Lie

I wasn't trying to lie, it was a mistake. But, I couldn't prove it. Mr. Griffin looked very disappointed in me. Only I knew I was telling the truth. That time.

It all started the evening before, I'm walking home after baseball practice, and looking down by some trash cans I see stray firecrackers- seven total. Of course I took them to school the next day. Of course I showed them to some friends at recess, pulling out one I had in my jacket pocket, the other six tucked away in my folded wallet. 

Of course I ended up giving them all to a kid at lunch who had some matches. He set one off just before everyone went back to their rooms. I was at the other end of the playground, so it was really just a pop; but I jumped like it was a foot away, and started worrying. 

Within the hour, I was in the dreaded principal's office, sitting, waiting. But, resolute to my fate and wasting no time, I confessed to having them, apologizing sincerely sorry, blah, blah. As bad as the moment was, I was really thinking about how to keep it from my father, my biggest fear. 

Then, Mr Griffin asked one final question: "Do you have anymore, son?", his stern voice sounded like a policeman. "I don't have any more.", I confidently replied, pulling my wallet out of my pocket and handing it over.

Mr. Griffin took the old wallet, and quickly flipped it over. OF COURSE, a single, ominous firecracker drops down onto his desk- the same one I swear to you I didn't know was there. 

At that precise moment, caught in an impossible vortex of truth and reality, with the pitying look the principal had, all my frantic denials and protests totally ignored, I knew that life would never be fair, and probably never was.