4: Dead Cowboy (1)
475 Words
Simon Goldfield pushed the medicine cabinet door shut with one hand, while he ran gel through his shaggy wet hair with the other. He'd have to remember to get a haircut.
As soon as he took his hand away from the medicine cabinet door, it swung open again. He'd have to remember to fix that door.
Simon walked out of the bathroom, immediately forgetting about his hair and the medicine cabinet door. He walked sideways through the hallway between stacks of psychiatric journals and western magazines that he always promised himself he'd read.
The bedroom was so small that he could barely walk around his double bed to the closet. Martha, his ex-wife, always complained about that bed. Too small, and she was always falling out.
Martha always complained about something. Usually about what he forgot. But he couldn't seem to forget about her. Now, there was a love-hate relationship. He loved her, she hated him.
He pulled his last clean shirt and trousers out of the closet. He really had to get to the dry cleaners after work, or he wouldn't have any clothes to wear after today.
The closet. That was something else Martha always complained about. Simon didn't have that many clothes, but they took up all the closet space. There was no room for her clothes. No room at all.
Martha wanted them to move to a bigger place. She even found the perfect apartment, just up the street. Martha showed it to Simon. She was ecstatic. He was so overwhelmed by the spaciousness, he hyperventilated and had to be transported to the emergency hospital. And that's when Martha left.
He buttoned the top button of his shirt and tied a red bowtie tightly under his bulging Adam's apple. Hanging on a hook next to the closet was an old cowboy hat. He lifted it off the hook, and smiled as he dusted off the felt. If he were a cowboy instead of a psychiatrist, he could ride a horse instead of a chair. Maybe someday. He sighed and put the hat back where it belonged.
Simon walked into the kitchen and frowned at the envelope on the table. What was that for? Ah yes, now he remembered. It contained Martha's alimony payment. The payment was late again. Not that he'd ever gotten one to her on time in three years. This payment was late because he forgot to go to the post office to get stamps. He could take the envelope with him and go to the post office on the way to work. Better yet, he could drop it off at her place on the way to work, just slip it under her front door.
If he made a list of all things he had to do, he wouldn't forget everything. He just always forgot to make the list.
- Writer
