Ex Rat #5

The rat is out of the bottle, shaking its fur, blowing hot small breaths on to its legs.

A quiet but intense whine emerges from his vibrating body.

" Would you get that?"

The man doesn't move from his lounger.

"Honey, I said would you get that?"

The woman is watching someone move in the bushes close to the poolman's hut.

"I'm busy."

The woman scoffs,

" Oh sure, busy doing nothing. And they talk about the ideal rich.

" I'm not idle."

The Smart Ting™ continues to ring and the woman without taking her eyes off the rustlting bushes reaches for it.

" I think there is someone in the bushes?"

"What?"

" The bushes, they're rustling."

"That's what bushes do, baby, they rustle."

"I'm going to shake your goddamned tree if you don't answer the phone."

"Who don't you want to speak to this time?"

"Everybody."

The man groans as he stretches out his hand without opening his eyes.

" Hello?"

The woman shouts over to the bushes.

"Hello?"

The man shouts down the phone.

The rat continues to dry itself, shaking its small body and rubbing up against the brittle leaves of the bush.