Maverick's POV
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3AqPuwRIa
Head rested back against the cars headrest, I stare at the roof.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uletq2vey
The cars parked but I'm still battling with blacking out.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72WIMkqYm2
I can't feel a thing.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzj7E7FUNn
Lilliana thinks I don't do drugs before getting my priorities done.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vMB4IYwbj
I'm never really here.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTi8VSpmRk
To me, the world has no sound; how I like it. OxyContin, Lortab, and a lot of fucking weed make that so.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7lcD1cuQn
Lilliana doesn't know me. I'm a fucking monster.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVlFoR26l4
But I try to be good to her...
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKe0q5uqa0v
Everything about me changes when she's near. I conjure up every bit of humanity I have left and use it to save hers.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHMhDYe0fr
I fuck up everything I touch. I figured if I didn't ever get physical with Lilliana, I wouldn't ruin her. Now I've learned there's always a way to fuck something up...for some reason I always find it.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpbDE4Oeko
She was so sad and couldn't shake it. I just wanted to help, not dig her grave deeper. I thought maybe if I gave her a period of euphoria, I'd be able to see her smile again; genuinely smile.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn90MruSkRW
It was selfish of me.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUP0OjoD1v
They say it takes one time...that what you don't pick up, you don't have to worry about putting down...
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlua73PZzk
But at the time, I didn't know she wanted to die...I was clouding my mind with hopeful thoughts of her and the way her mind works. I prayed it was situational sadness that sent her into such a dark place...not because she's consumed with the same depression I am.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NwzUkxh6y
I fed her that first pill.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbB1YFRxtjJ
It's a tough pill to swallow...to know that the likelihood of her current state being because of me...is extremely high...
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfmmXryjFm
So I take a few other drugs with it, washing it down with self loathing.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJak0krE1SV
Facts are; I know what drugs Malachi holds, what he gave Lilliana. They aren't anything I haven't given her before. Problem is; if Lilliana begins to find other dealers, I lose all control over her inventory. In the depths she's in, she'll overdose and die on purpose.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBc3sPVXsBN
Lilliana is the only reason I haven't put my nine to my head...though I still like to pretend sometimes.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5ujahRXOv
I'm pissing away my life. The saddest part is that I don't mind it too much.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rZ9hZyufE
The tap against my window brings me out of my thoughts. Not but a moment after, my door is swung open.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlVyvoSdkv
"Don't crash out yet." Malachi says with an amused smile, opening the car door further and taking a couple steps back with it. "We've got work to do, Maverick."My dull expression is returned with a broad smile. "And there's no rest for the wicked."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOundPglof5
Malachi is right.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWkG5QJrEN
I'd hate for the body in my trunk to rot there.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjILYnWSsU
I hunch over the steering wheel, reaching down and pulling the lever to pop the trunk open. Malachi gives the door a smack, ushering me out before he disappears around the back of the car.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvogUlkhof
Stepping out, I rub my palms along my face before dropping my hands down, allowing my vision to clear.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXuNCy5Xeg
"Travis should be doing this part." Malachi comments through a grunt as he scoots the man's upper body towards the edge. His limp arm falls out, hanging loosely by the license plate.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRi0gxM5dc
"Travis wouldn't know where to begin." I point out, reaching inside the trunk and grabbing the man's ankles as Malachi pulls him out by his hands cupped underneath the body's armpits.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4VUIwGXCm
It is true...Travis, the man we work for, isn't one to get his hands dirty. He's what we like to call 'a watcher'...someone who won't kill or participate in the clean up, but will take great pleasure in watching either be done.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIgRV22N2n
Travis is a lunatic...
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpQKpQjG2T
Like us.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S6CPZuQ7Z
"Don't you have something you want to talk to me about?"
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpoJmxJxp0
I look up from the dead body we're carrying up to Travis's house. The laughter in his eyes confirms what I think he's referring to; Lilliana.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xyDQAOxd6
"Right now?" The bright light floods the porch, sending a pressure onto my eyes. "You want to do that now?"
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGOoftKoRD
"I was so curious as to why you hadn't introduced me yet." He tells me, dropping the man's upper body down to the hard wood of the porch with a thud.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVxPtAOLZP
I let out a puff of breath as the weight shifts, making me have to get a better grip on his ankles.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zfd29IZlV
"Of course I know why now." He chuckles, grabbing ahold of the man again as his foot kicks open the door behind him.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ekLyT9anS
I ignore his hint, saying without saying that Lilliana's looks are why they haven't met.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRjQ8bogd5
"She doesn't need to know anything, Malachi." I tell him. "I don't want her finding anything out."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqun8Nqy1V
"Like what?" He asks, going backwards into the house. "That before you set the world on fire, you want to kill everyone in it?"
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L8BAEWnTU
I give him an expressionless look, kicking the door closed again behind me as we enter fully.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoBN5twxDf
"Yes."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0agvwDY8H
"Well, Maverick..." Malachi smiles confidently as we pass through the hall. "In a fleeting moment with her, I got impression that she wouldn't be opposed to participating. The little lady is under mass suffering."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ggjhrm9DA
"So why add more?" I retort, dropping the body down onto the tarp on the kitchen floor. It crinkles beneath our feet, making light popping sounds as the strangers dead weight settles into it.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlyrijUbUY
Malachi snatches a whiskey bottle up from the bar area in the corner. He sets a glass from the shelf down with a clank.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8xNbKmi4D
"Why do you do it?" He asks, pouring the liquid into the glass. "Because it makes you feel better; it lessons your own suffering just a bit...by inflicting it on others." He answers his own question.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHw46H4fWm
I kick the man's legs apart. I do the same to his arms, extending them out away from his body, not bothering to look at Malachi as he goes on.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTTUtAXmPI
"But most importantly..." he raises his glass as if to cheer. "It keeps you from killing yourself." He drinks it in one gulp. "Lilliana needs a purpose, Maverick."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sUzxfgbIN
"So I motivate her to go to college." I argue as I grab the trash bags from under the sink, dropping the box at the man's feet. "She can find a healthy passion and make a career out of it."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDb1DZYM7A
"Yes..." he nods, taking the handsaw from the counter and coming to stand on the other side of the body. "Because shoveling pills down her throat is the most efficient way to get her there."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JyOVMCZXw
Malachi hands me the saw before grabbing a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawers.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3upbAJeweE
Kneeling down, he cuts the dead man's shirt down the middle. Malachi then removes the shirt completely before doing the same thing to each leg of his pants.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQnpx05hQ6
"Let's face it, Maverick" He begins, tossing the clothes into the garbage bag I'm now holding open. "Your life would be far lonelier if Lilliana fell onto the right path...that's why you keep her right where she is, yes?"
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIeJKOsbon
Dropping the bag down, I shake my head. "Fuck off, Malachi. Just because I've told you a few things and you've met her once doesn't mean you know what the hell is going on."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCGDtfdgfr
Malachi is right though.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iCavHVVPk
If Lilliana got healthy, it would mean leaving me behind. Then, who would understand me? Who would I be able to be almost myself with?
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQ9Yw2Dsuq
Understanding and relatability will go out the window, being replaced by pity and suggested therapy.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy3N72tyF7
"I hate to be the one to break it to you, Maverick..." Malachi says in a sarcastic, apologetic tone. "One never stays in the same spot when drugs are involved. You of all people should know that."
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3exequsen
I scoff, aiming to end the conversation with a sound of dismissal, but Malachi has no end.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLKDnphReI
"But disregard all that I said. Some call me delusional." He says with an easy shrug. "Let's motivate Lilliana. She'll be a success, yes?" He gives a chuckle and a shake of his head.
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRqgTTjweu
My eyes find the body I'm knelt next to, studying it but having zero thoughts of it. I'm thinking about Lilliana and the question ringing through the air....
17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XwTX60Fcf
What is Lilliana's purpose?
ns18.191.194.2da2
