Chapter 81

--- a few days later ---

*BOING!*

Jumping onto Kazimir's bed, Khristina opens the window curtains, taking a look outside.

"Mr. Kazimir, Mr. Kazimir! Wake up! You promised to make waffles today! You promised, Mr. Kazimir! You-

"Khristina, I know." Kazimir raspily interrupts as he squints at the sudden sunlight. "Now, can I at least get out of bed first?"

Jumping off of the bed, the small girl happily runs downstairs and grabs a few cookies from the cookie jar.

Running into the living room, she turns on the T.V. and begins to switch through the channels.

"Mr. Kazimir, I can't find my morning cartoons!"

"Then watch them on your tablet."

"Okay!" Khristina says, following Kazimir into the kitchen. "Is Dréy still taking me on a playdate with my new friend Miracle?"

"He didn't call and cancel anything, so I'm sure." Kazimir replies, pouring a cup of milk into a bowl. "You wanna mix the ingredients?"

"Yeah!"

Handing the bowl to Khristina, the young detective happily watches as she begins to stir the ingredients together.

"Mr. Kazimir, are the police supposed to protect us?"

The young man shrugs, taking the bowl from Khristina's hands.

"They're supposed to."

"Are they supposed to protect themselves?"

"They do. Sometimes with morals, sometimes without."

"So why do they keep getting killed if they're supposed to protect themselves? I saw it on the news three days in a row!"

Kazimir pauses for a moment before continuing to stir.

"Aren't you a little too young to be watching the news?"

"You're never too young to watch the news, Mr. Kazimir."

"Well, I'll put it this way; people with large amounts of power tend to have a lot of people that don't like them. Take presidents for example."

"But why don't people like people with large amounts of power?" Khristina asks, jumping up on the counter. "Alexei said the people who lead the city are know-it-alls. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, regular citizens don't agree with people in power all the time. They may have different views on how to run society or different opinions on a sensitive subject."

"Do you think it's fair, Mr. Kazimir? What if a good policeman gets killed?"

"Well, you have to think about the possibilities. Was he an actual good officer or was he putting on an act to get popular with the citizens?"

Khristina looks up at the ceiling, swinging her legs.

"That's a lot of thinking, Mr. Kazimir."

"Yes, it is. When you become a detective, you'll have to think a lot. Anyway, the first waffle is done. Here you are."

Sliding a waffle onto a plate, Kazimir hands it to Khristina.

"Do you get ice cream if you solve a case?"

"I get money to buy ice cream."

"But what if I don't want money? What if I want ice cream?"

Kazimir laughs as he pours some more batter into the waffle maker.

"Khristina, I promise you, you'll want the money."

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

"That's Dréy!"

Hopping down from the counter, the little girl runs over to the front door.

"Dréy!" Khristina happily says as Kazimir opens the door.

"Wassup, Khrissy? How you been, Kash?"

"We're making breakfast, bro bro! Come inside!"

Kazimir watches as Khristina tugs on her brother's hand, pulling him inside the living room.

"Nothing really, Dréy." the young detective replies as he takes a freshly cooked waffle from out of the waffle maker. "How about yourself?"

Taking a bite of the waffle Kazimir gives him, Dréy shrugs.

"I been doin' alright. I'm supposed to meet up with my Pop's old friend today actually. Wonder what he wants."

"Wait, I wanna say hi to Mr. Brent too!" Khristina says, jumping up and down.

"You gonna see him lil' girl, chill. Now give Kash a hug so we can go pick up Miracle."

Spreading her arms, Khristina wraps them around Kazimir's torso and gives him a big smile.

"I'll see you later, Mr. Kazimir! Do you want anything from the mall?"

"No, no. I'm fine, Khristina. Just enjoy your time with your brother and Miracle, okay?"

"Okee-dokey!" the small girl replies. "Come on, Dréy! We gotta get an early start!"

"See ya, Kash." Dréy says, following his little sister out of the front door.

Watching as the young man closes the door, Kazimir goes back into the kitchen to finish cooking breakfast before hearing another knock.

"Morning, Kaz!" Chris yells, making his way inside. "Today's my last day here, so what're we gettin' into?!"

"Work." the young detective replies.

Chris lets out a loud groan, pouring a bit of syrup on a waffle.

"You have work again?"

"Yeah, so go find something to do with someone else. Meet some new friends, I don't know."

"I do know there's a car meet somewhere uptown, guess I'll check that out." Chris says, looking through the refrigerator. "Aye, where's the milk at?"

"Check the bottom shelf." Kazimir replies.

"Does that chick you work with have work today too?"

"Which one, Chris?"

"The one with long, dark hair and purplish eyes. I think her name's Mia or Miata, something like that."

Kazimir chuckles.

"Milette?"

"Yeah! That's what it was!"

"Call her and find out while I get ready for work." Kazimir says, handing Chris his phone.

Chewing on a piece of a waffle, the young man dials Milette's number and waits for her to answer.

"Hello? Kazimir?"

"Hey Milette, it's actually Chris. The guy who called you sexy?"

"Oh, I remember you. Kazimir's cousin, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Anyways, I was wondering if you're free today?"

"Yes." Milette replies, climbing out of bed. "Why?"

"I wanna take you out somewhere before I go back home. Today's my last day in this city."

"Um, okay then. Where're we going?"

"To a car meet. I mean, if that's where you wanna go." Chris replies, throwing his plate in the trash.

The young woman smiles and nods.

"Sure. I don't mind."

"Alright, I'll give you my number so you can text me your address."

After telling Milette his own phone number, Chris hangs up and places the phone on the kitchen table.

"THANKS FOR THE BREAKFAST, KAZ! SEE YA!"

————

Walking through the front doors of the department, Kazimir immediately makes his way to the break room.

Opening the door, he looks over at Nia who was hidden behind a large bushel of flowers.

"Good morning, Nia."

"Good morning, Kazimir."

Kazimir watches as she carefully touches a few of the flowers in front of her.

"You don't seem like yourself this morning. Something the matter?"

The young woman nods and turns to Kazimir.

"I don't think this job is the right fit for me. It's just…overwhelming."

"Yeah, I understand."

"No, Kazimir. About four days ago, I…killed a man." Nia quietly says.

The young detective turns around with a slight look of surprise across his face.

"I didn't mean to, but he touched me and threatened to kill me first and now no one's ever going to believe me if this story gets out!"

A few tears begin to fall from Nia's eyes and Kazimir gently uses his thumb to wipe them away.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he was the new police chief! Not to mention I was convinced into hiding the body."

The young man raises a brow.

"What good is hiding a body if it was self-defense?" Kazimir asks.

"I don't know, ask your friend. And tell him he can keep the flowers if he isn't going to give me a proper apology to my face!"

Kazimir sighs and watches as Nia storms out of the room. Taking the flower basket, he reads the little note attached to the handle.

"To my dearest Nia; I want to offer you my deepest condolences for the way I presented myself on Tuesday. My day was also in a bit of a bind and I hope you can understand that I am only human as well and will continue to learn from my mistakes. Best wishes, Alexei."

The young detective sighs and runs a hand across his face.

"I should've called out today."

"How the fuck did you afford those? They look expensive."

Looking up, Kazimir rolls his eyes as Pierre pours himself a cup of coffee.

"They're not mine, dumbass. Nia got them from Alexei and wants me to return them."

"I ain't never heard of a woman wanting flowers to be returned. Especially not to a man with that type of money."

"Well, maybe some people prefer an actual connection with a human being than material items."

Pierre laughs.

"It's funny 'cause only motherfuckers with no money say shit like that."

"And maybe people that are more wealthy than us normals should understand that gifts don't automatically equate to an apology for some people." Kazimir says, standing up.

"Well, at least he cared enough about the broad to buy her some flowers."

"And to Nia, it doesn't seem genuine. She knows Alexei has money. It doesn't take a genius to know he can buy whatever and make it seem genuine."

Pierre shrugs.

"I mean the dude is busy 25/8. He probably ain't got the time to go and apologize to every single person he's wronged."

"If he really cared, then he would've gave the woman an actual heartfelt apology." Kazimir says, crossing his arms. "I gotta go talk to him."

"Playing savior isn't going to get you anywhere in life, Kazimir!" Pierre slightly yells as the younger man prepares to walk out of the door.

Stopping in his tracks, Kazimir turns around and glares at his older co-worker.

"I know you don't consider me one, but don't vouch for everyone else who was wronged by this city's law enforcement."

The door slams shut and Pierre raises a brow, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Hmm. Something's different about him."

Walking down the small flight of stairs, Kazimir makes his way over to his car. He throws the flowers in the back seat before pulling out of the parking lot.

After 10 minutes, the young man pulls into a large driveway and parks the car. Getting out of his car, he picks up the flowers from the backseat and rings the doorbell.

"Mr. Cizetto, please, come inside."

Without saying a word, the young detective walks in.

"You seem to have something on your mind."

Shaking his head, Kazimir hands the flower basket to Alexei.

"Nothing at all. Nia just wanted me to return those."

The young law student raises a brow.

"Ah, I knew I should've gotten the blue basket instead. Red is too stereotypical, no?"

Kazimir shrugs.

"I think it's more of the fact that she was expecting an face to face apology. Not a gift."

"I see." Alexei says, setting the basket down. "I suppose I can spare about 2 hours for a quick lunch with the lady. Anyway, I'd like to ask you for a favor, Mr. Cizetto."

The young detective shrugs.

"Uh, sure."

"In the next week or so, I would like you to be an official police escort of two of my trucks."

"Trucks?"

The law student nods.

"Yes. Business doesn't stop just because of one hold up."