Chapter 74

Turning to Chris, Khristina shyly nods.

"Khristina, this is my cousin Christian, but we just call him Chris for short." Kazimir says, introducing the young man to the little girl.

Khristina smiles and happily hugs Chris.

"My name sounds like your name!"

"That's the same thing I said!" Chris replies, giving the little girl a hug. "Yo, I like her, Kazimir! She thinks just like me!"

"Khristina."

Turning around, the small girl nervously gives her cousin, Laurenté, a smile.

"I understand you're happy to see Mr. Cizetto, but please don't stray from the group."

"I won't, Laurenté! Can I sit with Mr. Kazimir and Mr. Chris until it's time to go?"

Laurenté sighs.

"Well, they might have to leave a little early to go back to their own work."

"It's fine, Mr. La'rine. Khristina can stay if she wants." Kazimir says. "I'll probably be in town until the end of my shift, anyway."

"Well, alright." Laurenté replies. "Please don't give them too much trouble, Khrissy. And once it's time for us to leave, you have to leave with us."

"Okay!"

Turning back to Kazimir, the little girl points up at a cheeseburger restaurant.

"Can you take me to get one, Mr. Kazimir?"

"Sure."

He grabs the small girl's hand and the two walk over to the restaurant.

"Can I get one too, baby cousin?" Chris asks, putting his head on his cousin's shoulder.

Sighing, Kazimir opens his wallet.

"Don't you have your own money?"

"I spent it on some wheel upgrades for my baby. And besides, didn't you win $5 million?"

Handing his debit card to the cashier, Kazimir groans and tells Chris to quiet down.

"So the only reason you came into town was to ask me for money?"

"No. If I wanted money, I just would've stayed in the comfort of my apartment and called up Aunt Yuriko to get her to guilt trip you into giving me some."

"Well, I wasn't allowed to take the money with me, anyway." Kazimir says, taking his card from the cashier.

Chris chuckles, following Khristina and Kazimir back to the table.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"It means the money is being kept in an American bank and I can only use it when I'm in the States."

"That's fucking stupid."

"Yeah, it is." Kazimir says, grabbing the two bags from the cashier. "And you're going to have a hell of a time trying to get the bankers over there to give you the money, so I wouldn't try anything."

Chris rolls his eyes, taking his bag from Kazimir.

"I'm from Canada, stupid. I couldn't if I wanted to."

"I went to Canada once!" Khristina says, reaching for her drink. "I saw a lot of moose and geese! And my brother, Dréy, he got taken home by the police for trying to drift on a snowy road!"

"Why the hell was he trying to do that in the first place?" Chris asks.

"'Cause he was making a music video! And Papa got mad at him and told him he needed to stop letting social media choose his job path for him. What about you, Mr. Chris? What's your job?"

"Ain't got one. I'm still in college and my dad wants me to focus on that first because apparently I can't hold a job and do schoolwork at the same time."

"Then what's your dream job?" Khristina asks.

Chris bites into his cheeseburger and smiles.

"I wanna be one of those gamers that make millions."

"When Dréy was in 11th grade, he wanted to be a gamer, too!" Khristina says, bouncing in her seat. "Mama got mad and took away all of his video games until he got out of high school! But I wanna be a detective, just like Mr. Kazimir 'cause I like finding things and helping people!"

"Khristina, remember what I told you about finding a job you like?" Kazimir asks.

"But I do like being a detective! When Mama couldn't find her new shoes, I would get my magnifying glass and then search every room in the house until I found them in my room and then remembered that I played dress up in them!"

Chris turns to Khristina.

"Well, why don't you go for a more high-paying job? Like being an engineer of some sort?"

"'Cause that's not what I wanna do!" the small girl replies. "Mama told me that when I grow up and get married, it was best if I worked from home, but I don't wanna do that all day! I wanna find things, like Mr. Kazimir!"

"You come from a traditional family, huh?" Chris asks.

"I guess 'cause Papa told us that if anything ever were to happen to him, my brothers were to step up and take care of Mama and me. But now, they're just taking care of me! Plus, I get anything I want 'cause Papa told them that they were to listen to all my wishes!"

Khristina takes a bite of her food and continues.

"But he also said it's good to be understanding when my brothers can't get me whatever I want 'cause you can lose money faster than you earned it."

"He ain't lying." Chris says, laughing. "Anyway, what about you, Kazimir? What's your dream job?"

"Never had one."

"Everyone has something they wanna do, cousin!"

"Well, not me. I was planning on becoming a regular office worker because it looked stable and mom and dad wouldn't be down my throat 24/7." Kazimir bluntly replies.

Khristina turns to Chris, taking a french fry from his napkin.

"Maybe Mr. Kazimir wants to be a gamer, too!"

"You know, Kazimir and I could pair up and be known as the two cousins who stream gameplays and race cars from time to time. Actually, that doesn't sound bad at all!"

"That has genuinely got to be the most dumbest thing I've ever heard of." Kazimir replies. "Why don't you become a mechanic, Chris? You like cars, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I don't wanna work on somebody else's car all day."

"Do you paint cars, Mr. Chris?" Khristina asks, smiling up at the young man.

"Yeah."

"Can you paint Hello Kitty on mine?"

"When you get one in the future?"

"No, the one that's at my house! It's mine, I own it! Ask Mr. Kazimir!"

Chris turns to Kazimir in confusion and the young detective shrugs.

"It's a long story."

"Khristina! The class is leaving!"

Making a loud groan, the little girl slides out of her seat.

"Goodbye, Mr. Chris! Bye bye, Mr. Kazimir!"

"Bye bye, Khristina. Oh, Dréy's picking you up after school today."

"But why can't you?" Khristina asks.

"I have work, Khristina. I won't be home until very late. Here, I bought you a pizza for dinner."

The little girl frown turns into a wide smile and she gives the man a hug.

"Thank you, Mr. Kazimir!"

Kazimir and Chris watch as Khristina runs back over to her class, spinning around with the box of pizza in her hands.

"And where're you going for the rest of the day?" Chris asks, watching as his cousin stood up.

"A long drive." Kazimir replies, fixing his tie. "It's for work, not like you would know."

Rolling his eyes, Chris stands up and throws his trash away.

"Alright, guess I'll explore this city a bit. Call me when you get back."

"That won't be until early next morning, most likely." Kazimir says. "I already have tomorrow off though, so it cancels out. See ya."

"Peace." Chris says, waving. "I swear, that boy's always up to something."

--- 5 hours later ---

"Oh, boy. Doesn't this place look expensive?"

Entering the large city, Kazimir turns into a grocery store parking lot, before entering.

"Excuse me?"

The cashier turns around and gives the young detective a smile.

"Well, what can I do for you, son?"

"Could you give me directions to Blue Hills University of Law?"

"Yes, make a right after you pull out of here, then make another right and continue straight for a few more minutes until you see a large brick building. Can't miss the place, I promise you that." the cashier explains.

"Thanks."

Walking out of the door, Kazimir follows the man's directions, before abruptly braking and quickly turning into the large school's parking lot.

"Damn, where the-

*BEEEEEPPPPP!*

Swerving to the left, Kazimir steps on his brakes and parks his car, before getting out.

The other car quickly reverses and the owner steps out as well.

"Hey, Kazimir! What're you doing here?!"

"Hey, Jai. I'm on a work-related trip."

"Oh, somebody's from this school is a criminal?!" Jai asks, looking around. "I mean, there is some snobbish quadruplets who go here, but I put them in their place every now and then!"

Kazimir chuckles.

"That's nice to know. Anyway, do you know where Alexei might be at this time?"

"Oh, this is actually his evening class." Jai replies. "I'll take you to him!"

The two young men enter the school and Jai quickly runs to the cafeteria to grab a piece of steak.

"The food here is actually really good, especially the peach pie that's served every Tuesday."

"I'm sure it is." Kazimir says.

The two continue their walk to an elevator, where Jai presses the third floor button.

"It's stupid that our attire for this school has to be either school-issued uniform or semi-formal clothing." Jai says, tugging at his tie. "I get sweaty really fast in these clothes."

Kazimir nods, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sure you do."

*Ding!*

The elevator door opens and the two young men step out.

"There's his class over there, they should be out in 5 minutes." Jai says, pointing towards two doors.

"Thanks, Jai."

Jai gives Kazimir a smile.

"No problem! Oh, here's $1,000! Congratulations on your court case win!"

"Thanks again, Jai." Kazimir says.

He watches as the young man waves and runs off, before turning back to the door.

After a few minutes, the door opens and a stream of dapper clothed students exit the room.

Kazimir sighs and walks forward, standing to the side.

"Jeez, they didn't have to remind me how broke I already am. Oh, there he is."

Waving to the crowd, Kazimir motions for Alexei to come over.

"Mr. Cizetto? Is everything alright? Khristina? Dréy?"

"No, they're fine. Uh, let's discuss this outside."

Walking out to the parking lot, Kazimir hands Alexei an envelope and he opens it.

"Everyone who resides in Claiza City has gotten one. The department wants your bank account statements along with any recent transactions."

Alexei chuckles and nods.

"I have to say, I'm impressed by the department's work; they're really taking this serious."

"Yeah, a few people already got arrested for having a weapon without a license."

"I see. I have my Claiza City bank records back at my place. I'll take you there."