It all started when he was five. The kindergarten teacher had taken them to the park; he was feeding pigeons – smiling happily at the funny birds gathering all around him – when another kid came running and scared the pigeons into flight.
He fell to the floor, bruising his knees – frightened of those creatures flapping furiously everywhere – crying for help until the teacher came to his rescue.
Later on, a pigeon was his first victim – he was practicing with his sling – and he stared curiously as blood trickled to the ground.
Pigeons also proved to be his undoing in the end.