Re: Alley Pond Park, Queens: Cerise & Clem & Cris
[Some would call it a lossa humanity, to grin, flash smiles at somebody over a body—a corpse—with such violence done to it, a person made nothing but a token, a matchstick meant to light unrest, but Cris saw it opposite. He understood respect, deep, but he thought, being able to still smile, even when you felt lotsa things—everything—all the time, even when you felt like nobody could be good in a world where stuff like this happened, if you could make a connection then—that was human. That was humanity, huh? A flasha something more, beyond this, beyond the bad.—Not that Cris was thinking philosophical right now. No. He caught Clementine's look, and he wondered how her and Penny were faring—if they were faring, what that all meant, given Penny's recent words 'bout Liv.
Even that was fleeting.
Most positive, curious thoughts were when you were hanging 'round the charred remains of a person with nothing between you and them but a medical-grade sheet.—It wasn't Cris' first time seeing this kinda thing, not just 'causea SVU, but Fallujah—hell, even being UC. Burning was a popular, cheap way to make somebody really suffer. And this poor woman definitely had. Worse, in some ways, if it was like Clementine said.
Cris was squatting there in the dirt, knees wide, eyes moving, as the two women talked. He didn't think this was drug-related—it didn't have anya the... kinda ceremonial signs (gangs had a waya doing things, huh? It was all 'bout rules). He would agree it was a guy's work. It was brutal, not exacting. This wasn't ritualistic. It was somebody who liked to watch people hurt, who liked fire, who liked power. A profile puzzled together in Cris' head, circumstantial, and he dropped the sheet to stand.] We'll get on lookin' at missing persons reports from the Bronx, see if that gives us anything. [A knuckle to his eye, his tongue over his bottom lip, then hands to his hips, he looked down.
Something occurred to Cris, and he drew his dark gaze to the woman in blues.] Ah, Clementine—can I talk to you a second? If Stone wantsta go check in with the finder.