Max: She’s old news.

Cassie: Yea. No kidding. Can you catch me up?

Max: Why?

Cassie: I don’t know…so I know something about her. She’s a “she.” Rap?

Max: (sighing…he’s cooking a pop tart and would just like to continue with his task silently) No. Pop.

Cassie: What’s the “$” sign in her name about?

Max: It stands for an “S.”

Cassie: So you pronounce it “Kesha?”

Max: Yes.

Cassie: That’s what I was guessing. Is she Caucasian or African American?

Max: Mom….I have NO idea. She wears a lot of makeup. I haven’t really noticed her color, her ethnicity…or cared. This conversation is so….

Cassie: Do you like her music?

Max: Ummm. No.

Cassie: How do you know about her?

Max: (he’s whining now) Because I do.

(But the bite of brown sugar pop tart has pleased him so now he’s chewing, savoring, smiling.)

The joke is that because she recently moved to Europe, the “E” in her name has now been replaced by the Euro sign, you know like the “S” in her name — with the “$” sign?

Cassie: Yea. I get it. That’s clever. For real?

Max: (Heavy sighing) Oh God. It’s just a joke.

(No more words now. Just sighing and pop tart chewing.)