"Can I call him now?!"
Sighing, Dréy looks down at his little sister who held out her hand to take his cell phone.
"Khristina, I already told you the dude is at work. He can't talk to you."
"But he said he'd call at 9:00 and it's midnight!"
"Kash is a detective, Khristina. He has lots of work and most likely got caught up in it."
The little girl huffs and sits on the couch next to her brother.
"I don't like Mr. Kazimir staying out late." Khristina says, resting her head on her brother's arm. "What if something bad happens to him?"
"He knows how to shoot- I mean, take care of himself." Dréy replies, turning the television off. "Look, why don't we both get some sleep? He's gon' be here tomorrow to pick you up from school."
"Oh, fine."
Dréy smiles and picks up his little sister, carrying her to bed.
"Sweet dreams, Khrissy."
Closing the little girl's door, he begins to walk to his own room, before hearing a knock on his front door.
"Who the hell?"
Quickly walking downstairs, the young man looks out of the window and notices his friend's car parked outside.
Dréy opens the door, Pierre giving him a smile and walking inside, before shoving a box into his best friend's hands.
"That's $5 million worth of cocaine right there. You wanna hold it here for about three days?"
"You want me to what?"
"I said will you hold it here for three days?" Pierre says. "I know you heard me the first time."
"The fuck is wrong wit' you and my brother?" Dréy says, putting the box to the side. "What am I to y'all? The middleman?"
"I mean, yeah. And since you keeping it, I'll give you half of the profit I get from that."
Dréy shrugs and looks down at the box.
"Well, at least you giving me money."
Sitting down, Pierre reaches for the remote and turns the television on.
"I'm supposed to be interrogating you about the rising crime around the city, but I don't really care to."
"I don't feel like it either." Dréy says, taking the remote from Pierre's hands. "Lemme see this, I ain't had time to play 2k in a while. How's Prince doing?"
"Fine. You spoil that boy too much, he keeps on asking to see you."
Dréy laughs and gives Pierre a game controller.
"I ain't got no kids of my own, so spoiling everyone else's will do for now."
"Well, when you gonna make some?" Pierre asks.
"When I find the right woman. What's that girl's name that you work beside? She seems nice."
"Nia. But she has an admirer you're gonna have to go through first."
Dréy laughs.
"Shit, nevermind."
"What about Naydine?" Pierre asks.
"Ahhh man, Pierre. Why you always gotta bring her up?"
"Because you still have feelings for her even though you keep denying it."
"No, I don't. She love what's-his-face, but he don't love her. I ain't wasting no time on a chick who don't like me back. Been there, done that." Dréy explains, shaking his head.
"What's-his-face." Pierre mocks. "You know the boy's name, Dréy."
"I forgot it for a split second."
"Then why don't you tell her what he's been up to?"
Turning to Pierre, Dréy gives him a confused look.
"You don't know? Kazimir's the one whose been the main cause of all those police deaths."
"Pierre, I know you don't like the kid and all, but you can't be serious. That man is not a psychopath, just look at him. Besides, Khristina would've been told me if she felt like something was off about him."
"Khristina is convinced that clown is her knight in shining armor, she ain't saying shit." Pierre says, tapping a few buttons on the controller.
"I know you ain't saying my little sister keeping some man's deadly secret to herself."
"I'm not saying, I'm just suggesting. Go ask her if she noticed any weird behavior in him recently."
Dréy laughs and turns to his friend.
"Ain't you the detective?"
Pierre shakes his head.
"Hell no. Last time I tried to interrogate her, I almost got framed for spilling coffee on her dress. I don't know who she get it from, but that little girl is evil."
"Probably Alexei." Dréy replies, shrugging.
*BRRRRINNGGG!*
Looking down at his phone's caller ID, Dréy sighs.
"Speak of the devil. The hell do this boy want now?"
He swipes the answer option, before putting the phone to his ear.
"What Zay? I was just about to go to sleep."
"I hear NBA 2K18 in the background, stop lying." Alexei says, rolling his eyes. "Earlier, I forgot to tell you Brent Domonkos wanted to meet with you."
"For what?"
"He's the one to tell you, not me. Anyway, he's arranged a meeting this Saturday at the mall downtown."
"Okay." Dréy replies. "That's all you called for?"
"Yes, good-
"Yo, hol' up. Is Kash really the one who's been killing all of them police officers?"
Alexei sighs.
"How should I know?"
"You hang wit' him every time you come back here. You gotta have some type of clue."
"Well, he hasn't told me anything about him being involved in any type of murdering."
"He's lying." Pierre whispers.
"And you're a detective who is drug dealing, Pierre." Alexei says. "You want to continue using my airplanes to transport your contraband, you better start showing me some respect. Don't tell me I'm lying again."
Pierre raises a brow, taking Dréy's phone from his hand.
"I can always find a new airline company to use. You're not even the CEO of the company you work for, so quit it with the "my airplanes.""
Picking up a letter from his coffee table, the young law student clears his throat and begins to read it.
"On this day of February 18th, Mr. Alexei Khalil La'rine has been promoted to CEO of Connected Airlines following the sudden resignation of Brent William Domonkos. Signed, the Connected Airlines board of trustees. What else are you going to tell me I'm not, Richano? I'm waiting."
Pierre pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head.
"We were talking about Kazimir, not you becoming CEO of that damn airline company."
"Well, you were the one who changed the subject. Don't try to get off topic now. Hurry up and tell me what I'm not, Richano. We can get back to our conversation regarding Mr. Cizetto after you do so."
"Listen, I'm not about to sit here all night to go back and forth with you."
Pierre groans and gives Dréy an annoyed look, handing him his phone back.
"That's what I thought. No answer to my original question." Alexei replies, turning off his bedroom light. "So, I suggest you stay in your place with that smart mouth of yours. You and I both know no one else would permit you to use their airlines as a means of transporting drugs."
The line on the other end goes dead and Dréy sighs, putting his phone down to his side.
"The fuck is his problem?" Pierre asks.
"That boy loves getting hella defensive when he's being accused of lying, so I guess you're right." Dréy replies, sighing. "Khristina really is staying with a psychopath."
--- 3:30 A.M. ---
Pulling into the driveway, Kazimir turns off his car's ignition and steps out.
Unlocking the door, he yawns and closes it, before heading upstairs.
After showering, the young man decides to skip a late night dinner and go straight to bed. He was exhausted and could care less about anything else.
"Well, well! Welcome back!"
Turning forward, Kazimir groans.
"Don't you remember me? Ryushi, your alternate?"
"I know who you are. What the hell are you showing up in my dreams for?"
Ryushi laughs, putting a golden crown on Kazimir's head.
"I just want to promote you to prince status. You've done well so far, Kazimir. You've done well."
"Done well with what? Taking a little boy's father from him? Half of me feels bad about it and the other half is just numb to it."
"I knew you were going to be hung up over that. The man was fucking lying, look."
Ryushi hands his laptop over to Kazimir.
"That's his information. He never had a child to begin with. This is why you can't believe what everyone says, Kazimir. This is why you look out for yourself first and then everyone else. It may seem like a selfish thought process, but trying to make everyone else happy will only leave you miserable in the end."
"I feel like you're trying to tell me something else." Kazimir says, giving Ryushi his laptop back.
"Drop that little girl, Kazimir. She's hurting you. I thought that I told you that before."
"Khristina's not hurting me. She's giving me help to finally deal with Camille's death."
Ryushi slides his hands down his face and furiously looks into Kazimir's eyes.
"She is six fucking years old! Six! How is a child helping you get over someone's death?!"
"She's helping me by reminding me of Camille herself!"
Punching Ryushi in the face, Kazimir walks over to him.
"Listen, I don't know if you can shift between people's subconscious, but if I ever find out that you held a conversation with Khristina, I will come back here and fucking kill you myself. When I first took her in, I promised myself I would protect her; something I couldn't do with Camille."
Ryushi chuckles and looks up.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot. When you die is when I die."
Walking over to a table, Ryushi walks over to a table and picks up a gun. Pulling the trigger, he shoots himself in the head.
Kazimir watches as the bullet goes into one side of Ryushi's head and comes out the other, leaving no scratch on the other man.
"I'm not going to be able to enter into Khristina's subconscious, she has her own alternate."
"What's her alternate's name?" Kazimir asks, stepping forward.
Sighing, Ryushi sits down on a small couch and begins to reload the gun.
"Go ask the girl her middle name and you'll find out. You know, I really wish you'd consider reevaluating some of your moralities, Kazimir. You have a lot of potential, but there's certain views that you hold which are holding you back from unlocking it all."
Aiming the gun at his reality version, Ryushi gives Kazimir a small wave.
"Later."