I killed a man this morning. He was young, maybe in his twenties. The mop of hair was sodden from sweat as he dragged a filthy hand through it to clear his line of vision. He was drunk, but terror was still visible in his glazed eyes as my knife slid in and out of his flesh. He had stumbled from the pub into the street, his coat hanging like a leash from his arm. His steps were careless and broad on a treacherous sidewalk. It was so easy to follow him as he half crawled up the stairs leading to the street level. Easy to measure his steps and count the shadows as he giggled his way toward a Crowley street, toppling over the cracks in the sidewalk. The knife was heavy in my pocket as my steps pounded one after another into the sidewalk. The air was cool with the nearly gone night; I smelled the liquor on him from the breeze blowing in my face. It was dark but I could see his weaving silhouette against the street lamps. We were alone together on this road. I gazed at my feet as they trod forward in an unnecessarily silent cadence. I gave him no chance. With a cacophony of displaced garbage and broken bottles, the boy lost his balance and fell sideways into a darkened alley to his right. I smiled. I came around the corner and stared down at his heaving form. He lay in a heap next to an overturned trash bin, covered with bits and pieces of refuse. The knife vibrated in my hand when I withdrew it from my pocket. Laughter had slipped from the boy’s lips as he took account of his sudden close proximity to the ground. I watched and waited for him to look up, for it was the fear I wanted, the fear I craved. I lie in wait for my pray to acknowledge my presence. He had been giggling hysterically as he tried to pry vegetable skins from his clothing. But it was the sound of metal sliding against fabric that had him looking up. His eyes were a boring chocolate brown. They were dulled with alcohol, confused. The knife caught light from a billboard above us. Shards of light reflected onto his face, and the dumb smile on his face faded.

“Hello.”