“That was later and he’s LYING!”
You think he’s honest saying he did it.
But not on why he did it.
He was NOT in any danger, going to that meet, yet he brought a knife with him.
WHO BRINGS A KNIFE TO A TRACK MEET, IN A VERY SAFE PLACE?
This meet took place at a local college's sport venue! This wasn't some prearranged, old fashioned gang fight ( "rumble", to use an old, 1950s term ), taking place on some nasty, out of the way street!
He had it all planned out, long before he even went there; what he would say and what he would do!