NEIGHBORS

"Hey man!  You better quit feedin' that cat man!"

"Yeah!" she stood next to her angry husband. "Quit feedin' that cat!"

I smiled at them and half-waved.

I woke up early this morning,

because the Cheshire Bridge Rd. am rush hour is loud.

But the coffee tastes valuable and I have cigarettes.

"Good morning! Hey, I can't not feed the cat.  She's been living here for ten years. Been around a lot longer than you and I, that's for sure. Everyone kind of takes care of her."

"The cat, that cat, walks on top of our cars!"

"Yeah, that cat. That cat. Walks on top of our cars!"

His wife was a neurotic. 

Her head wouldn't stop nodding in conflicted agreement.

My pajama pants sagged & I was barefoot, still smiling.

"She lives outside.  She keeps away mice and such.  She's a city cat."

"Listen man.  Did you not hear me?  It walks on my, our, cars!"

"Our cars!"

Her husband's face always looked like he was trying to shit.

His wife's face always looked like she was trying to smell it.

My coffee had the amount of perfectly persuasive brown sugar. 

"Why are you smiling?  This is no laughing matter, Carl!"

"Yeah, Carl. Carl. Carl, this isn't funny. Uh-uhh.  No, sir."

"I was already smiling when I woke up today, George and Bonnie."  

They turned around and went back inside their apartment.

I scratched my ass and wiggled my toes.

The sun is shining, but they said it was going to rain.