Beat shrugged at the first question. He'd heard of some famous person with that last name, but he couldn't remember anything else about them. The thing they'd been famous for had been boring for him, so Beat hadn't paid the guy any more attention that recognizing he was famous for something boring.

He closed the door after him when Gene ran inside and straight to the jackets, lingering by the toques as he looked them over. Rhyme could make stuff, but it had been awhile since Beat had gotten her anything. Maybe a new hat was in order now that she was getting older (unlike him). Beat had stopped celebrating his birthday a long time ago, when he realized he still wasn't alive here, but Rhyme was - and she was getting bigger.

He shrugged again and moved away from the hats, joining Gene by the jackets. "I didn't ask for no fights, but the teachers couldn't leave me alone. Bugged the hell outta me, so I took off and tha's what got me in trouble. You just started, judgin' by yo' size, so it ain't so bad yet. But it gets hard later wit' all the 'learn this' an' 'learn that' and mem'rizing stuff that just ain't interestin'."