Page 23 of Beautiful Trauma

Sergio: Sure, it is.

I rolled my eyes at his commitment to chaos.

Me: Use it in a sentence.

Sergio: If I had a definition for it, I would. I haven’t decided what it means yet.

Me: You are making up a word and you came up with “slunto”? I think you can do better.

Sergio: I was signing into an account and the robot verification word thing was “slunto.” I saw it as a challenge to make it an actual word.

Me: It’s definitely a noun.

Sergio: I was thinking a noun with a promiscuous connotation.

Me: There’s an outside chance you could make it an adjective. No way it can be a verb. There will be no “slunto-ing” anything.

I cringed at the thought.

Sergio: Agreed. not a verb.

Sergio: Probably not an adjective

Me: Maybe slang for a strip club? ‘They went to the slunto’

Sergio: No… body part? new name for the clit?

Me: No. Just no.

Me: face it slunto is not a word

Sergio: I’m not giving up yet

* * *

A few moments later, he sent me a picture of him awkwardly leaning in the doorway of the bus.

Sergio: What do you think about this lean?

Me: What are you posing for

Sergio: The ladies go feral for a man leaning in the doorway like this

Me: You’re hot and you know it. You don’t have to lean

Sergio: What about my forearms? Do they need more tattoos?

The already strange dynamic was taking an even more bizarre turn, But I couldn’t help but admit that he had endeared himself to me. Even with his outlandish behavior and stage-five clinger neediness, I was happy to have found our friendship.

Me: You’re the drummer in a successful band. You don’t have issues finding the ladies

Sergio: But what if the lady I’m meant to be with is looking for a thirst trap

Me: I refuse to stroke your ego any more

Sergio: I can think of something else you can stroke for me ??

Me: Taken, thanks. Go post your thirst trap online and find someone who is available