"Uh... Trevor? You awake?"
Wade's voice cut through the silence that had filled Trevor's trailer for some time, only pierced by the somewhat shrill sobs that would occasionally emanate from the infant that the juggalo had been tasked with caring for, for almost a month. Though he often switched duties with a more than happy to oblige Ron, who Trevor was genuinely rather surprised that he hadn't had to blackmail into helping.
They'd kept him at the strip club, for a few days, until the cops had started sniffing around. Trevor had been spotted, by one of the men who lived at Crystal Heights, cradling a child, the authorities putting two and two together when the bodies of a couple had been discovered in one of the apartments. His exact identity was still a mystery but the the sighting had aroused too much suspicion. So Trevor had packed the infant, who the strippers and Wade had collectively decided to name Eli, overruling Trevor's demand to make the infant his junior, into his car and had driven the entirety of the six hour journey to Blaine County with the child in a cheaply made, second hand car seat.
The whole thing had utterly thrown Trevor off course, so he'd ordered his associates, friends by default, to take care of the infant. He'd spent the vast majority of his days days tracking down members of The Lost, or finding simple seeming operations that he could take over.
He did try, to think of somebody who would care for Eli, had even broached the subject to Maude while paying her a courtesy visit. He'd stopped short in his speech after spotting one of the convicts mulling around her trailer, coming to the conclusion that it probably wasn't the best environment to knowingly put a child into, purposely ignoring the fact that he'd left the poor kid with a paranoid tweaker and a amphetamine addicted juggalo, of course. And his own long list of crimes, but Trevor rarely took his own indiscretions into account.
Wade's irritating slur awoke Trevor, who had barely been asleep. That wasn't really the point, though. The male stood, limping from his bedroom and into the main body of his trailer, searching blindly for a baseball bat, some heavy item to hit Wade with. Punishment for awaking him.
"What the fuck do you want, you pathetic-" He cut short when he spotted Eli, sitting up, his nose pink and overall disposition groggy.
"Uh, I-I didn't wanna wake you, but... I think he's sick." Wade managed to smile a little pitifully, stopping short when he spotted the murderous glint in Trevor's gaze. He took a moment to gaze at the grumbling infant in the bouncer chair, who was sniffling and mumbling inane gibberish at Trevor.
"What did you do to him?!" Trevor barked, though he only sounded mildly angered.
"I-I don't know! I know Ron took him out for a ride when he got groggy... T-the other night." Wade stood almost defensively, stopping short suddenly, like he'd just remembered who exactly he was dealing with. Trevor muttered something scathing under his breath, kneeling onto the littered ground to pick up the child, unbuckling him from his bouncer chair. Eli was immediately held at arms length, like he was poisonous.
"What do you want, you little shit?" He muttered darkly. Usually, he kept his language and violent mannerisms to a minimum around the child, but it was hard. He was tired, hadn't taken anything in a day or two and the effects of withdrawal and exhaustion were plain to see.
"I was thinkin' he had a cold, o-or somethin', but it ain't all that cold outside." Wade noted, and Trevor's angry expression dropped to one of utter exasperation.
"Maybe he caught retard from his merry old uncle Wade, huh?" Trevor bared his teeth, grabbing the child and the aged Fatal Incursion backpack that Wade had taken to using whenever Trevor kicked him out of the trailer with Eli, as a diaper bag, of sorts.
Trevor practically bounced down the stairs of his decking, towards Ron's beat up old grey car that the infant's car seat was currently set in. Ron had left it unlocked, odd, for a man so paranoid as he, so Trevor didn't have to break the window open and risk hurting either himself, or Eli. He scrunched up his face, annoyed that the thought of them hurting the orange clad infant had really occurred to him.
Trevor simply drove. He headed towards the hospital, intent on having the baby checked out, though he knew it was probably a cold. His panic was half out of a genuine worry, frustration with himself that he'd left the child with two people who couldn't even look after themselves properly and, perhaps more so, the fact he did not want the death of a child on his concious. Trevor didn't even get past the convenience store before he stopped the car, though, beginning to really, visibly panic. Eli's disappearance had been covered on the television, in newspapers, vaguely, of course. Trevor had even been described, badly, but that wasn't the point. If he showed up with a child that had no hospital records, no mother, no nothing, he would immediately go down. For a child that he didn't give a crap about. Or maybe he did. Trevor didn't know.
He pulled up next to the 24/7 store, gazing down at the child, who looked tired. Every few moments, Trevor was absolutely sure he would fall asleep, only to witness the child sneeze, cough or sniffle his way into total lucidity again. He watched for longer than was necessary, thinking, behind the scenes. It was almost a full twenty minutes before plucking the sickly child from his car seat and staring at it.
"You've ruined my life, you know, you odious little turd. Everything was just peachy until Daddy decided that your Ma needed to die, and old Trevor got stuck with you. Now you're sick in the land of anti-vaccine rednecks, and I can't take you to the hospital, in case they recognize you and shove us both into half-brained care systems. Only mine will be a little more... Authoritarian." Trevor told the child scathingly. He waited for a response, but the thing merely blinked at him, sniffing.
"Well?" Trevor's fingers reached under Eli's sleeve, and he was ready to pinch the child, make him cry, to deal with his own frustration and upset. He stopped abruptly when the infant let out a wide, somewhat teary smile, Trevor stopping cold in his rambling tracks. He'd never seen him smile before. Not even smirk. The sight made him feel wanted, for the first time in so, so long. He was staring at someone who actually appreciated him, his presence. Despite the fact they were too young to sit up, or contemplate words. He felt loved.
A few hours later, Lester Crest received an email from someone he'd hoped wouldn't contact him again. He was most bitter that that particular 'friendship' tie seemingly could not be cut, no matter how hard he tried. He considered ignoring it, but curiosity got the better of him, as always.
u think u could do me a faver?
-T
There were many reasons this simplistic email annoyed Lester, who simply replied with a 'Why should I help you?'. He really wanted nothing more to do with Trevor, was already doomed to suffer a rather depressing fate without the maniac's presence. Sure enough, Lester received a reply not five minutes later.
cus i'm a old friend and u should help friends who are in need. i'm not doing it for me
-T
Trevor's response almost intrigued Lester. While part of him was tempted to just shuffle off to bed, he was tempted to probe. Which, after a few moments of tracing his fingers on the keyboard, he decided to do. This time, Trevor took far longer to respond, around half an hour. When he did, Lester wasn't quite sure he believed him.
if u must know, i found a baby in the cabbage patch and he doesnt have any docs. hes sick and i need 2 get him sum reel bad
-T
Lester's blood ran somewhat cold. He was an extremely articulate man, and the cogs in his brain began whirring. It didn't take long for him to link everything, much to his personal impression. the news article he'd read about a murdered couple and their missing infant, the balding, Caucasian male who had been seen smuggling a child out of the area. He'd had his suspicions immediately after reading the article, almost last mouth, but he'd thought nothing of it. It wasn't like him to be so crass, risk getting caught, show apparent concern for human life. He opened another tab, replying with a quick 'Sure, I'll look into it.' to Trevor as he drafted an email to Michael. Short and sweet, but enough to get the message across.
[AN: Apologies for the delay! I know exactly how I want the story to play out, but this chapter was pretty hard to write and didn't really turn out how I wanted it to. Nevertheless, it's coherent, and I know where I can go from here. The spelling mistakes in Trevor's emails were intentional, before I get flames~ Thank you for all the support and nice words, it really means a lot.]