“The Shed” had originally been a playhouse or small cabin built for my aunt. Reggie took over this innocent little building and transformed it. The walls were covered with Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath posters, and during the high school years it became a smoke-filled gathering place where his friends came to drink beer and smoke marijuana or hash.

They even found a way to preserve evidence of just how much beer was consumed there. Plastic sheeting was nailed between the exposed wall studs, and every time a beer was opened, the cap was dropped behind the plastic. Eventually, there were thousands of beer caps inside the walls.

There was also Reggie’s sense of humour.

Reggie hated David Lee Roth, the lead singer of Van Halen, so he put a plastic-covered picture of Roth beside the porch. It served a very particular purpose: when the guys went outside to urinate, they could pee on David Lee Roth.

For Reggie and his friends, the Shed became one of their main gathering places through their high school and college years.

Another detail I remember particularly well involved Reggie’s fascination with the darker imagery associated with heavy metal.

One day, my dad had bought some lottery tickets and was checking the numbers after the draw. I heard him remark, “Isn’t this a strange number?”—or something to that effect—before throwing one of the tickets in the garbage.

I retrieved it.

The number on the ticket was 666666, with a bonus number of 6.

If you’re familiar with Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast”—or with the Book of Revelation—you’ll understand why I immediately thought of Reggie. I showed him the ticket, and naturally, he kept it and nailed it to the wall of the Shed.

Looking back now, there is something almost eerie about that little detail. At the time, though, it was simply perfect for Reggie and the strange little world he and his friends had created inside the Shed.