Seeking Silence : Kevin
Warning: This chapter contains adult language
Sunlight melts July afternoons, perfect temperatures. Because of the heat and drought, it’s been three weeks since I’ve mowed the yard. A field of yellow dead grass crunches under foot.
A black cat sleeks out of my shed. It’s been defecating in there for sometime and I’ve been cleaning it out regularly. This time, I caught the little asshole red-handed and guilty.
“Hey?” I shout. “Kevin! You ass! Stop shitting in my shed!”
The fat black cat tries frantically to climb the metal mesh fence. He falls and tries again almost snagging his drooping belly on the sharp barb-like top flanges. His graceful cat powers, lost.
“Hey! Yeah you, I’m talking to you.” Kevin the cat looks back over his shoulder, now safe in the neighbor’s yard. “I’m sick of picking up your turds!” His yellow contemptuous eyes glow back at me in a sea of black fur.
“And what if I don’t?” He says now perched on a branch like the cheshire. “What if I enjoy relieving myself in the privacy of your space?”
“I’ll lock the damn door.” I raise my fist with keys.
“There is no lock on your door.” He says. “In fact there is no door. Your threats are empty.” He begins licking his front paws in a rhythm.
“Fuck you Kevin!” I shout now waving the plastic garbage bag I’ve been holding this whole time. Coffee grounds spill out. He continues to casually lick his paws.
“Have you found your demon yet?” He asks.
“What?”
“It’s found you. It follows you.”
“What?”
“That selfish thought.”
“Shut up Kevin. Stop shitting in my shed or I’ll tell Jim to keep you locked in the house.”
“It’s your shadow. It’s waiting.”
“Fuck off! I’m taking the garbage out and you better be gone when I get back and I don’t want to see you in my yard!”
He licks his back paws. “Can you control your own thoughts?”
“I said fuck off!” I begin to disengage and walk away.
“Who is that voice inside your head?” Kevin said plopping down from the tree branch. “Can you un-think?” He lifts his tail and points his asshole shamelessly in my direction. He nearly disappears in the weeds of the neighbor's yard. Tall bright yellow dandelions sway in his wake.
I reach the alley and toss the white bag of garbage into the bin. A crow pecks at something dead in the road. Pulling at a piece of rubbery red and black flesh it looks at me and swallows.
I grab a shovel to pick up Kevin’s shit and toss it in the garbage too. What an asshole.
All works by, Charles Denton