“No, I know. I know that,” he replied. He shook his head, trying to figure out what he meant. “I mean, what would it matter to the rest of the world? Other people are already doing it. Like, it will either keep going or stop no matter what we do.”

“Well, okay, maybe.”

“No, I think it’s good, right? Like, we can keep doing it, and it’s okay if we keep doing it, and even if bad stuff happens, it’s not like we could stop it now.”

“That’s kind of philosophical,” I said.

“Maybe,” he admitted.

“I don’t know anything about philosophy,” I told him, “so I don’t know if it’s sound reasoning or not.”

“Maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better because that guy died,” he said. And I knew this was coming. The first time I’d seen him after the news about Lyle came out, he had emphatically stated that he did not want to talk about it. And, selfishly, I had hoped maybe we would never have to talk about it.

“Oh, Zeke,” I whispered.

He was quiet for a second. He took another bite of his corn dog. “We killed that guy, Frankie. I mean, we were a part of it, for sure. I don’t care what you say, I know it’s true.”

“Well, yeah, we played a part in it. If we didn’t exist, Lyle would probably still be alive.”

“No, it doesn’t have to be if we didn’t exist, Frankie. You know, right? The big thing was that we made the poster. If we hadn’t made the poster, he would still be alive.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I know. But, it’s not just us. If his sister hadn’t gotten hurt. If she’d recovered. If those idiots hadn’t lied about being abducted by Satan worshippers. If the news hadn’t talked about it.”

“I know. I don’t think we have to take all the blame. But we have to take some of it. We really do.”

“I’ll take it,” I said. “But that’s as far as I can go with it. I’ll accept it, but I can’t change it.”

Zeke looked at me and then nodded. “I think I’m just trying to figure out how I could have made this thing and still be a good person. Like, my intentions were good, right?”

“Yes, of course,” I told him.

“And what we made was good,” he said, and he sounded a little more confident now.

“It is good,” I said. “It’s the best thing ever.”

“And so it just keeps going,” he said. “Because it’ll keep going with or without us.”