Satan's Little Angels

“Quentin, are you even listening to me?” a girl’s voice cut through the room.

Quentin didn’t answer right away. His eyes were fixed on the window, watching a man outside being beaten to death and then shot.

“I’m sorry—what?” he said finally, turning toward her. “I’m sorry, Kiki. What were you asking?”

“I was saying… have you heard from Mom at all?” Kiki asked softly.

“No? Why would I hear anything from her? She’s missing, isn’t she?” Quentin replied flatly.

“Yeah, but I thought you might’ve heard something from her,” Kiki said, her gaze falling to the floor.

“You know she probably won’t come back,” Quentin said, his tone matter-of-fact. “The chance of a missing person being gone for over a year and suddenly returning is basically zero.”

“Yes, I know,” Kiki murmured, clutching her hands together. “But don’t you think God has a plan to bring her back? Like Mom always says—God’s little angels always look after us.”

Quentin’s expression didn’t change. “Never heard Mom say that,” he replied coldly.

“I could’ve sworn she said something like that before,” Kiki whispered.

“She never said that,” Quentin said as he pulled out his phone, attention already drifting away.

“Anyways, how are you and Loko doing?” Kiki asked, leaning forward slightly.

“I chopped her head off and then dismembered her,” Quentin replied flatly.

Silence.

“Hm?” Kiki blinked.

“We broke up,” Quentin said casually.

“Oh… why?” Kiki asked, her voice softening with sadness.

“She broke up with me because I didn’t answer her enough on the phone.”

“Well, us girls can be touchy,” Kiki laughed.

“Yes, I know.” Quentin smiled faintly. “Girls never seem to stay with me long.”

“It doesn’t help that you’re on your phone all the time,” Kiki pointed out.

“What’s the point of talking to someone who doesn’t love you?” Quentin said, leaning back in his chair. “I can just look at my phone and find a new girlfriend. Maybe I’d get lucky.”

“So you were cheating on her?” Kiki asked, raising a brow. “What does that make it now—the hundredth girlfriend you’ve cheated on?”

“Yeah. I was,” Quentin answered, turning his gaze back toward the window.

“You know girls don’t like it when you cheat on them,” Kiki said plainly.

“I know,” Quentin replied, his tone distant. “But I wouldn’t do that to someone I actually loved.”

Outside, the dead corpse of a man lay bleeding into the street. Quentin stared at it for a moment, detached, before Kiki’s voice pulled him back.

“When we meet, why do we always come to the same place?” she asked.

Quentin turned his attention back to her, smiling lightly. “Because I love coffee. And this coffee shop is quite nice.”

“I mean, you do have a point there,” Kiki said, laughing.