you were asking me to make you as a kid.

Ray guns.

A whip that forces people to like you.

Invisibility cuffs, a parent trap, a lightning gun,

a teddy bear with anatomically correct innards,

night-vision googly-eye glasses, sound-erasing sneakers,

false fingerprints, fall-asleep darts,

a lie-detecting doll, an indestructible baseball bat,

a Taser shaped like a ladybug, a fake police badge,

location-tracking stickers, rainbow-colored duct tape,

mind-control hair clips, poison gum,

a pink, sentient switchblade.

Hi, Beth, you've gotten taller.

Shall we resume stabbing?

Has it occurred to you

that I asked you to make those things

because I wanted you to spend time with me?

Has it occurred to you that if I did try killing Tommy,

it might be because I was jealous of his family?

Wait, what? Why?