Isaac trusted Caspar to do his job thoroughly, and that was what he did.
His piercing gaze did not leave Claire for even a second. His eyes lingered, watched, evaluated, judged, even misjudged from time to time. Caspar had been told before that there was something intimidating – and ‘quite creepy’, they’d said – about his eyes. That was an outsider’s opinion, anyways. Whether it was the shade of blue, or simply the way he sized someone up he couldn’t say. But he supposed, from the way Claire squirmed in her seat and was nervous throughout this whole thing, that he wasn’t quite helping with looking at her like he did.
Not that he’d stop. Again, this was his job.
The young man moved back to his seat behind the desk, listening to Claire attentively. Once seated, he reached for the pack of cigarettes and his lighter on the desk to have a smoke. Claire spoke on, maybe even rambled a bit, but she hadn’t bored Caspar yet and deserved a chance. Everyone did. Had Isaac not given Cas one, he wouldn’t be where he was now. He’d learned that, and many more things, from that man.
The lighter dropped onto the desk with a loud clang, cigarette between his lips to take the first drag. He blew out the smoke to the side, but still looked at Claire. There was something that had caught his attention. “You didn’t want to become a thug,” he repeated, “and yet, you’re here. I take you know what the Baldwin Boys are famous for.” Another drag, nicotine rushing through his body. “Tell me what happened to your college plans. And then I want to know why you’re truly here.”
Beads of perspiration had formed in her palms as she watched the man search for the pack of cigarettes. She had been convinced by her parent’s to let go of the cigarettes and the alcohol in order to allow herself to move on after her friend’s deaths, but it was hard. The sight of a bottle of alcohol was enough for her to begin salivating and the smell of a freshly lit cigarette caused her throat to go dry, nervous at the thought of falling back into old habits. The last thing that Claire wanted to do was disappoint not only her parents but the people who had given her the opportunity to take up a position in the Baldwin Boys.
The blonde managed to force a smile onto her lips although the bright blue orbs that traced her frame and examined her made her somewhat nervous. She was used to people making eye contact once or twice, but never before had someone examined her as though she were a prize being shown. If her palms had not already been sweating, she was certain that the flesh would be covered in beads of sweat now.
There was a moment of silence as she listened to the man’s words, a small nod following each sentence to signify that she understood completely. It would be naive for Claire, a woman who had grown up on the streets of Beaumont, not to pay any mind to the gang warfare that raged outside of her home. “I had nowhere else to go and my family has a long history of serving under the Baldwin Boys.” She swallowed a lump that had managed to form in her throat before she began speaking once more, forcing herself to appear at least somewhat confident about what she was saying. “I hadn’t necessarily expected to be thrown into the whole arsonist thing, I was more so looking for, I don’t know, maybe being a bartender or something?”
At the mention of her college plans, Claire’s orbs dropped to the wood panels that covered the floor. 1, 2, 3... She had to focus on the numbers to calm herself down, to hide the emotions that would surely present themselves as she discussed something that she hardly liked thinking about let alone discuss. “I had planned to go to college like most of the kids my age. My family had been super excited because I would be the first one not to join into the gangs.” The heavy feeling had already settled in her chest but she had to fight through to prove that she was just as worthy as the next hopeless individual who needed a job from the Baldwin Boys.
“I watched my best friends get shot at Balfour Boardwalk and after that, I just shut myself off. I turned to alcohol, cigarettes. I started to search for trouble. I would go out and look for someone who wanted to fight. Men, women, anyone.” Her eyes had filled with tears but the tears had not been due to sadness, instead it had been a result of her anger. “I lost my scholarship, I lost my friends, I even lost myself.”
“This is going to sound like a fucking cliche, but this group, these people it’s all I have now.”
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