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Sorry for being MIA the last few days. I’ve been preoccupied #sleepinglikeababy
In the second photo, uploaded December 29th, Melanie held Grayson’s hand as they strolled along the beach. She smiled at the screen, while he looked out towards the ocean.
Just like the old days #reminiscing
The third photo, uploaded yesterday, showed Grayson dressed in a tux and Melanie dolled up in a glamourous gown at some event.
A charity that means so much to us #doingitforthekids
But the fourth, uploaded just seconds ago, split my heart in two.
It wasn’t Melanie’s flawless smile that caught my breath, or her hand intimately grazing Grayson’s cheek. It was the sharp daggers of light piecing the camera lens, each one originating from the source of my turmoil. The diamond on her finger.
New year, new beginnings #itsbackon
The pain in my heart multiplied with each ‘like’ and supportive comment that accumulated underneath. I wanted to vomit.
“Excuse me!” a flustered woman in her early sixties called out from across the field. She frantically waved her hand as she marched over with a miniature poodle trotting by her side. “Excuse me!”
I broke out of my trance when I realised she was approaching me.
“Is that your dog?” she asked, pointing towards Luci and her new-found friends. “The big ugly one.”
Keep your cool, Josie. “If by ugly, you mean beautiful, then yes. He is mine.”
The lady scoffed at my response and continued. “Well, I doubt you noticed with your head stuck in that cell phone, but he has deposited a rather large…” She cleared her throat. “Poop on the lawn over there. So, if you could be a responsible dog owner and clean it up, that would be great.”
My head snapped to hers. “Excuse me?”
“You need to clean up your dog’s…”
“Oh, I heard that part, and I intend to, but there is absolutely no need to be a bitch about it.”
The lady grasped her chest. “How dare you!”
Anger rushed through me. “No, how dare you!” I bit. “What makes you think I wouldn’t pick up after my own dog? Is it the way I’m dressed? The colour of my hair? Or perhaps my botox-free face gave it away?”
Her eyes grew larger as I continued my rant.
“Seriously, what is it? What makes you think you’re better than I am?”
Another two ladies appeared by her side. “Is this lady bothering you, Patricia?” One spoke, narrowing her eyes at me.
My mouth fell open. “Bothering her?! She approached me! All you upper-class snobs just stick together, don’t you?” With clenched teeth, I pivoted in the direction of Luci and stormed away, pressing my trembling lips together.
“Stupid cows,” I muttered as I pulled a poop bag from the dispenser on Luci’s lead.
Leaning over to scoop up Luci’s enormous turd, my cell burst into song and Grayson’s name flashed onto my screen. My heart lurched and I fumbled my phone, dropping it from my hands into the pile of shit below.
“Fuck.” I gasped, hovering above it.
It continued to ring, but the steaming faeces surrounding it screamed ‘do not answer’, and I took it as an omen. The universe couldn’t have made it any clearer.
Part of me considered abandoning the phone altogether, but I couldn’t afford a new one. Thankfully, I had a spare bag and managed to pluck it out without making any skin to poop contact. I would figure out how to wash it later, once I got the hell out of there.
As the group of snotty nosed women watched on, I attached Luci’s leash to his collar and dragged him away from his favourite place, lifting my middle finger as I retreated.
Slamming the door as I got home, I threw the vibrating poop bag in the kitchen sink and marched over to my dad’s record player. Squeezing my eyes to hinder the inevitable tears, I ran my hand over his vast collection of music, praying for guidance.
