He started to answer with that answer that he gave everybody. What he did for work. Because that was what everybody else wanted to know about. They wanted to know what he did for a living. It was habit now. An automatic response. He didn't even really have to pay attention when that line of conversation came about. All the questions were always the same. All the answers were routine.
But he realized that Baba didn't want to know what he did for work. That interested her no more than ants underfoot.
He didn't even notice the children fall.
She actually wanted to know about him. About him. Not the false him that he put out there for other people to see and be comfortable with. No. She wanted to know what was in the depths. Behind the mask, as it were.
Without realizing it, Dexter was smiling.
"There's a code." He said, quietly. "My father taught it to me so that I wouldn't ever get into trouble. He taught me how to not get caught. He showed me the way to clean up after myself, and make sure that I left nothing behind to raise questions. By the time everything is finished, it's as if they just vanished off the face of the earth. Or were never there to begin with."