#14

“Stay here.”

After returning to the hotel from the mall, Tennessee gave the order. The child, whose face looked bright in his new clothes, nodded.

Tennessee’s “Stay here” was uncannily identical in tone and pitch every time. The child fell into a fantasy. Perhaps Tennessee was actually a robot, and he just copied and pasted a single “Stay here” audio file every time?

“Then can I walk around the hotel?”

“Only where there are people. Not late at night.”

The child stared blankly at Tennessee as he prepared to leave.

Every time Tennessee, wearing a white dress shirt, bent his waist, the fabric tightened, revealing an upper body without a single ounce of excess fat. Due to the thin shirt, the contours of the muscles in his back and arms tensing and relaxing were clearly visible.

Would many people know that such scars existed beneath those thin clothes?

The child recalled the body full of gunshot wounds. Since seeing Tennessee’s bare upper body recently, he was aware that he was obsessing too much over the scars, but his attention kept returning there.

Tennessee finished his preparations quickly. Even though he hadn’t put any particular effort into his hair or attire, Tennessee looked sophisticated as he left the hotel room.

“It’s me. I’m here.”

The person on the phone was Megan. As Tennessee spoke, Megan opened the door, having apparently already spoken to the club bouncer. However, as soon as the door opened, he realized Megan hadn’t given the bouncer any such hint.

It wasn’t that he was allowed entry because of the owner’s permission. Today happened to be the day for a female stripper stage for a male-only audience. The place was full of naked women.

So that’s what the phrase on the letterboard meant.

“Hey! Tennesseeeee!”

Tennessee realized for the first time that lighting could also be loud. The music was so loud that it sounded like nothing more than noise.

If he had to choose, Tennessee preferred a bar or a diner over a club. It was even better to find a one-night stand in those places.

While heading toward Megan, he locked eyes with a woman nearby. After a brief nod of greeting, Tennessee turned his head away.

“Why did you call me?”

“What?! I can’t hear you! Just sit down first!”

“I asked why you called me.”

“What else? Do you think I called you just because I was bored? No, to be honest, I did call you because I was bored!”

If she was serious, he intended to flip this place upside down. Reading his expression, Megan let out a small gasp and gestured for Tennessee to follow.

The club office was located quite a distance away. They had to pass through the club and turn down a hallway. The club’s music could still be heard in the office, but for Tennessee, simply leaving that spot was a great comfort.

“First, this. I originally wanted to look into everything and give it to you all at once. But I need more time.”

The envelope Megan handed over was quite thick.

“The things you asked me to look into. About that guy named Huston. Some kid named Derek is also there. Do you want me to check who else was at the foster facility? I only dug into those two and didn’t look into the other kids.”

“It’s fine for now.”

As for the other children, he could just ask the child. Or, he could crush those two first and slowly expand the scope.

Tennessee stood up from his seat.

“And since you’re here, have a drink before you go. Help me boost the sales.”

“Just ask for the money instead.”

“That would be boring.”

Without replying, Tennessee left the office. It was a relief that smoking was permitted. Before pushing through the frantic crowds of the club, Tennessee lit a cigarette to take a brief break.

“……Um, hello.”

Tennessee looked up. The woman who had stepped out of the club door looked to be in her late twenties. A tank top and jeans. Judging by her attire, she wasn’t a stripper. Her arms and even her collarbones were densely covered in tattoos.

“I used to work under Megan, though not anymore. I’m a bartender. I DJ occasionally too.”

A hint of awkwardness was visible in the woman’s gestures and expression.

“What are you doing?”

Megan, who had followed Tennessee out, spotted the two. Realizing the situation, she waved her hand.

“Hurry up and disappear to your hotel or wherever.”

The woman’s face flushed slightly, and Tennessee extinguished his cigarette.

It was already early dawn by the time he entered the hotel parking lot where the child was. However, Tennessee did not open the door immediately. It was because a certain face he had just brushed past came to mind. A person he had seen once. A Hispanic man he had encountered while searching for Alejandro.

It seemed Alejandro couldn’t forget his recent grudge and was trying to pull some stunt.

As long as he drove this car, he wouldn’t escape his sight.

Pulling out his gun, Tennessee pondered for a moment. If it were the old him, he would have quietly dug a trap and waited. He would have welcomed them with open arms, allowing them to invade to their heart’s content.

But the fact that the child was here bothered him.

Should he hasten the parting with the child? Or should he strike Alejandro first? He had to make a decision soon.

After a brief moment of agony, Tennessee finally entered the hotel room. It was so late that he could smell the scent of the wind clinging to himself. As he bent his waist to take off his shoes, his disheveled hair tickled his eyebrows.

“Tennessee?”

It was the child’s voice. Despite it being well past bedtime, the voice was clear and alert.

“I waited because you took so long.”

“You didn’t have to.”

The child wanted to earn their keep in their own way—from small tidying tasks to running errands.

In truth, it wasn’t necessary. With his long military career and experience in overseas deployments, Tennessee was accustomed to an efficient way of living. Since his room didn’t get cluttered or messy to begin with, there wasn’t much that needed tidying. For minor chores, it was more convenient for him to just do them himself than to delegate.

However, Tennessee didn’t say anything because he liked seeing the child scurry around for a change. It showed a spark of life. It was a sight worth indulging, as the child seemed to find a sense of accomplishment in it.

But no matter how much of a debt of gratitude he felt, there was no need for the child to wait up until this late hour and fret.

“You aren’t hurt, are you?”

Perhaps it wasn’t out of a sense of obligation, but pure worry. The child, appearing with a disheveled face, stared blankly at Tennessee.

“I’m not hurt.”

“……I was worried.”

“……Right.”

At this point, Tennessee felt a slight pang of guilt. Even though it shouldn’t have mattered to him whether the child waited in the hotel for a few hours or a few days.

Who was this kid, anyway? Strictly speaking, it wasn’t as if he had done anything wrong. Yet, he couldn’t think of a particular response to the child, who had waited for him all this time with a face full of sleepiness.

Tennessee reached out and ruffled the child’s hair. The black hair, which he was touching for the first time, was as soft as the child themselves, slipping through his fingers like grains of sand.

Seeing the child form a faint, barely visible smile, Tennessee turned away. He felt grimey since he had come back without showering.

‘Sleep over here.’

He had rejected the woman who had said those words. He even wondered why he hadn’t rejected her sooner.

His dress shirt slid down his muscular arms, and the clink of his belt echoed as it hit the floor. After confirming the child was lying with their back turned, Tennessee lowered his black drawers as well. He then stepped into the bathroom.

Amidst the sharp sound of the heavy stream of water hitting the floor, the child slowly opened their eyes.

Along with a refreshing scent, the child remembered the hand that had stroked their head. They touched their hair, tracing where Tennessee had ruffled it. Their heart leaped, as if they had received a compliment. And immediately after, they plummeted without knowing where the bottom was.

It wasn’t a thrilling drop. It was frustration. Along with a faint scent of cigarettes, a different, thick smell clung to Tennessee.

The child bit their lip. Though they were at an age where they were ignored for being young, the child had grown enough to at least know what their own emotions were.

A sense of betrayal.

From that hand, which usually smelled of nothing but his unique scent and cigarettes, came the smell of dryer sheets and women’s perfume. It was an unsettlingly cozy scent. It felt like the kind of warmth from a real family, something they had never possessed. If they had a proper home, perhaps Tennessee and they would have smelled like that too.

Why was it like this? Unable to show it, the child only bit their lip hard. They could never tell Tennessee. He would surely find it annoying and get irritated. They were already a burden. They didn’t want to become a nuisance as well.

No, perhaps this emotion was only natural. The child suppressed the boiling feeling inside.

While Tennessee was out doing something somewhere, hadn’t they been anxious and worried about him? Even if Tennessee had just gone to meet a friend, they would have been angry.

He wasn’t usually this late; they had wondered if something had happened, how they could contact him if it had, and how they could help. They hadn’t even been able to sleep because of those thoughts. They had worried so much, and yet Tennessee was…… with someone…….

So, this sense of betrayal was only natural.

They had been mistaken. Since the moment they first met, he had always been alone, and they hadn’t even imagined that he would have a life of his own that they knew nothing about. It was a foolish mistake.

Eleven years old. Surrounded by this sense of alienation and betrayal, the child buried their face in the blanket.