Marlou the Mutt

me and my......

Marlou.

He’s a dog.

Amazing eyes, like marbles.

He’s lying on his side, licking my wife’s toes.

It’s probably the sweat, but it’s worryingly erotic.

Marlou is Laurent’s dog.

Or Celine’s.

One of them’s.

Together they have a stall in this market of old and sometimes forgotten surprises ; i have just bought and empty book waiting to be filled.

They gave me a special price; we know each other, i have visited their house, worked with them and lent them DVDs.

They gave me coffee.

« Do you know what Malou means? »

It is Laurent and he is asking me; clearly i don’t.

« It’s Parisian slang, it means voyou ».

I know what voyou means, i have lived in France almost as long as anywhere else.

Including Paris.

« But originally it was slang for Prox"

That’s a word i don’t know, it hasn’t come up in conversation before; i ask him to repeat it.

« Prox"

I try to repeat it myself.

« It’s a difficult word to pronounce ».Laurent explains.

« And it might be difficult to use day to day », he adds. « It means pimp »

He doesn’t say pimp though as his English is not quite there, he explains the nature of the service instead.

formerly published in The Archives.