Chapter 31

With one hand stuck in a Doritos bag, Prince Richano runs over to Kazimir, followed by Khristina.

"Khristina said that you can pick her up! Pick me up, too!"

"No, Prince! Only Mr. Kazimir gets to pick me up!" Khristina says, stomping her foot.

The young man chuckles.

"How about I pick you both up?"

"Okay!" the two kids simultaneously replies.

Kazimir picks the two young kids up and they smile.

"Now, where's your brother and where's your father?"

"Papi's working the grill with uncle Dréy." Prince replies, eating one of the cheese-flavored tortilla chips. "Do you grill, Mr. Red-Eyed Man?"

Kazimir shakes his head.

"No, I've never had a chance to."

"Dréy makes the best barbeque ribs! Mama always said he gets it from our family that lives back in the States down in Louisiana! You gotta try one, Mr. Kazimir!" Khristina happily exclaims.

"I guess I will."

The three head over to the grill and Khristina calls for her brother.

"Dréy! Mr. Kazimir's here!"

The young man looks up from his phone and nods, putting the spatula down.

"Aye, mane, wassup?"

"Nothing really." Kazimir replies, setting Khristina and Prince down, before sanitizing his hands.

Dréy grabs a paper plate and a plastic cup, handing them to the young detective.

"Where Alexei at?"

"He's on his way back to college." Kazimir replies.

"Damn, that boy stay on go." Dréy says, fixing the silver chain around his neck. "Anyway, the food over there."

Making his way over to a table full of dishes, Kazimir lifts up a cloth, uncovering a plate of hot dogs.

He takes one, putting it on his plate, Khristina and Prince decorating it with ketchup, mustard, and chili.

"My papi made the burgers!" Prince says, sliding one on Kazimir's plate.

"Don't tell Dréy I said this, but it's even better than his!" Khristina whisper yells, as she takes a bite into one. "Look, there's the ribs!"

Lifting the cloth up from over the barbeque ribs, Kazimir nods.

"It's glazed nicely."

"You gotta eat it, man, not look at it!" Prince says, jumping up and down.

The young detective picks up a rib, before putting a spoonful of potato salad and cole slaw on his plate.

"Here's some deviled eggs!" Khristina says, bringing the plate over to Kazimir.

Prince runs over, barely being able to carry a large tray in his hand.

"And my papi made boneless grilled chicken!"

The young detective grabs a bit of the food from the children and takes a seat under a table with an umbrella attached.

"Would you like me to fill your cup, Mr. Kazimir?!" Khristina asks. "We have soda, water, apple juice, orange juice, and pink lemonade! You should get the pink lemonade 'cause I made it!"

Kazimir smiles and nods.

"I'll try the pink lemonade, thank you Khristina."

She takes the man's cup and runs off, Prince sliding a slice of cake towards him.

"My mommy dropped this off before she left for work! It's a strawberry cake with triple chocolate icing! And if you cut into it, it's got lemon filling inside! She made it last night while me and papi talked to her over the phone."

"It looks very delicious, thank you Prince." Kazimir replies.

"Here's your lemonade, Mr. Kazimir!"

He takes the cup from Khristina and takes a sip.

"Oh wow, it's very sweet."

"Yeah, that's how everyone likes it!" she happily replies.

The two kids watch as Kazimir begins to eat.

"Your father can cook really well, Prince." Kazimir says, taking a bite of the large burger.

"Yeah, mommy says that's the only reason she puts up with him!"

Taking a bite of from the rib, the young man nods.

"Dréy's barbeque ribs are really good, Khristina. What part of Louisiana is your family from?"

"They're from NOLA!"

"New Orleans, right?" Kazimir asks.

"Yep!" Khristina replies, smiling.

"I see. Well, is it okay if I take a few ribs and burgers with me back home?" the young detective asks.

Khristina and Prince nod in sync.

"But you gotta be quick 'cause the ribs are usually the first to go!" Khristina says. "Also, we usually go to NOLA for the summer, so you have to come along if you wanna try some more!"

"And then you can come with me and papi to New York!" Prince adds. "He grew up in Manhattan, so it's really special to him and he plans to take me there this summer! Have you ever been to Manhattan, Mr. Red-Eyed Man?"

"Uh, no I haven't." Kazimir replies, spooning some of the potato salad.

The little boy smiles.

"It's okay! I haven't either, but papi said it's really big and the street food is good too!"

"I'll have to check it out then." Kazimir says, taking a sip of his drink. "Jeez, I'm a bit full."

"Then hurry up and get un-full 'cause papi's making nachos with smoked steak, onions, and red peppers. It's the best thing in the world!" Prince says, counting the ingredients on his fingers.

"Sounds pretty good, I'll keep that in mind, Prince." the young man replies. "So, how often do you all grill like this?"

"We do it every first Sunday!" Khristina replies, chewing on a piece of cake. "But Alexei barely shows up 'cause he's always busy! It makes me sad 'cause he makes really good mac n' cheese! He puts a bit of andouille and six cheeses in it! He got the recipe from papa 'cause they usually made it for Christmas, which is also my birthday!"

Kazimir nods, picking up a deviled egg.

"Ah, that does sound delicious."

For the next few hours, Kazimir, Khristina, and Prince sit and talk until the sky begins to grow dark.

"Alright, lil' monster, we have to go now. I already know Celeste's going to be hella mad at me for keeping you out late on a school night."

Prince yawns as Pierre picks him up from his seat and turns back to Kazimir and Khristina.

"Bye, Khristina! Bye, Mr. Red-Eyed Man!"

"Bye, Prince! Tell your mama that I hope she makes the cake again! Khristina happily screams.

Kazimir waves at the little boy.

"Goodbye, Prince. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

Kazimir turns back to Khristina and stands up from his chair.

"We should get going too, but first I'd like to thank your brother for the food."

Walking over to the table full of food, Kazimir waves over to Dréy, who was currently cleaning up.

"Hey, Dréy. I'll help you clean up."

Dréy shrugs and smiles.

"Shit, if you want."

"I'd like to thank you for the food today." Kazimir says, stacking some empty plates together. "Your cooking is really good."

"Aye, I 'preciate that, gang. Khrissy probably told you already, but I got most of my skills from our relatives back in the States. Shit, get lit down there." Dréy replies with a laugh.

The young detective chuckles.

"Oh, I'm sure of it."

"So how my lil' bro doin'? You be around him more than me." Dréy asks, removing the picnic cloth from the table.

Stacking up a few unused plastic cups, Kazimir smiles.

"I'd say Alexei's doing pretty well as far as I know. He's a great friend and sure knows how to handle tough situations with ease."

Dréy laughs.

"Mane, that boy got you too?"

"Huh?" the young detective asks, raising a brow.

Wiping off the table, the barber student looks up at Kazimir.

"Ay, I'mma let you know somethin' 'bout bro. You gotta watch out for that boy and I ain' sayin' that outta jealousy. Ever since our pops started treatin' him like shit 'cause lil' bro wanted to go to law school, he ain' been right in the head."

Dréy takes a stack of plates from Kazimir, putting them with some more.

"See, as soon as my lil' bro was born, my parents barely gave me attention, so I could handle that shit. Once Khrissy was born, we still performed somewhat like a normal family, but soon as that boy announced his plans for law school, you could see the tension between pops and bro. Immediately after that shit started, Alexei been movin' shady. He may not look much, but this boy got successful businessmen that was once rich as hell, tryna sell their shoes 'cause they goin' broke. I don't know what he be doin', but it must be crazy."

"I see." Kazimir replies.

"Yeah, he needa teach me whatever he got goin' on." Dréy says, wiping his hands in a cloth. "I 'preciate the help, once again. It was nice talking to you, mane."

"Same to you as well." the young detective replies, shaking Dréy's hand.

Running over to the two men, Khristina puts her hands on the tabletop, jumping up and down.

"Are there anymore hot dogs left, Dréy?!"

"Ain't you got school tomorrow?" the young girl's older brother asks, giving her the last hot dog.

"School can wait! What can't wait is my hungry tummy!"

Kazimir and Dréy laugh and watch as Khristina chows down on her hot dog.

--- the next morning ---

"Jeez, how the hell am I still full?"

Sipping on his daily morning cup of coffee, Kazimir makes his up the stairs to his workroom, bumping into someone.

Spilling hot coffee on himself, the young detective groans and looks up at the man he ran into.

"Sorry." Pierre replies, nonchalantly.

"Sorry?! You dumbass, I thought I already told you to stop standing on the fucking stairs the first time we met!" Kazimir says, crossing his arms.

"Chill, man. Just change into-

Gritting his teeth, the younger man throws the cup at Pierre, causing it to shatter on the floor.

Heading back downstairs, he angrily opens the exit doors, seeing a shorter figure run in past him.

"Wait a second? Was that Nia?"

Forgetting all about the stain on his shirt, Kazimir runs after the young woman, following her into the bathroom.

"Nia?"

She looks up, a trail of tears coming from her eyes.

"Mr. Cizetto, I think you may be in the wrong restroom." the young woman replies, wiping her face with her sleeve.

Kazimir shakes his head.

"That doesn't matter right now. What happened?"

Nia sighs and looks down at her hands.

"It's Stephan. He's dead. According to text messages, he met with his boss to discuss a promotion and I'm guessing his boss killed him for some reason."

"Oh." Kazimir replies, rubbing the young woman's back. "Is that not a good thing, though?"

Nia looks up at the young detective and shakes her head.

"Kazimir, when you want the best for someone, you'd wish for no harm on that person. I may not have mentally or physically loved Stephan anymore, but that doesn't mean I still didn't care for him; at least enough for him to become a better person."

"Ah, I see where you're coming from." Kazimir replies, nodding

She sighs and wipes her tear-soaked glasses off.

"Well, I guess there's not much I can do now. Thank you for checking on me, Kazimir."