XXVI | Bitch

❦

That’s not the end of it.

The doorbell rang again.

Jerry was going to ignore it
this time

but then he remembered
he had seen Rowan outside earlier.

Why was it the donkey who spoke to him?

Wait, the donkey spoke?!

Anyway, he was spooked.
So he picked up the phone,

called the police.

But Tom stopped him
after looking at the intercom.

‘It wasn’t Rowan or the donkey,’
Tom says.

It was a deliveryman

surrounded

by one hundred

sheep.

What the #*%&?

About forty-something sheep
were cramped between the door and the gate.

The rest were outside,
wandering in every direction.

‘I swear I locked the gate,’
Jerry says.

‘Anyway, I told the deliveryman
‘I didn’t order any stupid sheep
‘and told him to take all of them away.’

‘But he said I had to sign the paper or he wouldn’t leave.’

Jerry looks about to explode.

‘What the #*%&, seriously!’

Jerry glares at Tom.

‘We shouldn’t have signed it.
‘We should have called the police.’

Tom frowns.
Leans close to Jerry’s ear.

‘But we were…
‘in the middle of something.’

Jerry sighs.

‘That stupid bitch was obviously getting back at us.’

‘You said she’s a witch,’
Kumar comments pointlessly.

‘Ha, she’s definitely a bitch too,’
Jerry retorts.
‘Because my father made her transfer schools.’ 

Nora whistles.

‘Damn. No wonder.
‘I was gonna ask.’

‘Anyway, the delivery company doesn’t exist.
‘We checked.’

I fold my arms,
thinking that

Rowan is more interesting than I expected.

There’s a moment of

baffled

silence.

No one knows how to comfort Jerry.

And they’ve already dissed Rowan
in every possible way.

No one dares to suggest
that Jerry is bluffing.

How can a donkey speak?

And how the heck can you find 100 sheep to prank someone else in Singapore?

I would also be getting
chills down my spine

if I haven’t seen Eeyore with my own eyes,
if I haven’t heard a parrot speaking out my thoughts,

if I don’t have a feather that never gets wet

around my neck.

‘Anyway,’

Jerry breaks the silence
like the glass of an emergency button,

‘Stay away from Rowan.’

If he hadn’t said it,
I would have never considered doing it.

‘How did she make sheep appear out of nowhere,’
Kumar asks dumbly.

With this remark,

the awkward atmosphere
fizzles away.

Nora changes the topic.

But we don’t talk long.

Eventually,
I’m saying goodbye

to those heading in the opposite direction.

Nora gives me a look.

(Does she want me to accompany her home?)

Only Ming, Tom and Jerry
go to the same bus stop as me.

I shake my head.

‘I can’t send you home tonight,
‘I’m tired.’

Jerry crosses his arms.

‘Send her home.’

‘We don’t have that kind of relationship.’

Jerry stares at me.

‘Are you gonna date that crazy bitch instead?’

I glare at him.

But I don’t know
why I’m angry.

We don’t see each other everyday

anymore.

I don’t want to argue
about this
right now.

Tom refuses to take sides.
‘I’ll go get another drink.’

Nora stays for the drama.

‘Maybe,’ I threaten.

Jerry runs a hand through his hair.

He sighs.

‘I’m just telling you what I know.’

‘I know.’

There’s a faint smile on Nora’s face
as she listens.

I look up at the moon.

Jerry looks at Tom by the vending machine.

The moon isn’t as bright as the streetlights.

The sky is dark
compared to the lights on the ground.

‘Other than the fact that I’m gay, we’re really alike.
‘Personality-wise,’ Jerry says.

‘We both like to do whatever we want,
‘so take it from me when I say that Rowan
‘will control you.

‘It won’t be the other way around.’

‘He’s right,’

Ming says after being quiet
the whole time.

I turn to him.

‘You were the one who suggested
‘I date someone who doesn’t like me.’

‘Yeah,’
Ming replies,

‘it doesn’t have to be Rowan, what.’

Jerry shakes his head.

‘Fooling around is fine.
‘If you can get revenge for me,

‘I’ll thank you, bro.’

Tom returns.

He puts one hand on Jerry’s head,
ruffles his messy hair.

‘Are you done?’

‘HEY!’

Jerry ducks away from Tom.

He looks at me
because I stay silent.

‘Why aren’t you saying anything?
‘Are you serious about her?’

I shake my head.

Ming takes Nora to her bus stop,
worried she’ll miss the last bus.

I know he’s going to bring it up again someday.

But Jerry refuses to leave.
He wants me to understand him

right now.

But everything I can possibly say
will sound like

Rowan’s preaching.

We listen to the crickets for a long time.

‘I know Rowan is creepy.’

But she just lives
in a different world

than the rest of us.

I don’t know
why Jerry is so sure
she’ll change me

when it’s obviously

never happened before.

I’m sure
that I can mess her up.

I’m sure
that I can make her forget

her God,

her “real” world.

It’s all in her mind,
a clutch.

When she feels good,
when she falls for me,

I’ll become her world.

So why
is Jerry so agitated?

Why is he scared?

‘You said it yourself,
‘I’m someone who does whatever I want.

‘So I’ll just do whatever I want.’

Jerry stares at me.

Examines my face.

He sticks his hands
in his pockets.

‘I’m just hooking up with another girl.
‘Worry for what?’

Jerry’s irises
reflect the warm yellow glow
of the street lamps.

He punches my shoulder.

‘Good luck.’

❦