wild star| ongoing

thirteen

CHAPTER 13:
November 14th, 2015
• • •

"How're you holding up?"

Maverick shrugged his shoulders before he took a sip of his coffee. "I'm a bit better. Still a little shaken up though."

Keith understood that feeling. He remembered the feeling of seeing a dead body on the job for the first time, though he wasn't shaken to the extent that Maverick was. Still, it was traumatizing, and it made him question the fragility of human life. 

"I hope we find out who did that to her," he said, his sad eyes following pedestrians as they walked down the sidewalk. "And I feel so bad about her kid. She was so young, and now she'll be in foster care for God knows how long. It sucks, man."

A lot of things about life sucked, but one couldn't opt out. Keith had to learn that the hard way. "Hey, we're lucky enough to still be here, so lighten up." He drank his coffee. It was the shitty, low-quality stuff they picked up at the gas station. "And keep an eye out for anything suspicious. A lot of shit goes down in this neighbourhood and I don't want to write any more homicide reports."

It was almost four in the afternoon, and he had two hours to go before he could clock out and go home. So far, the day had been uneventful, save for a few speeding tickets he'd given to some jackasses going above the limit. But other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary. And if he was being completely honest, he hadn't been able to think clearly since he left the apartment at six this morning.

It was risky to leave Brandy all alone with River, given that the likelihood she'd try to make another escape was high, but he had set her straight yesterday – at least that was what he hoped he had accomplished.

Women and their emotions. She took everything to heart, even when all he was trying to do was protect her from herself and people like Grant. He didn't trust the guy as far as he could throw him, and he knew that he was trying to take advantage of the situation that Brandy was in. She was vulnerable right now, easy to persuade. Whatever agenda he had, Keith squandered it. He was her boyfriend, he understood her better than anybody else, and it wasn't Grant's place to intervene when no intervention was needed.

It just pissed him off that she opened up so quickly to a stranger. For three years, he'd stuck by her, paid for her rehab, paid her rent, paid all their bills, and now that some other guy looked in her direction, she was suddenly questioning their relationship. 

His fingers tightened around the paper cup. Does she think she can leave me after everything I've done for her? 

He was putting up with her because he loved her. Otherwise, she wasn't much to look at, not since she'd lost weight and her face lost its youthful glow. He kept her around because she relied on him and because she was the mother of his child, whether he liked it or not. There wasn't anything he didn't do for her – he gave her a place to stay when she first left home and was practically homeless, he supported her attempts to get clean, he turned a blind eye to her drug use, he had communicated with her shady dealers on her behalf, he let her keep River instead of aborting him, and he fucked her good. He did everything right, he gave her the luxuries she couldn't afford back home in Long Island, but she always seemed to forget so quickly.

If he wanted to, he could destroy her, but he wouldn't. Why? Because she was suffering as is. She was already paying for her sins.

"...pregnant with our first. She told me this morning."

At the sound of Maverick's voice, Keith's mind cleared, and he looked over at his partner.

"What did you say?" he asked, hoping he hadn't missed anything important.