The slice of park ran between some houses that had seen better days on the left side, and the social aid houses that were all the same shape and materials on the right side. At the end of the park, things opened up into dense foliage and a view of water, more mud and fallen leaves than anything that could be enjoyed.

Hands in his jacket pockets, he kicked his way through knee-deep leaves, felt branches crack under his shoes.

He was making a lot of noise, which made for a bit of surprise when he caught Lloyd and Amanda, leaning into the recess where three tree trunks grew in together. Lloyd had a meaty hand just beneath Amanda’s shirt, against the flat of her stomach, his tongue in her mouth. Amanda, mouth acrobatics aside, had a very out-of-place serene expression on her face.

Ryan cleared his throat, and he saw them react like they’d been caught doing something wrong.

“You two have had a good summer, hm? Do you want me to go?”

“No,” Amanda huffed. She was flushed. “Sorry. You got here fast. I didn’t think the bus even came this fast.”

“Biked,” Ryan said.

“Is it a problem?” Lloyd asked. Guarded. Defensive. He was asking about him and Amanda.

“No,” Ryan decided. “No.”

“Do you want to sit? Picnic lunch as promised,” Amanda said.

Ryan nodded.

There was a picnic table, set out in the stretch of park, and they gathered there, with Ryan being mindful of Lloyd’s bulk and how it made the table with connected benches shift, before he finally sat down.

“Did you find your way here okay?” Amanda asked.

“I’ve been here before. Earlier this summer, even. I didn’t know you lived here.”

Amanda pointed to one of the brown social aid houses. She smiled. “We could have met.”

“Probably a good thing that we didn’t,” Ryan said. He took the offered food.

“Why?”

“An old homeroom teacher of mine put her address up online. She lives down there. The overgrown property.”

Amanda looked puzzled. Lloyd had a stiff look about him. That look had been with him for the last year of middle school and first year of high school. Like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Ryan dropped it. “She lets her cats run loose here. I thought I’d get my revenge on her. Brought a cat carrier, some smelly fish for bait. I even thought I’d bring you guys in, before deciding it was better to do it alone.”

“What?” Amanda asked.

Lloyd was silent. Ryan didn’t answer, instead choosing to eat, fixing his glasses.

“Do what alone?” Amanda asked.

“Catch some cats, check their collars, make sure they were hers, and take them down to the water there. Sink the cage until bubbles stopped coming up.”

Paper and aluminum foil crinkled. Lloyd, angry, squeezing the wrapping that Amanda had put his lunch in.