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‘I didn’t realize that qualified as a kind of fun,’ said Hector.

‘Oh, sure. Like mountain climbing. Or skydiving. Or playing that version of rock-paper-scissors where the loser gets kicked in the testicles.’

‘...I knew some guys in middle school who did that last one.’

‘Really?’

‘...I did it, too, actually. I was part of their group.’

The reaper paused. ‘You’re fuckin’ with me.’

Hector flushed a little and covered his embarrassed smile with one hand. ‘Sadly, I’m not...’

‘Wow. I bet that was a learning experience.’

‘You could say that...’

‘These weren’t the kids from the carpentry club, were they?’

‘Oh, no. Carpentry club was high school. These guys were middle school.’

‘Right. And these idiots were your friends?’

‘I wasn’t... I mean, they weren’t... ah... Yeah, pretty much.’

‘What happened to them?’

‘Well, one moved away. One got expelled for punching a teacher. And the last one got sent to juvie for setting the school on fire.’

‘What the fuck?’

‘I don’t think he meant for it to get that big. And nobody got hurt. He was just kind of a pyro and...’

‘And a dumbass?’

‘Well... yeah.’

Garovel snorted a laugh. ‘I’m seeing you in a whole new light, Hector. Were you a troublemaker, too?’

‘I, uh... I tried to be, but I wasn’t very good at it.’

‘Oh, well, now I need details.’

‘Ah... okay.’ Hector took a breath and scratched his chin. ‘One time, I tried to steal a pack of cigarettes from a guy. I accidentally took his wallet, instead. I felt so bad that I just pretended he’d dropped it and gave it back to him.’

‘Wow.’

‘He gave me twenty troas.’

Garovel snorted again. ‘Smooth. What other terrible crimes have you committed?’

‘Uh... I put graffiti inside a public bathroom.’

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yeah. It said, “Wait here if you wanna see some real shit go down” and had a picture of a dude pooping.’

The reaper laughed publicly this time and drew glances from the others in the car. ‘You didn’t really do that, did you?’

‘I thought it would get me in trouble! That was the whole point! Then I saw a fucking cop walk in. He asked if I was the one who did it. I said yes. He just laughed at me, took a really loud dump, and left.’

‘Knowing you, I one hundred percent believe that story.’