*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
Stomping her foot in a fit of rage, tears begin to stream down Khristina-Bella La'rine's face.
"But I don't wanna leave you, Mr. Kazimir!"
The young detective sighs and looks down at the small girl. He hated that he was the reason behind her crying, but he felt he had no other choice.
"Khristina, Mr. Kazimir needs some time to himself right now. I promise once I get better, I'll come back to get you, okay?"
The young girl shakes her head as the door swings open, her eldest brother Dréy answering.
"Hi, Dréy. I was wondering if Khristina could stay here with you for a while until I get some things straightened out. I just need some space."
Dréy shrugs, taking Khristina bags from out of Kazimir's hands.
"Yeah, just send me the addy to her school so I'll know whether we gotta leave early or not."
"I'll be sure to, thank you." Kazimir replies.
He squats down and opens his arms out to give Khristina a hug.
She hesitates at first, but eventually gives in after realizing that may or may not be her last time seeing him.
"I promise as soon as I get back, we can get ice cream and I'll even get a cone to eat alongside with you as well." the young detective says, pinky promising Khristina.
She wipes a tear from her eye.
"You better!"
Watching as the young girl runs into the house, Kazimir sighs.
"AYE, KHRISTINA! GET YO-
"It's fine, man." Kazimir interrupts.
Dréy shrugs and shakes his head.
"Aye bruh, sorry for Khrissy; that's just how she is. Anyway, I got you if you need anything, a'ight?"
Kazimir nods, shaking the young man's hand.
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Dréy."
Walking back to his car, Kazimir gets in and takes out his phone, opening his messaging application.
Kazimir: Hey Alexei
Alexei: Good afternoon, Mr. Cizetto. Is there anything I can be of help with?
Kazimir: Yeah, I need to take some time off from the Merderaé case. I just found out that Naydine is missing and it's taking a toll on me right now
Alexei: I'm very sorry to hear that, my deepest sympathies. Please, take all the time you need to calm yourself and if you ever need anything, please don't be afraid to call me.
Alexei: If you'd also like me to watch Khristina, I'll come and pick her up as soon as I can.
Kazimir: thx, I'll remember that, but Khristina's okay, I just dropped her off at dréy's
Alexei: Alright. It's no problem at all, too.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, Kazimir sighs, resting his head on the steering wheel.
--------
"Missing? She didn't seem like the type to have enemies. However, I suppose everyone has at least one person that despises them." Alexei mutters to himself.
"Aye, excuse me?"
While shoving the phone into his coat pocket, Alexei looks up.
A young man with brown skin, brown eyes, and long dark twists looked down at him, smiling.
"May I help you?" Alexei asks, picking up his pencil to continue his notes.
"Yeah, the professor said to get into groups of three and since there aren't many of us, I was wondering if you'd like to pair up." the young man replies.
Alexei nods and extends his hand to an empty space.
"Sure, you're welcome to stay."
"Thanks, gang. My name's Lennox Zier."
The two young men shake hands.
"I'm Alexei La'rine. Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Zier."
Lennox chuckles.
"Aye, you don't have to be all formal; Lennox is just fine. But La'rine? Where have I heard that name before? Oh, yeah; my mom has a whole collection of cosmetics called La'rine."
Alexei nods.
"Are any of the cosmetics labeled "With Love, Kiyana?"
"Yeah, that's her favorite series; she loves the eyeshadow palette." Lennox replies, smiling. "Your mom the creator or something?"
Nodding, Alexei writes down the final note from the board.
"Yes, but she sold the company when she was pregnant with my little sister."
"Oh, so that means you're one of the children of that late co-CEO from that airline company; Elliot La'rine's son, right?"
"Yes, that's me. What does your mother and father do for a living?" Alexei asks, putting his pencil down.
Lennox opens a cherry Pepsi bottle and takes a sip.
"My mom's a stay-at-home wife and my dad owns a trucking company; Zier Trucking. You want a bottle of Pepsi? I got two more in my bookbag."
Alexei lightly smiles.
"Sure, thank you."
"No problem." Lennox replies. "You don't seem like much of a talker. You shy?"
The young law student shakes his head, opening the soda's bottle cap.
"I just prefer peace and quiet, that's all. Anyway, we should start looking for a third person before-
"YOOOOOOO!"
Alexei and Lennox turn to their left, seeing a tall young male with jet black hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes run over to them.
"IS IT YOU?! IS IT REALLY YOU?!" the young man asks, grabbing both of Alexei's hands and shaking them pretty aggressively. "YOU SMELL LIKE LA NUIT BY YSL, THAT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE COLOGNES!
"I'm sorry, but I'd prefer if you'd stop talking in caps lock." the young law student says.
"My bad, bruh! I just can't believe it; I'm in the presence of my uncle's friend's son! Your father was a very likeable man! One time he called me Mr. Domonkos and I've been feeling quite the man ever since!" the young male says, brushing his shoulders off.
Alexei raises a brow.
"Did you say your last name was Domonkos?"
"Yah! My first name's Jai, rhymes with tie! You're Alexei La'rine! Your father told me a lot about you and Dréy and Khristina when I stayed with my uncle for the summer and he had him over for dinner one time! He said you three couldn't make it because you were all in New Orleans visiting relatives!" Jai replies, taking a seat.
Alexei nods, removing his reading glasses from his face.
"Correct. My father was an extremely busy man and rarely made it to special events. He'd always keep things professional, which is why I have a great sense of admiration for him."
"You even talk like him too! You're basically a mini version of your father!" Jai says with a smile.
"I don't know if I'm capable of that title yet." Alexei replies with a small chuckle. "To my knowledge, both of your parents own a electronic company, yes?"
Jai nods and proudly grins.
"And guess who's taking over in less than a year?! Yours truly!"
"You're going to be a CEO?" Lennox asks, a little surprised.
"Yessir! My father wants to focus on his new clothing line! I don't think we've met yet; I'm Jai Domonkos, what's your name?"
"I'm Lennox Zier. Nice to meet you, Jai. Want a bottle of Pepsi? I have one left in my bookbag."
"Oh yeah! Thanks, but the pleasure's all mine, man!" Jai says, grabbing the bottle of soda from Lennox. "Aye, is there an electrical outlet over here somewhere?"
"There's one near-
"Yessir!" Jai yells, cutting Alexei off.
Alexei and Lennox watch in confusion as their new acquaintance pulls out a microwave from his bookbag.
"Bro, what're you doing?" Lennox asks.
Jai plugs the microwave in, opening the small door.
"I'm heating up my lunch because the professor held me back last period and talked to me about how it's good to shut up during the lecture."
He takes out a bowl of yellow rice and places it in, before pressing the two minute button, sighing in a disappointed tone.
"Too bad the experience wasn't like the ones in the porn videos. Speaking of which, what're you two's favorite pornstar?"
"I don't have one, but if she's got a nice moan, I'll keep her in mind." Lennox replies, shrugging.
Alexei sighs.
"I don't watch pornography films."
The two young men turn to him and Jai shakes his head in disbelief.
"Nah, bruh! You're either lying or you're just a real life angel! But on a side note, what do you do for fun when you can't sleep late at night?"
"Read a book, check the international stocks for the day, study a bit." Alexei replies, adjusting his pinky ring. "I'd rather drink a bottle of bleach than to be a debauchee and touch myself for pleasure."
"Quite the fancy wording I see, but I'm gonna be honest, that sounds really boring." Jai says, yawning. "Maybe it's just because you're too old for that type of stuff! How old are you?"
Alexei sighs.
"20."
He watches as Lennox and Jai each put a fist over their mouth.
"Well, uh, shit. I'm 21." Jai says, opening the door to the microwave before it could beep.
"I'm 23, so maybe Alexei just doesn't find it amusing like the rest of us." Lennox adds, playing with the silver cross chain around his neck. "So, you like yellow rice, Jai?"
Jai nods.
"Yessir! What you like to eat, Len?!"
"I like fried steak with biscuits and gravy." Lennox replies, turning to Alexei. "Alexei, Jai said you're from Louisiana. I hear they make that down there?"
Alexei nods.
"Yes, I actually just made that same meal about a week ago. It's one of my little sister's favorites."
"Damn, can I have a plate too?" Lennox asks.
"And me!" Jai says, throwing his hand in the air. "You gotta take us back to New Orleans one day so we can try some more!"
Alexei softly chuckles.
"I'll see what I can do."
Pulling out a nacho cheese sauce jar, Jai begins to pour half of it over the rice.
"Bro, what the fuck?" Lennox asks, laughing.
"Hey, you might think this looks disgusting, but this shit is good as hell!" Jai says, unwrapping his spoon from his napkin. "All I need is some grilled steak, but mom said I wouldn't have time to grill it before school started. Here, try some!"
Jai hands Lennox an extra spoon and the older male scoops some of the rice up, nodding.
"Wait, he's got a point. Alex, come try a bit! It's actually really good!"
"My stomach doesn't do well with random food combinations." Alexei quickly replies. "As a matter of fact, I think I need to make a quick trip to the men's room."
He quickly gets up from the seat and walks out of the room, heading over to the restroom.
Entering a stall, Alexei locks it and immediately pulls out his phone, typing in Jai's name into the internet search bar.
"Jai Domonkos, Jai Domonkos." the young law student quietly repeats, impatiently tapping his foot. "Ah, here we are. His house is located at 8403 Violet Street, he doesn't appear to have any other siblings, and he drives—five cars of the same make and model in different colors?"
Rolling his eyes at the last bit of information, Alexei walks out of the stall and walks over to the restroom's sink to wash his hands.
"He doesn't seem like the type that'd be like his uncle. Then again, he could be playing stupid. Certainly, he can't really be like that. Can he?"