Page 74 of Malice

“But I’ll grow old.”

Crash wiggles his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t be so sure, homie.”

“Homie?”

“We’re friends, right?”

“Sure, I guess. When did you…” I wave my hand in the air. “You know.”

“Die? In the eighties. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of staying hip, don’t you?”

“Except that no one says hip anymore.”

“What do they say?”

“Uh, cool. Dope maybe. Rad possibly. The younger people though, fuck if I know.”

“Dope? That means drugs.”

“Not really anymore.”

“How do you say drugs?”

“Drugs. Or specifically what it is. Like weed, coke, et cetera.”

“Gag.”

“That means something else too.”

Crash huffs. “Gag me with a spoon. What else could that mean?”

“We don’t say the spoon part. Just gag. For example, ‘I gagged’ means amazed or speechless. Generally it’s good.”

With his brow furrowed, he says, “Use that in a sentence.”

“Uh. My bestie showed up looking snatched. I was gagged by his new look.”

Crash stares at me for a second before a fresh smile spreads across his face. “I like it. Snatched means good?”

“Yes. Very good. Like on fleek.”

He gives me a wide-eyed smile. “On fleek.”

“Also good. Sharp-dressed.”

His grin widens. “That I understand. ZZ Top has a great song.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, they do.”

“Okay. That apron on your thighs is on fleek. Very snatched. It’s so cute I’m gagging.”

“Pretty good.”

He preens, brushing his hair off his shoulders even though it’s not really there. “I love learning new things.”

“Is that how you pass the time?”

He nods. “That and visiting other Chasers. I visit my extended family too. Just to check in. I died before I could get married or have kids or anything like that, but I have lots of cousins and cousins of cousins.”

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