"I'm moving out."
Lucinda greeted him with those words
as he walked into their apartment.
It was early
and he hadn't done anything wrong yet that day.
Must've been the last four years.

"I guess this means I shouldn't have
had your name tattooed on my left buttock."
"You didn't."
"You're right. I didn't."
Barker put his bag down and collapsed into his favorite chair.
The dark leather one she had never liked.
"Would it have made any difference?"
"No. None at all."
He didn't know what else to say.
She just stood there.
"I need a beer. You want one?"
She shook her head. No....

The next weekend
a buddy came over to smoke a few bowls.
The buddy looked around the half empty apartment.
"She really left, huh?"
"Oh, yeah."
"At least she let you keep your chair. That was nice of her."
Silence.
"
"Are you lonely?"
"Yeah, I guess I am. I really miss her."
"She's one helluva a woman, that's for sure."
"No, not her. I really miss that wierd, little dog,"