by Jens Lapidus
At the top of a fresh page in the notebook, he wrote, Secure my life.
Started to list measures that had to be taken.
Move. Alternatives: become a lodger, sublet, buy a house through a front man, get a trailer.
He reread what he’d just written. Get a trailer-yeah right. Still, let it stand. He had to brainstorm. All ideas had to be put to paper.
Kept going.
Get a new car.
Get a dog: pit bull, German shepherd, or other attack dog.
Always keep the bulletproof vest on.
Get an even lighter gun. To carry, always.
Get an even better alarm system for the car and potential new home.
Arrange for a bodyguard. Possible people: Ratko, Bobban, Mahmud. Who can be trusted?
Stop training at Fitness Club.
Stop training at Pancrease.
Stop eating at Clara’s and Bronco’s.
Get a new cell phone and prepaid plan.
Start going to a new gym.
Change habits. Drive different roads to the same place. Change workout schedule.
Make Lovisa move, switch schools, and get an unlisted address.
Get a PO box address.
Write down and collect evidence about what I know about Radovan’s business and store it in a safe place. My best insurance policy.
He looked over the list again.
As was his habit, he underlined one word: Lovisa.
Most important. Most difficult.
He called her mother, the hate object, Annika.
No answer.
He left her a message. Hoped she would call back despite the mess with family court.
Decided once again. He’d make a go for R. But he had to take it easy. No point in rushing. The preparations were key.
Two days later. Nenad’s slow drawl on the phone. “Mrado, are you somewhere you can talk?”
“Yeah, sure. What’s up? When did you get back from London?”
Mrado’s interest was piqued. Nenad’s tone suggested something.
“I got back a few days ago. Things went fantastic there. Anything happen here at home? How’s your daughter? Is your line secure?”
Nenad let the last question slip in as though he’d asked about the latest K-1 fight on TV, something totally normal.
“These days? With you and me both marked by the Nova bitches? I don’t think so.”
“Could you meet me outside Ringen in twenty? It’s important.”
Dreary weather outside. March’s drabness was dragging on for longer than usual. And the area by Ringen was as dreary as the weather. Across from Ringen: the Clarion Hotel’s enormous entrance illuminated by colorful spotlights.
It was quarter past three in the afternoon. A Sunday.
Nenad arrived with the fur collar on his coat popped-mink against three-day stubble. Mrado saw something in his gaze he’d never seen in Nenad’s eyes before. Mrado thought, Is it panic/fear or just confusion? Something’d happened to Nenad; it was obvious.
They walked into the Clarion.
Nenad talked to a pretty girl at the reception desk. He’d apparently planned this well-had booked a mini spa session.
They walked up a flight of stairs. The smell of chlorine hit them in the hallway.
Registered at another reception desk. Got towels with the Clarion’s monogram embroidered in gold-colored thread. Felt slippers. A set of bottles each: shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer. Terry-cloth bathrobes.
The door to the pool was fogged up.
They went straight to the showers. Rinsed off. Didn’t bother with the regular sauna.
Nenad’d booked nice; a private mini sauna was included.
The mini sauna fit three people on the top and three people on the lower level. Classic wood paneling covered the walls and ceiling. On one short side was a round window facing out to the Skanstull Bridge-ultraurban. Cool.
They each sat down on a towel.
Mrado studied Nenad’s face again. That strange something was still there in his eyes, and he looked tired, too. Not his usual, confident self. Something was off.
“Mrado, you’re the only one I trust right now.”
Mrado cut right to the chase. “What happened?”
“Shit show.”
“I’m not totally surprised. All of you is radiating ‘shit show.’ Let me guess. Rado shit.”
“Bull’s-eye. I suspected you knew. I’ve been cut. Demoted. Humiliated.”
“Tell me.” Mrado, strategic: was gonna wait to drop his own bomb.
“Came home from London two days ago. Rigged the biggest fucking deal ever. You can’t even imagine, it’s so huge. Then what happens? Rado calls my house at one in the morning. I’m making out with this hot little piece of Östermalm ass I brought home. I go there. To his house, that is. Stefanovic brings me into the lib. Classic Radovan audience. Then I get a long lecture about his fucking ideas, a lot of smack about the new type of organization. Ends with him telling me I’m no longer in charge of the C business and am being demoted in the call-girl sphere. That I’m a fucking nobody. That I can forget about my role in the group. And, you know, I just sat there and took it. Felt the pressure-if I’d put up a fight, it could’ve ended there. Stefanovic was trigger-happy. Fuck. That’s the thanks I get. That cunt. And I just busted my hump in London for that douchebag. Biggest fucking deal ever.”
Nenad’s reaction as opposed to Mrado’s: healthier/angrier/more childish. Mrado envied him. That was the right way to tackle this shit. To lose it.
“Nenad, same thing happened to me the day before.”
Nenad’s mouth looked like a gaping black hole in the heat of the sauna. Both felt the same way. But above all, they felt relieved not to be alone. Someone to share the shit with. Someone to plan the counterattack with.
They talked for two hours. In and out of the sauna. Sitting in reclining wooden chairs outside the sauna. In the showers. In the pool. Ladled water onto the coals. Let the steam rise. Breathed through their mouths. Analyzed. Scrutinized. Rhapsodized.
Why’d they been demoted? What did the situation look like in terms of potential repudiation? Sit tight or try to strike back right away?
Mrado told Nenad in detail how he’d tried to cut himself a bigger slice of the coat-check cake and about his work with the market division. Which persons might be of help. Who he’d made a good connection with, the Bandidos’ Jonas Haakonsen, the Wolfpack Brotherhood’s Magnus Lindén, and others. But above all, he told Nenad about the feeling he’d had of a confidence crisis between himself and R.
They’d never before spoken so openly about the situation within the organization. And what was encouraging was that they shared so many views regarding Rado.
By the time they parted ways, they’d established three principles. It was the two of them together now. They would keep their mouths fucking watertight about all this. And the only way out: Radovan’s fall or their own.
Let the war begin.
43
Obvious-something’d happened to her.
Jorge’d called the brothel madam at least fifteen times a day for the past two days. The effect: She’d stopped picking up her phone. The rings went unanswered. She’d probably gotten a new number. Before she’d stopped picking up, he’d gotten the same answer every time: “I’m sorry, I have no idea where Nadja is.” Fat chance-mentirosa.
In summation, the situation was clear: Nadja’s disappearance, the terror in the eyes of the hooker in her room, the brothel madam’s lies.
The tough question: Was it his fault? The thought ate away at him. Ordinary Jorge’s basic philosophy: No one is responsible for anyone else. Life’s too short to wait around for cash flow. Serve yourself and let others take care of themselves. Worked for blow biz. Worked for cigarette deals at Österåker. Worked when there were direct material gains for J-boy to collect. But now there was something else driving him.
Jorge saw himself as the Yugos’ nemesis. And the war again
st them entailed dangers for others. He already knew that. They’d threatened to hurt Paola. Now Nadja was gone. Where was she? What did she know?
When he found out what’d happened to her-Radovan would have to pay for that, too. Project R. just became more and more important.
Abdulkarim and Fahdi were back from London. Apparently, they had a massive deal in the works there. Abdulkarim’d called. Been restrained. Still, it was obvious-his voice verging on ecstasy. Bare brief: A shipment would arrive within a few months. He didn’t say with what, how much, from whom, not exactly when, not how. Until then, they’d move the grams that Jorge’d recently pocketed via the Brazilian. Plus other smaller shipments coming up. Above all, they were gonna keep expanding the market. More sales channels, corners, enlisted bodies.
Blow was blowing up. Jorge was happy he’d stayed in Svenland. Thought back to when JW’d stood bent over him in the woods. Explained Abdulkarim’s grand borough expansion. And now, the kale was being harvested faster and thicker than for a big publicly traded company. A project player’s predetermined track.
In Jorge’s mind, the money increasingly became a means rather than an end. A potent instrument in the enactment of Project R.
Next phase: work on Giant Karl.
Jorge knew the following: Radovan ran a prostitution business. Nenad was in charge. Girls were imported from the former Yugoslavia and other Eastern Bloc countries. Pure fucking Lilya 4-Ever. And there were Swedish women involved, too. Nadja’s brothel was a part of the business. The place was run by the brothel madam, Jelena Lukic, and the dude with the hoodie. Jorge’d looked him up: Zlatko Petrovic. Nadja’d had her own pimp or boyfriend-the giant, Micke. The latter’s role was somewhat unclear. More interesting: The apartment brothel wasn’t the only one in Radovan’s whore empire. There were more. Further fucking in finer places with finer females. Nadja’d told him: Swedish men’d partaken in parties whose only purpose was for the poor suckers to dip their wicks. Probably paid Radovan handsomely. Gave the Yugo boss contacts and protection, too. The crux: Nothing pointed straight to Radovan, not even to Nenad. Everyone knew who was behind it, but no one’d seen anything. With one exception: Nadja’d met Radovan at one of the pussy parties. He had to see her. Know more.
According to Nadja, there were two people involved in organizing the parties and fixing up the girls: a Jonte and a Giant Karl.
According to Sophie: a Jet Set Carl-Stureplan’s golden god, party pasha, scenester supreme.
According to Jorge: The names were too similar to be a coincidence.
Evening. Jorge, ready to go. Sitting with Fahdi at home in the gorilla’s lair. Vodka, Schweppes tonic, and weed on the table. IKEA glasses, half-melted ice cubes in a deep bowl, Rizla papers, and a lighter. On the TV: Jenna Jameson being mounted by two American musclemen, on mute. From the speakers: Usher. Fahdi informed him matter-of-factly, “He first Negro ever with three hits on Billboard lists in States. Racist pigs.” Fahdi’d clearly been influenced by Abdulkarim. Generally believed that USA spelled Satan. Took every opportunity to hate on the place.
Jorge’s idea for the night was simple. They’d hit the town. Raid Stureplan. Find Jet Set Carl. Then Jorge would have a talk with the guy. Finally: Jorge and Fahdi would each find a blonde. With luck, get to play an away game.
Fahdi kept talking about London. Proudly exhibited his Gucci jacket. Described hot strippers, glam boutiques, thick crowds. Described the gun he’d had there.
Jorge wasn’t too impressed. Remembered the arsenal Fahdi kept hidden in his closet. The dude was a traveling army.
They downed their drinks.
Jorge rose. “Should we bring some fun?” He pointed toward the kitchen, where scales and envelopes were spread out alongside Red Line baggies of blow.
Fahdi got up, as well. “For us or sell?”
“Not to sell. I’ve pretty much stopped selling retail. Anyway, that’s JW’s turf. We don’t compete with our own. When’s he coming home?”
“No clue. Had stuff to take care of in England. Staying a couple extra days.”
Jorge thought, Fahdi-the guys in Dumb & Dumber were smart in comparison. He didn’t get the rules of the game. The pyramid: Some sold on the streets, some sold to dealers, and some sold to the dealers’ dealers. Nowadays, Jorge was almost on top. But Fahdi had strengths-a certain kindness and, obviously, his muscle power.
They called for a cab. Automatic recording on the other end of the line: “Would you like a taxi to come to ROSENHILLSVÄGEN right away? Press one.”
Jorge said, “Why do they always gotta yell the street name double as loud as the rest of the sentence, so you get tinnitus for the rest of the night?” Jorge pressed one.
They went down to the street. Jumped in the cab. The Stockholm night down to town.
Stureplan in full swing.
They got out by Svampen. Looked around. Where to begin?
The places around Stureplan’s party aorta had their own particular caste system. Kharma, Laroy, Plaza, and Köket-on top. Richest/brattiest/best. Sturehof, Sturecompagniet, the Lydmar Hotel-next tier. Select/bratty/somewhat older scene. Spy Bar, Clara’s-YugoMafia/bodybuilder/celeb locus. The Lab, East-had their own clientele. Undici, Crazy Horse-regular honest-to-goodness Sven dank dives.
Easy equation: Jorge and Fahdi had to get into a top-caste place. Hardest. Especially for two male immigrants with the word blatte written across their foreheads in neon letters.
They started at Köket. Killer line. Seventeen-year-old girls with threads so bare, they would’ve caught a chill even on a summer night. Downy Östermalm boys in tailored coats and slicked hair. Older, randy slimesters in even more deluxe coats, same slicked hair. Dudes who spent their entire lives within a one-mile radius. Worked at the stockbrokerage firms that framed Stureplan, ate lunch/dinner at the restaurants on the adjacent streets, Biblioteksgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan, and Grev Turegatan, lived a stone’s throw away on Brahegatan, Kommendörsgatan, Linnégatan. And, of course, partied here.
They glimpsed the legendary Toad at the front of the line. Real name, Peter Strömquist. Stockholm profile. Silver spoon-born. Pompous. Had a standing invitation to all the parties any self-respecting brat dreamed of being invited to. Knew everyone and anyone who mattered. Good sign that he was on his way into Köket.
From Jorge’s perspective: marginalization accentuated. The human mass was a rerun of the feudal system. Some harbored the right to sweep on past the plebs. Some played princes in the Stockholm territory. Others were kings, like the Jet Set guy. Some sold their souls as mercenaries: the bouncers. The blattes, at the very bottom. With luck, they might be able to beg their way in.
Only trick he knew was bribery.
Fahdi cleared the way. Swept the little girls to the side. Five-hundred-kronor bill rolled up in his hand. At first, the bouncer looked at him coldly. Message: Even you must understand that YOU’RE not getting in here. Saw the bill. Eyed Jorge.
Let them in.
Crowded.
The music was pumping, something that mostly sounded like a medley of cell phone ringtones.
At the bar, a group of guys were advancing on two chicks with the help of bubbly in ice buckets. The chicks danced in place. Winked. Let themselves be treated.
Fahdi went to the bar. Ordered two beers.
Jorge made his way down the stairs to the lower level. Past the DJ booth. Tonight, DJ Sonic was playing. Mr. Main Street, who’d become an adorable mascot for the Östermalm brats. The next step on the class ladder in sight. Smiled in recognition at 90 percent of all the dames who walked past.
Jorge recognized faces. No one recognized him. Had Abdulkarim and self-tanner to thank. Despite that, J-boy was still a nigger. Market value: zero.
Grabbed hold of a random girl.
Terrified look.
“Relax, girlie. I’m just wondering if you’ve seen Jet Set Carl tonight?”
Blank response. She didn’t know who he was talking about.
He kept asking around.
Fahdi showed up with two beers in hand. Wondered what Jorge was up to.
No point in explaining.
Danced away from him.
Asked more people.
The broads were bronzed. The guys all looked like JW. Jorge walked up and down the stairs. Leaned over and yelled his question into people’s ears. Tried to look neutral. Didn’t want them to think he was making a move right now.
Kept at it for forty minutes.
Finally, a girl screamed in his ear-could hardly hear her over the music. “He’s pretty much always at Kharma.”
Jorge tried to find Fahdi in the crowd. Couldn’t see him. Tried to call his cell. Couldn’t even hear as he punched in the numbers. What were the chances that Fahdi’d hear his phone ring with that background music?
Gave up on him.
Jorge walked out onto the street. Up along Sturegatan. Texted Fahdi: Going to Kharma. Meet me there later.
The line looked like an organic mass disguised as human hope. The humiliation was even worse in the freezing cold-racism spat straight in the cara.
Right moment. Right look. In the bouncer’s hand, the money-five hundred kronor. Eyes locked. The bouncer’s hand waved past the line.
Jorge was in. Repeated it to himself: J-boy, you’re in.
Perfecto.
He ordered a bottle of Heineken in the bar. Checked out the scene. Recognized some other lucky blatte boys with bottle service. Jorge walked up to their table. They didn’t recognize him. Still, it was obvious that they felt some sort of camaraderie; they knew they were all in the same seat. In the wrong place and on cloud nine.
They chatted for a bit. Graded girls. Praised breasts. Appraised butts. Jorge treated them to a quick line each. Turned toward the wall. On the back of credit cards, sniff/sniff. It worked.
The world picked up speed. Jorge on top.
Asked the bartender about Jet Set Carl. “No worries,” the bar guy replied. “He always gets here around one, stands by the cashiers and welcomes people.”
Jet Set Carl: jizz set Carl.
Jorge waited. The immigrant boys by the drink table hit on high school girls from Djursholm-Orange County Scando-style. Culture clash of consequence. Those choice chicks’d probably never even talked to anyone from a non-European country before, except for the token adopted kid in school. The blatte boys’ viewpoint was simple: All Swedish chicks want me and therefore they’re whores.