“He paid for it pretty good.”
“Okay, maybe some people aren’t terrible. Is it awesome?”
“Is what awesome?”
“Being big and strong and capable of opening a can of whoop-ass on people who deserve it?”
“Whoop-ass? Your vocabulary is stuck in the nineties. The cheesy part of the nineties,” he added.
“Hey, I refuse to accept there was anything cheesy about the nineties.”
“Were you even alive in the nineties?”
“Yes. Well, I mean, I didn’t know my basic alphabet for most of it, but I was there. Eating applesauce and watching colorful children’s shows. I mean, you can’t be that much older than me. What do you remember about the nineties that I don’t?”
“Crystal Pepsi,” he suggested.
“I wasn’t allowed to have soda when I was growing up.”
“My ma was less than attentive,” he said, shrugging.
“That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“That sleeveless jacket of yours,” I told him, nodding at it. “Bikers wear those, right?”
“It’s called a cut. And yeah. But what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, I mean, have you ever seen a well-adjusted biker? What sane, rational, going-to-therapy person hops on a death trap with two wheels for, like, a living?”
“You think riding a bike pays anything?” he asked, smirking.
“Listen, I’ve watched an episode or two of that biker show that everyone loves. So, yeah, I know what that little, you know, emblem means,” I said, nodding toward it.
“It’s a patch. A one-percent patch.”
“Right. Yeah, and it means you do, you know, criminal stuff.”
“Criminal stuff,” he repeated.
“Yes, criminal stuff. Which kind of just occurred to me now, so I am going to, you know, back away from you, get in my car, and drive away.”
“So you don’t have to open up a can of whoop-ass and kick me in the balls?” he asked.
“Yes, exactly that. So, yeah, um, nice meeting you, Remy.”
“Lark,” he called as I got to the other side of my car.
“Yeah?”
“You might want to get her to the vet soon. Her stomach looks kind of round to me.”
“Like she’s bloated?” I asked, trying to shift her body so I could see her belly.
“Like she’s pregnant,” he said, turning and walking away.
No, not walking.