I nodded with genuine synthetic sympathy.

Mutilated corpses with a chance of afternoon showers. I got dressed and went to work.

I really am guilty, of many somethings, all of them lethal and very enjoyable and technically not quite legal.

I don't know if you have noticed this, but it is quite possible for two human beings to have a conversation in which one or both parties involved has absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

And here I always thought morality was useless.

Getting yelled at by a furious woman should be treated as a semiformal occasion.

It’s an odd term, 'girlfriend,' particularly for grown persons. And in practice it provides an even odder concept. Generally speaking, in adults it described a woman, not a girl, who was willing to provide sex, not friendship. In fact, from what I had observed it was quite possible for one to actively dislike one’s girlfriend, although of course true hatred is reserved for marriage.