"Alright! Dino nuggets and fruit punch for everyone!"
Picking up a nugget, Khristina shakes her head.
"Mr. Kazimir would've made finger sandwiches with a toothpick in the middle and he would've made peppermint tea, too."
"Okay, well Kazimir is Kazimir and I'm Pierre. Now do you want ketchup, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or all three to go with your chicken nuggets?"
"I kinda want finger sandwiches." Khristina says, placing the nugget back on the plate.
"Khristina, eat the damn nugget."
"I'm telling Mr. Kazimir you cursed in front of me!"
"Go ahead. Now what sauce do you want?"
"Mr. Kazimir told me to never eat something that I didn't feel comfortable eating."
The older man turns one of the sauce bottles upside down and squirts it onto the side of the little girl's plate.
"Okay, ketchup it is for you."
*Ding dong!*
Placing the bottles of sauce down, Pierre looks at the doorbell footage on his phone noticing the familiar figure standing at the door.
"Well if it isn't Khristina's knight in a hoodie, black skinny jeans, and gray Jordan 1s to replace his shining armor!"
Opening the door, he lets his coworker in and Khristina immediately runs over to Kazimir.
"Pierre tried to make me eat this—this poison!"
Taking a nugget from the plate, the younger detective eats it and shrugs.
"They're only chicken nuggets, Khristina."
"Are they good?"
He picks another one up and eats it.
"They taste good to me. Can I have them since you don't-
"NOOOOO! I want them!" Khristina interrupts as she runs back over to the couch."
Kazimir shrugs and walks into the kitchen, sticking his head in the refrigerator.
"Breakfast was wiped out." Pierre says, handing him the tray of dinosaur nuggets. "Eat these."
"Is this crab salad? I think I'll eat this instead."
"Sure, go ahead. Anyway, I'm taking the girls and Prince to the toy store in about 20 minutes. You wanna tag along or not?"
"Nah, I'm going back to fix up my apartment. Just call me when you-
*BANG!*
A loud explosion fills the neighborhood, followed by car alarms and dogs barking in the background.
Running out of the house, both men watch as Kazimir's temporary car goes up in flames.
"I wonder how that happened." the younger man says with a sigh.
"Your little friend left a nice note, too." Pierre adds, picking a brick up which had a piece of paper attached to it. "Says: "keep running, Cizetto; these games are only getting more fun by the hour." Yeah, you've got a little pest on your hands."
Pushing Pierre to the side, Kazimir begins to walk back into the house.
"I need your car keys and that br-
"Fuck no. This is a new car and I'm not putting it at risk to become a large scrap of metal by the end of the day. I'll drive you to wherever you need to go."
Yanking the brick from Pierre's hand, Kazimir shakes his head.
"No, this has to be done by me. Whoever is doing this shit thinks killing my family was funny and wants me to play this stupid game of cat-and-mouse."
Pierre goes silent for a little, looking down at the brick.
"Look; I don't know if this'll work, but yesterday I got a new machine for my business. Lately, I've been having to be more careful with my side hustle since the department has gotten smarter. The machine is supposed to help me by both removing and adding DNA. It even has a little compartment on the side where I can create a fake DNA as well. Basically, I'll run my stuff under it before it gets shipped out to remove any handprints I may have accidentally left behind. Not saying that I will, either."
"So you want me to run the brick under the machine and it'll supposedly show everyone who's ever touched the thing?"
"Bingo."
Noticing Khristina's worried face through the window, Kazimir turns back to the burning car.
"How long will it take to get results?"
"About 30 minutes to an hour."
After using an fire extinguisher to put out the flames, Kazimir and Pierre walk back inside and the three small children run over to them.
"I'm scared, Mr. Kazimir!" Khristina says, giving the taller man a hug.
Squatting down, Kazimir grabs the little girl's hands and gently holds them.
"Khristina, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm right here. Everything will be okay."
"But your car was on fire and someone threw a brick at the door!" Miracle says, crying. "What if we all die?! I want my mommy!"
"You're not going to die, trust." Pierre replies.
"My papí's right!" Prince adds as he gives Miracle a hug. "And I'm gonna protect you too, Miracle! I can beat up a grown-up really fast! Isn't that right, papí?!"
"My son ain't lying. That's 'cause he gets it from me, not Celeste. She doesn't believe in fighting and shit like that so-
"So we should figure this brick situation out." Kazimir interrupts. "Prince, can I ask that you make sure Khristina and Miracle are safe while your father and I examine this brick?"
"Heck yeah!"
"And if you need us, we'll be in the room upstairs all the way at the end." Pierre says as he begins to make his way up the steps.
Walking down the dark hallway, Kazimir slightly takes a look into each room he passed as he followed Pierre.
"There she is; our little helper of the day!"
"So where does the brick go?"
"Hold on, I have to turn the machine on first."
The younger man watches as Pierre presses a button on the top of the large machine.
"Alright, put the brick on that little tray right there."
Placing the brick on the tray in front of him, Kazimir watches as the machine slowly pulls it in.
"And now we wait. Even if this person put on gloves, there's a 50% chance he forgot to wipe them down. So the DNA from the gloves will show up here."
Pulling a chair from underneath the table, Kazimir leans forward and turns to his colleague.
"Why're you helping me?"
Sitting down to face Kazimir, Pierre leans back as he pops open a can of soda.
"Because I see you as another version of me, that's why. I remember lashing out at about everyone around me after my mom got married to that bastard of a stepdad. I wanted what was best for her and it just ticked me off when that bum persuaded her to be his wife. It wasn't fair, Kazimir; my mom worked her ass off just to afford a nice home for us and then once she got it, all of a sudden this random guy appears out of nowhere. No formal introductions, no financial help, no anything really. Just his presence."
The young detective watches as Pierre blankly stares at the machine. Even though the man had been dead for a while, it was clear he still held a large amount of animosity towards his stepfather.
"Is that why you haven't killed me yet? Because I remind you of yourself?"
"You know, I've killed men for saying remarks towards me that I didn't like. I could've did the same to you when we first met, but I didn't. There's something off about you; almost like you can survive 5 bullets to vital organs and aren't afraid to die. And I don't like giving people an easy way out."
"Hell, that's for sure."
"Now, I should be asking you the same question. Why haven't you killed me yet even though I'm at the top of your list?"
After a bit of silence, Kazimir subtly shakes his head.
"Don't know. I could've killed a lot of people who I don't really trust. Guess you somewhat reminded me of my cousin Chris, excluding the drug business and all."
"Family means a lot to you, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm not letting my family's name be forgotten because of a hateful dumbass who's too frightened to show his face."
Pierre smiles as he successfully tosses the empty soda can into the trash can which sat across the room.
"What if he has a wife and kids?"
"Boo-hoo, my deepest sympathies. I'm not a full-blown psychopath to murder them, but if they do decide to tag team in the future to come after me, she'll end up just like her late husband and they'll end up just like their late daddy."
"You talk as if he's already dead."
"Because he is. Hope he's saying his goodbyes. If not, I'll relay them to his family."
Pierre smiles over at Kazimir.
"So, tell me about your teen years."
"Not much to say; you already know everything. I mean, I did have a job at Waffle House for about a year and a half."
"Before or after your stay in the mental hospital?"
Going silent, Kazimir stares down at the floor.
"I forgot. You can do the math, though."
"Well, I'd say after considering you went in at the age of 14. What about the one nurse and two doctors who went missing during your two and a half year stay there?"
"What about them?"
"No one has died since you left." Pierre says, rolling his eyes.
The air grows eerily quiet as both young men stare at the machine.
"Heard the nurse tell one of the doctors my sister was dressed like a whore and he laughed; the other doctor muttered something under his breath after I refused to eat breakfast once."
"I'm actually surprised you got away with that."
"Had to practice somewhere." Kazimir says with a shrug. "How much time has passed since we put the brick in this thing?"
"Only about 15 minutes. Why don't we play some icebreakers while we wait? I'll go first; my favorite genre of music is the blues. What's yours?"
"Electronica and trap." the younger male replies.
"Favorite dessert? I like macadamia cookies, especially the ones your future wifey makes."
"Apple pie."
"TV show?" Pierre asks. "Mine would be The Handmaid's Tale."
"Black Mirror, Shingeki no Kyojin, and Handy Manny."
"That's a kids' show, Kazimir."
Kazimir nods.
"Which I still watch when I'm bored."
"Alright, next question. How big is it down there?" Pierre slowly says as he reads the card. "Okay, I'm 7.5 inches."
"I'll pass on sharing."
The older man laughs and places the card at the end of the stack.
"Awww, you're a pipsqueak! It's alright, just like how females can talk about vaginal issues, we as men have every right to talk about penis matters. Maybe you should look into some supplements to help you grow a bit. I can recommend you-
"No, I'm trying to save you the embarrassment. Next question."
"First of all, I am not embarrassed because my tool knows how to pleasure." Pierre slightly replies with a bit of anger. "Now, you might be all-
"We can't all be in the double digits." Kazimir interrupts, snatching the card box from his colleague. "Favorite animal?"
"How the hell did you get it that big?!"
"Genetics, no supplements."
"Damn, you really are a rare human. Anyway, I like vipers. Strike things they want just like me. Oh, and Bon Bon!"
"I don't actually have one. I mean, I like Heggy and Carabelle, but I've never had a favorite animal." the younger man replies, shuffling through the stack.
"You remind me of a wolf or a lion. More on the wolf side, though."
Picking up another card, Kazimir flips it over.
"Favorite restaurant?"
"Panda Express and Popeyes." Pierre says as he rocks his chair back and forth. "Popeyes is Prince's favorite restaurant, too."
"Five Guys is pretty good."
"And you have the money to afford that?"
"The next card says favorite celebrity." Kazimir says, ignoring Pierre's question. "I don't have one of those."
"Does the character Bayonetta count?"
"I guess. Okay, favorite doughnut?"
Pierre happily clasps his hands together and leans forward.
"The ones with the filling."
"What about the ones I do with my car?" Kazimir asks. "If we're talking about the food kind, then I like plain vanilla."
"For a rare guy, you sure have the most blandest taste possible."
"And you sure need to learn to shut the fuck up. Now, favorite…position? I hope that isn't what I think it is."
"It's exactly what it means."
The young detective sighs and scratches his temple.
"Well, I don't know much about certain positions."
Pierre's jaw slightly drops and he blinks a couple of times.
"You're a virgin?!"
"Considering I've never slept with a girl before, I'd say so."
"YOU REALLY ARE RARE! Aye, let's pause this game for a second; I gotta tell-
"What's wrong with being a virgin?" Kazimir interrupts, watching as Pierre takes his phone out from his pocket.
"Have you at least jerked off before?"
"Can we get to another topic?"
"Answer my question first."
"I don't know, have I?"
"It's a yes or no question, Dumbo." Pierre replies, swiping the card box from Kazimir's hands. "Have you?"
"It's been a while. Haven't done so in 4 years."
"That's a lie."
"It's not. While in the hospital, I watched a video about semen retention and how it helps with focusing on the more important things in life. It's really not that hard, Pierre. Just set a goal, ignore the distractions, and that's basically it."
Pierre laughs as he looks through the cards.
"I bet you go around thinking you're one of those so called "alpha males" who thinks they're better than everyone who doesn't follow-"
*BEEEEEEP!*