Games people play

They were not children of the occupation, a few years too young, both of them, to have witnessed the peoples' revolt, no dicatorships, just the semi-placid days of an economic upswing, boom times. They were not children of faculty, but in close proximity to the University, relatives and nannies would bring them all kinds of books, outdated economic treatises, cosmological manifestos, self-help mythologies, the idea being that any text no matter what the material would be good for beginning readers. Noli was five years older than Janet, their mother's childhood home on Delmonte Avenue, in recent years become a bustling commercial strip. Their father, only Noli really remembered, died from intestinal cancer in his early forties. Janet claims that she remembered papa, but most likely it is from the copious photo albums, since Janet wasn't even three when he passed away.
Janet was 4 and her older sister 9 when one summer they invented this game: who of the people around them, friends, neighbors, relatives was capable of murder. Most likely the game was inspired by the plethora of criminal investigation shows that pandered to the growing middle class, sordid tales of the demi-monde.