Maverick's POV
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HacbmFRIB
Head rested back against the cars headrest, I stare at the roof.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLpjGCQJRy
The cars parked but I'm still battling with blacking out.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZ3uhfVMF8
I can't feel a thing.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡww7KCnovk3
Lilliana thinks I don't do drugs before getting my priorities done.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvbyL5aXyJ
I'm never really here.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4el2kWEwdA
To me, the world has no sound; how I like it. OxyContin, Lortab, and a lot of fucking weed make that so.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrhhOBC9xR
Lilliana doesn't know me. I'm a fucking monster.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvkZuSe2xP
But I try to be good to her...
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74PPn9uf8s
Everything about me changes when she's near. I conjure up every bit of humanity I have left and use it to save hers.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKIo4wUAwl
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1CKawu3be
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUHH3zhfEI
It was selfish of me.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ8pxxznoX
They say it takes one time...that what you don't pick up, you don't have to worry about putting down...
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9UGi26G0v
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3wy3mgPzb
I fed her that first pill.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gpcipf58r
It's a tough pill to swallow...to know that the likelihood of her current state being because of me...is extremely high...
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu6tiqnbhp
So I take a few other drugs with it, washing it down with self loathing.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3Zjkrg6Qs
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYj6fU6L9gp
Lilliana is the only reason I haven't put my nine to my head...though I still like to pretend sometimes.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qngK3CN43
I'm pissing away my life. The saddest part is that I don't mind it too much.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpj2GPe07s
The tap against my window brings me out of my thoughts. Not but a moment after, my door is swung open.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIFl7puHbx
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnSVSqx1Dm
Malachi is right.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0gYu7Pfun
I'd hate for the body in my trunk to rot there.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdmKmcrwqx
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpigh1Q43QX
Stepping out, I rub my palms along my face before dropping my hands down, allowing my vision to clear.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIIUeg6rSU
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnNJR0r2N9
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFehIkBNXl
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnyr0AN5Dc
Travis is a lunatic...
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdUIjcpaPh
Like us.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomsJJOZ4ph
"Don't you have something you want to talk to me about?"
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrHeiJMWcm
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpD82SrhQV
"Right now?" The bright light floods the porch, sending a pressure onto my eyes. "You want to do that now?"
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnfv7kuxJH
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiddtBY7mgy
I let out a puff of breath as the weight shifts, making me have to get a better grip on his ankles.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9qAiCOHyv
"Of course I know why now." He chuckles, grabbing ahold of the man again as his foot kicks open the door behind him.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUR0wISpFm7
I ignore his hint, saying without saying that Lilliana's looks are why they haven't met.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlL6Ns4B6x2
"She doesn't need to know anything, Malachi." I tell him. "I don't want her finding anything out."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sZcDtAy7M
"Like what?" He asks, going backwards into the house. "That before you set the world on fire, you want to kill everyone in it?"
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCJnVFyfGT
I give him an expressionless look, kicking the door closed again behind me as we enter fully.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyy7ybw3yeL
"Yes."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZCA9Sz4mr
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xMWNi3xmo
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78ul3ZXGFL
Malachi snatches a whiskey bottle up from the bar area in the corner. He sets a glass from the shelf down with a clank.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQCksjfAgZ
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DjB2WKWiL
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacaS4l3T9F
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFlVvgKnJO
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kdL2XAT88
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaInbM9FJYE
Malachi hands me the saw before grabbing a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawers.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnn13oBvub0
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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFHr3VTcLS
"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?"
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡye3V2idKT0
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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFKhrrIDGn
Malachi is right though.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cunC4kqt4
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?
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZ7smO32JN
Understanding and relatability will go out the window, being replaced by pity and suggested therapy.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeUwDIiBTg
"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."
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRlC04jaV6
I scoff, aiming to end the conversation with a sound of dismissal, but Malachi has no end.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPw1Ir2nEo
"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.
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLwaotSitp
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....
86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HQAU6UWgT
What is Lilliana's purpose?
ns216.73.216.238da2
