Everything was silent around Sundown apartments. Nobody wandered around outside. Not even the children played in the falling leaves. A faint odor of meth drifted in the air, which made Kazimir wonder who was brave enough to attempt cooking it there. Their landlord had a strict no drugs policy and made sure the cops frequented the apartment complexes.

Meth labs had a distinct stench that resembled cat piss and bleach mixed together. Kazimir never touched any of that stuff. Dealers in the past tried to convince him to sample some before, but he always turned down their offer. Cocaine was just as harmful, but he knew allowing other addictive drugs into his body would kill him for sure. He was surprised the coke hadn't stole his life yet.

Kazimir stood in front of his apartment door, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack. His gaze landed on his neighbor's window, where the apple-patterned curtains blocked his view. Would it be weird if he knocked on their door to check up on Barbara? She made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him after calling the cops, but maybe he could convince her that he'd just wanted to help. Maybe Jordy could come over there with him too.

"You sure you don't wanna crash at the hideout?" Emmett asked, ambling up the stairs with the artist's paint supplies. "It's free rent now that you're one of us, especially if you'll cook meals for us." He winked. "Besides, wouldn't it be safer with us?"

Kazimir blushed. "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks."

The artist knew he couldn't keep accepting free offers from the Voiceless Rebels. He'd already gotten himself in too deep with them. He needed to figure out how to stand on his own two feet again.

After unlocking the door with his key, Kazimir crossed the foyer. Virtual gunshots echoed throughout the room as Jordy shot at some zombies on their plasma television screen. A Chinese takeout bag laid on the table beside an energy drink can and a stack of mail. Probably all bills.

"Hey man, you're back." Jordy looked up at them after he paused his game. "What's the Wallflower waiter doing here?"

"I was just helping Kaz bring his stuff back," Emmett replied.

"Gotcha. So, your shoulder's better now?" Jordy asked him.

Kazimir nodded. "Much better. It's still a little sore every now and then, but it's healing."

"That's good to hear," Jordy told him. "Have you been keeping up with the news lately?"

"Yeah, the police are still trying to pin Hank's murder on me. Crazy, right?" Kazimir dropped his backpack on the floor and plopped down on the couch beside him. "You know I'd never hurt Hank, right?"

"Of course I know that. They're just working every angle and trusting that damn eyewitness of theirs," Jordy replied. "I told Adam there's no way you'd do this. I was your alibi the entire night too."

"Thanks. I'm glad you're on my side, Jordy."

Jordy nodded. "It's a damn shame about what happened to Samantha too. I know she's just doing all this to find out what happened to Luca. She's always been so obsessed with figuring out who killed him. It's finally gotten to her and made her snap. She told me someone from the Voiceless Rebels attacked her. Didn't know who though and got mad when I kept pressing her over it."

Kazimir swallowed hard, sneaking a glance at Emmett. Initially, he'd been surprised by Samantha refraining from telling Jordy everything.  Then, it occurred to him that she just didn't want to get Jordy involved with their dangerous gangs and end up like his older brother.  She probably didn't want to ruin their friendship either, but Kazimir knew he couldn't keep withholding everything from his roommate.  He deserved to know the truth.

Emmett placed Kazimir's paint supplies on the coffee table. "I think it was the work of the Black Vipers. I could be wrong though. I know they're fucking nuts. The Voiceless Rebels are too though, so I don't know."

"Samantha was working for the Black Vipers too," Kazimir replied. "But she told me before how she'd only gotten involved with them to get revenge and take them down."

Jordy rose an eyebrow. "She said that?"

"Yeah. She made me keep it a secret from you." Kazimir pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly. "I think she knew you'd try to talk her out of it."

"They loved each other." Jordy sighed. "Luca planned to marry her someday. After he died, she became closed off. She never wanted to talk about him after his funeral. Nobody did, really. After we buried Luca, it was as if he'd disappeared from existence. I guess it was just too painful for anyone to speak about. I think our family was ashamed too, since it got leaked that my brother had gotten addicted to meth at that point too."

"I remember that," Emmett said. "An inside source from the Voiceless Rebels came forward. He told that news investigator everything, with proof too, and kept his name off the air when it all came out."

"They aired it on the day of Luca's funeral too." Jordy shook his head. "That was so wrong. Adam was pissed off about it, but there wasn't anything they could do. Freedom of the press bullshit. I wouldn't have been so upset had they at least waited a while, but no. They had to trash my big brother during his funeral. That's why we don't talk much about him anymore. The media portrayed him as a horrible junkie who turned on the cops."

"Which was far from the truth. I heard Luca was a great cop. He just got in too deep with the gang and got addicted. His goal had always been to take down the Voiceless Rebels, especially their leader." Emmett scratched the side of his neck. "Luca used to come in to the Wallflower all the time with his partner, Adam. Sometimes, I'd overhear cases they were working on. I probably shouldn't have listened in, but I couldn't help it." Emmett forced out a nervous chuckle.

"The Wallflower's always been mine and Luca's favorite place to eat. Our mom used to be a waitress there. She used to bring us to work with her sometimes when she couldn't find a babysitter." Jordy smiled. "We used to sit in the back either coloring or playing some little portable game."

"Aww, that's sweet," Kazimir said.

Emmett checked his cell phone. "I hate to cut the conversation short, but I gotta get going. I picked up an extra shift this afternoon since we're short on staff. Neither of you happen to need a job, do you?"

"Haven't you been job hunting again?" Jordy asked Kazimir, who paled.

"Uh, yeah." Kazimir didn't tell his roommate how he lost his old job over a month ago because he hadn't passed a random drug test. That would be too embarrassing to admit.

Emmett smirked. "Come by whenever you're free. Just bring a copy of your resume. I'm close with the manager there. I'm sure I can help you get the job."

"Sure thing." Kazimir glared down at his feet, clad in fuzzy socks.

"I'll see you later then, Kaz."

"See ya," Kazimir murmured as he watched Emmett walk away.

Working alongside the gang leader was sure to land him in a heap of trouble.

🎨

The sun shrunk beyond the horizon as Kazimir focused on his latest painting. He depicted a beautiful fall afternoon with children frolicking in the crisp leaves. Despite how he was being framed for murder, he continued working hard on his artworks in hopes of being able to showcase them at the art gallery again someday.

Everything kept changing, much like the seasons. Happy memories morphed into hideous nightmares and hopes became doubts. Kazimir missed Hank so much. Not a day went by when he didn't wonder who took such a bright light from their town. He'd also become quite interested in Luca Patterson's case too. Kazimir couldn't help but wonder if the two could somehow even be connected through the gangs. There was something about Luca that Emmett and the others weren't telling him, but what could it be?

A knock on the door ripped Kazimir from his thoughts. Jordy called out, "Hey, are you busy?"

"Just painting," Kazimir replied. "What's up?

Jordy opened the door. "I was about to head out to the library with a study group. We planned to go out to eat afterword, and I wanted to see if you wanna come with us."

"Sure, just let me clean up real quick. I can let my painting set here to dry," Kazimir explained as he stood from his wooden stool.

"Really? Awesome. We'll be with my English classmates," Jordy replied. "One of them is gonna bring his girlfriend too. She's not a student at our university though. Maybe you could see if Everly wants to come too."

Kazimir blushed at the suggestion. "I think Everly's got a boyfriend, actually."

"Damn. That's too bad. Y'all would've made a cute couple," Jordy said.

"She probably wouldn't be interested in someone like me anyway."

"Don't put yourself down like that, man. Everly would've been lucky to have ya. Anyway, I'm gonna go grab my school stuff. Then we'll get going."

"Alright. Just let me clean this up here and I'll be right down," Kazimir told him.

Bundled up in his coat and trapper hat, Kazimir headed out with Jordy to the library in his roommate's old pickup truck. The little shops that hadn't gone out of business downtown hung Halloween decorations up, hoping the festive décor would bring more customers in.

In an alleyway between Flora's Flower shop and Kittredge's law office, a drug deal went down. Kazimir witnessed the exchange from the passenger side window as they drove by. He didn't think Jordy seen it, so he kept quiet about it.

When they reached the public library, Jordy struggled to find a parking space. All the front row places were occupied, so they had to park toward the back and walk up. The library was packed on the inside mostly with little kids, which Kazimir found peculiar, until he saw the sign about there being a Star Wars movie showing in the children's fiction section.

Jordy led him to a table near the science fiction section, where his roommate's friends gathered. He just hadn't expected Emmett's right hand man, Alfie to be there.

"Took you long enough," Alfie said, grinning. 

Frozen like a deer caught in the headlights, Kazimir remained near the cavernous book shelf. Alfie's dark brown eyes looked him over as his heart hammered in his chest. Kazimir then recalled how Emmett mentioned his right-hand man attending New Syracuse State College.

After steeling himself, Kazimir forced his leaden legs to carry him over to an unoccupied chair among Jordy's classmates. Everyone introduced each other. Alfie and Kazimir played along, pretending to not recognize one another. Two other unfamiliar guys chatted about their book reports while Alfie and Jordy worked on their project.

Alfie's girl, Rylee, had jet black hair trimmed in a cute pixie cut clung to Alfie like gum to the sole of his shoe. She wore dark black eyeshadow and eyeliner that really stood out. After fiddling with her earring, she leaned over to kiss Alfie on the cheek, then whispered something in his ear that got her giggling.

Minutes ticked away like hours. Kazimir had never cared much for his English courses in school.

"I'm gonna head outside for a smoke," Kazimir told them as he stood. The chair's legs squeaked against the floor.

"I'll join ya." Rylee sprung from her seat, coming up beside him. She was just a few centimeters taller than him and smelled like pumpkin spice.

They settled down on a bench outside to smoke. Kazimir plucked two cigarettes from his carton and handed her one before lighting them both.

Rylee grinned as she blew a puff of smoke to the air. "It's nice to finally meetcha, Kaz. I would've welcomed you back at the hideout, but I've been kinda preoccupied."

Kazimir coughed, shocked by what she'd said. He whispered, "You're in the gang too?"

"Sure am, thanks to Alfie. He's a really nice guy," she replied.

"What exactly do you do?" Kazimir asked. "I mean, I know Everly takes care of security."

She snorted. "That Barbie bitch is just around cuz her brother's the leader. She ain't shit. She can't even fight."

Fidgeting on the bench, Kazimir inhaled his addictive nicotine. "I think Everly's really nice too."

"I'm sure you do," Rylee muttered, rolling her eyes. "I usually help with dealing. They never let me go alone since I'm a woman and an addict too," she explained. "I think they're more worried about me stealing their supply. They know I can take care of myself."

"I see," Kazimir murmured. "Do you live at the hideout?"

Rylee shook her head. "I've got a trailer of my own. Alfie don't like it though. Said it's too nasty there. I can't help it when the neighbors bugs come crawling over." She scratched at her leg. "That's why I come over there to see him sometimes. If I'm not preoccupied."

"Would it be too nosy of me to ask what you mean by preoccupied?"

"Getting high on Molly." Rylee grinned, exposing her slightly yellowish teeth. "Don't tell Alfie. He hates it when I take anything." 

"Your secret's safe with me."

"I heard you're an addict too." Rylee rested her head against his shoulder, almost seeming to nod off.

Kazimir looked around the vacant area, almost expecting someone to be listening. "Yeah, I am. I took some coke a few hours ago."

"How fun." Rylee giggled. "I like you, Kaz. We need to hang out together. Get high together. Tell this world it can fuck itself."

"Yeah, fuck this place," Kazimir said, nodding along in agreement.

After their smoke, Kazimir put his cigarette out in the ashtray while Rylee just stomped hers on the sidewalk. They hurried back inside before they froze to death out there. Instead of returning to their friends studying group in the back, Rylee tugged on Kazimir's arm and led him back into the nonfiction section. Unsure of what else to do, he allowed the boisterous young woman to lead him through the cavernous shelves.

That old stale book smell lingered in the air. Kazimir had never cared for literature or reading. It was difficult for him to concentrate on tedious things like that. As a child, he'd reach chapter one then take a break and do something else, usually forgetting all about the story. As an adult, he never even bothered with reading fiction. He'd rather spend his hours covered in paint, creating lovely portraits and abstract artworks. Not with his nose buried in some tale that he couldn't keep up with.

How the hell could people sit and read hundreds of words? He'd never understand it.

"What are we doing?" Kazimir asked softly.

Rylee plucked out an old dictionary and opened it, revealing the hollowed out space. A substantial amount of weed in a bag had been wedged inside it. "I volunteer here. We get bored sometimes, so we come back here to get high. Don't tell anyone though. I'm sharing our special stash with you."

Kazimir and Rylee spent the next few minutes smoking weed with a bong she retrieved from the back employee lounge. He let his worries fade away as he got high. If Jordy or Alfie realized what they were doing, it was sure to be disastrous, but Kazimir didn't care in that moment. They'd never find out.