A Life Less Ordinary

by Scarlett Cross

  “Ivan…I have a few more patients to see and then I’ll be closing up…it would be best if you’re not seen…” Aleksei said, glancing at the crowd that was still waiting, milling about in a seating area. “He’s here, Ivan. In another village less than a three miles from here. We would have run but Ndigwe says this village is being watched. I only hope your arrival has gone unnoticed…”

  “Does not matter. Cover story has already been discussed. In graveyard there are two empty graves. Both of you died of malaria six months ago.” Ivan said, then let Yuri drag him into the surprisingly cool and nicely furnished living-area of the tent. There was even a third cot set up, and his eyes rested on it, then turned to Yuri, curiously.

  “We expected you would come eventually, so we always had a bed set up.” He jabbered about this and that until the sun started to set and he went back out into the village proper without any explanation. Ndigwe turned up soon after and joined them for dinner, but the news he brought was more unsettling than any of them could have expected.

  “He has woman with him, this man you flee from. Pretty little thing, but he treats her worse than dog. She looks Spanish to my eyes, though I have not seen her up close, others say her eyes are the color of honey.” Ndigwe said, absently, not knowing who she was. “Several men have made offers to buy her, but he is not yet interested in selling her. He says she is useless for breeding but still a damn good…” Ivan slammed his fist down on the table. “What? What have I said my friend?” Ndigwe’s eyes were large and frightened, for he had known Ivan at his worst, back during the war.

  “She was my fiancé, Ndigwe.” Ivan said, his voice hoarse with barely-contained rage. “Until this very moment, I believed her dead. Now I must contrive plan not only to kill him, but to rescue her…and I think I know just what plan is. Tomorrow, you will take me to village he is in and I will meet with him…” Ivan launched into a description of just how things were going to go as his brothers listened in shocked silence. If Yuri was bothered, hearing of Rosa’s treatment, he did not speak of it but Ivan was willing to bet it was horrible for him, based on the dead look in his younger half-brother’s eyes.

  Chapter 37

  Rosa soon became a popular figure among the men in the small village, as her master sent her to fetch water every morning and every evening. He had finally consented to allow her to wear a skirt, but her breasts were uncovered and bronzed by the sun as she walked purposefully to the village well. One man had tried to touch her and Dmitri had shot him dead where he stood, though there would be no reprisal, as the man had been in the wrong. Her feet were filthy and often infected as Dmitri would not allow her shoes and the horrid, enormous thorns were forever getting embedded in her footpads, no matter how tough they were.

  Omar watched her work, carrying the day’s water and the night’s water on her back in a large pottery urn that he would have struggled with. She did the work without so much as a whisper of complaint, but he could tell it caused her back and shoulders to hurt her. He had offered, once, to do the chore for her but Dmitri had refused, saying it did her good. Omar had walked away from the conversation shaking his head at what and ignorant bastard this Russian was. Still, he paid well, and Omar had a wife and six children in Cape Town, not to mention his widowed sister and her four, to support.

  Over the next week Dmitri got bored and disappeared on a hunting excursion, leaving the ‘dog’ in Omar’s care, which suited the African man just fine. When she was eating one night, and the Russian bastard had even left strict dietary guidelines to prevent her ‘fat ass from getting any fatter’ as he put it. Not that she was fat at all, in fact, she was getting more and more dangerously skinny with every passing week and Omar was concerned she would soon die. Still, when he offered her an extra measure of food, she refused to eat it, despite the hungry way she eyed it.

  “Why you let dat man treat you dis way?” He asked her as he brushed out and braided her hair one evening, but he expected no answer, and got none. So, he persisted. Every morning after she’d been fed, when he let down her hair and brushed it silky and smooth, he repeated the question. To his surprise, the third night, she shrugged. So, he asked his next question, “Why you stay when der be men who would treat you so much better?”

  “Used to…to have man…he…died.” She said, softly, clearly she was unaccustomed to speaking and Omar wondered how long it had been since she had been permitted to use words. “I give up hope then.”

  Omar felt like weeping. There was still a woman in there. Now all he had to do was get her to run while she could, he would take her anywhere she wanted to go, even the moon if he had to flap his harms and fly her on his back. “What if I accidentally left you untied one night…would you run? I would run with you…I would take you anywhere dat you would want to go.”

  “I belong to master now. I could not leave him. He needs me.” She said and then went to her dog-bed in the corner near her master’s bed and lay down, hooking the chain to her collar herself, her back to him. Omar knew there was nothing more to be done than hope that somehow the Russian bastard got himself killed on safari. It was a vain hope.

  The following day, Dmitri returned and immediately dragged the dog to his bed. She screamed and howled in pain most of the night, much to the muttering displeasure of the other villagers whose children had been kept awake by the noise. When he emerged the next morning looking unusually chipper, Omar noticed blood on his hands and thought certainly he had killed the wretched creature. Eventually, though, she came when called, her head down in shame. Something had been carved into her back, deep wounds that desperately needed medical care as they were already drawing flies and bound to turn septic. Omar could not read the Russian lettering, but Dmitri seemed quite pleased with whatever they said, and even threw handfuls of salt at her, occasionally, just to laugh at her trying to lick the wounds she could no more reach with her tongue than her hands.

  “Let me go to de WHO tent in de next village and get some ointment or dog will die.” Omar pleaded with him repeatedly until finally Dmitri acquiesced. He liked having something around he was relatively safe fucking, certainly none of the women around the village would have him, not after how they’d seen him treating the dog. Not that he understood their reluctance. Omar saw her watching him balefully from the front of the tent, clearly waiting for her daily bathing and grooming, which he would not be performing since her master was back. As he watched from his idling truck he saw the Russian bastard drag her away from the door by her hair and he sighed, then drove towards the next encampment, his heart heavy. He knew what was probably happening to the woman, but he felt powerless to stop it.

  Chapter 38

  “Omar!” His old friend Ndigwe greeted him as he climbed out of his truck. “I was hoping I would be seeing you soon. Come in, someone wants to meet you, and dat bastard you be working for.”

  If Omar was surprised by this, then he was absolutely floored when he set eyes on the enormous blonde haired man within the tent, assisting the doctor. He had never seen a man so tall in all of his natural life, nor would he see one again, and he had thought his boss was tall!

  “You work with man with one eye who treats woman like dog?” The blonde didn’t mince words, and Omar dropped his hat in excitement.

  “Yes! Yes, dat I do! Dat is why I am here! De bastard cut something into de dog…de woman’s back last night and I had to beg him to let me come to de doctor tent to get medicine so it…she will not die.” Omar said, then his smile turned into a frown. “I wish der was some way I could get dat woman away from him…he…he so horrible to her. She is going to starve to death, he will not care for her properly…it is so sad, but when I finally got her to talk to me…it took a while, you know? She said dat de man she love is dead and dat she have no more reason to live. It breaks my heart.”

  “I am that man.” Ivan said, softly, and Omar dropped his hat again, this time not bothering to stoop and pick it up. “He believes I am dead, and now he is here to kill d
octor and…and my other brother who is in back of tent. I hope that you can be trusted, because we have plan to get her out of here and make him pay for all terrible things he has done…to everyone.”

  “Anything dat you say, sir. Anything. Just, can de doctor give me some medicine for de woman? Dat is why I came and de boss will be angry if he think dat I lied to him…” Omar said and Aleksei immediately set about preparing some antibiotic ointment for whatever sort of wounds the man might be talking about. He hadn’t spoken, his eyes were wide with apprehension, fearing Dmitri would shoot Ivan on sight. Somehow, Ivan didn’t think so, but Aleksei just wasn’t sure.

  “I will be going back with you to see your boss.” Ivan said, and Omar nodded, though his expression showed how nervous he was. “I will explain plan on way there. I think is doable, but you can fill me in on anything I need to know.”

  Back at Dmitri’s pavilion of expensive tents, Omar asked Ivan to wait just outside while he told him someone had been in the WHO tent asking about him. Dmitri came to the door at once, and to Omar’s surprise, the Russian’s face paled almost as gray as death when he set eyes on the blonde giant. “Take dog in my rooms and tie it there, then close partition…and keep it fucking quiet or I will slice both of your throats.” He said to Omar softly before stepping outside. “What sort of wonderful surprise is this, to find my half-brother here, in Africa?”

  Ivan watched as Dmitri checked over his shoulder before inviting him inside, clearly he had sent Omar to hide the woman Ivan thought must be Rosa, and rightly so, for Ivan would have killed him on the spot had he seen her in her current state of duress. “I think you know as well as I do. I came looking for Yuri and Aleksei.”

  “And you found fags treating sick villagers in next camp, I suspect?” Dmitri said, idly, pouring both himself and Ivan a healthy measure of vodka from a crystal decanter before motioning him to a seat. “That is what I have been told by several, a strange man and his lover are there.”

  “They were there, six months ago. They died of malaria. Well, Aleksei died of malaria. Yuri died of combination of that and cholera, I think they told me. Nyet, is man and his son there now…his wife is in Cape Town working, they are some sort of missionaries. I never understood their ilk.” Ivan leaned in, trying not to grab Dmitri and break his neck was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “So, I saw cave, you really gave Rosa good workout. What ever happened to her? I never thought she would betray me. But, she was whore after all, as I think all women certainly must be.” He shot Omar a look of the briefest apology over Dmitri’s shoulder and the man nodded slightly, showing he understood the deception to be necessary.

  “Oh, but she as was tough one! It took me better part of six months to break her but once I did she was exceptional fuck. Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end. I could not bring her to Africa, travel restrictions and such, I sold her to flesh-trader in Dubai. He paid premium for her, something about those honey colored eyes.” Dmitri shrugged and leaned back. “So, fags are dead, woman is dead, where does that leave us?”

  “I am heading back to Russia to work in carnivals again sometime in next week. Might do some hunting first, maybe see to it that Yuri and Aleksei have proper headstones, all they have is crude markers at this point.” Ivan shrugged and finished the glass of strong alcohol. “And you?”

  “I like it out here, good hunting. I will probably remain another month or so. Perhaps I will see you in Moscow if you come to visit.” Dmitri was on his feet now, and Ivan stood, well aware of how much weight he had lost when he looked at his half-brother’s impressive bulk. He was even starting to show some rounding at his mid-section. Testament to his lazy decadence, no doubt. “Omar?”

  “Yes, boss?”

  “Take my brother back to other village and then hurry back here, I want to set up another hunting excursion tomorrow.” Dmitri said, taking the glass Ivan had been holding. Ivan’s eye caught a glimpse of movement in the back part of the tent, through a gap in the partition, but he did not allow it to hold his attention. “Ivan, is good seeing you. Hopefully, will be seeing you again in Moscow.”

  Ivan departed with Omar, who was nearly trembling with fear. “Da boss knows you up to no good, he knows it, I can tell he knows.”

  “Just remain calm. Tomorrow, before first light, Ndigwe will come with our little proposal…just…stay with woman until then as much as you can. I know at night is not possible, but any other time, keep at least an ear on her tonight.”

  “I will sir. Thank de gods you showed up, sir. Otherwise, she would be as good as dead, sir.” Omar dropped him off and sped away and Ivan hurried into the tent.

  “Okay, the game is set. Ndigwe, you are on tomorrow.” Ivan said and his long-time friend nodded, a sly smile on his face.

  Chapter 39

  Dmitri smiled to himself as he looked down at the woman’s back. ‘Dmitri’s Bitch’ forever carved into her flesh and, the best part was, Ivan thought her dead. So Dmitri’s Bitch was what she would remain for the rest of her miserable whore’s life. He let his softened member fall away from her and then slapped her on the backside so that she knew she could leave the bed, which she did, albeit slowly. The cuts still pained her, but he knew she’d be the better for it when they healed. Then no one could ever dispute his ownership of her.

  She curled up on her dog bed and soon seemed to be sleeping, but he was still restless, unusually so but he didn’t have to wonder why. Seeing Ivan alive had been a shock, and seeing him in such a state, so much muscle mass gone, he had to wonder what on Earth had happened. He supposed he’d never know, it wasn’t likely, however seemingly pleasant their meeting had been, they’d ever even trade so much as sneers in passing. Someone tapped on the door frame from outside and he was instantly alert, thinking Ivan might have come back to settle things. Instead, he found it to be a teenaged boy who was out of breath from having run seemingly a good distance.

  “My…cousin…Ndigwe…” the boy panted as Dmitri hurriedly fixed him some water, glancing at Omar, who had just stepped in behind the boy. “Ndigwe…from de nex’ village. He say…he comin’ tomorrow with proposal. But he want payin’ Ndigwe does. He got information dat you wants to hear. So, he say, do not be goin’ anywhere until he can talks to you.”

  “I am not planning on going anywhere.” Dmitri said and the boy gave him a nod of approval. When he realized Dmitri was not going to toss him a coin, he left the tent and disappeared into the night. “Omar, do you recognize name he gave? What was it? Ah, Ndigwe?”

  “Yes, sir…Ndigwe is high-ranking male in dat village…if he has information you be best to receive him, sir, der is no telling what it is he have to tell you.” Omar said, his fingers crossed tightly behind his back.

  “Very well. Lock up and I will see you in morning.” Dmitri went back to his own partitioned off room and dragged the woman up from her sleep and threw her on her painful back, then proceeded to take her fast and rough as she whimpered in discomfort more at the pain in her back than anything he was doing to her. She’d long since been stretched and used enough that he could do just about anything to her without any complaint. When he’d given her two more loads of his seed, he shoved her roughly off the bed, kicking her when she moved too slowly, and settled down, though his mind continued to race.

  He could hardly wait for morning, to hear what this Ndigwe had to tell him, perhaps the man had information on Aleksei and Yuri. He was certain Ivan had lied, though he had no way of proving it and he certainly wasn’t about to charge into the other village now, he’d just open himself up to being shot and that was not high on his list of things to try. So he was awake well before daybreak, pacing, he dragged up the woman and took her again, his blood was up and she was the only thing he found remotely calming. But she was lethargic, sickly this morning, he could feel fever radiating off of her and knew the cuts had, despite Omar’s salve, become infected. So much for keeping her alive. He sighed, resignedly. Good dogs were so hard to find.


  “Omar!” He bellowed and heard a child start up crying in a nearby tent. The man dragged in looking sleepy and confused. “Get dog washed up, it is not feeling well. I thought you said medicine would keep it well.”

  “I did, sir. But dat was under ideal circumstances and you did not keep it still and clean.” Omar said, his temper rising at sight of the red inflammation on the woman’s back. “I will do everything I can for it.”

  “Good. I wonder when this Ndigwe will turn up.” Dmitri said, more to himself than to Omar, then went to the cook-fire out back and stoked it up, putting a kettle of bottled water on to boil for his morning meal. He did not long have to wait, much to his relief, he saw the man coming in riding comically on a donkey, which was far too small for a man of at the very least, six feet in height. “Come in, good sir, come in!”

  He paid no heed to Omar and the dog, he was washing her gently, despite her whimpers of discomfort, trying to clean out the wounds with water and very little soap. Dmitri noticed Ndigwe’s eye landed on the dog and stayed there. She glanced up and then looked away immediately, first to her master and then at the dirty water in which she was sitting on her knees. “Dat is pretty dog you have der.”

  “Da, I am very fond. What brings you to my tent so very early? I am told you have…information?” Dmitri said, offering the man his own coffee, which he hadn’t yet tasted, but the man waved him off politely.

  “I came prepared to ask for money but I mus’ say…dat dog der…I like dat. I can never find a woman so obedient…I have heard much of men who tame dem, but dis is firs’ one I seen.” Ndigwe was still staring at her, clearly his interested was growing rather than waning. “I tell you what, I will give you my information if you will give me dat dog. Trus’ me, dis is information you be wanting.”