she walks into a Starbucks, and she
orders; a large pumpkin spice latte,
five biscuits, two slices of lemon
loaf, three mugs, and four bags of
coffee beans. the cashier totals it
all up and makes it out to be £100.
a woman walks to the counter
and asks to use the bathroom,
but she’s asked to buy something
first. she looks down at her hands
helplessly and quietly says she can’t
afford anything. they get into a bit
of an argument. the woman lifts up
her shirt to reveal a colostomy bag.
the queue is growing in size
behind the woman. one man
is holding his sandwich and
huffing and puffing. he loudly
explains that he’s got a business
meeting and can’t be late.
the woman’s pouch starts leaking
all over the floor, making her sob
her heart out. the cashier angrily
tells everyone that they need to
leave so they can do a thorough
clean of the store. sandwich man
hurls abuse at the woman for holding
everyone up and letting her shit
leak all over the floor.
pumpkin spice girl sprays perfume
in the air and grabs her coffee and
expensive haul. she passes the poor
woman on her way out. how sad,
she says, how sad.
Courtenay's Corner 