THE OTHERS

Until yesterday morning when I woke and received the reply to a text I’d sent my daughter I’ve been waiting for a man to die. He was on his death bed for most of week saying goodbye to members of his family and then spent the last two days snoring...
...in Bristol me and the children waited...Thebus said, ‘Why shouldn’t he?’ when I expressed irritation at the hanging on.
The hours after his death I wrote a message to my ex-wife, sending my condolences. She hasn’t, at the time of writing, acknowledged my message...
...I was on the bus, my way to work, wondering what to say to her, wrote several drafts before deciding which one to send...
...now I think I said too much, was too intrusive with my remarks, would better served with something more general...
...thought about ex-wives, I’ve got two, one of whom, the first, I had a child with, my only child, which is why I remain in contact with her and not the other.
When my second wife left she said, ‘At least I won’t have to put up with her anymore,’ meaning my first wife. I didn’t say how glad I was not to have to see again, her father, who never said a word to me, who in fact pointedly ignored me every single time we met.