The only person who halfway paid for their crimes is the one that burst his spleen, but he only served two years in a youth detention facility. No one paid until we made them.
Menace continues, “He was an older man that liked the finer things in life. He visited a show and while I watched him, I had to blend in. I walked around and asked questions about some items on display and realized how much I liked it. After I killed him, I found a few traveling antique shows and bought a few items that spoke to me.”
I grin and steal a fry from his plate. “That sounds interesting.”
“Want to come with me one day?”
“I’d love it.”
“How about Australia?”
My eyebrows scrunched, I ask, “They have shows in Australia?”
“I mean, probably,” he says, “but I have a photoshoot there and I want you to come with me. Have you ever been?”
I shake my head. “Never thought about it. Australia seems like the place you go if you want everything to kill you.”
Menace chuckles softly. “Yeah, well, that’s true, but it’s a beautiful place. I think you’d enjoy it. I’ll be there for ten days, and I’d love to show you around.”
“I’m not sure I can take off that long,” I say. “I have some PTO saved up, but maybe like five days at the most. If I take off ten days, I’ll probably come back to find my desk packed up and a letter for me to get the fuck out of there.”
“Are you done?” he asks and points to my plate.
I nod and push my food away. “Thanks.” He waves one of the attendants over and they take our plates.
We’re done throwing axes for the evening, but I’m enjoying our conversation, so we don’t leave immediately.
Picking up our thread of conversation, Menace says, “What if you told your editor that you were interviewing me?”
My eyebrows shoot up again. “Really? I mean, I thought since we…you know…that you wouldn’t want me to interview you. That whatever you told me was for us.”
“It can be,” he says, “but if that helps you come on this vacation with me, I’m willing to give you an exclusive.” He winks at me, making my insides feel all mushy. “You can ask me all the questions I otherwise refuse to answer.”
I gasp. “You mean about your charity?”
He stares me in the eyes for a few moments, something flashing across them that I can’t pin down. Then he dips his head once.
“Menace…you don’t have to do that. I can always?—”
“No, it’s fine. I’d rather it be you that broke the story behind it. It’s no salacious secret, but it’s something I don’t tell the world. But with you by my side, I’m willing to let people have a peek behind the curtain.”
I smile faintly. “I’m honored. I’ll ask my editor. I’m sure he’ll let me go if I tell him that the only way I can get an exclusive is if I join you. And if he doesn’t have to pay for the travel fee? He’d have no reason to say no.”
“It’s settled then.” Menace takes my hand and we head out—but not before Menace leaves the two attendants that stayed with us with a very large tip. They both beam and ask for photos with him, which I’m happy to take.
As we walk to the car, I say, “I’ll have a list of interview questions for you by the end of the day tomorrow. You can review them so you can have your answers ready. But Menace?”
He hums.
“Can you tell me about your charity before the interview? I’ve always wondered about it. It’s an amazing cause and when the first journalist asked you and you refused to answer, I knew it was personal.”
“It is. And yeah, I’ll tell you about it.”
When we get to his car, he opens the door for me, and I marvel at his car again. “I swear, the Europeans know how to make a car.”
“That they do. Not too great with breakfast, though.”
I bark a laugh as he shuts me inside.
