— the next day —
*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
Opening the door, Laurenté smiles at the two younger men in front of him.
"About time you two came back home. Come in, come in."
"Where's Khrissy?" Alexei asks, setting a couple of gift bags down.
"She's in the cinema room watching movies with Dréy. I'll go get them while you two make yourself at home."
Kazimir and Alexei watch as the older man walks upstairs.
"Would you like some wine? Lemonade? Soda water?" Alexei asks, as he looks around his cousin's refrigerator.
"No, I'm fine."
"MR. KAZIMIR!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Kazimir kneels down to reach Khristina's height and gives her a hug.
"I missed you, Mr. Kazimir! Can we go home now?"
The young detective chuckles as Khristina happily swings his hands.
"Khristina, you haven't even said hello to Alexei."
"Hi, Alexei!" the little girl says, waving at her brother. "Now can we go home? I wanna show you my new dresses that Laurenté bought me!"
"Your brother probably wants to see them as well, Khristina."
The young law student shakes his head.
"It's fine, you can just take Khristina home. I'll see them sooner or later. Besides, Laurenté, Dréy, and I do have a very important meeting to conduct."
"Uh, okay." Kazimir says, picking up Khristina. "I'll see you all later then."
"Bye, Laurenté! Bye, Dréy! Bye, Alexei!"
Closing the door behind them, Laurenté turns back to the two brothers and watches as Alexei looks out of the window.
"What the hell was that?"
"Stop takin' shit personal, twin." Dréy says, pouring himself a cup of lemonade. "She wasn't like that wit' me."
Alexei raises a brow and scowls.
"I don't give a fuck who she was like that with, Andréy. Did you see how quickly he left with Khrissy? I thought I could trust that two-faced bastard with my little sister."
"Well, it is partly your fault for not getting to know a random stranger better." Laurenté says, shrugging.
"How? How was I supposed to know? Kazimir's a detective; any smear towards his name results in him being kicked off the force and left with no money. If anything, Dréy here should also be partly responsible."
Dréy gives his little brother a confused look.
"Bro, we didn't even make time to sit down and talk about who was actually going to take in Khristina. We only talked on the phone for 5 minutes and arranged everything from there. You could've at least scheduled a meeting or some shit."
"And as the older brother, you are also in charge of having some responsibility." Alexei says, stepping up to Dréy. "If you figured this would all require meeting in person, then why didn't you suggest that?"
"Real shit, I don't believe this." Dréy replies, laughing. "Bruh, why the fuck are you blaming me for something that is both of our faults?"
Turning to the law student, Laurenté nods.
"Dréy does have a point, Alexei. Why didn't you call me for help? Did you not remember all of the times Uncle Elliot told you to call me if you needed anything?"
Alexei raises a brow as he turns to his older cousin.
"Well, I'm sorry I was busy with arranging a funeral singlehandedly and dealing with my family's finances all on top of taking university classes. I thought maybe you'd understand and call me first to see if I needed help."
"And don't forget the most important side hustle; gun dealing."
"You have quite the nerve to talk about my side business, Andréy. That's exactly why your rap career failed to take flight because you'd rather stand here and watch what I do."
"Or maybe I just decided to keep it as a side hobby while I focus on med school." Dréy replies, sighing.
"And you two arguing is the main reason why a guy who we barely know has become Khristina's only escape." Laurenté says. "About two nights ago, she told me that she wished she could be around Kazimir forever."
"So what does that have to do with me?" Alexei asks, tapping his foot. "You know what, Laurenté? I believe you're just-
"Bro, can you just be quiet and let him finish?" Dréy asks.
"Can you mind your fucking business? You should be grateful I even let you have a say in this because you're not even fully part of-
"Fully part of what? The family? Is that gonna start being your go-to comeback now for something I ain' got no control over?"
Alexei turns to Dréy and nods.
"Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say. I don't know about the rest of my family, but you can be sure I'll never fully claim you."
*SLAP!*
Holding his stinging cheek, Alexei gives Laurenté an angry look.
"Don't you ever say that shit again in front of me. All of those times Dréy has been there for you and this is how you return the favor? Sit down and shut the hell up so we can finish our conversation. Khristina was right; you two are ridiculous. University students acting like fucking kindergarteners. At this point, we might as well let her choose who she wants to stay with."
"If we were to do that, then there was absolutely no point in having this meeting."
"Didn't I tell you to shut it?" Laurenté rhetorically asks, holding the bridge of his nose.
"Maybe Lanté's right; maybe we should let Khrissy choose." Dréy says, leaning forward.
Alexei laughs and looks at the two men.
"Why? She's a little child; she doesn't have the proper judgement."
"And that's exactly why you want to take her in so badly."
"False! That demonic entity does not really care for Khristina!" Alexei says, standing up. "He's only using her to cope with his own sister's death!"
"And what would you do besides make the girl's life a living hell?" Dréy asks. "I mean, Kazimir's better than nothing."
"No, no, no! We'll just move her to the States to live with cousin Jazlyn!"
Laurenté shakes his head.
"Now you're just saying anything because you don't want Khristina focusing on Kazimir more than she does you."
"She focuses on that man more than she does any of us, smartass."
Dréy sighs and turns to his little brother.
"Then why're you the only one who has a problem with Khrissy staying with him?"
"Because Mr. I'm-Right-and-You're-Wrong hates hearing the truth about himself, Dréy." Laurenté quickly replies.
Walking over to the door, Alexei grabs his coat from the coat stand.
"Tell me what I need to hear about myself before I leave, Laurenté."
"Keep taking the same route you're on and you're going to wind up in prison for good or dead. If anything, our Khristina should at least motivate you to just drop that business of yours."
The law student laughs as he opens the front door.
"Keep dreaming, Laurenté."
"And there you go! Running from your problems as usual!"
Turning around, Alexei gives him a dead stare.
"Weren't you the same one that said Khristina is better off choosing who she wants to be with? Now, I tried to help but it's clear that you two geniuses don't want my input."
"That doesn't mean the meeting's finished." the older cousin says, crossing his arms. "I'd like to hear your input but let's get real Alexei; you need to be more logical."
Grabbing a picture of the family taken when they were all younger, Alexei throws it straight for Laurenté's head.
Quickly ducking, the elementary teacher watches as glass shattered against the wall.
"That's for calling me ignorant. Fuck you, fuck that fake brother of mine, and fuck that pathetic Caucasian boy who has to use my sister as a replacement for his own."
Watching the door slam shut, Laurenté turns to Dréy, shaking his head in disappointment.
————-
"Alright, here's your chicken nuggets and milkshake." Kazimir says, handing the small girl a restaurant bag.
"Thank you, Mr. Kazimir! Can we watch The Fox and The Hound while we eat?"
"Sure. Should we make some popcorn to go along with that?"
"Yeah!" Khristina happily says. "I'll go get my Hello Kitty blankets while you pop the popcorn!"
Watching as the small girl runs down the hall, Kazimir chuckles as he pours some popcorn seeds into the air popper.
A few minutes later, Khristina happily spins into the man cave and gives the young detective a toothy smile.
"Today, me and Dréy and Laurenté had a conversation about life."
"Is that so?"
Suddenly, the little girl's smile turns into a frown and she nods.
"But it wasn't good. It was about people not being alive. Bianca's daddy was killed 'cause of the tornado."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Kazimir says, hugging the small girl.
"And Prince said that his daddy does a dangerous job and can die at anytime. And I don't want you to die, Mr. Kazimir!"
Watching as tears began to stream down her face, Kazimir rocks Khristina back and forth.
"Khristina, you shouldn't talk like that."
"But it's true, isn't it?! You and Mr. Pierre both work at the same place!"
"Not exactly, Khristina. We use special protection that keeps us safe."
Sniffling, the young girl looks up at Kazimir.
"Can I ask you something, Mr. Kazimir?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"If you had to die to bring your sister back, would you?"
"That's kinda tough to answer. I'll be honest, if I had the chance, I'd probably take it up. On the other hand, I don't wanna leave you behind. You mean a lot more than you know to me, Khristina."
Resting her head against Kazimir's torso, Khristina picks up a chicken nugget.
"I don't want you to go like mama and papa, Mr. Kazimir. Why do you have to be a detective?"
"Khristina, I understand your concern but it's something that I have to do. I just won't be happy in life if I don't do this."
"But you have me!" the small girl says, looking up. "And we can make life even more happier by getting ice cream and going to the carnival!"
"I know, I know." Kazimir replies. "You'll just have to wait until you're older to fully realize what I'm trying to say."
"NOW YOU SOUND LIKE ALEXEI!"
Banging her fists against the couch, the little girl jumps up.
"All of you old people are the same! Why do you all have to say that I have to wait until I get older?! Why can't it happen now?!"
"Because that's just how it is, Khristina. I thought my parents could buy me unlimited Lego figures at your age but didn't realize they had bills to pay. I was always a little mad at them for the longest until I got older."
Khristina looks down at her hands.
"But mama and papa always bought me what I wanted. Does it feel bad to pay bills?"
Before the movie could begin, Kazimir quickly pauses it.
"Listen, today is Saturday. Starting tonight, you're in charge of cleaning up our trash and placing dirty dishes in the sink up until Friday. For each day you complete those tasks, I'll give you $3. Next Saturday, we'll head to the store and you can pick out whatever costs $24 or less."
"Yay!" Khristina happily cheers.
"Wait, there's a catch." Kazimir says, helping the small girl back up on the couch. "If you get in trouble at school or question me about quitting my job, I'll take $2 away from you. That'll be your equivalent as if you were to pay bills."
"Okay!"
Grabbing the large blanket, Khristina hands it to Kazimir who tosses it over the both of them.
Resting her head against the man's arm, Khristina looks up at Kazimir and grins.
"Thank you for spending time with me. I hope we can have more movie nights in the future."
"Me too, Khristina."