《BONDS》


 Chapter One: Nobody cares.

    Chapter One: Nobody cares.


    ¡°Michael!¡±


    My name was called, and it wasn¡¯t a mean thing said after my name like, ¡®Michael the retard¡¯ or ¡®Michael the fag¡¯, it was just¡­Michael. As I look for the disembodied voice that called my name, I see her, Amare.


    "I just want to thank you for helping me with my homework. You know how algebra can be, hehe..."


    then she rambles on, which I enjoyed because I get to admire her body. Her white silky hair, curvy figure, and big breasts, she was truly everything to me.


    ¡°Mikey! Are you listening?¡± She said as she waved her hand in front of my face.


    I was listening, but not to the words of her voice, but to the words of her body. It was like her body was saying, ¡®Touch me, Michael, touch me!¡¯


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. I¡¯m listening.¡± I wasn''t listening. Her body was making me deaf.


    ¡°Look, all I wanted to say was thank you.¡± She said then put her hand on my shoulder, ecstasy¡­that¡¯s all it was¡­ecstasy.


    Then¡­I saw her lean in, I-I don¡¯t if it was on the lips or the cheek, it looked like it was definitely gonna be on the cheek. Then she suddenly made a squeak sound. I don''t know if it was me or what, but then I had a suspicion. I checked behind her to see him, her boyfriend, Brad.


    ¡°Brad! I told you not to do that while we¡¯re in school!¡± Amare said.


    I agreed with her, he thinks because he is her boyfriend, he thinks he can do whatever he wants to her, like that one time where he caressed her breasts¡­disgusting.


    ¡°C''monn! It was just a little surprise!¡± Brad says as he gives Amare that stupid cheeky grin.


    I hated his face. I wanted to punch it so badly, but if I did that, I''d probably get beaten up by him. Amare just made a ¡°Hmph!¡± sound, as she should. Then Brad turns his enormous head towards me. He had that smug grin on his face. ¡°


    Well?, if it isnt Michael the fag!¡± as he said, which made me angry. I clenched my fists because of how mad I was.


    ¡°Don''t call him that, Brad!¡±


    When Amare said that my fists unclenched and my eyes lit up, she did really care about ME, and not my ability to help her with algebra!


    ¡°But it¡¯s true, he is a fag, no actually.. he¡¯s a retard.¡±


    Okay, calling me a faggot is one thing, but a retard? Oh, no no no.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that¡­¡± I said as I clenched my fists because if he got any closer I was gonna beat his sorry ass, when in reality he was probably gonna beat mine.


    "I would prefer if you didn''t call me that, Brad."


    I wasn¡¯t gonna let this punk push me around anymore, especially when Amare was around. I don¡¯t care if they¡¯re dating. Brad doesn''t deserve a beautiful girl like Amare.


    ¡°Haha, oh really now? Then what should I call you, huh?¡±


    I had a smirk on my face when he said that, I had the most snarky comeback ever.


    ¡°Call me Michael, the one that¡¯s gonna kick baby Brad¡¯s ass.¡± Well, it wasn''t all that, but it was something.


    But when I said that, he had this scowl on his face that made me smirk, which made him grab me by my shirt. His hot breath was right in my face, almost burnt my face off.


    ¡°What the fuck did you say, you little-¡±


    Before he can finish his sentence, the teacher yells, ¡°Mr. Waterwell!¡± I looked over at the teacher as she yelled Brad¡¯s last name.


    ¡°Oh! M-Ms. Michaels, Michael was making fun-¡±


    Ms. Michaels just cuts him off and says,


    ¡°Brad, I don¡¯t have time for this. How about you stop being a snowflake and ignore him?¡± The class laughed at what Ms. Michaels said.


    I laughed a bit, too. Amare tried to stifle a laugh, which released a giggle. Brad glared at the class before he glared at me. He had a mean face on him before he had let me go and sat down. Amare sat down next to him. The teacher began to talk about how we did on the chemistry test before giving everyone their results. I got an A. I looked at Brad. He looked mad. He showed Amare his grade, which gave me a window to see it. I looked, and it said D-. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Brad looked over and saw my laughter and made a scowl face. I moved my eyes from the paper to his eyes, then proceeded to point and laugh at him. He got super furious, so I decided to leave him be. I turned to face in front of me to see my friend looking at me with a surprised expression, like I just did a crazy trick or something.


    ¡°Y-you pointed and laughed at Brad while he was staring at you¡­¡±


    He looked surprised. I Mean rightfully so, not many people can do that to that smooth brain of a bully.


    ¡°Yeah, I did.¡± I said that with a tone of confidence, I knew what I said. I meant what I said.


    ¡°W-what happened? Why all of a sudden do you decide to¡­grow some balls?!¡±


    When he said that, I had the perfect answer, ¡°Because someone cares about me.¡±


    I said that with adoration in my voice, like after so long, happiness can thrive within me.


    My friend snorted, ¡°Oh, so you''ve finally found someone that cares for you? Is it your parents? Did they finally start caring¡­¡±


    He began to ramble on as I stared at Amare, the person that cares for me. She made me so-


    ¡°No way, Amare?! Really?!¡±


    my friend said as he stopped rambling on and looked where I looked, then realizing it¡¯s Amare.


    ¡°Yeah, is there something wrong with Amare caring for me?¡±


    My friend laughed. Why was he laughing? Was he not happy for me? Why was he laughing?


    ¡°She¡¯s using you!¡±


    When I heard those words, my heart dropped.


    ¡°S-she¡¯s using me?¡± I said, sounding really devastated,


    ¡°Yes man! She¡¯s using you!¡± I


    I couldn''t believe it, I wouldn¡¯t believe it, I denied it.


    ¡°No, she could- sh-she wouldn''t!¡±


    When I said that I didn¡¯t want to believe she was using me, she stood up against Brad for me.


    ¡°You''re stuttering! You know it¡¯s true!¡±


    I got furious when he said that.


    ¡°Shut up! You don''t know what you''re talking about! She stood up against Brad for me, no way!¡±


    I convinced myself that she wasn¡¯t using me.Can you blame me? She was nice and cute, but she was dating an idiot like Brad.


    ¡°Okay, okay. Whatever you say. Just don''t come crawling back, apologizing when you realize she was using you.¡±


    he said as he turned around to face the front of the class. But I needed to know one thing,


    ¡°How do you even know if she¡¯s using me?¡±


    ¡°You are the company you keep.¡±


    Those words¡­they silenced me. I mean Amare is with Brad, a big bully that¡¯s probably maniuplati- wait, is she using me¡­? I had no time to think. Amare came up to me.


    ¡°Hey¡­you okay?¡±


    She asked if I was okay! S-she does care about me, she has to! My friend was wrong! I nodded to her and said,


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, everything¡¯s alright!¡± She nodded while smiling and said,


    ¡°Good.¡±


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    She then put her hand on my shoulder, the same thing as before. When she did, she leaned on my left cheek. Was I gonna get a kiss on the cheek now?! Maybe a peck at least! Instead, she leaned in and whispered in my ear,


    "Meet me behind the school after school, okay?"


    The things she said had such an impact on me that my body reacted with a mix of surprise, adrenaline, and arousal.


    She noticed my excitement and giggled, saying, "Looks like someone is excited."


    I was feeling everything. I couldn¡¯t talk, but I managed to get a nod out. Amare then giggles and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I was in heaven. She winked at me, then walked away. My mind was blank. The only thing I could think of was meeting her.


    ***


    Class had ended and Ms. Michaels had dismissed the class. I got up quickly to leave, but before I could, Ms. Michaels stopped me.


    ¡°Michael, I need to talk to you.¡±


    Now I''m irritated because I need to meet up with Amare, but, but¡­ I had patience. Hopefully Amare had that too.


    ¡°Yes, Ms. Michaels?¡±


    Ms. Michaels looked at me with a smile on her face, like she was trying to reel me in something.


    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed you¡¯ve always walked to school and home back, considering you lived far away. May I ask why?¡± She asked me why I always walked home.


    I couldn''t- no, I wouldn''t answer that, it¡¯s too¡­I just didn''t want to answer it.


    ¡°Umm, I don''t want to answer that question. Sorry.¡±


    Ms. Michaels Was nice to me, but I don''t know if she did because she was romantically in love with me.


    ¡°You''re fine, you''re fine. I just wanted to know if you¡¯d let me¡­. um¡­drive you home? Considering we¡¯re technically close neighbors and all.¡±


    Drive me home? She wanted to drive me home. Maybe¡­she does care about me¡­


    ¡°Michael¡­Michael!¡±


    She said, trying to make me snap back to reality.


    ¡°Huh- oh, oh. I¡¯ve got somewhere to be. Thank you, though!¡± I said as I backed up getting ready to leave,


    ¡°W-wait, can I at least drive you-¡±


    I had to cut her off. Amare was waiting for me.


    ¡°Look, maybe tomorrow or something! Bye Ms. Michaels!¡± I said, running out the door trying not to keep Amare waiting,


    ¡°Michael-! nevermind¡­¡±


    ***


    I was walking to the courtyard when I couldn¡¯t help but think, does Ms. Michaels really care about me? She¡¯s shown barely any love for any of the Students, why is she showing it to me? She asked to drive me home, but that sounds like a scheme to get closer to me and bring me in¡­.


    It doesn''t matter anyway because I have someone who really cares for me, Amare. ¡°Amare!¡± I said waving, going to her.


    ¡°Hey, you''re late!¡± I smiled at that for some reason.


    ¡°But you didn''t make time for us to meet.¡± I said, chuckling nervously,


    ¡°Yeah, I did. I said after school!¡±


    When she said that, it made me smirk and stifle a laugh.


    ¡°you know that¡¯s not very specific, right?¡± I said, letting out a breath of a stifled laugh.


    ¡°What you SHOULD know is not to keep a pretty girl waiting.¡± She said as she crossed her arms and pouted.


    ¡°But I''m here, Right?¡± I said, lifting my shoulders while looking at her with a slight smirk.


    ¡°Yeah, but you weren¡¯t here¡­exactly after school.¡± I shrugged, saying to her with a smirk,


    ¡°Better late than sorry.¡± Amare sighed saying,


    ¡°I guess you''re right¡­¡±


    She got close to me and put her hands on my chest. I blushed because I wasn¡¯t expecting this.


    Amare continued saying, ¡°So, are you ready for your surprise?¡±


    I nodded eagerly, which made Amare chuckle,


    ¡°Well.. if you''re that eager¡­Well then¡­close your eyes.¡± I did as she said.


    I closed my eyes and waited for her to signal me to open them.


    ¡°Okayyy, you can open them!¡±


    With that signal, I instantly opened it to be expected to be met with a kiss, but instead I was met with a fist, Brad¡¯s fist. I fell to the ground, my nose bleeding. I looked up at them, Brad laughing, Amare smiling. It hurted my heart to see Amare smiling evilly at me while I was on the ground.


    There was one thing I wanted to say to her, ¡°Amare¡­I-I thought you cared for me¡­¡±


    When those words came out my mouth I teared up and startled sniffling.


    Amare scoffed and said, ¡°Cared for you? I didn¡¯t care for you, I cared about if you were gonna help me with my homework, much less do it for me. I don¡¯t care about you. Hell, nobody cares about you! You''re just a worthless piece of shit, a retarded shit at that.¡±


    That hurt, no that actually hurted me. All that pent up anger from how my family treated me, to everything else. I couldn¡¯t take it. I yelled and lunged toward Amare, I wanted to kill her, but I was met with Brad¡¯s fist again, he put me on the ground and started beating me. Brad laughed, Amare laughed. It hurted, it hurted alot, physically and emotionally.


    ***


    ¡°Zad, Zad¡­Detective Kaisen!¡±


    I lifted my head up when my name was called, wondering who''s there, calling my name until I laid my eyes on my partner, Ronnie.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t join the DPD to sleep on your ass, did you?¡±


    I let out a mumble and a bunch of nonsense words.


    Ronnie chuckled and said, ¡°C''mon we¡¯ve got a murder.¡±


    I look up in confusion, still reeling from my slumber, ¡°Murder¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, now get your ass up and stop wasting time!¡± Ronnie said, grabbing my slumped over body and making me stand,


    ¡°You with me?¡± He said, I nodded in response,


    Then we began heading out to the location where the crime had happened.


    ***


    As the car came to a stop, everybody was there talking, studying, searching the vicinity for any clues.


    As me and Ronnie got out of the car, Ronnie started briefly explaining what happened, ¡°All we know is that the body has been there since last night.¡±


    We walked up to the body that¡¯s in an alleyway, the forensic person is already there, she gets up from kneeling over the body,


    ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± I said, trying to get information for her to get a good perspective on this.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a young boy, around 17 or 18. Judging by his face, he¡¯s been punched multiple times as well as stabbed way too many times.¡±


    My eyes and Ronnie¡¯s widened in shock at this. I regained my composure and used the info that the forensic woman had given us and made a hypothesis.


    ¡°Okay, obviously the murder had it out for this guy for him to lash out like this.¡±


    They nodded at my hypothesis, then I continued saying, ¡°So considering this boy is still in school, he- well the murderer must be a student at the school he goes to.¡±


    The forensic woman and Ronnie,


    but Ronnie, still skeptical, asked, ¡°But, how do you know this for certain though?¡±


    He was right, how do I really know this for certain though?


    I don¡¯t, that¡¯s why I shook my head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t. I¡¯m just making an educated guess, for all we know this could be a random act of violence.¡±


    Ronnie made a ¡°tch¡± sound and looked at the body, ¡°If so, he¡¯s one unlucky bastard.¡±


    I nodded then pondered, ¡°yeah¡­but something inside me says that there¡¯s something more than what the eye meets.¡±


    Ronnie moved his eyes from the body, then me as he raised an eyebrow. ¡°And what could that something more be, Kaisen?¡±


    I kept my eyes on the body, studying it. ¡°I don''t know, but this could be something other than a random act of violence.¡±


    ***


    I, Michael, have now realized that I was played by the person that I thought cared for me, but she didn¡¯t care. Now I''m walking down the sidewalk, in the night, bruised and battered.


    I knew when I got home It was gonna be worse. As I kept walking down the sidewalk, I saw a car drive up to my side of the sidewalk. I stop and look to see the person roll down their window. If It was somebody trying to kill me, I wouldn''t mind, nobody cared about me anyway, so I stood there waiting to be ¡°killed.¡± But instead of a potential murder, it was Ms.Michaels, she looked at me with a sad, sympathetic expression,


    ¡°Michael¡­Look at you, cmon, get inside. I¡¯ll drive you home.¡±


    I didn¡¯t hesitate and got inside her car, I felt more comfortable, more safe. I just stared out the window of the car, I didn¡¯t want to hear anything from anyone. The person that I thought cared about me, didn''t.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sorry about whatever happened, maybe I can get your phone number¡­ just to keep in contact with you just in case you need help venting to someone.¡±


    She gave me a little reassuring smile when she said that. My eyes widened a bit, I didn¡¯t think she was gonna say that, I didn¡¯t have any girl in my contacts except for my mom. I didn¡¯t get my hopes high after that though. I didn''t know if she was pulling a Amare and cared about me only to want something from me. I still nodded and gave her my phone number. After that she dropped me off at my home. There I stood in front of my house, ready for a world of hatred coming my way.


    ¡°Here you come in again Michael, reminding me how much of an embarrassment you are.¡±


    I clenched my fists at what she said and tried to stand up for myself, telling my mom, ¡°I¡¯m not an embarrassment.¡±


    Those were the only words that came out of my mouth, I didn¡¯t have much to say.


    ¡°Of course you are. You let everybody walk over you, you''re naive too. Tch, and you''re supposed to be a spitting image of your father.¡±


    I got mad, what was supposed to do? Fight Brad back? If I tried to fight back, I would¡¯ve definitely come home in a body bag. ¡°So, you expect me to be like dad, because I look like him?¡± I said. She responded with a tone in her voice like what I said was true,


    ¡°Yeah, at least he cared about himself, I bet if I gave you my gun right now to protect yourself, you wouldn¡¯t use it, instead you would let yourself get shot. If you don¡¯t care about yourself, how do you expect others to care about you?¡±


    What she said drove me mad, why should people care if I care about myself in order for them to care about me? Shouldn''t they care regardless, or is what I said true¡­do people only care when they want something from someone. I just walked away into my room nearly crying only to be met by my brother, Erl, tackling me.


    ¡°Get off of me!¡± I said as Erl kept holding me in a tight grip,


    ¡°Ha! Why should I listen to you? You can¡¯t even stand up for yourself!¡± Hearing that made me cry, my heart couldn¡¯t bear it.


    ¡°Look mom, he''s crying! Look at you, you''re such a bitch. Dad would be so disappointed.¡±


    After those words came out of his mouth, he released me and got up, not without giving me a kick to my ribs. Mom then laughed at me because of my inability to fight back. Erl spat on me,


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you''re my brother, so weak. We might as well put you up for adoption.¡±


    I got mad like I did before behind the school. My body instinctively launched itself toward Erl only to be met with the save punch Brad gave me, only it was from my brother, my own flesh and blood. After my beating Erl threw me into the bottom bunk of the bunk bed.


    ¡°Sorry for your beating, the least I can do is let you have your naive pussy rest and dreams.¡±


    He said as he just threw the blanket over my body and climbed onto the top bunk.


    ¡°Goodnight, you little bitch.¡± He mumbled the last part, snickering, all I did was cry silently myself to sleep.

 Chapter Two: Smoking reminds you of...

    Chapter Two: Smoking reminds you of¡­


    I couldn¡¯t sleep, I was having nightmares, nightmares of everything that had just happened to me up until now. I could hear them in my sleep. My brother¡¯s voice, Brad¡¯s voice, my mom¡¯s, and¡­Amare¡¯s. But out of all the voices I hear, I hear my own, but my voice is more stoic, like a voice with no emotion. It talked over the other voices, I could hear it clear as day,


    ¡°None of them cares about you,not us, they don''t care at all.¡±


    I tried to ignore it, ¡°No, no! Ms.Michael¡¯s cares, she cares!¡±


    My inner voice laughed, ¡°She doesn¡¯t care about you. She only likes you because she wants to date you.¡±


    My eyes widened when that was said, she did want to drive me home¡­was she wanting to drive me home, her using my disadvantage to her advantage¡­?


    ¡°They only care when they want something from you, like your mom, Amare, and like Ms.Michael¡¯s.¡±


    I listened to the voice, slowly realizing the truth. The truth that nobody cares about me, not even my own family. I stayed quiet, the truth was slowly hitting me, then I realized,


    ¡°If nobody cares about you, why should you care about them? Much less what YOU do to them.¡±


    Those hit, hit like a truck, my eyes opened, I had a straight face, a face with no emotion. I got up out of the bed then left my room walking like normally, but with some quietness to it. It was past midnight, so I needed to be careful. My mom kept her gun under her pillow so I went in there, I saw her take it out one day to check her bullets. As I went in there I stared at her. I look at the face of a mother that doesn''t care about her own son. My hand went under her pillow where her head was laying on. I felt the revolver in my hand, I put my finger over what felt to be the trigger. My mom slowly woke up,


    ¡°Huh¡­Michael what are-¡±


    Her eyes widened as she felt my hand under the pillow, she knew what was gonna happen. Before she could launch herself at me and tackle me, I pulled the trigger, the pillow¡¯s color went from the clouds, to red. Her body laid there on the bed, lifeless.


    ¡°MOM?!¡± my brother yelled, calling from his room.


    I turned my head to sound and instantly hid beside my mom¡¯s door. When my brother came to our mom¡¯s door, he gasped which signaled me to come out from beside the door and point the revolver at his head. He looked even more surprised when he saw me point the revolver at his head. Imagine that, you see your dead mother on the bed and before you can react, you see someone come out of nowhere and point a gun straight at your head, then you get the realization, the realization that it¡¯s your brother holding a gun to your head.


    ¡°Michael, you-¡±


    ¡°Go.¡± I said. I wasn''t having it¡­


    I led him to the bathroom, he went in first then I went in before I closed the door.


    I told him to kneel in front of the toilet and he did, then I said, ¡°You''re gonna put your head in the toilet and not take it out.¡±


    He looked surprised and confused when I said that, until he realized what I was gonna do.


    He begged. ¡°P-please no, i''m sorry Michael, i-i¡¯m sorry-¡±


    I cut him off and said these exact words to him, ¡°You''re gonna accept this, if you don¡¯t put your head in there, I will forcefully put it in there. Put your head. In. The. Toilet.¡±


    My brother cried as he put his head into the toilet, which made it worse because he couldn¡¯t breathe for 8 seconds from his stuffy nose while his head was in the toilet. He flayed and thrashed his arms around, I just made sure he didn¡¯t take his head out the toilet.


    ***


    I walked out of the bathroom then stood in between the door of my mom¡¯s room and the bathroom. I shut my eyes and let out a big sigh of relief, then when I opened my eyes the body of my mother that was once on her bed disappeared, and then when I turnt to the bathroom, my brother¡¯s lifeless corpse that was once in the toilet, wasn''t there. Then I realized that I had already done this, maybe like a few hours ago, I was just reminiscing about it. Their bodies are already in the dumpster. I also remembered that I had killed Brad too, leaving his body in the alleyway. There was one thing I needed to make sure. I walked over to a crate, leaned my head down and pressed my ear against the crate to listen¡­I heard it, the sounds of sobbing, I smiled when I heard the sobbing. After making sure everything was correct, I sat down on the couch and watched tv. It didn¡¯t feel¡­thrilling to kill them. It just felt like, like I¡¯ve been relieved. I¡¯ve cared for people, and they¡¯ve made it seem like they cared for me, but in the end they show me their true intentions¡­


    ***


    ¡°So what makes you think this isn''t a random act of violence?¡± Ronnie said as he leaned against the wall, staring at the body, trying to figure out himself what this could be.


    ¡°I never said this couldn''t be a random act of violence. I said this could be something more than that.¡±


    I kneeled before the body, examining every part of it.


    ¡°Okay then, uhh, other than a random act of violence¡­what could this be?¡±


    Before I lifted up the shirt of the body, I looked at the forensic women to get permission to further examine it. She nodded which made me lift up the body''s shirt. His body, mostly his face looked like they have seen better days.


    ¡°My guess is that this guy did something to tick off the culprit.¡±


    The forensic woman and Ronnie nodded, ¡°He must have pissed him off pretty badly to get brutalized like this.¡±


    I nodded at Ronnie¡¯s statement, ¡°The kid must have pushed him over the edge, the murderer probably had bottled up anger, probably family problems, if he is a student, or bullying problems.¡±


    ¡°The kid probably bullied the murderer, pushing him off the mental scale.¡±


    I sighed then stood up, getting an idea,


    ¡°Do you have any information on the school that this kid went to?¡±


    I looked at the forensic woman as she looked at the body, then me with a surprised face,


    ¡°Oh, uhh¡­I think it was¡­Thinethrope.¡± The woman said, tilting her head to the side with her eyes off thinking.


    I nodded then looked at Ronnie, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said to Ronnie while walking out the alleyway. Ronnie pushed himself off the wall then waved bye to the forensic woman.


    Me and Ronnie were walking to the car until we heard someone yelling, ¡°Hey!¡±


    Ronnie turnt his head back making a ¡°Huh?¡± sound as did I.


    The person reveals to be an officer that stops in front of them.


    ¡°Officer Roff? What¡¯s up?¡±


    Roff panted,


    ¡°You¡­you guys¡­have a¡­¡± He sounded like he was gonna collapse, so I tried to calm him down,


    ¡°Slow down, breathe in, breathe out.¡±


    The officer followed my words and did as I say. Finally, he calms himself, finding his footing and pacing in words.


    ¡°Cmon cmon! We don''t have all day, out with it!¡±


    The officer side eyed Ronnie before finally speaking, ¡°The chief has assigned you to another case, the Amare case.¡±


    My head recoiled back as my eyebrow raised in confusion. ¡°But why? Aren''t there two other detectives working on that case?¡±


    The officer shrugged at my statement, ¡°Yeah, but there¡¯s an obvious connection between the Brad and Amare case, plus he says you guys are the best detective they have.¡±


    I massaged my temples while Ronnie then says, ¡°Then why didn''t he pair us up with the other detectives then?!¡±


    Ronnie sounded like he was crashing out as his eyes widened. ¡°Because he said he believes in you guys, and he knows the other detectives will argue with you guys.¡±


    Me and Ronnie just sighed, ¡°More cases, more all nighters.¡± I nodded then tried to relieve the situation, ¡°Look, we both know they go to the same school, hopefully and possibly the same class, so then we can get answers about both Brad and Amare. Two birds with one stone, right?¡±


    Ronnie nodded to my words of relief, I nodded back, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± The officer watches as we leave and head inside the car, he then walks away.


    ***


    Ms.Michaels sits down, putting in the grades after the chemistry test. After she¡¯s done, she stands up and heads out to the main office to clock out.


    ¡°Hey, Airi, I''m clocking out!¡± She says to Airi as she clocks out and begins to head home.


    Airi, the school''s receptionist, looks at Ms.Michaels with a lazy, bored expression and says,


    ¡°Byeee Kylie.¡± The receptionist says as she chews her gum boredly. Ms.Michaels giggles at Airi¡¯s bored expression.


    As Ms.Michaels puts her stuff in the car then gets into the car, she gets a call from Michael. She gets this happy face as the corners of her mouth tugs a lot.


    She answers the call, giddily. ¡°Heyy, Michael!¡±


    Michael responds with a straight, emotionless tone. ¡°I need you to come over.¡±


    Ms.Michaels looks surprised, almost concerned in his tone of voice, he¡¯s usually nervous and sometimes shy.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Okay, but is everything alright? Did something happen-'''' Michael cuts her off, still with his voice of no emotion, ¡°Just come over, everything is alright.¡±


    Ms.Michaels, still concerned, reluctantly nods and says, ¡°Okay, but if anything is wrong you-¡±


    Before she can say anything Michael hangs up. She looks at the phone, surprised by Michael¡¯s new change of tone, he sounds more¡­grim, like he¡¯s changed. She can¡¯t think about that right now, she starts the car and heads out, she looks out the window and sees a lot of traffic on the other lane.


    She just shakes her head, knowing it¡¯s gonna take a while for the cars to reach their destination. But there¡¯s nothing she can do about them, for she has something else that is important to her.


    ***


    As we both drove, we got caught up into traffic up ahead. As we sat there in silence, Ronne tried to make conversation with me. ¡°Are you good over there?¡±


    I just look ahead and nod, ¡°Yeah, I''m okay.¡±


    I wasn''t good, but I wasn¡¯t gonna say that, I wanted to share my own personal thoughts to myself, but my face showed otherwise.


    Ronnie saw this and just sighed, ¡°Grandma?¡±


    I just stayed silent not wanting to say anything.


    ¡°So, how¡¯s she doing?¡± Ronnie turnt his head to look at me while trying to keep his eyes on the road.


    I looked at him then looked out the car window, ¡°She¡¯s fine¡­¡±


    Ronne just says ¡°Alright, just know you can tell me anything." in a super low tone,


    I just kept looking out the window for a few seconds until finally saying something, ¡°Ronnie, if I lose her, I lose everything.¡±


    Ronnie raised an eyebrow, confused on what I said, ¡°What do you mean if you lose her, you lose everything?¡± Ronnie says as the traffic that they were caught up in begins to ease up, allowing Ronnie to drive a little bit more freely,


    ¡°I mean that¡­man, like she¡¯s the only one that truly cared for me and was there for me.¡± I rubbed my eyes from stressing over my grandma.


    ¡°Look, man, you have me, if not the whole goddamn station, you''re not alone here man.¡± Ronnie said as the corner of his mouth tugged.


    I sighed, leaning my head on my palm. ¡°Yeah, but what about when I''m home, alone? What about when I''m going through stuff?¡±


    Ronnie just chuckled at what I said, ¡°What? so you want me to come over and shower you in hugs and kisses?¡±


    ¡°What? no! I didn¡¯t even say that!¡±


    Ronnie chuckled at my reaction, ¡°I know, I''m joking¡­I''m joking.¡± Ronnie smirked while I sighed, ¡°Look, everyone dies of old age, it¡¯s a natural thing. Just don¡¯t let it get to you too much, okay?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know it wasn¡¯t old age, it was cancer, and it was bad. I just nodded to Ronnie whilst leaning my head on my head. ¡°Just think of it as a¡­moment in time that was bound to come, no matter what.¡±


    Ronnie¡¯s words sorta eased me up, even though he thought it was old age, which it wasn''t. But I guess she¡¯s old, 87 too old, she was probably gonna die from natural causes, but still¡­I don¡¯t want her to go. I still looked out at the window, but I gave him a nice little response,


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Ronnie smiled at my response, even though it was not that much. Ronnie leaned in to look through the windshield, ¡°Well lookie lookie, we¡¯re here.¡± Ronnie said as he pulled up in front of the school.


    Ronnie then parked the car and asked if I was ready, I nodded saying


    ¡°Always.¡±


    Once we were inside, we already knew to go to the main office. Before we reached the doors of the main office, I stopped Ronnie and looked at him, ¡°Let me do the talking, okay?¡±


    I said that because I knew if there¡¯s a receptionist that¡¯s a girl, he would have probably gotten distracted and flirted with her. Ronnie raised both of his hands slightly, ¡°Alright.¡±


    I nodded, proceeding to go into the main office. When we went inside, it was a woman behind the desk, so I went up there, she looked bored and distracted, so I politely got her attention. But first I had to clear my throat, the polite way. ¡°Excuse me, ma¡¯am?¡± She looked up at me, her bored expression changing in the amount of seconds it took her eyes to lay upon me.


    She instantly stood up straight, straightened her clothes, then she looked at me with a big smile on her face which made Ronnie chuckle. ¡°Hello, how may I help you?¡±


    She then looked at the badge that was on my jacket, then she instantly knew why we we¡¯re here,


    ¡°Oh, you''re here about the Brad Waterwell and Amare Kell case¡­¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Yes, we¡¯re here to speak with their homeroom teachers.¡± She gave me a big smile and said,


    ¡°Well lucky for you guys, they both share the same homeroom teacher.¡± I stroked my chin, nodding. She looked at me in curiosity, it was like she was fond of me.


    ¡°So, can we speak with the teacher?¡±


    When I said snapped out of her curious gaze on me and pouted, ¡°Oh¡­I forgot. She kind of clocked out not too long ago.¡±


    My eyes widened and one of my eyebrows rose, ¡°And how long ago was not too long ago?¡±


    Her lips folded into her mouth as she raised her eyebrows, then pouted again, ¡°Like 10-20 minutes ago.¡±


    I looked away and mouthed the words; ¡°Damn.¡± Ronnie then chimed in, ¡°It¡¯s cool, all we need is her name, home address, and possibly her phone number, no, definitely her phone number.¡±


    I looked at Ronnie, then the receptionist, she smiled at me like she had a plan.


    ¡°Sure! But let me get your phone number, so I can text you the info. And so if you forget it, you¡¯ll have it in our messages.¡± She said as she smiled big at me,


    I nodded then exchanged phone numbers, after that me and Ronnie left the school and drove off,


    I then received the text from the receptionist, telling me the teacher''s name, home address, phone number, and also a kissing emoji from her, which Ronnie saw while driving and chuckled, ¡°Stay on task partner, we can¡¯t have you distracted by a school receptionist.¡±


    Ronnie smirked as he said that. I just scoffed at him, ¡°Like you''re any better, you can''t go a second without flirting with a girl.¡±


    I smirked at Ronnie back. Ronnie slightly lifted his hand off the wheel, ¡°You don¡¯t see me flirting right now, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even flirting with her!¡±


    Ronnie scoffed at my statement and waved me off, ¡°Bullshit! I saw the way your thumbs were moving, you definitely typed something smooth!¡±


    I made a sarcastic smile, then pointed at the phone, showing him the text, ¡°All I said was thank you.¡±


    Ronnie looked at the phone, then the road and scoffed ¡°So, where''s this Seraph street any- nevermind I see it.¡±


    Ronnie said as he stopped infront Ms.Michaels house. Ronnie puts the car in park then looks at me, ¡°Alright, stop flirting with the receptionist and call that teacher already.¡±


    Ronnie said as he slightly gestured his head toward the phone. I just shook my head and dialed the teacher¡¯s phone number.


    ***


    As Ms.Michaels drove, she stopped in front Michael¡¯s house. The house looked like every other house, but it feels like something more, like how everybody that¡¯s hurting on the inside looked. They seem fine on the outside, but the inside is a whole different road, a road led away from lies, onto the truth. Before Ms.Michaels could leave her car, her phone rang, it was an unknown number, she didn¡¯t want to answer it, but she was curious to see who it was, so she picked up,


    ¡°Hello, who is this?¡±


    ***


    When I heard Ms.Michaels voice I looked at Ronnie and Ronnie looked at me. I looked at the phone then spoke, ¡°Hello? Is this Kylie Michaels?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Yes, this is Kylie Michaels. Who am I speaking to right now?¡± She said as she raised one of her eyebrows.


    ***


    ¡°Detective Kaisen from the Detroit police department.¡± I said as I stroked the side of my chin.


    ***


    ¡°Detective¡­?¡± Then the sudden realization hit her, then she groaned and rubbed her temples, ¡°This is about the Brad and Amare case, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Yes, it is. We¡¯re here to ask you a few questions, if that¡¯s alright.¡±


    ***


    ¡°W-wait, how did you get this phone number?¡±


    ***


    I look at Ronnie once more, then the phone, ¡°The school¡¯s receptionist.¡±


    ***


    Ms.Michaels sighs and rubs her eyes, ¡°Oh Airi¡­¡±


    ***


    Ronnie smiled, ¡°So that¡¯s her name.¡± He looked up from the phone then at me with a smirk. I just scoffed and told him to shut up. ¡°Yeah, and she also gave me your home address, judging by your house having no lights on-¡±


    ***


    ¡°I¡¯m not home, yeah.¡± She leaned back in the seat, seeming impatient.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Okay then, where are you, Kylie?¡± I said as I looked out the passenger window, staring at her dormant house.


    ***


    She sighed and rolled her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m currently¡­at a friend¡¯s house. Look, can we do this after I''m done? I can¡¯t just keep my friend waiting.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Kylie, we don''t have any time to waste. We need to talk now.¡±


    ***


    Ms.Michaels sighed then looked at Michael¡¯s house. The front door opened, then Michael peered from the front. Ms.Michael¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as she saw Michael. ¡°Look, just stay at my house, i¡¯ll be there soon enough.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Kylie¡­? Kylie! Damnit!¡±


    I rubbed my face and slouched in the passenger seat. Ronnie looked at me and smiled,


    ¡°Welp, it looks like we¡¯re gonna be here for a minute.¡±


    I just scoffed in disbelief and covered my face with my hands. ¡°Relax, she¡¯s gonna be here soon enough. I just know it.¡± Said Ronnie as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, then continued,


    ¡°So, in the meantime, wanna smoke?¡±


    I just shook my head and said, ¡°No.¡± As he waved the pack in front of my face with a cheeky grin on him.


    ¡°Oh c''mon! Just one at least!¡± He said whilst keeping that grin plastered on his face. ¡°No, I wanna keep my lungs.¡± Said me in an irritated voice.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! One wouldn¡¯t hurt ya!¡± When he said that, I got mad and snapped. ¡°Well it¡¯s killing my gran-!¡± I stopped myself almost immediately.


    Ronnie looked at me with his grin faltering as his eyes widened. He just turned his body from me and faced the windshield with his hand resting on his mouth and nose.


    ¡°Ronn-¡±


    ¡°So, she¡¯s not dying of old age¡­it¡¯s cancer.¡±


    ¡°Lung cancer.¡± Said me as I sat slouched in my seat. Ronnie sighed, ¡°How


    long until it takes her?¡±


    I just shrugged, the doctors never gave me an exact answer, only an estimate. ¡°Weeks to days, I-I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Ronnie mouthed the word god, then said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this?¡± I just looked away, ¡°Because I thought you didn¡¯t care.¡±


    I thought this because he and I knew we were business partners, we didn''t need to know to be best friends and all, all we needed to know is how to work together.


    ¡°What man?! I care about you! I do!¡±


    He could¡¯ve just been saying that to make me feel better, I didn''t want to think that, but that could be the truth.


    ¡°You''re just saying that because we¡¯re partners. I bet if I wasn''t your partner, or didn¡¯t know I existed, you wouldn¡¯t care at all!¡± Said me as tears rolled down my eyes.


    ¡°But you are my partner, and I do now know you exist! I know the pains and struggles you''re going through right now! I know now!¡± Said Ronnie.


    He looked really sad for me, the way his eyebrows rose, and how fast he breathed. ¡°You know who really cared for me? My grandma, she cared from the start. She knew me like the back of her fucking hand! And now she¡¯s fucking die!¡± I said as I kicked whatever was in front of me.


    ¡°She was the person that truly ever cared for me.¡±


    Then I just started crying, I faced the windshield and wiped my tears. We sat there in silence for a good 10 seconds until I spoke, ¡°I¡¯m¡­sorry for not telling you earlier, I just thought you didn¡¯t care at all, y¡¯know?¡±


    Ronnie sighed, ¡°You''re cool¡­¡± He then put his cigar in his mouth then smoked it, taking out his mouth, ¡°Hell, I don¡¯t blame ya. This world is full of manipulators, people that say they care, but actually only care because they want something from you. A lot of them just shrug it off, alot get broken by it, don¡¯t know who to trust, don¡¯t know who to trust, so they stay isolated away from everyone.¡±


    I looked out the car window and sniffled, turning to Ronnie. ¡°Maybe¡­maybe one smoke wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    Ronnie looked back and smirked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t hurt at all.¡± Said Ronnie as he tossed me the cigar and lighter. I lit my cigar, Ronnie lit his. We both leaned back in our seats, enjoying the view as the moon finally rose, waiting for Kylie to call back¡­

 Chapter Three: Choose, Kylie.

    Chapter Three: Choose, Kylie.


    When Ms.Michaels came up to me, I forced a smile and said, ¡°Hey, Ms. Michaels. I¡¯m glad you came.¡±


    She smiled, ¡°Please, it¡¯s Kylie. And like I said, I''m always there if you need help with anything.¡±


    She touched my arm after that, I didn¡¯t feel anything, instead just forced a smile again. ¡°Okay, Kylie, how about you come in?¡± Said me as I stepped aside to let her in.


    After she came in, I closed the door and locked it, and went to the curtains and closed it too. ¡°Want anything to drink? I only have Pepsi and water.¡± I said as I went to the kitchen and took out the two drinks I said I only had. ¡°I¡¯d like the water, please.¡± I nodded as I chuckled. She¡¯s putting on a persona, I just know it.


    Acting like she¡¯s a kind person that cares about everybody. I handed her the water, she said thanks, I sat down next to her, we were some distance apart from each other. After she drank some of the water, she looked at me.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    I looked at her and raised an eyebrow, ¡°What do you mean ¡®what¡¯s the problem?¡¯¡±


    She looked at me and raised and raised an eyebrow back, ¡°I thought you called because you needed someone to vent to, to someone close to you.¡±


    My heart fluttered at that, I snapped myself out of it. She doesn¡¯t care about me, she only wants to date me because I look good.


    ¡°I just called you over to watch TV with me.¡± As I said, I turned on the tv and played ¡°I¡¯m Sorry¡± by The Platters as I held the remote in my hand.


    Her eyes widened in surprise, as if she wasn¡¯t expecting that, but then she smiled. Why did she smile, I don¡¯t know. It was like she had a plan up her sleeve, which she did because she sat closer to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡±


    Our legs touched a part of me though she cared for me, how?! She¡¯s just making moves, that doesn¡¯t mean she cares about me- wait¡­wait, the crate. That¡¯s how I¡¯ll know if she really cares about me.


    ¡°Kylie¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, Michael?¡±


    I looked at her. ¡°Do you¡­care about me?¡±


    She looked at me and smiled at me, then rubbed my thigh. ¡°Of course I care about you.¡± I forced a smile until I got up and went to the crate. She asked what I was doing, I didn¡¯t respond and opened the crate, which released muffled sobs into the air for her to hear. Kylie looked concerned,


    ¡°Michael, is everything alright? Why am I hearing-¡±


    Before she could finish, I threw a body over the couch which made her gasp. It was Amare, she was still alive but bruised and hurt. I then came around the couch with a revolver pointed at Kylie. Kylie looked in shock and fear.


    ¡°M-Michael, Please-¡±


    ¡°Do you care now, huh?!¡± Said me as I looked at Kylie, who was crying.


    ¡°M-Michael-¡±


    She tried saying my name, tried to plead with me. I wasn¡¯t having it. ¡°No! Shut up!¡± I then cocked the revolver, ¡°I shoot you, Amare lives. I shoot Amare, you walk away! Choose!¡±


    Amare and Kylie looked shocked. Amare started crying and screaming. but the screams were muffled because of the tape on her mouth. She tried moving, but her legs were tied together and so were her hands. I kicked her and told her to shut up. She stopped squirming, but kept crying. ¡°Choose, Kylie, choose!¡± Kylie closed her eyes shut and cried. I decided to press her more, ¡°Choose or I''ll shoot both of you!¡±


    Kylie flinched at what I said, she cried even more and stood there. ¡°Okay then! 3! 2!-¡± Kylie cried as she shakily put her finger up and pointed at Amare. Amare eyes widened and started squirming, screaming muffled screams. ¡°Oh, so you want Amare to die?¡± Kylie nodded, ¡°Y-yes..¡± I sighed, ¡°I thought so.¡±


    I turned the television¡¯s volume up and pulled the trigger on Ms.Michaels leg, which made her scream and fall, she cried and tried to crawl away. I stormed over to her, I threw on the coffee table which shattered. I picked her up again.


    ¡°I finally know now. You don¡¯t care about me, or anyone else!¡± I said as I banged her head against the ground, she just cried in pain, which was stopped every time her face met the floor.


    ***


    Ronnie hummed Hotel California as he smoked his cigar. I was tilted back in my seat, staring at the roof of the car, also smoking a cigar. ¡°Look, Michael Jacksons, ¡°Dangerous¡± Album is the best album.¡±


    I just raised an eyebrow. ¡°How does listening to the eagles make you think about Michael Jackson?¡±


    I thought he was high, because someone can¡¯t just randomly think that. Maybe Ronnie is just a weirdo.


    ¡°I never said it did! But¡­Dangerous is the best album.¡±


    I just scoffed, this man really knows how to get people hooked on random topics brought up, because let me tell you¡­I was hooked, but I didn¡¯t wanna show that.


    ¡°You''re just a guy that loves to speak his mind, huh? And Dangerous is not Michael Jackson¡¯s best album.¡±


    Ronnie gasped, ¡°How dare you?! It¡¯s at least top 3 with Bad and Thriller!¡±


    He¡¯d then ramble about Dangerous being the best Michael Jackson album, which made me smirk and relax more until something hit me,


    ¡°Ronnie, how long has it been since we called Kylie?¡±


    Ronnie stopped rambling and looked at me with a raised eyebrow, ¡°Like¡­30 minutes to an hour ago? Check your phone.¡±


    I took out my phone and looked for her on recent calls, she was the first one. An hour ago, it said. Me and Ronnie looked at each other before I tapped her number and called her, putting the phone on speaker.


    ***


    As I stopped banging her head against the ground, she was still living but barely. Her pocket began to vibrate. I checked her pocket and took out the phone. It was just numbers, no name. I grabbed Kylie by the hair and showed her the number, ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡±


    She just groaned and mumbled, her eyes half lid opened. I banged her head against the ground and yelled at her. ¡°I said who the fuck is this?! Look!¡±


    She sobbed and opened her eyes more, she looked at the numbers confused. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­know.¡±


    I banged her head once more before releasing it.I muted the tv and answered the phone and stayed silent, only my breathing could be heard.


    ¡°Kylie? You there, Kylie? It¡¯s Detective Kaisen!¡± My eyes widened as I heard the word ¡°detective".¡± What could the cops want with Ms.Michaels? Unless¡­ After realizing, I instantly opened the message app and texted the number


    ***


    As I tried to call out for Kylie, I got nothing. I looked over at Ronnie, whose face looked interested in the phone, waiting for an answer. But the vibration that the phone made caused me to turn my head almost instantly.


    The message was from Kylie¡¯s phone number and said, ¡°Stay out of my way.¡±


    Me and Ronnie both had raised eyebrows, the phone was still on the call, so I decided to continue speaking through the phone. ¡°What do you mean, Kylie?! What happened?!¡±


    We waited a few seconds before another text appeared, ¡°I am not Ms.Michaels.¡± Then another text appeared, ¡°Stay out of my way.¡±


    Me and Ronnie looked surprised when the person that we supposedly thought was Kylie, wasn¡¯t her.


    Ronnie looked even more surprised, his mouth slightly dropped,


    ¡°What-¡±


    Before I could finish, Ronnie lightly tapped my shoulder, I turned to him looking confused, I mouthed the word ¡°What?¡±


    Ronnie then whispered, ¡°It¡¯s the killer¡­the person texting is the killer.¡± I looked shocked then skeptical and whispered back,


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Y-you sure?¡± Ronnie nodded vigorously, like he was confident that whoever was on the phone was the killer. I turned to the phone and slightly yelled,


    ¡°Y¡¯know, killing is a bad thing.¡± I said.


    The person took longer than before to respond with a message, but he did text back,


    ¡°Leave me alone.¡±


    My breath quickened, Ronnie might be right- no he is right. ¡°Like hell we will! What did you do with Kylie?!¡± My hand gripped the phone tightly, anxiously waiting for a response.


    ¡°Kylie is getting what she deserves.¡±


    My eyes widened at the text message. My hand that held the phone started to shake in anger. ¡°You bastard! You better not lay a hand-¡± My anger subsided when I saw the next text, I then turned confused.


    ¡°You don¡¯t care about her.¡± Before I can think or respond, the next text came in like a flying breeze,


    ¡°You only care about her because you want to question her.¡± Then the next text appeared, ¡°You only think that questioning her will bring you closer to me.¡±


    I felt even more confused when he said that. Was what he said the truth? No! It couldn¡¯t be! ¡°Stop it! No! That¡¯s not true!¡± I denied it, obviously, because it wasn''t the truth, but something neglected me from fully thinking that. ¡°Keep telling yourself that.¡± When I saw that message, I clenched my phone more,


    ¡°Why? Why are you doing this?!¡± My anger was at its peak when I said that, I dreadfully wanted to know.


    ¡°Because nobody cares.¡±


    ***


    I hung up the phone before he could say anything, I looked at the phone then went outside, stayed close to my house. I looked at the phone, which rang again, it was the detective again. I threw the phone as far as I could. It landed in some other neighbor''s backyard, that was in front of me. I sighed then went back inside my house.


    ***


    ¡°Damnit, pick up.¡± The way I muttered those words sounded desperate. Ronnie could hear it in my voice.


    ¡°He¡¯s not gonna pick up.¡± Ronnie had tried to tell me the truth and stop wasting time for us.


    I just ignored him and looked at the phone as it kept ringing. Ronnie got irritated and spoke in and spoke in a slightly raised voice, ¡°Kaisen, I told you, he¡¯s not gonna-!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Fuck, fuck!¡± I said as I looked at the phone to see it go to voicemail. I slouched in my seat.


    Ronnie massaged his temple. ¡°What made you think he was gonna answer AFTER he hung up?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± I said, responding to Ronnie with the side of my head leaning in between my index finger and thumb.


    ¡°Damn right you don¡¯t.¡± Ronnie said as he made a ¡°tch¡± sound and leaned back in the driver seat.


    I sighed, then, 5 seconds later, something came to mind.


    I looked at my phone then sat up. Ronnie glanced at me, then my phone before placing the cigar in the ashtray and saying, ¡°You gonna try and call him again? You really don¡¯t know how to list-¡±


    I cut off Ronnie by putting my hand up to silence him, ¡°I¡¯m calling her.¡± Ronnie raised an eyebrow, he knew I had an idea up my sleeve, but he couldn¡¯t help not to ask. ¡°And who¡¯s her? If I may ask?¡±


    ¡°You know who.¡±


    ***


    Laufey. She¡¯s a¡­woman. How do I put it? She¡¯s like the color white, she blends in with other whites, but with a different color, she stands out like a stain on a white shirt. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the way she dresses, I mean, she dresses nice, and sometimes provocative. But¡­she¡¯s different.


    Laufey sucked on her lollipop and took it, waving it about, humbling to herself. She leaned back in her chair looking at her co-workers as they worked. She turned her head to look at the co-workers, but she saw one of her co-worker, Nack, talking to other co-workers. Her gaze landed on the coffee he was holding. The way she smiled, she was planning something devious. Her eyes landed on Nack¡¯s coffee, then the dartboard, then her lollipop.


    ¡°Hey, Nack!¡±


    Nack looked over to Laufey, his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°What do you want, Laufey?¡±


    Laufey gave Nack a cheeky grin, ¡°Your coffee!¡±


    Nack was taken aback by what she said and raised an eyebrow, ¡°My coffee..?¡±


    Laufey nodded, ¡°Yeah, if I can get a bullseye on that dartboard, without looking. You have to give me your coffee.¡±


    Nack¡¯s head recoiled from that response, then muttered what Laufey said and laughed. ¡°You, make that from right there, without looking? Ha! You wish!¡±


    Laufey grinned deviously, waving it around, ¡°What? you scared?¡± Laufey says while sticking out her bottom lip mockingly.


    Nack looked irritated as he made a frown, ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll humor you! If you actually manage to do it, which I know you can¡¯t, but if you do, then i¡¯ll give you my coffee. But we all know¡­¡±


    As Nack kept talking, Laufey took a dart off her desk and threw it while looking the other way. ¡°Bullseye.¡±


    ¡°Huh?! What do you mean?! You haven¡¯t even-¡± He said as he stopped his talking and looked to where the dartboard was. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the dart on the dartboard, on the bullseye.


    Nack stuttered which made Laufey giggle. ¡°You know the deal. Give your coffee, big boy.¡± Laufey held out her hand with a cocky grin.


    Nack grumbled and walked over to her, giving her the coffee as the co-workers Nack was talking to, laughed. Laufey faced her desk, she took the lollipop out and was going to dip it into the coffee, until the phone on her desk rang. The phone took her attention away from the coffee, as she saw who was calling. She put the coffee down, nearly dropping it, and picked up the phone. ¡°Hello, Kaisen?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Laufey, I need you to do something.¡± The desperation in my voice was real, I need this now, and right now.


    ***


    ¡°Okay! Tell me anything! Anything that can kill my boredom!¡± Laufey¡¯s voice sounded desperate too, sounded like she¡¯d kill to kill her boredom.


    ***


    ¡°Okay, I need you to track something.¡± I said as I searched for Kylie¡¯s phone number.


    ***


    ¡°Alright! Who or what do you need me to track? Laufey¡¯s excitement increased as she said this.


    ***


    ¡°A phone number.¡± I said hesitantly as my gaze was stuck on Ms.Michaels contact info, I didn¡¯t know if Laufey was up for this. But judging by her voice, she sounded like she¡¯d do anything.


    ***


    ¡°Phone number?! Sure, I do that all the time, that¡¯s how I''m looking at your location right now.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Huh?¡± Said me as I raised my eyebrow, Ronnie just looked in disbelief. I shook my head, trying to get back on topic. ¡°So you can track phone numbers, right?¡±


    ***


    ¡°Yup! So give me it and I''ll get it done in no time!¡±


    Kaisen then gave the digits of Ms.Michaels phone number to Laufey. Laufey then quickly put the digits in her phone, plugged a usb cord in her computer, then the other end into her phone. Then her contacts popped up on the computer. She sat her phone down on her desk, put her hand on the desktop mouse, double clicked the recently added phone number, which loaded for a bit until popping up.


    ¡°It¡¯s done! It looks like the phone¡¯s location is not that far from you guys.¡±


    ***


    I smiled at Laufey¡¯s words, ¡°Good, good.¡± Ronnie smiled a bit too, but had this face of skepticism on him.


    ***


    Laufey smiled, ¡°I also drew the directions on my computer between your phone and the one that I''m tracking, so you better start driving so I can give you the directions.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said I nodded, I looked over at Ronnie, Ronnie looked at me. ¡°Cmon, Ronnie! Start driving!¡±


    I was eager to catch this guy. I couldn¡¯t just let him go. ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Ronnie said as he faced the windshield and landed his hands on the steering wheel.


    Ronnie hit the gas pedal and began driving at a fast pace. ¡°Left.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Laufey said as she fed us the directions. ¡°Keep going straight.¡±... ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    We stopped in front of a house, it looked normal. Well on the outside it did, but the outside doesn¡¯t equate to the inside. The inside could be a whole different story. ¡°Is this the house?¡± I said, looking at the house, something felt off, Ronnie could feel something off too, judging by the way he looked at the house.


    ¡°Yep, this is it.¡± Laufey said on the phone. I sighed, ¡°Alright, thanks for your help, Laufey.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Happy to help.¡± Laufey said as she hung up. Laufey then got bored again, ¡°Well that was fun while it lasted.¡±


    She leaned the side of her head on her palm. Laufey looked at the time, 8:38pm, the clock showed. She then looked at the computer, seeming bored and also¡­impatient. She glanced back at the time, 8:39, the time said. Laufey eyebrows furrowed, then she got up muttering, ¡°Fuck it.¡± She grabbed her stuff and walked out.


    Laufey¡¯s friend looked at her as she walked out, her friend glanced at the time, then the walking Laufey. ¡°Laufey, what are you doing? It¡¯s not time yet.¡± Laufey turned to her friend, using her backside to open one of the doubled doors with a sly grin on her face,


    ¡°I know, I just couldn¡¯t wait any longer. And I was getting bored.¡± She then left.


    Her friend then turned back to their computer, ¡°Well, have fun on your side job.¡± They said as if she was still there.


    ***


    Me and Ronnie looked at the house. I then checked for my holster, which hugged the side of my rib cage. Ronnie looked like wanted to say something but stopped. I glanced at him, it looked like something was off with him,


    ¡°You good?¡±


    I wanted to make sure he was up for this, I knew we had caught this killer. Ronnie nodded, then said, ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow, ¡°You sure you''re good?¡± Ronnie sighed, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± The corner of my mouth tugged, ¡°Then, are you ready?¡±


    Ronnie looked at me and slightly smiled, it looked forced while trying not to.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    I gave him a genuine smile, he still gave me a forced awkward smile.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go catch a killer.¡±


    I got out of the car and Ronnie followed me. We stepped over the curb and walked up to the door. I tested the doorknob, it was unlocked, me and Ronnie looked at each other until we heard what sounded like screaming, coming from the inside. My head quickly snapped to the door, I, with no hesitation, opened and went inside, the screams sounded clear, like a little girl. I heard a loud, muffled ¡°Get over here!¡±


    which sprung me to where it came from, the bathroom. I ran into the bathroom, no time to carefully open it.


    ¡°Hands up-!¡±


    My eyes widened at what they were laid upon, it was a man, early 40s, a kid that looked 7 or 8, the same girl that I heard screaming, she was being held in the man''s like any parent would hold their child. She was naked like she just got out of the shower.


    ¡°Honey?!¡±


    My head snapped quickly to the voice Ronnie looked behind himself before moving aside. There was a woman, and a boy with a soccer ball in his hand. I took a good few seconds at the woman and boy, then the man and the daughter. I shut my eyes and sighed as the woman asked what was going on. ¡°Fuck me¡­¡± I muttered under my breath.

 Chapter Four: Promises you cant keep.

    Chapter Four: Promises you can¡¯t keep.


    ¡°So, you pulled out a gun between a father and daughter, while the daughter was naked too, right?¡± Said the assistant chief of the DPD. She was a hard, stern woman, she was a rock and a fighter, a fighter with glasses.


    ¡°Yes, but-¡± I stopped because she raised her hand. She asked me a question,


    ¡°One question, what the fuck were you thinking?¡±


    I looked surprised and shocked, ¡°Uh, e-excuse me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised, Detective Kaisen, I only asked you a simple question. What the fuck we¡¯re you thinking?¡± Her face was stern and cold, she wasn¡¯t playing around. I can¡¯t recall the last time she blinked.


    ¡°I-I heard screaming coming from the bathroom a-and I-¡± ¡°And you pulled out a firearm on them. Hm, that sums it up.¡±


    ¡°But I heard screaming, what was I supposed to do-!¡± ¡°Assess the situation, maybe knock. Speaking of knocking, you also walked into that family''s house without a warrant or permission. You know what that is, right?¡±


    ¡°Trespassing- but the door was open-!¡± She cut me off. ¡°The door wasn¡¯t open, it was unlocked. You couldn¡¯t see the inside until you opened the door and looked inside. You know this, Mr. Kaisen.¡± She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she said this.


    I just leaned forward in my seat and looked down, Ronnie tried to stay quiet as possible as if he didn¡¯t want to be noticed. The assistant chief sighed, ¡°You¡¯re lucky this was reported to me and not the chief. You know how much trust and faith he puts into you¡­too much trust and faith in fact.¡±


    She glanced at Ronnie, which Ronnie caught and stiffened. ¡°And you, Mr. Neel, you already know what happens.¡± Ronnie nodded and looked down, rubbing his face. I looked at Ronne then the assistant chief, ¡°


    W-wait happens? it was my fault, not Ronnie¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°It is his fault. He¡¯s been working longer than you-"


    "But, he trusted-¡± I said, cutting off the assistant chief, only to be cut off by her again. ¡°No, he¡¯s supposed to be a leader, not a follower. Yet, he trusted you, followed you, and looked at where that got him.¡±


    I just looked down and clenched my fists.


    ¡°So, Mr. Kaisen, you are now dismissed. I need a word with detective Neel.¡±


    I looked at her, then Ronnie. ¡°It¡¯s okay, just go.¡± He said to me quietly as his hand gestured towards the door. I looked at him before sighing and getting up to leave.


    I sat down at my office desk, waiting. I was scared. Soon enough, Ronnie walked out of the Assistant chief¡¯s office.Ronnie closed the door behind himself, I couldn¡¯t see his facial expression yet. He began walking towards me, I got up and met him halfway. ¡°Ronnie, what happened? Did you get in trouble? What did she-¡±


    Ronnie put his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break. I know this bar I¡¯ve been going to ever since I became a detective.¡± He said as the corner of his mouth tugged. Ronnie began to walk, and I walked beside him.


    ¡°How are you so calm about this? What happened to the family incident could have cost us our jobs!¡± Ronnie kept walking, then said, ¡°It was a mistake, was it not?¡± I kept walking, my hands now in my dress pant¡¯s pockets, and nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, it was. But you''re still so calm about this. Why?¡± Ronnie chuckled and kept walking, ¡°Because, what happened made me realize something.¡± I raised one eyebrow to that. ¡°And what is that one thing you realized?¡± Ronnie just kept walking, the corner of his mouth tugging before he said these three words, ¡°I work too much. I need to take a break. I need to enjoy life¡­¡±


    ***


    As we pulled up to the bar, me and Ronnie got out. We walked in as three guys that were already seated, glanced at us and smiled, the middle one spoke up, ¡°Ronnie! Glad to see you again! And I see you brought a drug, who is he?¡±


    ¡°Glad to see you too, Dzhoshua. Him? He¡¯s-¡± I chimed in when Ronnie pointed his thumb at me.


    ¡°Zad. Hey.¡± Kaisen said, as lifted his hand up slightly as a wave.


    Dzhoshua smiled widely as he said, ¡°Ah, Zad! Come, come sit with us!¡± I just looked over to the bar counter, walked over, and sat down as I said, ¡°Ronnie can sit with you guys, I¡¯ll sit here and think.¡±


    Ronnie sat down with the guys as Dzhoshua said, ¡°Then why don¡¯t you sit with us and think, eh?¡± Dzhoshua said, still smiling like everyday is a good day.


    ¡°I think better when I''m alone.¡±


    Dzhoshua chuckled at my words, ¡°lone thinker boy, got it!¡± He sipped beer and continued saying, ¡°Just remember, two heads are better than one. Find someone that relates to you, maybe you two can share your ideas.¡± Dzhoshua said, smiling.


    I nodded without looking at him, ¡°I¡¯ll keep that somewhere in my mind, thanks.¡± Dzhoshua smirked and said, ¡°Happy to help. A friend of Ronnie, is a friend of mine.¡± Before looking at Ronnie.


    ¡°Now, you.¡± Dzhoshua leaned in and said quietly, ¡°So, what happened?¡±


    Ronnie raised an eyebrow as he took a free heineken and drank it. ¡°Huh? Nothing happened. I just came here to relax and talk to my Russian buddies.¡± Ronnie said.


    ¡°I call bullshit! We all know you only come here after shit goes bad! And plus, look at him, whatever shit happened, it was the hardest.¡±


    Dzhoshua said as he too drank his heineken, glancing at Kaisen. Ronnie take¡¯s the heineken from his mouth and lowers it, too looking at Kaisen, who is sitting on the bar stool looking down.


    ¡°Yeah¡­it did.¡± Ronnie said, looking at Kaisen longer than anticipated, like he¡¯s seeing a past.


    Dzhoshua stopped glancing at Kaisen and looked at Ronnie, before looking at his beer. ¡°Y¡¯know, he looks alot like someone I know.¡± Dzhoshua said, keeping his eyes on his beer.


    Ronnie turned to Dzhoshua, raising an eyebrow. ¡°And who could he possibly look like-¡± Ronnie stopped himself and closed his eyes, slowly while chuckling. ¡°He does not.¡± Ronnie said, shaking his head, trying not to believe it as he took quick glances at Kaisen.


    Dzhoshua catches this, then continues saying, ¡°Look at him, he looks alot like someone I first saw two years ago, someone just as hurt as your guy, Zad.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Dzhoshua, look at the man over there, he looks mad.¡± The man on the right of Dzhoshua said. Dzhoshua glanced at the person, his face looks sad and sympathetic as his eyebrows furrowed and his face frowned, ¡°Your right, drug.¡±


    Dzhoshua then stood up, leaving his beer on the table. Both men that were on the right and left of him, looked at him, ¡°Dzhoshua, what are you doing?¡± Dzhoshua kept his gaze at the man sitting on the bar stool at the bar counter, ¡°§Á §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ø§å §Ö§Þ§å, §é§ä§à §à§ß §Ø§Ú§Ó§Ö§ä §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §à§Õ§Ú§ß §â§Ñ§Ù.¡± He said as he walked over to the man.


    ¡°Good luck, drug.¡± The man on the left said as he watched Dzhoshua walk off to the man.


    Dzhoshua tapped on the counter in front of the man, the man looked over at Dzhoshua, ¡°Yes, may I help you?¡± He said as he turned back to face the display of alcohol over at the bartender''s side.


    Dzhoshua, ¡°I just wanted to know if someone pissed in your cereal lately.¡±


    the man drank his glass bottle of Heineken then said, ¡°No, no one did. I''m very good, Thanks for asking.¡± the man said in a quick tone like he was trying to get Dzhoshua to leave so he can drink alone.


    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t look very good, and sound like it either.¡± Dzhoshua said. staring intently at the man.


    ¡°Maybe I just have that thing where my face is¡­resting.¡± the man said. Trying to keep a frown from appearing on his face.


    ¡°RBF? Yeah, I doubt it, look at you. I can tell you¡¯re about to cry.¡± the man clenched his free hand into a fist and snapped,


    ¡°Can you just go?!¡±


    Everybody in the bar looks at where the loud voice came from. The man turned his gaze from Dzhoshua to the people in the bar, then faced forward while everybody went back to their business, to think.


    ¡°C-can you just go. I¡¯m trying to think.¡±


    Dzhoshua raises an eyebrow, ¡°What are you thinking about? Maybe you can come sit with us and tell us.¡±


    ¡°I think better when I''m alone.¡± Dzhoshua just smiled at the man, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The man sighed in annoyance,


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s Ronnie.¡±


    Dzhoshua kept smiling and then said, ¡°Well, Ronnie, I hope you know that two heads are better than one¡­well four.¡±


    Dzhoshua said as he gestured his head towards his buddies over at the table.


    Ronnie looked over to Dzhoshua buddies, then faced the glass display of alcohol, staying silent before sighing, then saying, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I¡¯m thinking right now, it already happened. There¡¯s nothing I can do to change it.¡±


    Ronnie kept his eyes on the Heineken bottle that¡¯s near empty. ¡°So, you''re reminiscing about the past? Ha! So that¡¯s what got you down? You need to enjoy the present, friend.¡±


    Ronnie kept looking at the half empty bottle, trying to hold back a frown. Dzhoshua continued, ¡°C¡¯mon, sit with us. Tell us, we¡¯re listening.¡± He said as he gestured his head towards his buddies. Ronnie looks at Dzhoshua¡¯s buddies, then him, then back to the heineken.


    ¡°I might¡­I might cry.¡±


    Dzhoshua smiles at Ronnie¡¯s acceptance of joining him and his buddies for a drink, even though Ronnie didn¡¯t directly say it, he knows. ¡°When have we never, friend?¡±


    Ronnie slightly smiled, but the frown that he¡¯s trying to hide shows up slightly before disappearing. Dzhoshua stood up, then Ronnie stood up. They walked over to where Dzhoshua and his buddies were sitting. Ronnie sat across from them. Dzhoshua sat in the middle of his buddies. ¡°Go ahead, friend. Tell us. Our ears is deaf to others, but you.¡±


    Dzhoshua said as he gave Ronnie a reassuring smile, in which Ronnie smiled back, a genuine smile, but not a smile without tears. Ronnie had tears rolling down his eyes, thinking about his past, thinking about the words he would use to explain it. Or he¡¯s thinking about his new friends that¡¯ll listen to his story.


    ***


    Ya know, Detroit isn¡¯t the best city. Being ranked third highest in homicide rates definitely does not make you the best city. But it doesn¡¯t stop you from having the safest home. When I was little I thought I had the safest home, but something stopped me from believing that. The same van that kept circling around my neighborhood, and the ¡®monster¡¯ in my closet. The van circling my neighbor didn¡¯t bother me, they¡¯re not in my house, but the monster was. Every night after school I would put my school clothes in the closet, and only shut it half way. The hinges on the closet door were loose, so if I didn¡¯t close it fully it would slowly open. The sound and the darkness is what got me. ¡®Creeeeaaakkk.¡¯ I used to get scared because I thought I always closed my closet door fully. Everytime my eyes laid upon the closet, there would only be darkness, the fear of what most people feared was there, the fear of darkness. The fear of not knowing what¡¯s there because you''re engulfed in darkness. Well, there was a lamp in my room, but it could reach so far. And it didn¡¯t reach my closet. When staring at a dark place, a place completely engulfed with darkness, you tend to wonder what¡¯s there. You squint your eyes to see if you can catch a glimpse at anything, that¡¯s when your eyes start playing tricks on you.You start to imagine what could be lurking in the darkness, and boy let me tell you when I squinted my eyes, I thought I saw a hand. No time to think, no time to wait, I dashed out of there, not without grabbing my tiny flashlight. The only safe room; my parents room. I ran out of my room. The house was too, engulfed in darkness. The only thing to illuminate it was the cars passing by, and the street lamps. But their lights didn¡¯t reach certain places, leaving it in darkness. Just how my lamp¡¯s glow couldn¡¯t reach the closet¡¯s darkness. Luckily I had my flashlight. So I turned on my flashlight and I saw my parent¡¯s door. I could see what was in front of me, because I had the flashlight pointed ahead. I was scared of what could have been to my left, right, and behind, but I did look behind once. I looked back upstairs to my wide open door, scared of what might pop out, I ran to my parent¡¯s door. I busted through the door like a brute, and fell. My mom and dad woke up instantly and looked at me, rushing to my aid.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Sweetie!¡± My mom said, getting off the bed and running to my aid like she didn¡¯t just wake up from a possibly a good nap, Probably motherly instincts. My dad followed behind.


    ¡°Sweetie! What¡¯s wrong, what happened?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, man! You came through the door like a brute!¡±


    I just pant, trying to get a word out. ¡°...monst¡­er¡­clos¡­et.¡± T


    Those words released all the tension my parents had before I said anything. I looked at them, while also panting. My parents just look at each other and sigh, like they knew something like this was gonna happen. My parent¡¯s looked at each other.


    My dad mouthed something to my mother, the words I could barely hear was ¡°I got this.¡±


    Whatever he said, my mom nodded to it and looked at me, my father looked at me too and said, ¡°C¡¯mon, kiddo. We¡¯re gonna teach this monster not to mess with my son.¡±


    My father¡¯s words bring relief to me, it¡¯s like his sense of protectiveness and reassurement just makes me hopeful, he just brings hope to me. But I looked at my mom, she was just looking at me with a comfortable smile. My dad brought me hope, but my mom brought me comfort, and I want- no I need that. I tugged on my father¡¯s shirt. ¡°


    What about mommy? We need her help too if we¡¯re gonna take down the monster!¡±


    My father looked at my mother, my mother giggled, shoo-ing us on. ¡°C¡¯mon, kiddo! Your mom is tired from comforting you all the time.¡±


    I knew he was joking, I know my mom will never get tired of taking care of me, never ever.


    ¡°And plus, it¡¯s our job to protect the damsel in distress.¡± My mom rolled her eyes, smirking. I chuckled and so did my dad.


    ***


    After my dad checked the closet, I was still weary as I was snuggled up in my bed, in case the worst happened. My dad came to the left side of my bed because that¡¯s where I always sleep.


    ¡°Alright, buddy. I think the monster heard my heavy footsteps and got scared.¡± My dad said, chuckling, trying to cheer me up. He didn¡¯t want me to fear this ¡®monster¡¯, but I was scared that it might come back when my dad left.


    My dad saw it on my face, I had the sheets up to my nose, my eyes dead on the closet, the grip on my sheets turned my knuckles white. He sighed then took off his necklace, a gold necklace with a cross on it with Jesus''s crucifixion on it too. He never took that necklace off, I looked surprised.


    ¡°Daddy, what are you doing?¡± He holds out the necklace to me and says,¡°Here, take it.¡± My face, my face was stunned, my eyebrows rose, my eyes dilated.


    I know that might sound weird because I¡¯m stunned that someone that allegedly never took off their necklace, decided to give me their necklace. But trust me, he never took it off, not until the day he handed it to me.


    ¡°Daddy¡­what are you doing?¡± I said again.


    I was confused, why was he giving me this? Why was he giving me his necklace?


    ¡°What does it look like, kiddo?¡± He said to me as he stuck out his palm with the necklace in it.


    My eyebrows rose. I waved my hands dismissively, ¡°No, daddy, I can¡¯t! It¡¯s your favorite necklace!¡±


    He just placed it around my neck, buckling it as he said, ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m giving it to you.¡± He said. He had this big smile on his face,


    I felt it again, the same thing. Something like hope, like I have people that truly care for me, which I obviously did. This feeling, tugging on my heart, throwing a punch in my stomach then twisting it. I started to tear up.


    ¡°Why, daddy? Why?¡± My father sighed as he looked at the necklace, and up at me,


    ¡°That necklace was¡­my father¡¯s'' '' I looked surprised, I looked down at the necklace that I was now wearing, then at my fathers face.


    ¡°T-This was grandpa¡¯s?¡± My father held the cross necklace in his hand, his face frowning, which looked like a slight smile, like he was experiencing sadness and happiness as he stared at the necklace.


    I knew that if he¡¯d cry, I¡¯d definitely cry too. He continued his gaze on the necklace as he said, ¡°Yeah. Before he uh¡­passed away. He said, ¡®Give this to anybody who needs protecting.¡¯ ¡±


    He looked up at me and continued, ¡°And I think I found who needs it the most.¡±


    After that, I just hugged tightly, my small arms trying my best to just squeeze him. Tears fell from my tear duct, then more and more until I sobbed. I said to him, ¡°I don¡¯t ever want to lose you, daddy. You or mommy.¡±


    My dad hugged me back, his long arms wrapped around my body. ¡°You won¡¯t ever lose us, we¡¯ll always be with you.¡± That¡­that was when he sinned. That was when he told a lie¡­


    ***


    As Ronnie opened his eyes, thinking about what his dad said to him last night until he came and found both of his parent¡¯s dead, laying in their bed. Ronnie looks down, finding himself fiddling with the cross that¡¯s hanging from the necklace. A detective from afar spots Ronnie sitting on the couch alone while the crime scene was being searched, cops standing about, caution tape rolled across the front of the house.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± The detective said as he walked away from his partner, who was talking to him at first.


    ¡°Uh- okay. You can definitely walk away while I am talking.¡±


    The detective just waved his partner off. As the detective sat down on the couch, facing forward, he said to Ronnie ¡°So, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    The detective said as he held out his hand for Ronnie to shake. Ronnie just looked at the Detective¡¯s hand then into his eyes, Ronnie looked at the detective, his 11 year old eyes piercing through the detective''s. ¡°R-Ronald, but my parents call me¡­Ronnie.¡±


    Ronnie looked down at the ground as he mentioned his parents. The detective put his hand down since Ronnie didn¡¯t want to shake it. He fiddles with the cross more, feeling Jesus¡¯s crucifixion plastered on the cross. The detective lays his eyes on the boy¡¯s necklace, it looks pretty nice, so why not ask about it?


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice necklace, where¡¯d ya get it from?¡± The detective said with a smile that says, ¡®it¡¯s okay, you can talk to me.¡¯


    Ronnie just kept looking down whilst fiddling with the cross. The detective just nods and then says,


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your loss.¡± The detective as he got up and went to walk past the boy.


    But before he could, Ronnie grabbed the detective¡¯s hand. The detective turned his head to the boy, wondering why he grabbed him all of sudden.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me, please. All of the officers that questioned me never said sorry for my parents death. All of them came to ask questions, then left. But you didn¡¯t ask questions about my mommy and daddy, other than where I got this necklace from. A-And you said you were sorry for my parent¡¯s death.¡±


    The detective looked at the boy with a wide-eyed expression, not letting his eyes close until he processed what the boy said, allowing him to blink. ¡°You won¡¯t ask about my mommy and daddy¡¯s death, right?¡±


    The detective snapped back to reality and looked at the boy, ¡°No, I won¡¯t ask about your mother and father¡¯s death, if you don¡¯t want me to.¡± The detective said as he looked at the boy¡¯s face.


    Ronnie¡¯s face looked¡­pleading. Like he was desperate for someone to stay with him, his eyes dead on mine. It¡¯s like he wouldn¡¯t know what to do with himself if I left, I could tell he wanted someone that cared for his well-being to be with him.


    ¡°T-Thank you, mister. Thank you so much!¡±


    The detective smiled at Ronnie¡¯s sudden happiness as he sat down and faced the boy.


    ¡°You''re welcome, but you don¡¯t have to call me ¡®mister.¡¯ It¡¯s Richard.¡± The detective said as he chuckled, holding out his hand again for him to shake.


    Ronnie faced him and shocked his hand with his tiny hand. After they


    shook hands, Ronnie fiddled with his cross again, not knowing what to say. He looked down on his cross, and his memory came to him. Remembering that the detective asked him where he got the necklace from.


    ¡°Oh, and about the necklace¡­¡±


    The detective lifted his head up, shifting his gaze on the necklace then to him. Ronnie looked up at the detective, then continued, ¡°My dad¡­gave it to me, before he¡­¡±


    The detective nodded, then looked at the necklace, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a pretty cool necklace.¡± The detective looked at Ronnie with a smile. Ronnie smiled back,


    ¡°I-It was originally my grandpa¡¯s. He gave it to my dad, and told him to give it to someone who needs protecting.¡± The detective¡¯s eyebrows rose, ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the one that needs protecting?¡±


    Ronnie just simply nodded.


    ***


    ¡°Detective Neel, do you love your job?¡± Ronnie kept fiddling with his necklace, not hearing a single thing the assistant chief was saying. ¡°Detective Neel!¡± The assistant chief says, after signing at Ronnie¡¯s lack of acknowledgement of the words she¡¯s trying to say to him.


    Ronnie looked up with a wide-eyed expression as he said, ¡°Huh?¡±


    The assistant sighed again and repeated, ¡°I said, do you love your job, Detective Neel.¡± Ronnie¡¯s eyes widened, like he thought he was gonna get fired in a few minutes or something.


    ¡°Yes, Ms. Kep. I don¡¯t know where I¡¯d be without it.¡±


    Ms. Kep looked down at her desk. Her hands folded together. She looks up at Ronnie and says, ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t look like it, Mr. Neel.¡±


    Ronnie sighed, knowing what she meant. He hasn¡¯t been doing things ¡®nicely¡¯ when it comes to getting info from suspected people of a crime.


    ¡°You''re a great detective, Ronald. You¡¯ve solved many cases that other detectives couldn¡¯t have. But this is the second time you¡¯ve done something out of your jurisdiction.¡±


    Ronnie sighed, the realization of what he did was wrong, even if it was a means to get info. With the look of his face, he¡¯s contemplating the idea of him possibly losing his job.


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Ms.Kep looked at Ronnie, her eyes stern as always, but empathetic as she looked down, then back at Ronnie ¡°This is your last warning. Don¡¯t mess it up, detective Neel.¡±


    Ronnie nodded then stood up as Ms. Kep dismissed him. Ronnie walked out her office. When Ronnine turned around after closing the office door, he was greeted with his partner, Richard. Richard gave him a sympathetic smile which looked like a slight frown. Ronnie walked up to Richard.


    ¡°How did it go, huh?¡±


    Ronnie scoffed a laugher, a smirk evident on his face, hiding a pang of nervousness.¡°Like shit. This is my last warning from her.¡±


    Richard raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in what''ll happen to his partner if he keeps up his act of ¡®doing my own thing.¡¯


    ¡°And after that?¡±


    Ronnie scoffed and raised both of his eyebrows, ¡°Then you''re probably gonna need a partner, Richie.¡±


    Richard raised both of his eyebrows, ¡°Well, you better get your shit together, partner. I can¡¯t lose you now, you¡¯re the best partner an old shit like me could ever have.¡±


    He said as he placed a hand on Ronnie¡¯s shoulder. Ronnie chuckled, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t lose you either.¡±


    Ronnie smiled at Richard¡¯s care for him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re gonna lose me. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s head to that bar I¡¯ve been telling you about. I could really go for some Hennessy.¡±


    Ronnie¡¯s smile faltered when Richard said that Ronnie¡¯s not gonna lose him. Those words brought him back to the night before his parents died. The night Ronnie¡¯s father told Ronnie that he was never gonna lose him or his mother, then the night after¡­ After that Ronnie was scared of the words ¡®you won¡¯t lose.¡¯


    ***


    Ronnie parked his car in front of the cemetery gate, wiping his tears like had been to a different cemetery, mourning for some other person or people. He looked behind his seat to see a chair and a bottle of hennessy. Ronnie sighed when he starred as the hennessy, he looked at the bottle as if it brought back memories, good memories that could make someone cry. He got out of his car and went to the left side of the passenger seat, and looked out the chair and bottle of hennessy. The cemetery worker saw him coming and opened the gate for him. Ronnie nodded at the cemetery worker, the worker nodded back and looked at the bottle of hennessy Ronnie was holding.


    ¡°Are you drinking with someone?¡±


    The cemetery worker asked. The corner of Ronnie¡¯s mouth tugged, ¡°Yeah, an old friend.¡± Ronnie said.


    The worker made a joke about getting too drunk in a cemetery. Ronnie chuckled and continued to walk into the cemetery until he found the gravestone he was looking for. Richard Wallace, 1942-2009. Ronnie sighed as he looked at Richard¡¯s grave. He opened his folded chair and placed it down. He searched his trench coat for a pack of cigarettes. He took them out and looked at them.


    ¡°Your favorites.¡± Ronnie said to himself as if he was talking to Richard if he was still alive.


    He kneeled before the grave and made a little hole in the dirt where Richard¡¯s body was below, with his pinky finger. He then placed the cigar in the hole he made, making the hole a little bigger for the cigar to perfectly fit in. He took out a lighter and lit the cigar. Ronnie then picked up the bottle of hennessy and poured a good portion of it on the dirt he was buried under. He pulled the drink, looking at what¡¯s left of it. Ronnie sat down on the chair, Right across Richard¡¯s grave. He took a swig of the drink before pouring the rest on Richard¡¯s grave.


    Ronnie smokes his cigar, staring at Richard¡¯s grave. He scoffed with laughter before saying, ¡°You lied, you bastard.¡±


    A tear then fell from Ronnie¡¯s tear ducts before he said again, ¡°You lied.¡± as he sniffled, his voice shaky.


    I lost a lot. The home where me and my parent¡¯s used to live, my mom and dad, most of my childhood, and recently, my partner, the person that was there for me since my parents died. But out of all those losses, I only gained one thing from it, a new partner. And he brought me hope once more. I don¡¯t wanna lose him either, I don¡¯t¡­

 Chapter Five: Choices affect the future.

    Chapter Five: Choices affect the future.


    Ronnie keeps looking at Kaisen, as if he¡¯s seeing his past fold out on him, Kaisen sat exactly how Ronnie sat when he first came to this bar, giving Ronnie a glimpse of his past. Dzhoshua notices Ronnie¡¯s hardstuck gaze on Kaisen, and smirks, saying,


    ¡°You see it, don''t you?¡±


    Ronnie turns his head to Dzhoshua and nods. Dzhoshua chuckles, finding this situation ironically humorous. Ronnie raises an eyebrow at Dzhoshua chuckle.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±


    Dzhoshua looks at Ronnie with a smile, still seeing the humor in the situation.


    ¡°History repeats itself in so many different ways¡­¡± Dzhoshua then continued,


    ¡°Maybe I should go up there and give him some words of encouragement and advice.¡±


    Ronnie looked at Kaisen then chuckled, now realizing the irony, and what Dzhoshua meant by ¡®History repeats itself in different ways.¡¯ Dzhoshua turned his head to Kizen, who was sitting over at the bar counter, after. Dzhoshua had his legs set in a weird style. Dzhoshua¡¯s right leg was facing Kaisen, who was diagonal from him. Dzhoshua¡¯s left leg was facing Ronnie. He looked stuck, like he was trying to decide something.


    ¡°Should I do it?¡±


    Ronnie turned his head from Kaisen to Dzhoshua, raising an eyebrow, wondering what he meant.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Dzhoshua turns his eyes to Ronniem, staring at him. ¡°Should I repeat history?¡± Ronnie looked at Dzhoshua, then Kaisen before finally landing his eyes on Dzhoshua, realizing what he meant. Ronnie then shook his head,


    ¡°We don¡¯t need another repeat.¡±


    Dzhoshua then turned his legs and body fully towards Ronnie, and smiled. Ronnie then pulled out a pack of cigars, and gestured it towards Dzhoshua, Dzhoshua put his hand up, signifying a no. Ronnie then looked at Dzhoshua¡¯s buddy to the left, he shook his head. Ronnie looked at Dzhoshua¡¯s buddy to the right, he shook his head. Ronnie then nodded, lighting his cigar then smoking it. Ronnie¡¯s gaze shifted from the cigar that he lit, to the three Russians sitting across from him(Dzhoshua and his buddies). Ronnie raises an eyebrow, curious about something he happens to look over all the times he went to the bar, and meeting them there.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always noticed that your buddies always switch sides, but you always stay in the middle, Dzhoshua.¡±


    Dzhoshua smiles at Ronnie¡¯s keen observation.


    ¡°Yeah, we''re like Oreos.¡±


    Dzhoshua¡¯s friends nod. Ronnie raises an eyebrow, not understanding the analogy.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Dzhoshua just smiles at him, while his buddies smile too.


    ¡°Just know the frosting is what brings the cookies together.¡±


    Ronnie raises an eyebrow and scoffs because of how dumb it sounds.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you''re the frosting, right?¡±


    Ronnie says as puts the cigar in his mouth, taking a drag, then taking out his mouth looking at it, then Dzhoshua.


    Dzhoshua nods. ¡°Something like that.¡±


    Ronnie just gave him a small ¡°hmph¡± sound before smoking his cigar.


    ***


    Kaisen drinks his beer, massaging his temple. He looks back at Ronnie. He seems okay, but Kaisen doesn¡¯t. He keeps wondering what Ronnie said before at the station. Kaisen turns around and looks down, trying to calm down. He tunes out the surrounding sounds. The chatter, the barwoman washing cups, the jingle sound that is made when someone comes into the bar, and someone sitting beside him. The person that sat beside begins to talk, but Kaisen doesn¡¯t know if the person is talking to him, so he ignores it.


    The person leans in close to Kaisens ear, trying to get his attention,


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    Kaisen realizes the person is talking to him and looks to lift his head up to face him. The person puts on a smile, a forced one at that, and holds out his hand to Kaisen and says,


    ¡°H-hey, my name is¡­¡±


    ***


    I let out a sigh as I turned around to hide from the cold, that is of Detroit, by going back into my house with my revolver still in my hand. I closed the front door, and locked it. I turned my head to see the body of Kylie Michaels, and a sobbing Amare. I stared at Kylie¡¯s then looked at the tv, playing whatever song played next after the Platters song finished. Then I heard a slight wheeze, I turned my head to the sound of the wheeze to see Kylie slightly moving. My eyebrows rose as I saw this, I was surprised she was still alive after I smashed her head into the ground a few times, nonetheless. The TV was still playing loudly, drowning any other sounds that could be heard. I took this opportunity and pointed my revolver at Kylie''s head¡­and shot her. Her body stopped moving as her hands slowly unclenched. I sighed in relief then checked the moon clips.


    ¡®3 bullets left¡­¡¯ I said in my head as I put the moon clips back into the revolver.


    I didn¡¯t know where my mom bought this gun from, so I wouldn¡¯t know where to go. This meant I had to use my bullets wisely. I looked at Kylie''s body. I already know where I¡¯m gonna put the body, but I already have two bodies in the trash can, so I needed to know¡­can three bodies fit in a trash can? Well, I was gonna find out.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡®The garbage truck comes tomorrow.¡¯ I said in my head again.


    The garbage truck comes early, so I needed to make this quick and fast. I put down my Revolver on the floor, picked up Kylie¡¯s body, and carried her, bridal style, to the kitchen. I put her lying down on the kitchen floor. I knew trying to fit three bodies in a trash can was gonna be tough, considering I had no trash bags left. But I had to try. I went through the backdoor which was a few feet away from the fridge. I walked through a gap between my fence and my house, which led me to the front of my house. There, the trash can was. It was off the sidewalk. I went to it and grabbed it by the handle to pull it up on the sidewalk, but it wouldn''t budge. I tried again and again, but it wouldn''t work. This time, after breathing in and out, I gave it all my strength and pulled it up on the sidewalk. I got it, but not without falling first¡­and so did the trash can. As it did, the cover opened, revealing my mothers arm and head. I scrambled to my feet and closed the cover before anybody could see. But I had another problem, the trash can was lying down on the sidewalk. Now, here¡¯s the real question, can I lift a trash can that''s carrying two corpses in there? Well, I didn¡¯t give it much thought. All I thought I had to do was drag the handle, and try to lift it up on its roller as I dragged it on the rollers. But¡­it wouldn¡¯t budge, all it did was drag itself on the floor. The weight of the two corpses kept it down. But, I gave it one last pull, then fell on my ass again. I tried to lift it up, but I was too weak for that. So, I used my back strength, I turned my back to face the trash can, I put my hands on the handle, and tried to lift it up. It was working until my knees got weak, and I dropped it, along with myself. I got furious after that, and kicked the trash can. I decided to show even more of my hatred towards it, and jumped on it, which landed a number of three times that I¡¯ve fallen on my ass.


    A man from inside his house watches Michael fail, miserably. Trying to move a trash can.


    ¡°Poor guy. Can¡¯t move a trash can¡­¡± The man said, as he looked out the window of his room, watching from upstairs.


    ¡°Honey, can you help me with something on the shelf? The baby is not making it easy for my back, or my feet.¡± The man¡¯s wife says, chuckling, as she looks down and rubs her stomach. She then looks up to the man, wondering what he¡¯s looking at.


    ¡°Look at him, he can¡¯t move a single trash can.¡± The man says as he points out the window at Michael, who is still struggling with the trash can.The wife walks up to the window to see.


    ¡°Oh¡­well, he¡¯s fine. He can just leave it there. The trash men come tomorrow, they¡¯ll pick it up. Now, What¡¯s important is helping me get something off the shelf, right?¡± The woman says as she waves Michael off dismissively, then smirking at the man as she walks out the bedroom, then turning to him as she says her last sentence.


    ¡°But, honey, look at him-¡± The man says, probably contemplating to help Michael, and his problems with the trash can


    ¡°Which is more important, sweetie. That man over there, or the baby?¡± The woman says, cutting off the man, and leaning against the doorway of the bedroom.


    ¡°Yeah¡­alright.¡± The man says, not taking his gaze off of Michael, before he finishes his sentence to follow her wife.


    After a few falls, and a few fails. I finally got the trash can into the backyard. I finally got the trash can into the backyard. I kneeled down, panting, after getting the trash can in the backyard. I looked over at the high picket fences that¡¯s blocking any outsiders from seeing what I¡¯m doing. I stood up and went into my house, through the backdoor. Since the kitchen and the backdoor were right next to each other, all I had to do was turn my head, and there was Kylie¡¯s body¡­lying there. I picked up her body again, bridal style, and took her through the backdoor. You know, I never did like doing things one at a time, I always did things all at once. I carried Kylie to the trash can, I didn¡¯t feel like putting her down to open the trash, then picking her up again, so I tried to open the trash can with her still in my arms. That only resulted in me falling, Kylie falling with me, and the trash can falling too, revealing my mothers corpse again. I let out a loud groan, even though it was my fault for being lazy.


    ***


    After I got Kylie¡¯s body in the trash can, I took it back to the sidewalk. I walked back to the backdoor. I went inside my house and closed the door, sighing in relief as that whole shabang was done. I look over on the floor, where the living room is, to see a pool of blood, seemingly where Kylie¡¯s head laid. I sighed, knowing I was gonna have to clean that up.


    ***


    I dumped out the bucket of water that was now filled with a mixture of blood after cleaning up the pool of blood, out the backyard. Letting the grass-filled backyard take up the blood-water. I then tossed the bucket out, with the rag in it. I then closed the back door, locking it. I walked over to Amaer, who was in the living room, still tied up, on the floor. Probably sobbing. Amaere¡¯s mouth was still taped, her body on its side. I looked at Amare as she looked at me. Our facial expressions are polar opposites. I just have a deadpan expression, emotionless. Like I don¡¯t care about what¡¯s happening. Her face, scared as shit, like she¡¯s gonna piss herself if something little happens that scares her. If I could define her facial expression, it would be fear. But her facial expression gave me a smirk. Seeing her helpless, seeing her hurt as she hurted me was too good. I stepped in front of Amare vagina to pick her up until I felt something wet beneath my socks. I curled my toes inside my socks, which curled my socks to get a good feel of what I was feeling. When I felt some soakness on the carpet, and my socks, I looked down to see the carpet soaked in liquid. Amare swallowed a lump as she looked at me, then away. My eyes widen as I realize what I stepped in. I grabbed Amare by the hair, and looked her in the eyes.


    ¡°You bitch! You pissed on the carpet?¡± I said as he yanked Amare¡¯s hair, causing her to wince in pain.


    I then stuffed her face in her own piss, smashing her head into the part of the carpet she pissed on. I hit her head against it once, I didn¡¯t want to kill her. I then left her head in the piss, then kicked her head, causing a muffled moan of pain from her. I then dragged her to the crate, and put her in there, shutting it. I sighed, knowing I¡¯m gonna have to clean up the carpet now. I kick the crate in frustration.


    After I cleaned the carpet, changed his socks, I decided I too needed to pee. After peeing, I headed over to the bathroom sink, as I did so, I looked into the bathroom mirror. I couldn¡¯t shake the undeniable feeling of seeing my father when I looked into the mirror.


    Me and my father undeniably look the same, it¡¯s something I can¡¯t change. But with that feeling, comes a voice. I can hear it, my mother scolding me because I don¡¯t walk in my father¡¯s footsteps, I don¡¯t live how he lives. She never cared about me, she only cared when I did something she likes. But, then again I did always want to be like my dad, but I could never catch up to him to be like him. It was like a dog and car thing, I¡¯m the dog, always trying to catch the car, the car, being my dad, always outspeeding me. But if I were to ever catch up to it, I¡¯d be like the car, because I¡¯m as fast as it. But me and him are polar opposites, we¡¯re on two different sides.


    I chuckle as I remember a joke my dad told me before he died.


    ''`We''re so alike that I could just give you my drivers license so you could go to a bar, and they¡¯d let you in!¡¯


    I guess he was somewhat right. I also remember he gave me his drivers licenses before he died, Jesus, I think I still have it. I finish washing my hands, and go into what used to be me and my brother''s room. I went to the bunk bed, went under the bottom, and looked for the drivers licenses. I saw it, it was wedged between planks that held the mattress up. I laid my eyes on the drivers licenses, that was my dads, and slipped it through the planks that kept it stuck to the mattress. I slid out from under the bed and held the driver licenses in my hands, standing up. I smiled as I looked at the picture of my dad. A tear fell from my tear duct as I quickly wiped them away and stuffed his driver''s licenses in my pocket. Then, I walked over to my drawer, and opened it, searching through it like I was on a time limit until I found what I was looking for, my own drivers licenses. He looked at the drivers licenses with a scowl.


    ¡®I love you, sweetie!¡¯


    his mom said in his head, as he reminisced about the past where he came home and showed his mom he passed his drivers test. I knew she was being sincere. She said that because it was what she wanted to see. It was like she can love me if I do something that pleases her. I wasn¡¯t gonna think about it anymore. I went out of the bedroom and sat down on the couch, took out my father¡¯s drivers licenses, and mine. I put them side by side to see the comparison. I saw some things; same black hair, same skin tone(obviously), and same suit. It¡¯s just that my father had a big genuine smile on his face, and had the suit jacket on while my smile looked forced, and I didn¡¯t have a suit jacket on, just a dress shirt and tie. My father looked like knew how to take care of himself, he had his nice slick-back hair to prove it. While me on the other hand, I looked¡­the opposite. There was a clear difference with the attire, and the facial expressions, and the whole thing. I decided to put the two licenses in my pocket, and sink in the fact that I¡¯ll only look like my father if I look, and acted like him. After all, we are two different people, even though I came from his seed.

 Chapter Six: The Cowboy and The Outlaw.

    Chapter Six: The Cowboy and The Outlaw


    I sat down, watching a random movie about a cowboy. As the movie continues, there is one scene that happens. There is a cowboy, a bounty hunter; he works for the law. He has nobody in his life anymore, his wife left him, and his family was taken by typhoid fever. He had nothing left. But what¡¯s stopping him from taking his own life, is his job, bounty hunting. It¡¯s the only thing that makes him feel¡­not empty. He¡¯s made a lot of enemies throughout his career of bounty hunting, so because of that he wears a white bandana, and when he''s on break, he hides it so no one will know who he is. But he¡¯s received a job, a job to catch an outlaw. The only known thing about him is that he wears a black bandana.


    This is where the scene happens; The cowboy is sitting in a bar, drinking his Jack Daniels, sulking over his and his wife¡¯s separation. Then the outlaw walked, had his bandana tucked away just like the cowboy so nobody would know their identity, just how the cowboy and the outlaw don¡¯t know each other¡¯s identity. The outlaw sees the sulking cowboy and walks up to him. The outlaw sits to the left of the cowboy, the cowboy is seated on the right side. The cowboy doesn¡¯t face the outlaw, instead just stares at the ground, potentially spaced out.


    ¡°Hey.¡± The outlaw says, calling out to the cowboy.


    The cowboy doesn¡¯t respond. The outlaw then nudged the cowboy¡¯s arm, which laid on top of the bar counter.


    ¡°Hey, partner.¡± The cowboy said.


    This breaks the cowboy out of his spaced-out trance, and snaps his head towards the outlaw. The outlaw recoils a bit, and raises his hand to his chest slightly as a mock surrender.


    ¡°Hey, hey! Calm down, friend. I just wanna ask ya a question.¡± The outlaw said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your friend, nor do I feel like answering your question.¡± The cowboy said, not wanting to talk to the outlaw, or anybody. Still sulking after the separation.


    ¡°Well, I just saw you were sitting here all by yourself. I just wanted you to know if you''re lonely, because¡­ you look lonely.¡± The outlaw said, looking at the cowboy.


    ¡°Tch. Are you lonely?! And what does it matter to you if I¡¯m alone or not?¡± The cowboy said to the outlaw with a slight scowl on face, with his eyebrows furrowed.


    The outlaw sighs, ¡°Because, I¡¯m alone too, I ain¡¯t got nobody, well nobody anymore. The only thing I got, is the thing that gives¡­joy, y¡¯know?¡± The outlaw said as he clenched his fist, not out of anger, probably to grasp what he¡¯s trying to say, or something.


    ¡°Yeah¡­I know.¡± The cowboy looks away, then down, and sighs. He continues, ¡°I¡¯m lonely.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I figured.¡± The outlaw then says as he lets a slight chuckle and smirk. The cowboy just looks at him and scoffs at laughter. The outlaw chuckled again.


    ¡°I guess destiny brought us together, then? For a reason, y¡¯know?¡± The outlaw says as he puts his hand on the cowboys shoulder.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess it did.¡± The cowboy says as he looks at the outlaw again, with a slight smile. The outlaw smiled back.


    After I finished watching the movie. I didn¡¯t know if it was cheesy, cliche, or whatever. I knew it sparked hope in me that I could find someone to relate to, and enjoy life with. But, I know I can¡¯t just sit around in my house, expecting someone to come to my door, no, It can¡¯t work like that. I remember there being a bar not too far from my house. My dad used to drive past there when he used to drop me off from school. But I¡¯m only 18, I can¡¯t drink, much less go into a bar. Well, what came to mind was my dad¡¯s drivers licenses. I could use that. But it¡¯s like I said before, me and my dad are opposite people, even though we look the same- wait, I got an idea.


    I took out my dad¡¯s drivers licenses, and looked at it. Black suit, black tie. I already knew I had a black suit because of my Dad¡¯s funeral. I got up from the couch and walked into my room and went into the closet to take out my suit.


    I held my suit by the rack hanger with one hand, and with the other my father¡¯s licenses. I laid the suit at the edge of the top bunk of the bunk bed, then I put down my fathers licenses on the dresser. I began to strip until I was in my underwear. I then took the suit off the rack, then the dress shirt. I slipped the white dress shirt on, and buttoned it up, put on the black tie, and the dress pants. I went into the closet, and took out the black dress shoes, then slipped them on. I contemplated putting on the suit jacket. It is cold outside, and to maximize the similarity of my father, I have to wear the suit- well, maybe not have to- wait, the bouncers will probably be suspicious of me if I look exactly how my dad looks in his picture, because why would someone come in a suit, not to mention you looking like you own a company, to a bar dressed exactly how they look in their driver¡¯s licenses? Just doesn¡¯t make sense. I gotta look like I had a long day of work. I loosened the tie, and kind of crumpled my dress shirt, and slinged the suit jacket over my shoulder- I almost forgot to roll up my sleeves. I went over to the dresser and picked up the driver¡¯s licenses. I looked at a deodorant spray, and left my room. Before I left, I went into my mother¡¯s room, and grabbed her keys since we won¡¯t be needing them in hell.


    I looked in the mirror and put the keys in my pocket, and took out the driver¡¯s license and put it side by side with my head. I¡¯m trying to look like my father, if he had a long day at work. I looked at the driver''s license then back at the mirror, with the driver license next to my head, pointed at the mirror. I mean, I do look like him, but that¡¯s me. I need outside confirmation¡­but who will I ask?


    ***


    Amare breaths started coming in fast, the liminal space met with liminal breathing, started getting to her. Since her mouth was taped, she breathed through her nose, the nose breaths came in quick and fast. She felt like she was gonna die in this crate until someone opened it, Michael opened it.


    He looked down at Amare, who was in the crate. He had a different attire on. Before, when she saw him, he had a sleeve button-up jacket and sweatpants. Now he has on a dress shirt, with a black tie, and dress pants.


    Do I look like this man? You can be honest, I won¡¯t kill you.¡± He said as he held a driver¡¯s license right next to his head, and got a little closer for Amare.


    Amare was too shocked to understand what was going on. She panted and looked at Michael and the license. Michael sighed and put the driver¡¯s license in his right hand, and punched her in the face with his left. She let out a muffled moan of pain, and turned kept her head and eyes away from his gaze. He switched back the driver¡¯s license, then grabbed her chin with his right hand with the driver¡¯s license in his left hand, holding up right next to his face.


    ¡°I said, do I look like this man, or do I and this man look similar?¡± He said as he gripped her chin tightly, making her face meet his eyes, staring into her eyes, waiting for an answer.


    Amare looked at the driver¡¯s license. The man had on a suit, Michael had on a suit, just without the suit jacket. The man on the driver license had a smile on his face, Michael¡¯s face was straight, no emotion to it. The man had nice,combed hair, Michael¡¯s hair was the opposite. After Amare looked at Michael, and his dad¡¯s license, she nodded. Michael then gripped her jaw.


    ¡°Are you being honest? Don¡¯t lie to me.¡± Michael said as Amare nodded her between Michael¡¯s sentences.


    ¡°Is it the face?¡± Michael said.


    Amare nodded desperately, being as honest as she could.


    ¡°Is that the only part? Be honest.¡± Michael said, still staring into Amare¡¯s eyes


    Amare nodded again, vigorously with her limited head movements because of the grip Michael has on her jaw.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Michael said in a quiet voice as he nodded back.


    He then closed back the crate, and put the license in his pocket. He then stood up, and walked to a door that led to the garage. He opened the garage door, and looked over at the shelf. His eyes landed on the drill. He walked over to the shelf, which was right behind his mother¡¯s car, well used to be mother¡¯s car. He grabbed the drill then put the drill bit on the chunk of the drill. He walked back out the garage door, to the crate. He kneeled before the crate Amare was in, and drilled holes. Amare was startled, and started moving a bit while looking at the holes being made. Michael had made 10 holes, then went back into the garage, putting the drill back on the shelf. Michael then looked over to the garage control and grabbed it, pressing it to open the garage. He walked up to the driver seat of his used-to-be mother¡¯s car, and pressed the electric unlock button on the control unit that controls the car. He then opened the car, and went inside, throwing his suit jacket in the passenger seat next to the driver¡¯s. He put the transponder key into the ignition lock cylinder, then pushed, then turned the transponder key, starting up the car. Michael then breathed in and out. It¡¯s been a while since he has driven a car, well since the driver¡¯s test he hasn¡¯t driven a car. So, the only thing is to fall back on the driver¡¯s test he had. Michael put the car in drive, then slowly pressed on the gas pedal. He drove the car out of the garage, and stopped it. He took the garage control, and pressed the bottom button to close the garage. As he did so, he threw the control into the passenger seat next to him,on top of the suit jacket and drove out the lot. He began driving down the street, calm and collected. Red light, stop. There¡¯s a lot of cars nearby, which throws him off because what if he does the wrong thing? People are gonna yell at him, honk at him. Michael looked at the traffic lights as it stayed on red, then turned his left to see a couple, a couple that looked all too familiar. Brad and Amare¡­they¡­were walking? Michael squinted his eyes to get a good look, but he could only see their side profiles.


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    HONK


    Michael turned his head to the traffic light, looking out the windshield, realizing it was green. but he had to look. He moved his car slowly to look through his side rear view mirror to get a good look at their faces, but he couldn¡¯t see them well.


    HONK


    ¡°Drive up! What are you doing?!¡± The man in the car behind as he honked at him. The man couldn¡¯t go past Michael. The cars on the right side stopped him, and they were on the left end.


    Michael then poked his head out the window, to look at the couple,his feet still barely pressing the gas pedal. He squinted eyes to look at the couple, seeing that it¡¯s not them.


    HONK


    Michael looked at the driver behind him, seeing him pointing at the road.


    ¡°The road! The road!¡± The man said.


    Michael then raised an eyebrow at him, ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Drive! Drive!¡± The man said.


    Michael then realized the traffic light turned green before he was looking at the couple that looked like Brad and Amare. He then puts his head back into the car, and goes to hit the gas pedal. The man sighs then looks up as Michael puts his head back into the car as he looked up for a quick second, to see the light green, but looked down as it turned yellow, then red, not realizing the light turned yellow then red.


    ¡°Wait- Red light! Red light!¡± The man shouted as he put his head through the window as he looked up realizing the light turned red.


    Michael heard him say red light but it¡¯s too late before he can process what he says, Michael hit¡¯s the gas pedal, he looks to see another car coming in from a different intersection, and swerves out of the way, causing cars to honk their horns.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Michael said, as he dodged the incoming car. He panted, and panted until he came to his senses and drove off the four-way intersection, turning left to reach the bar that was not that far ahead.


    ¡°Some people nowadays. No regards for themselves or others.¡± The man that was once behind Michael¡¯s car, said to himself as he put his head back into his car.


    ***


    As I parked on the side, a few feet down from the bar. I take the transponder key out the ignition and put it in the armrest. I rub my forehead, which puts sweat on my fingers. I wiped the sweat on my shirt, leaving a little damp area. I opened the car door and got out, closing it behind as the car door made a clicking sound, locking the car doors. I made sure I had my father¡¯s license in my pocket by putting my hands in my dress pants pockets. It was there, safe and sound. I kept my hands in my pockets, looked down to make sure I had one part of my shirt tucked in, and one tucked out. When I looked up to the bar, I saw the line. Really, the line wasn¡¯t even a line at all, there was like four or five people, and the reason there were four or five people stacked in a line, waiting, is because the bouncer had to thoroughly check everybody¡¯s ID, the bouncer probably didn¡¯t have a good eye or something, but he looked very buff.


    As I reached the line to the bar, I waited until it was my turn to be checked. After two minutes of the bounce thoroughly checking each person''s ID, it was my time.


    ¡°ID.¡± The bouncer said in a stern, deep tone. It was like he wasn¡¯t gonna take shit from anybody.


    I looked down at the pocket where the license was, and took it out, showing the bouncer it. He took it from my hand, and looked at it, then at me. He did this for about 10 seconds before fixing his eyes on me with his head tilted down, facing the licenses, and saying


    ¡°Work?¡± He said with one of his eyebrows raised.


    ¡°Work.¡± I said as I looked at with a slight tug of my mouth being displayed upon.


    The bouncer nodded, then handed me back the license and let me through.


    When I walked into the bar, I was instantly hit with the smell of alcohol and somewhat cologne. But there was a scent of vanilla and cinnamon, almost convincing me it was a cafe. I looked around to see only two people in black trench coats compared to everyone else that was vibrant, and looked more colorful. The first guy in the trench I saw when I walked in, sat across from a vibrant, colorful man. Very nice Hawaiian shirt. Judging by the Hawaiian shirted guy moving his mouth, he was talking to the guy in the trench. Even though I could only see the back of the guy in the trench coat head, I could tell he was talking too, when took out his cigar to blow it, then held his cigar between his fingers before putting it back in, and that¡¯s when the Hawaiian shirt guy would talk. And also the movement of his body when he talked. I looked over to the second guy in the trench coat. He didn¡¯t look too happy. The first guy looked okay, him, he doesn¡¯t look okay at all. I could barely see him, just like the first guy, but this guy''s head was down, like he was sad¡­just like the cowboy in the movie. This had to be a sign, a sign from the heavens, or god himself! I knew I wouldn''t miss this opportunity. I looked at him, contemplating what I was gonna say, when I found the right words. I walked up to the bar counter, and sat down next to him, to the left of him.


    ¡°Hey, would you like anything to drink?¡± The Barwoman said as soon as I opened my mouth to talk to the man in the trench coat, to the right of me.


    I looked over to the Barwoman, and then looked down patting my pockets, realizing I didn¡¯t bring a wallet, I didn¡¯t even have a wallet, and I couldn¡¯t bother searching my mother¡¯s.


    ¡°Oh, uh- no, I-I don¡¯t have my wallet.¡± I said, looking at her with a sheepishly smile.


    ¡°Then how did you get past the bouncer?¡± She said, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°With my¡­licenses¡­drivers licenses.¡± I said looking at her while slightly looking away.


    I pretended to swallow, making it seem like I didn¡¯t gulp.


    ¡°And your driver''s license is usually in a wallet, right?¡± The barwoman said, with the corner of her mouth tugging with amusement.


    She¡¯s got me. I think this wasn¡¯t meant to be destiny. I think I¡¯m supposed to be alone forever, and ever. I think I¡¯m supposed to have nobody to care about me. I¡¯m all alone.


    ¡°Right.¡± I said. Looking away, avoiding eye contact as sweat beads drop from my forehead.


    ¡°Hey, look at me.¡± She said, staring into my eyes with a smirk, she¡¯s enjoying this for some reason, she¡¯s enjoying catching me in the act.


    I look at her in the eyes, struggling to keep my gaze on her vibrant green eyes.


    ¡°Tell me your age without looking at your license.¡± She said with a smirk on her face as she leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, which was sideways.


    Damnit, damnit! She got me! I-I don¡¯t even know when my dad was born! I had the ID, I could¡¯ve looked, but I was more focused whether I looked like my dad or not! I thought my dad¡¯s birth didn¡¯t matter, it shouldn¡¯t matter, but it did! It did here!


    I only looked away, staying silent. Even if I tried to do the math in my head, it would have taken too long. Everyone should know their own birthdate, but I obviously didn¡¯t, because I wasn¡¯t who I was portrayed to be.


    We sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. It was awkward for me, but for her, she had me, she had me right where she wanted me. All because I forgot my dad¡¯s age, and I didn¡¯t have a wallet¡­


    ¡°Here, how about I get you a sprite? On the house.¡± She said as she stopped leaning forward towards me, and stood up straight.


    My eyebrows rose as my eyes widened, I genuinely looked surprised. I thought she was definitely gonna kick me out. I-I thought I was a goner, for sure. Maybe this is my destiny, to meet him. I glanced over at the trench coat man, then back at the barwoman, who smiled, trying to stifle a giggle.


    ¡°So, what do you say? Is that a yes?¡± The barwoman said, letting out a giggle she couldn¡¯t hold back any more.


    I nodded as my face slowly went to normal from that surprising turn of events.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    She nodded, then went to get the sprite. I stayed, staring at the spot where the woman was standing. My face went from surprised to confused as I slowly raised my eyebrow, with my mouth slightly parted.


    I turned my head to the man. I didn¡¯t know if he heard all of that, he¡¯s probably asleep. Well, probably not since his head isn¡¯t on the table, and no one can sleep with their head just facing the ground. I leaned in close, and whispered in his ear,


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    Then, I saw him turn his head to me, I needed to make sure I didn¡¯t stutter, don¡¯t stutter. When he leaned his head up and faced me, I said¡­

 Chapter Seven: What A Small World

    Chapter Seven: What a small world.


    ¡°H-hey, name is Michael.¡± I said, as I held out my hand, shakily.


    The man looked at me, then turned his head back, facing away from me. He didn¡¯t even shake my hand or say hey. My hand faltered as it lowered, I looked away then back at him, still persistent, I am.


    ¡°So uh, since I told you my name,what¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t feel like talking to anyone right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I lowered my head, then chuckled slightly, bringing my head up.


    ¡°Yeah, I-I gotcha. Yeah- we don¡¯t feel like talking to people sometimes. We just wanna be alone, y¡¯know?¡±


    He only gave me a ¡®hm¡¯ as a acknowledgement of my sentence. Maybe he was going through what the cowboy is going through, or similar.I just nodded then lowered my head, mouthing ¡®okay.¡¯


    ¡°Here¡¯s your Sprite.¡±


    I lift my head and turn it to the voice that spoke across from me. The Barwoman put down a cup of sprite, which had one of those tiny umbrellas in it.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said as I took the cup into my hand, and sip some of the sprite. Lemon-Lime was too good.


    ¡°Ya welcome.¡±


    When she said that, she had this smirk on her face, like she saw something that was amusing. Her eyes darted towards the right, where the man that I tried to talk to, was sitting. I raised an eyebrow at her as she began to leave to go to a man that called her name. My eyes followed her until she was not behind the bar counter anymore.


    ¡°Sprite?¡±


    I look over to the right to look at the man in the trench coat after he said that.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Sprite? Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­what¡¯s wrong with Sprite?¡±


    My eyebrow arched with a smirk plastered on my face. I didn¡¯t see anything wrong with Sprite. It¡¯s a fairly nice drink, a drink I like very much in fact.


    The man leaned forward and smirked at me back.


    ¡°Sprite? In a bar?¡±


    The man moved his hand to gesture at the glass of the Sprite on the bar counter that I was drinking, then towards the display of alcohol on the shelf. He then gestured his hand towards the people sitting in their chairs, to the right of us, to really emphasize something that I didn¡¯t really get. I followed his gesture to the people sitting in their chairs, I looked at their bottles to see they were all filled with alcohol. Everyone was drinking some sort of alcohol, or liquor.


    My eyes widen as I see what he was trying to show me. I let out a breath of air that sounded like a ¡®haha¡¯.


    ¡°I-...I¡¯m not a drinker.¡±


    The man looked down and chuckled, finding what I said amusingly ironic. Me, in a bar, and I¡¯m not a drinker. It was quite humorous, I slightly chuckled at it with a small smirk on my face¡­it was weird, but at least I was somewhat sharing a moment with him¡­


    The man then turned his body from facing me, to the alcohol shelf. He picked up his glass of Jack Daniel''s and held it to his mouth, sipping it, savoring the taste. He glanced at me with the corner of his eyes, then moved his eyes back to his drink.


    ¡°Why are you here then?¡±


    I looked at him. His eyes are still on his whiskey, his hands still gripping the glass after taking a sip of the drink. I then copied the movements he made; I turned my body to face the alcohol shelf. I glanced at him, my eyes turning right, to his direction. He glanced at me too, before taking another sip of his whiskey, waiting for an answer. I wrapped my left hand around  the glass of Sprite and gripped it.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m just¡­looking for someone to talk to.¡±


    My grip on the glass loosened so I can lift my hand up, still holding it but lightly. I stopped at the rim of the glass, then I began to trace the rim of the glass with my middle finger. The man glanced at me, then my glass for sprite before looking at his drink. The barwoman went back to behind the counter with more glass cups, putting them in the sink, washing them.


    ¡°And you think I¡¯m the right candidate for that?¡±


    I turn my head to him, my eyes only staring at the side of his head as he faces forward.


    ¡°I mean here we are, n-no one to talk to. Just sitting, and drinking.¡±


    ¡°I have my partner.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow, what did he mean by ¡®partner¡¯? Is he a cop or something?


    ¡°Uhm, what do you mean by ¡®partner¡¯?¡± I said, slightly smiling, which was more forced.


    ¡°I¡¯m a cop, detective to be specific.¡± The man said as he took a sip of whiskey, finishing it, then going to the bottle of Jack Daniels to pour out another glass of it, then stopping.


    My eyes widen a bit, my hands shaking slightly. I need to calm down, he doesn¡¯t know who I am, I¡¯m fine. I just nodded.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s your partner?¡± I looked at the other guy in the trench coat.


    The man turned his head to me, looking at my eyes to see where I¡¯m looking. He turned his eyes where I was looking, Then he turned back to his drink, sipping it, and nodding.


    ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you talking to him?¡± My eyes glanced between the man and his partner.


    ¡°I think better when I¡¯m alone.¡± He takes another sip of his whiskey, staring into either the ground, or the edge of the bar counter.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t-¡± I stop myself, I turn my eyes to his partner, watching as he¡¯s talking to his friend¡¯s, then I look at him, ¡°Then why don¡¯t you tell me what you''re thinking? I-I can help.¡±


    He turns his head, his eyes landing at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m good at solving mysteries.¡± I pronounce.


    He looks at me, still having difficulty thinking whether he should say whatever he needs to say to me or not. He sighs, before turning his head back forward to drink his whiskey.


    ¡°It¡¯s a missing case- well, a murder and a missing case.¡± He remarks after sipping his whiskey, leaving some left.


    I shift from left to right in my seat, my movements barely moving because of how small the stool is. I look at him, hesitantly asking a question,


    ¡°A-and what is the case about?¡± I look at him as my thumbs rapidly tap against the counter.


    He glanced over to me, his eyes on my thumb that is rapidly tapping against the counter. My eyes follow his as I realize what I¡¯m doing with my thumb. To hide it; I held onto my glass of Sprite, trying my best not to shake too much as I went to drink it.


    He looked at my hand as I lifted it up, with the glass of Sprite, shakily. His eyes followed my hand as I brought the glass to my mouth. I tried my hardest not to glance at him, but I can see him looking at my hand in my peripheral vision. When I brought the glass to my mouth, he turned his eyes to my face, and answered my question,


    ¡°It¡¯s about two highschool kids-¡±


    That¡¯s all I needed to know, and that¡¯s when my Sprite went down the wrong pipe. The bar woman''s head snapped to the coughing, she then turned her head back to the glass cups, smiling.


    ¡°Don¡¯t inhale the Sprite now.¡±


    He started patting my back as I coughed, saliva on my bottom lip, tiny tears falling down my eyes. I cleared my throat before coughing one more time, then wiped the saliva off my mouth with the sleeve of my dress shirt, then wiped my eyes with my other sleeve. I turned my head right and caught in my peripheral vision that people were looking at me, even the man''s partner''s. Everybody turned their heads back slowly, to talk with their friends, colleagues, siblings, or whoever. I turned my head to the man.


    ¡°You Cool?¡±


    I nodded my head saying, ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I then turned around, and hopped off the stool, I turned my body to the man, the man turned around in his stool to me. but there was something I had to ignore, the man¡¯s partner¡¯s gaze, on what I think is me. I saw him looking in my right peripheral vision, but he was staring intently at me, like he was waiting to see what I would do. I ignored it though.


    ¡°I-I gotta go, it was good meeting you.¡±


    I held out my hands, looking at my hands, then his face. He looked at my hand, then my face, with a¡­slight smile before standing up and shaking my hand.


    ¡°Good meeting you too¡­Michael?¡± He¡¯d raise an eyebrow.


    My eyes widened before it went back to normal, and a smile landed on my face.


    ¡°Michael. And yours is¡­¡± I¡¯d trail off, waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Zad. But some people call me Kaizen.¡±


    There it is. The cherry on top, Kaizen. My eyes widened, I blinked, hearing his voice, his raised voice on the phone. My hand trembles vigorously, I can¡¯t hold it back¡­