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“Did not the kids at your school come up with a song?” the attorney asks.

“Yes.” And thank you for reminding me of that, asshole.

“Would you sing it for us, Aaron?”

As I clear my throat, the crowd leans forward. This isn’t ’American Idol’, people. Now, ’American Vampire’ is a different story...

I grin inwardly and in a sort of sing-song voice, I sing: “Vampire, Vampire with his teeth he popped a tire.”

The attorney smirks, and some in the courtroom actually laugh.

Yes, funny, isn’t it?

When he seems to remember he’s in a court of law, his expression returns to one of dour professionalism. “How did you feel, Aaron, when the other kids made fun of you?”

“Like a mutant. I felt hideous. Kind of like I do now.”

He holds my gaze. “Did you believe them, Aaron? Did you believe you were a vampire?”

“No, not at first. Hell, I didn’t even know what a vampire was. I went home one day and asked my mom what the kids were talking about and she told me. As she did so, I remember seeing the hurt in her face, and the shame of being poor and not being able to fix my teeth.”

“You had no dental insurance?”

“We did, yes. I think. But nothing cosmetic, from what I remember. The removal of the teeth was a personal choice and the insurance wouldn’t cover it.”

“So, you had to live with them? Your teeth, that is.”

“Yes.”

I spy a small woman sitting alone at the back of the courtroom, huddled to herself and weeping silently.

My mother. She catches my eye and tries to smile bravely.

I nod to her reassuringly. My teeth aren’t her fault, after all.

One in eleven million. Dumb luck. But I know she blames herself for my deformity.

“And the kids continued to make fun of you throughout school?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Would you say relentlessly?”

“Yes. Every day. Dozens of times a day, if not hundreds.”

“And like a child who’s told he or she is stupid or wouldn’t amount to anything...”

“I began to believe it.”

“You began to believe what, exactly?”

I know the attorney knows the answer. This show is for the new jury. Just play along. The man’s trying to save your life, after all.

“I began to believe I was a vampire.”

The lawyer lets the words hang in the air. I don’t move, don’t need to turn or look up to know that I have everyone’s attention.

The lawyer is building an insanity defense. I’m not insane. I just love blood.

Slowly, I lick my teeth...

“How old were you, Aaron, when you started to believe you were a vampire?”

“Fifteen.”

“Was there one defining event?”

There was. It happened when I cut my finger...