Though seeing Kit seated on the hood of his car with different poses while one of the men took his pictures was not what Maxwell was expecting to meet outside the stuffy, foul-smelling motel, it was far better than the alternative that could have happened.
"Sorry I touched your car, dawg" Kit said unapologetically as he moved away from the car.
Maxwell could see the man was deliberately taunting him because of his first statement the other time.
He ignored the man and entered the car.
Roy settled the man and gave him some more instructions.
Then he quickly joined Maxwell in the car.
"I am sorry that it took longer. I was just making sure we were on the same page. Kit has a mind to do what suits him best sometimes. Just making sure," Roy said as he put on his seat belt.
"It is fine. So, are we good?" Maxwell asked as he started the car.
"Yes, sir. He would make sure nobody bothers them there, and they would only take the new things we get in there after they have been taken away."
Kit grinned and winked at him as the light flashed on him and his men, but Maxwell simply ignored him and turned.
Yeah, he knew their type, and he probably would have handled things better if he had not been so shocked and wary when he arrived.
He drove faster than he did when he was coming. It was almost as if something was on his heels.
Maxwell dropped Roy off at the bus stop and bade the man good night.
The private investigator had not bothered to come with his car, which was a wise thing to do considering what could have happened to Maxwell's car if things had gone sideways.
Maxwell unconsciously breathed the clean, fresh air in deeply to cleanse the stale air that seemed to have followed him out of that goddamn area.
Maxwell suddenly realised one of the reasons why he had felt out of sorts back there.
Those were the kind of places he had stayed after he was forced out of his own home by Susan's mother.
That was the kind of place he had learned to fight to win.
As scary as it seemed, he could almost see the semblance of what his future might have been in Kit.
He felt such a rush of gratitude for Don for his impact on his life.
Though he had made his way eventually, Don had been an important factor in the reason why he had not gotten sucked into that kind of lifestyle forever.
Don had helped him when he needed it. Now was the time to pay that favour forward.
Family or no family, he wouldn't stand around and let those kids get sucked into what might be a potential reason for them to end up like the likes of Kit.
Yet, Maxwell knew beyond doubt that he was not going back to that place.
He just couldn't.
That place reminded him of an ugliness he wanted nothing to do with.
His sick step-sister and the asshole didn't deserve that much.
Left to him, they deserve nothing at all.
That night, Maxwell's resolve changed.
He knew he was no longer doing this just because of his father. His step-sister could go to hell if she wanted, but she wouldn't drag those kids along with her.
Maxwell thought of just calling Steve, so he could hand the two of them over to the KDLEA.
But then he remembered how easily Susan had escaped at first.
There was also the pending issue that Steve talked about.
If their suspicions were correct, she might end up in jail for the rest of her life.
That delirious cr****ead who couldn't keep her eyes open for two seconds might as well confess to anything in her state as much as she was promised a whiff of c**e, so Maxwell knew he had to make her get better first.
Though the two of them were scums that Maxwell would be happy to get rid of once and for all, he knew the kids would always want to see them.
So, they had to get better first.
The government rehab had failed when it was just one of them, so Maxwell thought of what else he could do.
It came to him just as he realised he had taken the wrong turn and was on the road that led to Reyona's home.
"What the…" he parked by the roadside and swore out loud at the messiness of his mind.
His subconscious nudged him with the thought "Why not? You know you want to be with her the most right now"
Maxwell shook his head and dragged his mind back to what he was thinking of earlier.
First thing first.
He pulled out his phone and dialled the number that most people who have dealings with her have no idea existed.
The call was picked up on the second ring.
Nothing but silence greeted him from the other end and Maxwell was not expecting otherwise.
"Hello, Don. I…"
"It is Serena now, remember? What do you want?"
**********
Less than thirty minutes later, the call was disconnected.
The weight on Maxwell's mind had lessened considerably.
Despite Don's retort of "I am not one of your men to command, you know?", she asked for the details in the same breath.
Maxwell was certain that the deed would be done before the night was over.
Don would handle those two so well that by the time he was done, those two would willingly seek sobriety.
When the guilt of not telling Steve wanted to intrude on his mind, Maxwell reminded himself that he was going to tell him soon.
He just wanted those idiots to be sane enough to at least recognise their kids first.
Yeah, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was concerned that the implied allegations might be true after all.
Nothing at all to do with that.
Maxwell sent a message to Roy and set his phone aside.
Then he stared towards the direction of Reyona's home.
He looked at the time, and he could see that it was only a few minutes past eleven.
They should be back at home now, right?
Maybe they were still wherever Celia had in mind.
Maxwell was glad that at least one of them was enjoying themselves that night.
Yet the urge to be with her was just so strong.
He knew this was not a wedding like any other.
It was nothing but a fake arrangement to which he had proposed.
It was a different thing to know that in his head, yet his heart yearned for something else entirely.
But then he knew he did not have the right.
Not only was he nothing to her, but he had deceived her too.
Maxwell's heart grew heavy as he thought of how much more she would hate him if she realised that they didn't have to do the fake marriage after all.
She had only agreed because the children's parents were not around.
When Roy called him that afternoon as he was getting prepared to leave for the registry, he had been filled with mixed feelings.
Should he cancel the appointment?
Should he tell her what one of his private investigators had found?
They had been found unconscious in an alley.
It had not taken more than a few explanations from Roy for Maxwell to know that finding those fools right now would make no difference to the plight of the children.
It might even worsen it because it would give the ministry more ground to take the children away.
Why on earth would they want the kids to be with two parents who couldn't even keep their eyes open?
Maxwell had known that the best thing was to just go ahead with the arrangement.
Yet he wanted so badly to tell Reyona about it, but he couldn't.
He was more than certain that she would put a stop to everything.
Maxwell didn't want that to happen, so he simply went along with it even as he dreaded what would happen when she found out.
So, despite how much he wanted to see her face that night or at least her voice through a call, he couldn't.
He couldn't trust himself not to tell her anyway.
Since that would only ruin things more than fix them, he decided to let her be for the night.
They would see each other the next day anyway.
It would be the day they found out if their arrangement was for nothing after all.
He turned around and headed home.