...Jake never intended to kill the boy.

I know because he told me. Murder was never on his mind—never had been. What reason would he have to lie?

After all, even if it wasn't his intention, he did kill Garland. Nothing can change that.

Death doesn’t really concern itself with details like intention, you know? Regardless of whether one means to end a life or not, when someone ends up dead, it’s truly the end of the road, which is a fitting pun if you read on.

Now, if he had intended to kill this lost boy… Well, then, the murder would have been a thing of beauty—perfect in its execution, freeing the murderer from even the slightest suspicion. The kid’s death looked to everyone like an accident and, I suppose, in its own freakish way, it was.

Because, as I said, he never intended to kill him. It was the accident of poor judgment, fueled by jealousy, which caused the other accident that would end the boy’s life.

Oh, this is getting confusing! I’m sure, dear reader, that if you have the patience—and the courage—to read on, you’ll discover how even accidents can be malicious, and death, sometimes, unavoidable.

The fact that the boy’s death was over me is flattering, even if I am sorry it happened. But, as I've been known to say, on many occasions, “It's all about me, me, me.”