Toothsome

There's a string around my finger, one end around Will's tooth. "Just do it," he tells me. I'm gonna do it, I tell him.

I turn around to face Liam. "Yeah," he says, "do it." I tell him, yeah, I will.

I think how strange it is, think about my friends. Think about the things I've asked them to do. I think about when we met. Thrown together at a table through no will of our own. Playground compatriots.

I wind up and sock Liam in the mouth. Feel a tug. Will's tooth hits me in the back of the head, ticks against the floor. Liam reels back, looks at me smiling. Mouth of blood, he spits a tooth out next to Will's. And, one by one, the three of us just start laughing.