"Good morning, officers and detectives." Captain Uzini says as he hands a stack of papers to his assistant. "Today, I'd like to go over some important things that the city wants dealt with but first, we need to discuss the overall behavioral issues on this force."
Taking his paper from the older woman, Kazimir looks down and raises a brow at the red line drawn below his name.
"With the help of your fellow co-workers and security cameras, the department and I have reviewed your behavior and placed you into 1 of 3 groups; green, yellow, and red. A green line means your behavior is perfectly fine, a yellow line means your behavior is okay but there are still some flaws that I'd like for you to improve on, and a red line means your behavior is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this department. So please, try to work on being a better you for both the department and the citizens of Claiza City."
Balling up his paper, Kazimir tosses it to the side and crosses his arms.
"The department can work on sucking my dick."
"Anyway, we've received word from some of the citizens of this city, mostly female citizens, who're complaining about not feeling safe coming home from work, school, or shopping." Captain Uzini continues. "The department has also taken into account the rising number of foreign, out-of-country tags on the same color cars. Mainly silver. I'm not saying this has something to do with female-related safety issues but we will be keeping a close eye on it."
Stretching his arm on the empty chair beside him, Kazimir sits back and listens as the man continues to ramble about the same things.
"Morning!"
Looking to his side, the young detective watches as Milette gives him a warm smile.
"My little cousin joined the department, I think he's in your group!"
"Yeah, I saw him. You know, I'm getting tired of these groups; I'd just like to work on my own. Besides, the majority of mine don't even like me."
"But you're very nice!" Milette says. "Maybe you accidentally said or did something that rubbed your partners the wrong way."
"Well if I did, I'd like to know about it."
"Oh, they're not going to just outright tell you. You have to ask around a little."
Tapping his pencil on the seat beside him, Kazimir shakes his head.
"Whoever has a problem with me can come to me about it first. I don't have the time or energy to worry about why some motherfucker doesn't like me."
Turning around, an officer places a finger to his lips as he glares at Kazimir.
"Then move somewhere else if you can't hear correctly."
"You should be compassionate to others around you, kiddie."
"And you should be compassionate in turning the hell back forward."
"Always the new generation thinking they run the place." the officer mutters as he gets up to move.
"I see you did exactly what I told you to do, bastard."
Turning back to Milette, Kazimir shrugs and she gives him a nervous smile.
"His fault."
—————-
"Miracle, can you help me with my multiplication tables tomorrow?!" Khristina asks as she runs over to her friend's desk.
Nodding, Miracle puts her backpack on and grabs her coat.
"Anyway, look! Mr. Kazimir gave me this Cinnamoroll pencil! I have a Hello Kitty one that you can have!"
The little girl silently watches as Khristina digs through her pencil pouch.
"Mr. Kazimir gave me this one, too. And since you're very, very, very special to me, you can have it!"
"Thank you, Khristina." Miracle says, placing it in her skirt pocket.
Khristina's smile quickly turns into a small frown as she looks at Miracle.
"Are you okay, Miracle?"
Shaking her head, Miracle begins to cry and Khristina quickly gives her a hug.
"I heard mommy on the phone last night. She said she doesn't feel safe here 'cause of the accident and that she also feels like she's being watched. She said she wants us to move to the States or Blue Hills."
"Alexei lives in Blue Hills! You could stay with him! He won't mind!"
"But I don't wanna move, Khristina! I wanna stay here with you and Kazimir!" Miracle pouts as she stomps her foot.
"Then why don't you stay here with me and your mommy could move?"
"But I don't wanna leave mommy. And mommy doesn't wanna leave me."
The two girls watch as Miracle's mother makes her way over to them, squatting down.
"Good afternoon, you two. How was your day?"
"Ms. Nyelle, please don't make Miracle leave!" Khristina says, jumping up and down.
The older woman sighs and tilts her head.
"To my assumption, my little one must've heard me talking on the phone yesterday."
"Mommy, I don't wanna go! I wanna stay here with Kazimir and Khristina!"
"Honey, I know but this city is just too much. I hear there are good schools up in Blue Hills and some nice houses in the States."
Watching as her daughter's eyes fill with tears, Nyelle gives her a hug.
"Awwww, sweetie. Listen, why don't we spend one week in the States and one week in Blue Hills to see which one fits us best?"
"But I don't wanna go! Do we really have to go?!"
"Is everything alright?" Kazimir asks as he walks next to Nyelle.
"No!" Khristina screams. "Ms. Nyelle wants to move but Miracle wants to stay here with us!"
"Can't you just go alone and test those places out for us both, mommy?"
"Now Miracle, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"I don't mind watching Miracle for you, Ms. Nyelle." Kazimir says, placing a hand in his pocket.
"Kazimir, that's nice of you but this is my child and she needs to be by my side."
Tugging at her mother's dress, Miracle looks up at her.
"But it's only for two weeks, mommy!"
"Please, Ms. Nyelle?! Please?!"
"You have my word that your daughter will be safe with me, ma'am."
Looking at Miracle, Khristina, and Kazimir, Nyelle softly sighs.
"Alright, you can stay here with Kazimir and Khristina. However, I want you to video chat me everyday for the time being before nightfall. Understand?"
"Yes! Thank you, mommy!" Miracle says, giving her mother a hug.
"I wasn't planning on leaving until 2 days from now but since my bags are already packed, I suppose I'll get a head start. Come along, Miracle. We still need to pack your bags."
"Mr. Kazimir, we need to go to the grocery store to pick up snacks!" Khristina says as she skips alongside him.
"Why don't we wait until Miracle settles in with us so that she can come along too? She may have a specific snack that she'd like to try. For now, we can get her room ready."
"Okay!"
Staring out of the window in the passenger seat, Khristina hums along to the song on the radio.
"Oooh! Look, Mr. Kazimir! There's a lot of smoke in the air!"
Turning into the gated community, Kazimir continues to drive forward as he notices faint flashing lights coming from the direction of Khristina's house.
"Oh shit."
"Mr. Kazimir! MR. KAZIMIR, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!"
Opening the door, the small girl jumps out and begins to run towards the house.
"KHRISTINA!"
Quickly putting the car in park, Kazimir runs after the small girl and grabs her arm.
"Don't you ever get out of a moving car again! Do you understand me?!"
"BUT THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" Khristina screams.
"Khristina, you are more important than a damn house. Now answer my original question."
The small girl looks down at her feet and tears begin to form.
"Yes, Mr. Kazimir. I'm sorry."
"C'mon, let's go see what happened."
Walking over to the small crowd, the young detective pushes his and Khristina's way through.
"Are you Khristina La'rine?" a firefighter asks as he squats down in front of the small girl.
"Yes!"
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, honey but it looks as if someone intentionally lit your house on fire."
Kazimir watches as Khristina silently stares forward.
"However, we found these boxes on the sidewalk. They're all filled with blankets, stuffed animals and toys. Oh, and one of my men recovered a frightened hedgehog as well."
The firefighter points to about eight boxes and the little girl quickly runs over to them.
"You her guardian, son?"
"Yeah. Would you happen to know if the police has found anything useful yet?"
The firefighter shrugs and runs a hand through his hair.
"Not sure. There's an officer over-
Without letting the man finish his sentence, Kazimir quickly walks over to the older man.
"Excuse me, sir."
As the officer turns around, the young detective scowls noticing the familiar face from earlier.
"Look who it is. The loudmouth."
"Can you put that aside for now? A little girl's house just got burnt down and I want to know if you've found anything useful."
"No, I haven't. It's too early to decide."
Stepping forward, Kazimir gives the man a rude look and grabs his collar.
"This isn't about the shit that YOU started earlier. Get the hell over there and find something fucking useful before I beat the hell out of you. I'll be over in a second to check in."
Releasing his grip of the man's shirt from his hand, the younger male watches as the officer angrily makes his over to the group of firefighters.
Walking over to Khristina, Kazimir kneels down and gives her a hug.
"Khristina, I'm sorry."
"But why me, Mr. Kazimir?! What did I do wrong?!"
"You didn't do anything wrong. Someone was just being a hateful, jealous idiot and did what they did."
Hugging a plush frog, Khristina begins to cry and Kazimir hugs her a little tighter.
"Hey, listen to me. I'm gonna find out who did this and when they're in court, you're going to have the chance to tell whoever it was how you feel."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise. Stay right here, I'm gonna go check in with the others really quick."
Making his way over to the firefighters, Kazimir watches as the chief shakes his head.
"All we can say is that the fire started from the house's breaker box."
"At what time did you and the girl leave the house?" the sheriff asks.
"At around 8 this morning."
"Alright. I'll get a few of my deputies to collect camera footage from then until now and turn it over to the Police and Special Forces Department."
Looking over at Khristina, the sheriff sighs.
"For now, take the girl out for pizza or something. Maybe it'll cheer her up some."