by Red Phoenix
He makes arrangements to be transferred to the private hospital, and my four brothers take him there personally, wanting to evaluate the place themselves. They leave the facilities satisfied he is under excellent care.
I have the staff continue his daily dosage with a new diet of porridge, which is now delivered by a comely nurse. Despite being violently ill, the pathetic bastard flirts with her as he consumes his own sickness.
On the day of reckoning, I call Titov and tell him to meet me there.
I have waited for this day ever since I watched my mother die in my arms and learned of his treachery in connection with Tatianna’s kidnapping.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask Titov, wondering if he may be having second thoughts about killing a man.
His eyes flash with anger. “I was ready the day Tatianna was taken from us.”
I nod in agreement.
We walk into the room together.
“Father,” I say in a low, icy tone.
His eyes dart up and I revel in the look of terror on his face.
“That’s right, Father. I’ve come to collect on my debt, and I brought a friend with me.” Turning to Titov, I say, “You remember Tatianna’s brother, don’t you?”
His eyes widen with fear and he starts pressing the nurse’s button repeatedly, crying out for help.
The pretty nurse comes in and smiles at him before walking over to me. I kiss her on the lips. “You have done well,” I praise her, grabbing the back of her neck in order to kiss her more passionately.
When I let go, I smack her on the ass. “You may go now.”
She bows and then looks over at my father and gives him a cute little wave goodbye.
Vladimir’s jaw hangs open when he realizes there is no one to rescue him from his fate.
“Grab a seat and let’s sit for a chat,” I tell Titov.
We drag chairs to opposite sides of the bed and sit down.
“This isn’t right,” Vladimir tells me in his stern, fatherly voice.
I laugh, remembering when that tone used to bring fear to my young heart. “What isn’t right, Father? The fact that you killed Tatianna, or the fact that you had Mamulya’s throat slit?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I know about the inheritance.”
His eyes flash with fear. “Whoever told you that is playing you for a fool, Anton.”
“Really? Is that why Nikolay has given me permission to kill you?”
“Liar! The Koslovs would never allow such a thing. I’m under their protection.”
“Unfortunately, the Koslov brothers are not in charge. It was stupid of you to think they were.” I move in closer. “Whatever deal you made with them is null and void.”
His eyes grow wide and he shakes his head. “All lies!”
“Two innocent women are dead because of you.”
He clamps his mouth shut, refusing to speak.
I graze the back of my hand against his cheek before I slap it hard.
The feared sadist, Vladimir Durov, lets out a whimpering cry.
“I always knew you were a coward,” I tell him.
He steels his jaw and glares at me. “You will be dead if you go through with this.”
I smile grimly. “We’re all going to die, Father. However, most of us don’t know the hour of our death.” I look up at the clock. “You have exactly one.”
I watch his heart race on the monitor as he stares at the clock.
“Why don’t we talk man to man? I might let you live.”
He glares at me distrustfully.
“Go ahead, Titov. Ask him anything.”
Titov’s eyes are full of murderous anger. “Tatianna was an innocent, you motherfucking bastard!”
Vladimir shrugs, seemingly immune to Titov’s pain. “So? The cunt wanted to fuck Anton. That was enough reason to sell her.”
Before I can stop him, Titov has his hands wrapped around Vladimir’s throat.
I pry him away and look Titov in the eye. “No marks.”
Titov snarls, but nods, shooting daggers of hate toward my father. “You knew nothing about her, but you sold her to a slaver and condemned her to death!”
“Her only responsibility was to pleasure men. If she couldn’t handle that, she must have been weak. I’ve done much worse to my own subs and none of them died from it.”
Both Titov and I cannot contain our fury and risk ending him prematurely. Fortunately, I’ve come prepared and hold up a thin hand towel and spray bottle of water, handing them to Titov. “Waterboarding will have the same effect as strangulation but will leave no marks. Have at it.”
I look at the clock before I leave the room, telling Vladimir, “It looks like you only have fifty minutes left.” I see the heart rate monitor spike, and I smile to myself as I leave Titov to reconcile Tatianna’s death by spending time with the man.
I don’t return for a full thirty minutes, but when I head back into the room I find Vladimir’s arms now tied to the rails of the bed. He is silent.
His pupils are wide with fear as his eyes remained glued on Titov.
Titov nods to me before leaving the room.
I walk over to my father and glare at him, letting the minutes slowly tick down.
“I loved Tatianna like you loved Mamulya.”
“I know,” he croaks. “That’s why she was chosen.”
My heart starts racing as I clench my fists, furious that I can’t end him with my own hands.
Through gritted teeth, I ask, “If you loved her, why did you kill Mamulya?”
“It’s your fault my wife is dead!” he cries out. I’m shocked to see tears in his eyes. He looks up at me, unleashing his wrath. “I did everything in my power to get rid of you, but like the cockroach you are, you wouldn’t die. That beautiful woman is dead because of you.”
I stare at him, completely numb.
“If you had killed yourself, she would still be alive today. I blame you for losing her.”
I narrow my eyes. “How can money mean that much to you?”
“You know nothing about life. Without money, you’re nothing.”
“Before you die…” I look up at the clock. “…in approximately twelve minutes, I want you to know that you will be erased from history. I will see to it personally. No one will know your name, and no one will ever speak of you again. As far as history and the rest of the world are concerned, you never existed.”
I see the terror in his eyes and he screams at me, “I wish you had never been born!”
I look up at the clock again, “In eight minutes, it will be as if you never were.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t do this. I’m certain we can work something out, son.”
I resent him calling me that, and growl, “I am not your son!”
He smiles. “Like it or not, you are.”
I snort, looking at the clock. “Not in six more minutes.”
The monitor spikes again and he stammers, “You… you will go to hell if you do this.”
“So?”
“God will never let you reunite with either of them if you murder me.”
“I will gladly suffer hell knowing their killer was brought to justice. Tatianna is dead, my mother is dead, and now you will be, too.”
My father suddenly blurts out, “I’ve had a man trailing you.”
“Your man isn’t very good,” I laugh, remembering the out of shape stalker I chased in the dark.
“You were supposed to return home when I left the threat with your friend. But you couldn’t even do that right.”
I raise an eyebrow. “So, that was you?”
He nods, giving me a superior look. “When you failed to return to Russia, I put out a contract on your friends. That gorgeous blonde will be the first casualty.”
I actually laugh and look up at the clock again. “You only have four minutes left.”
“The only way to prevent their deaths is to release me now.”
I get up and walk to the door, letting Titov back in. I pick up the rubber gloves and slip them on, looking at Vladimir.
Picking up a small black vial, I ask, “Do you know what’s in here?”
He shakes his head, staring at the bottle.
“Ricin.”
“There’s no need to do this,” he cries hysterically. “I’ll leave the country and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“You’re right. We won’t,” Titov tells him.
Vladimir shakes his head in terror, looking desperately at me. “Don’t do this, son.”
I take the syringe and fill it with the liquid inside the vial. “Would you like to do the honors?” I ask Titov.
In answer, he put gloves on and takes the syringe.
“Don’t kill me!” Vladimir cries, whimpering like a child.
“Don’t worry,” Titov assures him. “You won’t die unless you are weak.”
We both watch the clock count down to the last second. Titov then inserts the needle into the IV and releases the ricin into his system.
The monitor explodes with alarms. I press the button to turn them off.
As the two of us head to the door, I turn back and smile. “I failed to mention that death is not instantaneous. Enjoy the next thirty-six hours, Father.”
I leave the room knowing Vladimir will never hurt another person.
I have a sense of immense relief and vindication as we drive away…
I head to the countryside with Titov, driving for hours until end up at a ridge overlooking the small town of Plyos.
As the night sky lights up with stars, we lay on the hood of my car and stare up at them in silence.
“Now what?” Titov asks.
“I’m not sure,” I answer, folding my arms behind my head as I look up at the shimmering sky.
“I have waited for this moment for years, and now I feel satisfied…but empty. There has to be something more,” he laments.
I think back on the conversation the three of us had when Thane and Titov were sharing stories about me, and the conviction I felt about my future.
“I know what it is.”
He turns his head toward me. “What?”
“We help others like Tatianna.”
“How?”
“We keep our eyes open and act. We can’t be blind to the suffering around us.” I look at him, heartbroken. “If just one person had acted, Tatianna would be alive right now.”
Titov sighs deeply. “I will never forgive myself for what happened to her.”
“This isn’t on you. If anything, I’m the one to blame because of her association with me.”
Titov stares at me. “I would never blame you, Rytsar. You loved Tatianna as much as I did.”
“But, I was unjustifiably cruel to you.”
He shrugs. “You did everything in your power to save her. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”
“And you were with me every step of the way. All I have to hold onto is the fact that Tatianna was loved and cared for before she died.”
“At least we have that,” Titov says sadly, looking back up at the sky. “You mother explained to me how much you loved my sister. Knowing that helped me understand why you acted the way you did.”
“She was my soulmate, Titov. I planned to marry her and treat her like a queen.”
“Even though I didn’t want to hear that as her big brother, it was obvious to me how she felt about you. She was hopelessly in love.”
I shake my head, holding back the tears. “Life is cruel.”
“It is.”
“I’ve come to realize that everything we are rests on a fragile stack of expectations. When just a few are stripped away, we suddenly realize how truly vulnerable we are.”
“True,” he replies somberly.
We lay there in silence as an owl hoots in a far-off tree.
“I think I will go back to America,” I tell him. “I want to be there when my brother graduates.”
I can hear the regret in his voice when he says, “There is nothing here for you anymore.”
I prop myself up on my elbows and smile at him. “I would like you to come with me.”
Titov looks both surprised and relieved. “Really?”
“I’m about to come into a lot of money and I need men I trust around me.”
After the coroner performs a preliminary autopsy and pronounces Vladimir Durov dead of natural causes, I return to my father. By passing money across the right palms, I am given time alone with my father’s body the day before the funeral.
When I walk into the room, I’m angered to see the peaceful expression on his face. My father doesn’t deserve peace.
He was a violent man who unleashed his violence on me repeatedly as a little boy.
I did not get the satisfaction of killing him with my bare hands and the rage I still carry will not be denied.
I become that young boy again, but this time I return his violence with violence, enjoying the pain as my fist meets bone.
I will never be anyone’s whipping boy again!
Afterward, I leave the room, feeling empowered. I inform the staff that it will be a closed casket service and order them to seal it.
The day of his funeral, I leave for America with Titov. I’ve already identified the man my father contracted and had him dealt with.
With the past now closed, I can concentrate my energy on the future ahead.
Rebirth
“What do you mean there will be no graduation ceremony?” I complain loudly in the middle of the outdoor commons on campus.
Thane chuckles. “They don’t have them mid-year.”
“But you’ve put all that effort into getting that diploma early.” I look to Anderson for validation. “Don’t you agree he deserves a ceremony?”
The cattleman grins. “I do.”
I look at Thane again. “And I came all the way from Russia to celebrate with you.” I spit on the ground. “This college sucks!”
Students passing by laugh under their breaths.
“There is only one thing to be done,” I growl in disgust.
“Don’t feel obligated to do anything,” Thane tells me. “I don’t need fanfare. I just need the diploma coming in the mail.”
I tsk. “What? They can’t even be bothered to hand it to you personally?”
Thane smirks. “Such is the life of a mid-year graduate.”
Anderson sweeps his hair back. “I’d gladly give up all the hoopla to be graduating with Thane now.” Shaking his head, he frowns slightly. “It was hell without you guys here, and now I’m facing another semester just like it.”
I look at Anderson and realize how much he has changed since the last time I saw him. The cattleman has a toughness to him I haven’t seen before. “What’s been happening with you?”
He shrugs. “Not much. Just followed Thane’s example and started applying myself more.”
Thane claps Anderson on the back. “He has gone above and beyond me. The guy is going to graduate with a double major in Finance and Economics.”
I look at Anderson in surprise. “Why?”
“I figure if I’m going to dedicate myself to something, I may as well give it a hundred percent.”
I glance over at Thane. “Did aliens replace our fun-loving cattleman while I was gone?”
Anderson smiles charmingly. “Without you disrupting my daily life, I’ve found I have a lot of extra time on my hands.”
Anderson’s admiration of Thane has always been obvious to me, but it’s even more apparent now. He’s taken a more focused attitude, but I wonder if he’s lost a part of himself in the process.
It seems inevitable that each of us has redefined himself by weathering the unexpected curves life has thrown our way. Looking at the three of us, I realize how much we’ve changed.
/> Thane came in with blinders on, wanting to suffer through college for as short a time as possible. I came here wanting to escape my past, and Anderson just wanted to party.
We are not those boys anymore.
Thane is dedicated to helping those around him, I’m no longer running, and Anderson has become the college MVP. I chuckle to myself. Who would have thought it?
But this never would have happened if the three of us hadn’t met that freshman year. It took all three of us knowing each other to shape us into the men standing here today.
Anderson takes me aside for a moment. “My entire family is deeply sorry to hear about your mother.”
I nod, unable to respond without breaking down.
“My parents want me to tell you that you are welcome to visit anytime. And my mama says that when you are ready, she would love to learn some of your mother’s favorite recipes.”
I can’t help tearing up. I am truly touched by his mother’s thoughtfulness.
Anderson slaps me on the back, immediately apologizing. “I’m sorry, man. Didn’t mean to upset you.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be sorry, cattleman. I appreciate it.” But I walk away to regain my composure.
Naturally, Thane comes up to check on me. “Everything okay?”
I glance in Anderson’s direction. “Absolutely, moy droog. It’s good to be back.”
Not someone to ignore the elephant in the room, I ask him, “How’s Samantha?”
Thane takes a deep breath, obviously caught off guard that I’m going there so soon. However, he takes it in stride and answers, “She is doing well, considering.”
“Explain.”
“She’s currently under the ownership of Blaze, the Mistress at the private party downtown.”
“Ah…the fire specialist.”
“Yes, and from what I’ve heard, Samantha is doing well serving under her. But, to help her grow, Blaze has been inviting different Doms to work with her so she’ll have a wide range of experiences and techniques to move forward with.”
“Good.”
“And, as far as AA, she hasn’t touched a drop since that night and is doing well on her twelve step program. She even visited both Anderson and myself asking for forgiveness.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Did you forgive her, comrade?”