Writing and Photography by Jeff E. Brown

Who gets to dictate which one of us gets angry? I’d say nobody does, especially since we’ve both been assholes in this scenario. We literally could not have scripted a more even division of shitty behavior and recrimination if we had tried.

You cheated on me repeatedly with my co-workers because I was always working and ignored you, then I turned around and destroyed your credit and social media accounts to get back at you. Pretty even breakdown. Now we’re separated and trying to start over in life and yet we are both still miserable.

I know people move on and grow and all of that mature shit, but I am not sure I want to. Hear me out: we’ve already done our worst to each other so why not forgive and try to forget. We could start over, only this time with our eyes open and maybe we’d be more accepting of each other. Let’s face it, we’re not young anymore and there are a lot of bitter, confused people out in the world. Why not stick with a battle-tested love?

© 2021 Jeff E. Brown. All rights reserved.