Maverick's POV
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmJU8YDhYf
Head rested back against the cars headrest, I stare at the roof.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SptdXJ7cm
The cars parked but I'm still battling with blacking out.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0ZZ9elNWN
I can't feel a thing.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuBpq0NEZO
Lilliana thinks I don't do drugs before getting my priorities done.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKV0Bw42nkW
I'm never really here.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVnFIWTPjP
To me, the world has no sound; how I like it. OxyContin, Lortab, and a lot of fucking weed make that so.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6s4mXB36Z6
Lilliana doesn't know me. I'm a fucking monster.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8GCq0koRj
But I try to be good to her...
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVkIuJZ1vb
Everything about me changes when she's near. I conjure up every bit of humanity I have left and use it to save hers.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3x8IXl7Oge
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvjoLTyvaa
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGbVw2npuG
It was selfish of me.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqdJiy8IhQ
They say it takes one time...that what you don't pick up, you don't have to worry about putting down...
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH1yJGEuYL
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuO89RYt2j
I fed her that first pill.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIyo5m9Sk5
It's a tough pill to swallow...to know that the likelihood of her current state being because of me...is extremely high...
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcVACeGDwm
So I take a few other drugs with it, washing it down with self loathing.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctH5ymimWo
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtda2ymuNxy
Lilliana is the only reason I haven't put my nine to my head...though I still like to pretend sometimes.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH2KHKduks
I'm pissing away my life. The saddest part is that I don't mind it too much.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj6tTdcYbG
The tap against my window brings me out of my thoughts. Not but a moment after, my door is swung open.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ627KeD1dRV
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kcPGWDGhW
Malachi is right.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPd3HVm2Nee
I'd hate for the body in my trunk to rot there.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oeDGQcQCc
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLzSirxj4x
Stepping out, I rub my palms along my face before dropping my hands down, allowing my vision to clear.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMz8ODTVuZ
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDvxnITMVu
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zEIjcjS7z
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEovWgFNhP
Travis is a lunatic...
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47CHi1wxbz
Like us.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGb2yMFcSLm
"Don't you have something you want to talk to me about?"
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRE8Pj3RmQ
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmTEqcshj5
"Right now?" The bright light floods the porch, sending a pressure onto my eyes. "You want to do that now?"
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEXGd4sNQl
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpzkjnlG9G
I let out a puff of breath as the weight shifts, making me have to get a better grip on his ankles.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeB28zv5cQ
"Of course I know why now." He chuckles, grabbing ahold of the man again as his foot kicks open the door behind him.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZh0fgVdpL4
I ignore his hint, saying without saying that Lilliana's looks are why they haven't met.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XEPJiezvS
"She doesn't need to know anything, Malachi." I tell him. "I don't want her finding anything out."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEcs7FSd9b
"Like what?" He asks, going backwards into the house. "That before you set the world on fire, you want to kill everyone in it?"
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DEwX3AAMG
I give him an expressionless look, kicking the door closed again behind me as we enter fully.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A7xA3DMVw
"Yes."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpBG95KvbK
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kmx0mUZbp
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8FrX641YR
Malachi snatches a whiskey bottle up from the bar area in the corner. He sets a glass from the shelf down with a clank.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj52huuiF6J
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBp8zOhdxSK
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcWveVeonI
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIn3jNhii7
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszJ2Ls8KeE
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdsEJEQzOZ
Malachi hands me the saw before grabbing a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawers.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnKshvXhLJ
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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vXbwzxZ3Q
"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?"
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJh5heS0Lnk
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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTG3sHuL6x
Malachi is right though.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbToWfrgql
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?
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFodPFy2np
Understanding and relatability will go out the window, being replaced by pity and suggested therapy.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDv2fRb89LU
"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."
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWMWYcNr2g
I scoff, aiming to end the conversation with a sound of dismissal, but Malachi has no end.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcaSHWNoTM
"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.
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3G5jvZtRj
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....
66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0AAX5yhXw
What is Lilliana's purpose?
ns216.73.216.8da2
