After clocking in for work, Kazimir begins to walk down the long hall before hearing someone call for him.
"Cizetto! There you are!"
Turning around, the young detective watches as his captain approaches him with a sticky note.
"Do you remember that case you and Richano were assigned to with those kids whose father was a policeman?"
"Oh, Kevin and Marigold? Yeah, I remember them."
"Their mother gave the front desk this note. They've been wanting to see you."
"Appreciate the memo." Kazimir replies as he looks down at the note.
Continuing forward, the young detective makes his way over to his assigned room.
"Kazimir! It's been a while!"
Turning around, the young detective gives his coworker a faint smile.
"Good morning, Nia. It's nice to see you, too."
"Has Captain Uzini told you about our newest addition to the squad?" the young woman asks, taking a seat.
"Oh? It's you! Are we on the same squad?"
Hearing a familiar voice, Kazimir's brows slightly furrow as he looks to his left.
"Do you two know each other?" Nia asks, looking at the two young men.
"Sure do!" Haruki happily replies. "We bumped into each other at that little grocery store in Japan. Remember, Kazimir?"
*SLAM!*
Knocking his chair onto the ground as he stood up, Kazimir gives Haruki a glare and proceeds to storm out of the room.
"My goodness, he was just so calm." Nia says, clutching her necklace.
Haruki crosses his arms and shakes his head.
"I hope something bad didn't happen. That would be a shame."
Walking out of the building, the young man takes a look at the note Captain Uzini handed him.
"Maybe I'll cool off a bit if I pay these kids a visit."
—————
"This is boring!" Khristina says, sitting next to her cousin. "I wish Bianca and Layla were here."
"Khristina, you do realize this is your only recess time, correct?" Laurenté asks.
"Yeah, but I have no one to play on the merry-go-round with!"
"Khristina, will you play on the merry-go-round with me?!" Miracle yells from across the playground.
"Yeah!"
Running over to Miracle, Khristina climbs on and watches as Prince walks over.
"I wanna get on, too!"
Khristina shakes her head.
"Well you can't! It's girls only!"
"You don't own the merry-go-round!" Prince says, crossing his arms. "And if you don't let me get on, I'm gonna tell my papí to buy it!"
"Mr. Pierre can't do that 'cause that's illegal!"
"Yes he can! He can do anything 'cause his work lets him do anything!"
"Then that means Mr. Kazimir can do anything, too!" Khristina says, jumping down from the merry-go-round.
The little boy shakes his head.
"No he can't! Papí said Kazimir is a broke bastard!"
"Well your daddy is stupid and doesn't know what he's talking about!"
Balling her fists, Khristina kicks a bit of sand towards Prince.
"Khristina! Prince!"
The two classmates turn to their teacher who motions for them both to come over.
"Alright, what's going on?"
"Prince called Mr. Kazimir a broke bastard!"
"That's 'cause he is!" Prince says. "Papí said it was true!"
Laurenté sighs and shakes his head.
"First of all, the term "bastard" is no longer to be used in this class. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Second of all, all of this talk about money and who has more needs to be left at home. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now, I'd like you both to apologize to each other. Doesn't matter who goes first."
"I'll go first since I'm better." Khristina says, placing a hand on her hip.
"Khristina."
"Sorry, Laurenté. Prince, I apologize for kicking sand at you."
"Yeah you better be or I would've told papí to sue you!"
"Prince."
"Sorry, Mr. Laurenté. Khristina, sorry for calling Mr. Kazimir broke."
"Good." Laurenté says, rolling up his sleeves. "Why don't I start the first push for you three?"
"Okay!" Prince and Khristina yell.
Jumping back on, the two young children quickly make their way over to the middle.
"Guess what, Khristina?" Miracle says, jumping up and down.
"Did you get a unicorn?!"
"Nope! Yesterday, Alexei bought me a Barbie Dreamhouse and even bought mommy a diamond necklace!"
Khristina frowns and pouts her lips.
"But I wanted a new Barbie Dreamhouse!"
"Alexei told me he wish he could've gotten you one but you'd rather spend all your time with a man that's not related to you."
"That's okay! I'll just ask Mr. Kazimir to buy me one!"
"Good! Then our dolls can be neighbors!"
"Dolls are for babies." Prince says, leaning back and forth. "Cars are better."
"I like Mr. Kazimir's car!" Khristina repljes. "He's picking me up from school today on time and I even get to sit in the front!"
"Kazimir's car is the only good thing about him. He beat papí in a race once but that's 'cause papí wasn't feeling too good that day."
"My mommy said that before she had me, she used to race my daddy everyday!" Miracle chimes in.
"Girls can't race!"
"Yes we can, Prince! I'm going to get my mommy to race your daddy today after school!"
"And papí's gonna win 'cause he's better than your mommy!"
"I bet Mr. Kazimir can beat both of them!" Khristina says. "I know he can 'cause I watched a video of him racing random cars on the highway!"
Prince lets out a small huff before nodding.
"Fine! I'll get papí to take on your mommy and Kazimir right after school!"
—————
*Ding dong!"
Kazimir stands back and looks at the front porch, watching as a cat stared up at him.
"Hey."
"Meow!"
"KAZIMIR!"
Looking up, the young man watches as the small boy named Kevin rides his bicycle over to him.
"It's nice to see you again, Kazimir! My mom and Marigold went to a therapy session. I went to one last Friday, though. What're you doing here?"
"I just stopped by to see how you and everyone else were fairing."
"Marigold's still very sad, but mom is getting a bit better."
"And what about you?" Kazimir asks, taking a seat on a chair.
"I guess I'm doing good. I just wish I could say bye to dad one last time. Why'd out of all people did he have to die? Why couldn't it be someone meaner?"
"I wish I knew too, Kev. On the other hand, who's to say the meaner person isn't slowly suffering as we speak?"
The little boy shrugs as he leans his bike against the porch steps.
"Me and dad were gonna get burgers for lunch this Friday. It's not fair, Kazimir! How come everyone else gets to have a normal life and I can't?!"
"No one has a completely normal life, Kevin. Everyone is struggling with something. Some just hide their pain better than others. Now, I could really use something to eat and you did mention something about burgers. Why don't we head down there and get a bite to eat?"
"Can we really?!" Kevin happily asks.
"Yeah, but I can only stay up until 3."
"Let's get a cheeseburger and French fries!"
"Sounds good." Kazimir replies. "Wait, you're paying, right?"
"I am?"
The young detective chuckles and ruffles the boy's hair.
"Gotcha. Here, I'll let you sit up front with me if you'd like."
"Yay!"
Opening the passenger door, Kevin happily sits down and looks around.
"My father had an R34! It's still in the garage, too! I'll show you when we come back."
"I'd like to see that." Kazimir says, smiling. "The engine from my cousin finally came in yesterday. Once I get it installed, I'll come back around and show that to you."
"I can't wait to see it! Oh, can we go to the burger place next to the go-karts?"
"Sure. As a matter of fact, why don't we go go-kart racing too?"
"Really?!" Kevin says as his face lights up.
"Really. I haven't been since I was 11 but from what I can recall, it was a lot of fun."
"That sounds awesome! Thanks, Kazimir!"
"Yeah, no problem."
After around 20 minutes, the young detective turns into a diner and quickly parks.
"Let's go go-kart racing first!"
Running ahead, Kevin happily gets in line and turns back to Kazimir.
"Me and dad used to do this at least once a month! I used to beat him everytime, too! And I'll beat you as well!"
"I know I said I've never been go-kart racing, but I'd like to see you try." the detective replies, taking out his wallet.
Getting into a go-kart, Kazimir adjusts the seat straps and watches as the other karts in front of him begin to pull off.
"See you on the other side!"
A flash of light quickly blinds the young man and as he turns to the other side of the course, he starts to notice Kevin passing everyone with ease.
"There's no way this kid is actually beating me."
Trying his best to catch up, the young detective groans in frustration as he tries to figure out a comfortable way to steer.
"Please bring all go-karts back to the front!"
Happily smiling from the side, Kevin watches as Kazimir stumbles out of the low machine.
"So? How'd you like it this time around?"
"Never again."
"It's okay! I used to beat dad all the time, too! Now let's get something to eat!"
Entering the fairly large diner, Kazimir and Kevin take a seat near a television.
"Do you watch car racing, Kazimir?"
"No, not really. American football is more entertaining."
"Can we play some one day?"
"Yeah, just give me a call and I'll see what I can do."
"Hi there." a waiter says as he takes out his notepad. "Are you guys ready to order?"
"Can I have the bacon cheeseburger with extra tomatoes, please?"
"And for your two sides?"
"Uhhh, fries and a salad, please!"
Nodding, the waiter scribbles Kevin's order down before turning to Kazimir.
"And for you?"
"I don't know. Uh, let me see-
"I have something that you might like!" Kevin interrupts. "Can I order for you? Please, please, please?!"
"Sure."
Motioning for the waiter to reach his height, Kevin whispers Kazimir's order into the man's ear.
"Alright, your orders will be ready soon."
Turning back to Kazimir, Kevin gives him a warm smile.
"I promise you're gonna like it!"
"I feel like you just ordered me a piece of lettuce."
"Nope! I'd only do that if you were someone that I didn't like."
The younger boy properly adjusts himself in the seat and looks down at the table.
"You know, I'm glad I met you, Kazimir. You remind me of an older brother I never had. When I get older, I wanna be cool just like you!"