Careless Words

My ex-boyfriend, Excitement, has been e-mailing me nonstop for weeks now. Initially, I ignored it. They were all just letters saying he was sorry for hurting me and he still loved me and begging me to come back. There was not a snowball’s chance in hell of me coming back, so I just hit “save” and filed them away in case I ever needed them for court.

Then he started asking about our son, Boo.

How was he doing?

Was he getting big?

Had he started walking yet?

Was he saying any new words?

Now I’m not heartless. I mean, the guy is asking about his kid! Sure, he could have actually shown up for his court ordered visitation and then he would know the answers to those questions, but I still felt like I should respond. So I wrote him back. Then he wrote me back. Then I wrote him back.

Next thing I know we’re e-mailing each other regularly, talking about our day and just shooting the breeze like we were actually still friends. And you know what? It felt good. I’d really missed talking to him. More than any other aspect of the relationship, I’d missed the friendship. It kind of felt like I was getting the best of both worlds. I could be his friend and I didn’t have to put up with any of his BS.

Then he started telling me how he’d improved himself. He had gone back to school. He’d gotten a haircut. He had cut down on his narcotic medication. He had almost quit. You get the idea. I dutifully congratulate him on all his accomplishments, while privately thinking “Yeah, right…” but I was trying to be nice about it.

Then he asks me to add him to my friends list on MySpace.

At first I just hit deny on the requests and don’t mention it. Then he starts asking why I keep denying his requests. I change the subject, but he’s dogmatic about it. He needs to know why I keep denying him. So I tell him: