me it’s a nice surprise throughout the day to be randomly reminded, see glimpses of times gone by.

You gonna tell your nephew Let bygones be bygones?

Naw thats more in line in vane with you Ya forgetI don 

                                                          he pointed to his skull  My cloud a cloud that cant be hacked cant be corrupted Any given day I see memories

You have to realize your uncle doesn’t own a camera; he doesn’t take pictures.

I do not Never much cared being behind a camera I rather think people who take pictures are doing so because they donwanna be in front of it  like your old man

That’s the second time you've called me an old man . . 

. .Incorrect Ya know better than tryin to put words in my mouth Thats the second time I said your old man as I addressed your son 

                     Unknot yer panties must be uncomfortable to sit on But back to my question the Cloud autopopulates photographs to your phone

Yes, uncle.

Thank you Does it automatically populate video

Yes.

Look . . . Mikey . he gets it!

Nice Life cereal I aint thick  though I think you might both be however more so or more likely to Tommys deficit

Mine? How so uncle?

Your old mans long in the tooth he shifted in his seat again displeased being called old an likely his endearing modesty hes a nice guy wouldnt have him taking nudes of a girlfriend or recording sex acts yaknow for shits and gigglesright

Okay. Tommy smiled a real big oneone of those Cheshire Cat shit-eatin grins Although I'm still not following you.

the old man leaned in but didnt say a word

How long has this technology been available

Nearly ten, yeah, I’d say ten years.

Wow Didnt have a clue  Youve been married five years

Almost six.

So yare home with your wife yare conversing  your phones are on the table because phonesparticular to your age group go everywhere go anywhere with you 

Yeah.

 

             Yah  An your really smartphone populates a porn snippet of an old adventurous girlfriend with your cock in her mouth 

                   I seem to recall the girls you were going out with were girls you knew in high school an correct me if Im wrong  Lisa was a year behind yatwo years Idonknow in high school  a small school

Now a really innarestin kitchen table chat will ensue  Why do you still have that picture on your phone?

 

Tommy didnt say a word 

                         If I may as Im fond of whas good for the goose is good for the gander I cant imagine youd be very happy viewing your wifes porn snippet a vigorous hand job some guy gnawin her pussy 

Porn snipsitinthebud 

Christ                                                                                                                                   

Really userfriendly                                                          

Random population

GPS 

     Devises devising Man look at us Whadaya say  Lets workup some fireworks  

Two words for you Tommy   Deep Learning  I know that much

1600ish,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  9  6. 21

1612,  Reggae Friday,  18  6. 21

Mikey, he likes it!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc

 

his family wasnt irreligious they lived in California grewup there  as a matter of fact there were more religions in their somewhat rural community than you could shake stick at than Doan’s had pills 

religion didnt capture their interest 

                                   if push came to shove they could admit being partial to Greek mythology Titans Gods and Goddesses Monsters Cyclops  Pegasus 

                                                he was particularly attracted that Gods and Goddesses could materialise paterialise out of the bluethe golden ether and pleasure themselves with a mortal made perfect sense itd probably get old fucking Gods and Goddesses and likelygiven their sexual appetites proclivities in a short while the maulings would be incestuous 

               not that that would bother them they had ascended incest riles only the pious the petty the mortalmade

he just began dating a girl from Iowa 

                                       a looker a real sharp cookie

then not as sharp 

                  she had a religious background or rather her mother did  her mother said grace at every meal no matter where they dined she liberally spread her religionwhatever that religion was at that time

he met her parents not Met   they ran into each other 

he had been out of town on a job for a few weeks 

her house was between where the job had been and his place he thought it might be nice to drop in unannounced 

late afternoon 

               he grabbed some thick ribeyes peppers onions mushrooms greenbeans Greek yogurt blueberries beers

he rapped at the door

Daddy answered he looked nothing like his daughter 

                                                       Can I help you? was sizing him up

No thank you  Is Elle home

Just a moment.  he closed the door behind him as he turned to walk into the house 

growing up if he answered the door hed stand there and yell so-an-so into the house  they were eleven

 

Im curious Elle

Yes.

So around Christmas time when you were a kid did you your siblingsyour parents go around the neighbourhood at night bundled up singing carols

Yes.

for some reason he couldnt explain to her later that tickled his funny bone something fiercesomething awesomebefore he could check himself his laughter eruptedtore out of him in goutsblew up out of his belly and lungs peal atop peal wave splashingslathering wave

she was not humoured

her eyes got shiny

her features hardened

wiping tears from his eyes he was somewhat shocked her attractiveness eroded

he choked out his laughter

You think singing Christmas carols is funny?

                                               hardhard voice

I hadnt thought so  but apparently

Did you, did you grow up living under a rock?

Ohfuck ohmy hedidntthinkhepossiblyhadanylaughterleft evidently his well was deeper than he knew Thatsah reallyah  very funny Elle

               he erupted again into spastic bellylaughter

he had to admit when he gathered himselfwhen he wiped tears from his eyes he was somewhat surprised she hadnt left

1600ish,  Day-between-Two- Ts,  9  6. 21

1141,  Reggae Friday,  18  6. 21

Nubya Garcia  Source  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL4Ae5ORq24