Chapter 1: A Holiday Goes Up in Smoke

My little cousin is a real troublemaker—he loves throwing firecrackers at my car. The smell of burnt powder and rubber has become my family’s unofficial holiday scent.

It’s always the same story: every holiday or family get-together, the kid turns into a one-man demolition crew. He’d cackle as he darted between cars, pockets bulging with contraband, looking for his next target. He’s only ten, but he has the destructive creativity of a Hollywood special effects artist, and somehow always zeroes in on my poor old Corolla like it’s the Death Star. Every time I hear that sharp pop! echoing across the parking lot, I just know I’ll be heading out with a patch kit and that old air pump from the trunk.

I started keeping a tire patch kit in my glovebox—right next to the emergency granola bars and expired registration.

During Christmas break, I had to patch my tires four times, but my uncle and aunt just laughed it off, saying, "Why get worked up over a kid's prank?"

Their laughter grated, like I was the punchline at my own expense. I wanted to yell, but all I could do was force a smile and pray my insurance wouldn’t drop me.

So I came up with an idea: I let the owner of a temporarily parked Porsche Cayenne use my parking spot.

My spot’s right by the stairwell—primo real estate. When I saw that glossy, brand-new Cayenne circling for a space, my gears started turning. If my cousin wanted to mess with a car, why not give him a bigger, shinier target? Maybe, just maybe, he’d learn there are real consequences out there. I had no clue how sideways things would go.

My little cousin, up to his usual tricks, tossed firecrackers—and this time, he accidentally set off the Cayenne’s gas tank.

I swear, the universe paused for a beat after he lit those wicks. He was crouched there, head ducked, that wild grin on his face—then whoosh! The blast was so loud, my coffee mug jumped in my hand and the balcony railing trembled beneath my grip. It was a movie-level, gut-punch BOOM that shook the windows and made the neighbor’s dog howl two floors up.

With a deafening boom, the Cayenne exploded.