My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul

It’s like a dare.” I drain my water, then shake the ice in my cup, hoping it will inspire the waitress to stop reading her National Enquirer and actually bring us refills.
    â€œIt sounds disgusting,” Peyton says.
    â€œDon’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it. Your face could be up there too. Hank and I are going to be legendary. Just sayin’. Before we leave this town, our pictures are going to be up on that wall.” Nick says “we” but I don’t correct him. Not here in front of her, but the fact is he’s the only one of us who has any hope of getting out of this town anytime soon.
    The three of us leave our money on the table and head outside. We’re still good on time but have zero funds left, so we start walking and talking about random crap.
    â€œWhat’s the grossest thing you’ve ever seen?” Nick asks as he picks a leaf from a low-lying branch in our path.
    No-brainer. “That would definitely be Joey Tuscaluso picking his nose in seventh grade and sticking the boogers under his desk. By the end of the year, there must have been two hundred of them under there,” I say as Nick howls like a frickin’ hyena.
    â€œI remember that guy. What ever happened to him?”
    â€œWho knows? Probably got a job at the Kleenex factory.”
    â€œThe grossest thing I ever saw was my mother having sex with this guy who came to fix our TV,” Peyton says flatly, and both Nick and I abruptly stop laughing.
    â€œYou had to watch your mom have sex? That’s messed up,” Nick says.
    â€œOur TV broke so this repairman arrived. Long, greasy brown hair, goatee, tats up and down his arms. Mom must not have had the money, but clearly they worked out a payment plan, because I come out of my room to get a drink of water, and there they are, going at it on the couch. They were both totally into it.”
    Nick and I groan. “Nasty. Did she see you? What did your mom do?” I ask.
    Peyton has our full attention, and she seems to be enjoying it. She blows her bangs out of her eyes and smiles. “Nothing. She looked right at me and put a finger to her lips, like I should be quiet. You’d have to know my mom, but this might be one of the least shocking stories I could tell you about her. In my opinion, that definitely trumps a desk full of boogers.”
    â€œShe’s got you there, Hank,” Nick agrees. “Holy shit.”
    â€œWhat’s the grossest thing you’ve ever seen, Nick?” she asks. I can practically see him push his shoulders back because she’s called him out. He grins goofily as he lets the bomb drop.
    â€œI once saw this guy with his brains blown out the back of his head. Gray matter everywhere, and tons of blood. And this…crater missing from his head.”
    He creeps me out with how he says this with a smile on his face.
    â€œOh man, that’s sick.” I wave my hands as if that will make the image disappear.
    â€œDid your dad kill him?” Peyton asks without batting an eye.
    Nick snorts. “What?”
    â€œYour dad. Did he kill him?”
    I start to feel nervous. No one says that kind of stuff to Nick. At least not to his face. I can’t believe she just asked him that point-blank.
    â€œWhy would you think my dad killed him?” Nick’s tone is dead serious.
    Peyton licks her lips and narrows her eyes, then says, “People talk at school. They say your dad is…a hit man or something.”
    â€œMy dad is in waste management,” Nick replies and swallows. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down like a fishing lure in his throat.
    â€œAs in a garbageman?” I ask, hoping to clarify.
    Nick’s mouth hangs open as Peyton shrugs and says, “Whatever you want to call it. It makes perfect sense, actually. Such an easy way to get rid of the evidence. It’s cool if he is, you know. I honestly don’t care. I was just curious. My mom once