Happy New Year and No Thank You

the ease of keeping to one's self

I'm happy to have the mother of all excuses for invitations that seem like more trouble than they're worth. I've never liked New Year's Eve. Under duress I'd cater parties back in the day, but now? Jammies, lock the door, soup. 

12 dogs in the rescue, firework/explosions unravel the nervous ones, I'm out of Canine Relax cookies, a couple dogs are unwell with broken teeth, drippy eyes. River rolled in the pipe output from the fish gut cleaning place on the beach. Likely full of more bacteria than a bus station. 4 of the 12 are on meds and drops and Mattie the Cattle Dog is faster than he looks. A salt and pepper greased pig when the drops come out...he looks pink eye and glaucoma-ish. Vet will come next week he said. 

I can't imagine one invite that would warrant leaving the property. If I thought about it for a day or so I could possibly knit together a scenario where I'd allow someone to come inside. A hilarious person bringing Italian foods and beautiful trays and flowers for interesting stories. They bring their own chair as I have none. They love dogs. Somehow they have brought prosciutto from their family in Tuscany on the plane. They saw a nice farm table in the city when they rented their van and brought it to me because they knew I needed counters. A basket of potted herbs and some buttery leather slippers. Gracias! So great to see this person. They have a room at the hotel next door and would never expect to stay here in this office space dog pound I've managed to shove a bed into. If all is well tomorrow we can leave for a couple hours and take a boat ride out to Angel Island. 

I don't know this person. I'd like to invent this person. I'm more into that sort of AI than a Roomba vacuum that takes photos of me naked and posts to social media. That story made me glad I just use a corn broom. 

In any case, I sat in the bed with 6 quivering dogs, 2 under the bed, 2 out in the yard who don't care about noise and 2 in the other room relaxing on that kid futon that is in here. I listened halfway to a podcast and halfway to music(s) outside...live band, loud car stereo, piped in old timey Mexican ballads from the beer store, some party down at the thing in front of the Sea they call The Plaza. Fireworks and dogs under blankets and around 2am it was all quiet. 

Earlier, at 8pm, deep into a true crime episode hashing over details about the arrested suspect in the Idaho killings, I got a photo message from Hay-zeus the Ass a ssin (former). A pic of a woman in a frame and a small wood box covered in flowers. I responded with a question mark. 

Those are the ashes of my girlfriend. They killed my girlfriend! They stabbed her!

We don't talk much, the Assa ssin and I. He's couriered some deliveries from Amazon of dog beds and he's borrowed $20 here and there. He's moved to Hermosillo for a job moving "cars" or something and occasionally asks if I want a plasma TV or some other shit. Low risk fenced crap. Who knows. I just decline and wish he'd find me some fenced goat cheese or a pair of decent slip ons. 

He was in prison for 14 years for some federal crimes and I'd imagine being outside and earning a normal living doesn't appeal. In Mexico if you do the same crime again they double the sentence and you go back inside. So 30 years this time. I don't know if it's a do over if you start illegal games of a different sort. But anyway, the girlfriend. 

He told me about her a few months ago...Mirasol. She was 28 he said and at 45, likely too young for him but he's got some catching up to do. I never met her, but he seemed happy. Some guy named Rodrigo sliced her up and then beat her with a pipe is what I read in the news. On his front porch. He then tried to kill himself but was unsuccessful and is in the hospital. It was her "sentimental partner" and neighbors tried to stop their very loud verbal "discussionment" but he attacked them with the "cutter" so they fled. *Mexican news outlets really need to give Google Translate a try. So that was her "man" and Hay-zeus is the boyfriend? Can't imagine what they were fighting about. 

They call the murder of women specifically, Femicide, and it has a weightier sentence by law in Mexico. (Allegedly)Fairly new law. A necessary one. Hay zeus said he did not know the guy but the police arrested him, which was easy because he was bleeding out on the porch. I tried to rein in my questions, if he knew how deep I have been into True Crime and Who Dunnit content for the last week...it was weird to be listening about stabbing and then having someone text about stabbing in "real life". The veil is getting thin. The news reported Mirasol as 32, not 28. I'm guessing she had a few other lies she's told him. The sentimental partner for example. 

He said it happened Monday and I thought that was weird because I talked to him on Thursday about his dog Lucas who had gotten out and asked if I should put him back at his mom's house. No, he said, it's fine. 

No mention of anything else. 

He said he's coming to town today and wanted to chat. I'm his best friend here he said. For a guy who was born here? I think he means the only non criminal person he can trust who was in bed eating cinnamon corn flakes last night, the best place to be right now.

I’m am not interested in fostering a relationship and thankfully, like everyone else in town, he didn’t follow through on the visit.