That moment was something precious, something that truly stunned him down as Daisy, without even a hint of fear, just stared with her big eyes into his… but what stunned him even more was the fact that Daisy, this child… believes him, that he will help her… that's why the Trial was over, because out of nowhere, meeting him for the first time, she is believing him, she is trusting him… a complete stranger.
"So can you help me?" Again, her voice came, pulling him out of his thoughts, and what stood in front of him was… a child who didn't care about his past, didn't care about the life, the suffering, the blood he carried behind him. She simply saw him as someone who could help her.
She wasn't like those civilians who looked at him with pain every time he roamed the streets, the very people whose lives he had destroyed, pushed into deeper suffering.
"What would a little girl like you need from a man with a gun?" César asked, because it made no sense… why would a child ask for help when she clearly knew he was a danger, when she saw the gun in his hand more than a gun one he was ready to kill her with.
"I need help because… because there is no one else left to ask." She said softly, almost whispering.
No one else left.
How many times had he heard that? From dying men, from broken mothers, from people who begged him to spare, but hearing it from a child… it broke something inside him, something that he thought had died long ago.
"Please," she continued looking in his eyes. "You don't have to be a good man… just don't be the man who leaves me."
For a moment, a small, fragile moment even he didn't know which man he was anymore.
A child had manipulated him into something he never believed he was capable of anymore… offering help.
"With… what?" César asked with a kind of broken voice because even he didn't believe he was going to help… but at the same time, he realized something else too.
Daisy didn't really get scared by the gun itself, which could mean that she needs help with something that needs a gun… and if it's right then he can complete his Taste of Blood challenge quicker than he thought of doing.
"There are people who don't leave my mother alone." She said, and César immediately heard that change in her voice. It went much lower, much innocent, and for the first time… scared, but it didn't come off from her voice but her body movements.
She didn't look into César's eyes like she did moments ago, no… her eyes went immediately down to the ground, and her little hands were clutched into fists.
In that moment César felt that void inside him, that darkness opening up, because he thought something terrifying that can be happening with Daisy's mother… because even though the city looked great and social, there can be still areas, streets that are dangerous and full of fuckers. And how Daisy behaved was the exact thing that he thought of, not just that but he already experienced what darkness Sandira people are capable of doing.
In short he thought of the worst of the worst that could be happening to Daisy's mother, and moreover that she actually has seen it with her own eyes… but he still needed to ask it rather than just puzzling it on his own.
So he slowly knelt down to her level to be somewhat at a closer connection with her, to see that she can trust him… yeah trust… what a strange word that is to him, moreover that he wants to make trust.
But he only did it for Daisy and not from himself, he had seen the worst of the worst, he experienced it for him, whatever she was going to say it was just another day and another thing, but for a child expecting something that he thought of is just… brutal, so he was very careful with his words.
"Daisy… your mother, what job is she doing for a living?" César finally asked and he was waiting for an answer that would have made a lot of sense why she is like this.
Maybe a prostitute, that's why she is in dirty clothes, maybe she is a drug addict who gets used, or so on… but what he didn't expect was her answer to it.
"Judge."
Silence as she said it, César completely went silent and what she saw was him looking more and more confused about what the fuck is happening… like if she just said something he doesn't understand.
"A what…?"
"Judge… she sends people to jail... but sometimes people come to hurt us, so when it happens… I run to find somebody who can help."
As she said it again, César's mind just blew up even more because he thought of everything, but that her mother is a fucking judge was not on his list.
More importantly he just got even more confused about this whole thing. This random girl runs in an alleyway in dirty clothes and bruises to find somebody with a gun to help her, and then she said her mother is a judge… and well, as César thought about it, that's when the puzzle all came together.
Though it still missed some pieces, one thing he knew was that a judge can get protection from the police if she feels threatened… but then why not?
Why is her mother putting her and her daughter into danger?
Why does she send her daughter to look for random men who can help?
"What is your mama's name?" He asked as he pulled out his phone.
"Clara Givonno." She said straight, didn't even hold it back.
Givonno? What an obvious mafia name is that…
He thought as he got a bit surprised by the name, because in one of his lives Givonno was actually a cartel… how life changes.
He typed it into the browser just like before the cartels and corruption, and well he immediately understood why Daisy and her mother are getting attacked… which is a light word to use.
"What the fuck…"
"What?" Daisy asked as she saw César's face once again, just surprised and even more confused.
"Nothing just… your mama is… doing her job greatly." He said as he read through the news, and there were many… but moreover Daisy's mother was on a sentencing spree to say at least.
She sentenced four gang members for life, another two for death penalty… of course she is fucked with.
Yeah Daisy's mother was on a spree sending people to die in prison, more importantly she only dealt with gang members, not a single heavy hitter.
Stabbing, drive-by… two children died in a crossfire between two gang shootings… she put him on death row. He read it but still didn't understand there wasn't a word about what was happening with her.
Why is her daughter bruised, in dirty clothes, and asking for help— That's when he realized he didn't ask an important question that any sane and responsible adult would have done.
"Daisy, did you call the police or your mother? Or do—"
It was sudden as Daisy just straight up punched the phone out of César's hand.
"You can't call them!" She shouted into his face and even grabbed his hand. "They aren't doing anything and mother said the chief is working with them!"
"Chief?"
"The police chief!"
That moment… that word… and the meaning of it was the satisfaction on a level that he couldn't name, his skin crawled and his whole body just shivered from it… hearing what she just said.
"Corruption huh?"
The favourite word in his dictionary… a word that can mean so much, a word that can do so much, a word that can build or collapse empires… a word that can mean life or death, a word that holds more power than guns and blood.
Corruption, the pinnacle of the modern world and the thing he needs the most to start.
"Give me your hand Daisy and let's go save your mama."
She once again felt that different feeling rise inside her as she grabbed César's hand, and the smile on his face looked excited about something she couldn't understand even a little, but for her it was enough that someone was finally helping her… someone whose only goal was to get a taste of what was really happening behind Sandria's sweetness and smiles.
A person whose only goal is to rule over Sandria, and to do that he will use everything that is in front of him even if it's a mother with a child.