Chapter 114

"Grab your math book and head to the back of the room. Hold it as close to your chest as possible."

Hearing the sound of faint gunshots and shattering glass, Laurenté sighs.

"I can't find mine!" Prince screams.

"No screaming, please. Prince, just grab mine from my desk."

As the shots began to grow closer, Laurenté begins to set the desks up in front of the children as a way of shielding them since it was too late to push them in front of the door.

*CRACK!*

*AHHHHHHHHH!*

*BANG!*

A moment of silence passes by as the little children slowly open their eyes, seeing a lifeless body on the ground.

——————

"And I don't give a damn, sir! We already have officers on this-

"MR. KAZIMIR!"

Immediately turning around, the young detective quickly runs over to Khristina, Miracle, and Prince, who were all crying.

"You're safe, you're safe."

Giving them all a hug, Kazimir looks back at the school.

"Is Laurenté gonna be jailed for killing the bad guy?" Khristina asks, wiping a tear from her face.

"I don't know, Khristina. Is he still in the classroom?"

"Yeah!" Prince replies.

"Then I'll see if I can go talk with him. You three stay here and don't move."

Watching as Kazimir pushed past officers and made his way into the school, Khristina turns to Prince and Miracle.

"I hope Mr. Laurenté is okay." Miracle says, tilting her head. "Mommy said he's a very kind man and a good teacher."

"Khristina, does Laurenté have a crush on anyone?" Prince asks.

Sitting on a bench, Khristina looks up at the sky.

"Um, I think."

Making sure Miracle had a place to sit, Prince jumps onto the bench before leaning in closer.

"Who?!"

"I don't know."

"Mommy said Mr. Laurenté is sweet but Alexei is very charming and helpful. I think mommy likes Alexei." Miracle says.

"Really?!" Khristina and Prince yell in sync.

"Yeah but he seems really scary."

"That's 'cause he runs a lot of businesses so he has to be scary in order to make his way through the world of money. That's what he told me." Khristina says.

"I hope mommy goes with Mr. Laurenté instead."

"I can tell Laurenté that your mommy is interested!"

"Thank you." Miracle says giving Khristina a smile. "I feel more comfortable with him. Alexei is very scary."

"Khristina! Are you okay, my love?"

Turning forward, Khristina smiles as Levon stands in front of her, grabbing her hands.

"I'm even better now that you're here!"

"Why don't you just kiss her already?" Prince mutters, rolling his eyes.

"Khristina, are we still on for dinner tonight? I can have my brother take us to this Italian restaurant; it's really good. If you're fine with that."

"But I wanted to do more shopping."

"We can do both. I'll take you to the mall and you can buy whatever you please. Now let's chat with each other privately, I want to get to know more about you."

"But Mr. Kazimir said that I have to stay here. And if he sees that I'm gone then I'll never be able to go with you anywhere." Khristina says a little quietly.

Levon sighs as he crosses his arms.

"Is that the guy who was talking to multiple girls?"

"I don't like when you talk about that."

"Fine. I won't talk about it. Now, you're not hurt anywhere are you?"

"No, but it was really scary 'cause the crazy man came to my classroom and then we heard a gunshot but it turns out that Laurenté shot him! So we're all safe now!"

"But what if Laurenté turned around and shot at you all?" Levon asks.

Khristina shakes her head.

"Nope, Laurenté loves all of us!"

"So you haven't asked him why he has a gun in the school in the first place?"

"That's because it's for protection and he said himself once that it isn't illegal!" Prince chimes in.

"Yep! My cousin Laurenté would never hurt an innocent person!"

"Khristina, Miracle, Prince; it's time to go."

Hearing Kazimir's voice, Khristina happily jumps off of the bench.

"What about Laurenté?"

"Laurenté's being taken in for an interrogation."

"So he's going to jail?!" Khristina yells, worriedly.

"I don't know. That's something that'll be decided soon."

Stepping in front of Kazimir, Levon crosses his arms.

"Then go back in there and do something. You're a detective aren't you?"

"Look, son; I did everything I could but as usual the top detectives always take over."

"Oh? So that means you're not a top detective?"

"No, I'm not."

"Khristina, you couldn't have found someone better to take you in? I mean, seriously; this guy is a fail-

Throwing the ring Levon bought her onto the ground, Khristina angrily stomps her foot on it.

"Leave Mr. Kazimir alone! He's the bestest person in the world! And he's not a failure, he's very smart a-and if that's all you can do is be mean to him then I don't wanna be with you!"

Giving Kazimir a hug, she buries her face into his shirt.

"Don't stress about him, Khristina. Let's go home."

—— Later that Evening ——

Walking past his old room, Kazimir hears a soft cry and knocks on the door.

"Khristina? Can I come in?"

He watches as the door opens and the small girl looks up at him.

"Alright, Khristina; let's talk about our day."

"Mine was horrible!"

She cries even louder and Kazimir hugs her.

"Let it out, let it out."

"Why is Levon so rude?!"

"Maybe he feels inferior, I don't know. But I don't want you crying over that boy, Khristina. No one who acts like that deserves your tears or sympathy."

"But what if something really is wrong with him, Mr. Kazimir?"

"His parents have money, they can get him help. He's not your problem. Besides, didn't I tell you that boy was no good for you?"

The small girl nods and Kazimir smiles, wiping her tears with his finger.

"This is the last time I want to see you cry over that child. You're too good for him."

"Did he hurt you, Mr. Kazimir?"

"No, Khristina. He's only a kid, he just wants to talk about nonsense. And when you go back to school, I don't want you getting into any fights with him, either."

"Okay."

"Now, it's about 6:00 and since you have no school tomorrow, why don't we go somewhere?"

"Really?!"

"Yeah." Kazimir replies. "I want to show you a house that I'm looking at and thinking of buying. Well, I want to make sure you're comfortable with it as well."

"Can I walk around in it?"

"Of course."

Leaving the small apartment, the two walk out to Kazimir's car and Khristina looks inside.

"Is this Black Beauty?"

"Oh! That's right! I never got to properly introduce you two. Khristina, Black Beauty. Black Beauty, Khristina."

"She really is beautiful! Can I start her?"

"Why not?"

Turning the key, Khristina jumps upon hearing the engine roar to life.

"Don't be scared, Khristina. That's just her saying hello."

"Hi, Black Beauty!"

After safely buckling Khristina in, Kazimir heads down the slightly dark road.

"Is it gonna take a long time to get to the house?"

"It's about 30 minutes. You can decide if that's long or not."

"We have 30 minutes of recess but sometimes Laurenté lets us stay out for an hour!"

"That's nice of him."

"Can I get a Happy Meal?"

"Now I thought we were going to see the house."

"Can I get one after we see the house?"

"Sure, Khristina."

After a little while of driving, the two eventually arrive at the house and Khristina widely smiles.

"It's hu-hu-humgous!"

Kazimir chuckles as he watches the little girl run forward.

"I think you mean humongous."

"Looka the flowers and all the trees! And there's even a little lake with a ducky!"

Running over to the lake, Khristina watches as the duck floats atop of the water.

"Hello, Mr. Ducky! I'm Khristina-Bella, but you can just call me Khristina!"

"Khristina, let's let Mr. Ducky eat his food. Come on; follow me."

Running after Kazimir, Khristina happily goes inside and yells once stepping through the front door.

"HELLO!"

She listens as the voice echoes back and smiles up at the older man.

"I can hear my echo! I like this house, Mr. Kazimir!"

"Why don't you look at the bedrooms and see which one you like?"

Skipping up the steps, Khristina runs throughout the hall of the second floor, stopping in front of a bedroom.

"This one! I want this one!"

Walking in, Kazimir takes a look around and nods.

"We can put your bed right there and then your toy chest can go in front."

"And don't forget about my art desk!"

"Your art desk can go to the side."

Peeking out of the window, the little girl awes at the small pond which overlooked her room.

"Ooh, I get to see more duckies!"

With a smile, Kazimir squats down beside her.

"So what do you think? Is it a nice house or should we continue to look?"

"My mama said that when I have something nice, never ever EVER look for something that may be nicer! She said the nicer things will find you! We should get this house, Mr. Kazimir!"

"This house it is then."

"When do we get to move in?!"

"As soon as the paperwork's finished."

Jumping onto Kazimir's back for a piggyback ride, Khristina begins to play with his hair.

"How long is that gonna take?"

"I'm not sure, Khristina. I'll try to call the realtor later on tonight and see if I can get something started. In the meantime, we can go get your Happy Meal."