Arctic Sunrise

by Robert G. White

  ''Well it was like they entered a rabid lion's cage with a toothpick to take its skin. I did bang their heads a little on the metal walls of the elevator. One of them ended up brain-dead I think but then again he wasn't using his brain that much to begin with.'' Dmitri says.

  ''Dmitri, victim of a crime...that's priceless. You are the embodiment of violence and crime.'' Ivan says.

  ''It felt great, you know, having a legitimate reason for hurting someone. Makes it easier and much more exciting. But let's get down to the business at hand, since I returned from London I've been quite busy.'' Dmitri says.

  ''I can see by the way you move your left arm just how busy you've been. Now tell me, who in God's name has the courage to shoot at you and miss?'' Ivan asks, clearly curious.

  ''You know, men will be men and some men always think they have something to prove or are just plain stupid and greedy.'' Dmitri says, looking down on the craftsmanship of the mahogany chair he's sitting in, almost avoiding Ivan's eyes.

  Ivan stares at Dmitri and finally asks ''cut the bullshit, what is this beef between you and Vladimir? This could get out of hand really fast, could cause some serious problems.'' Ivan rolls closer to Dmitri, their faces inches away ''now tell me, did you kill that boy, his nephew?''

  ''I didn't kill him'' Dmitri answers and Ivan sighs of relief ''I butchered him because the bloodline of the suki must end.'' Dmitri says with fire in his eyes.

  Ivan freezes, his eyes widen and he seems lost ''do you know what you have done? Vladimir has no sons, his nephew was his heir, more than a son. He will come at you, at us with everything, there will be rivers of blood.'' Ivan screams, waving his arms.

  ''Rivers no, maybe a few buckets'' Dmitri says, smiling.

  Ivan slaps Dmitri's face twice, hard. Dmitri doesn't even flinch.

  ''Why the fuck would you kill that boy? It doesn't matter now, you must deny it at the meeting tomorrow'' Ivan says panicking.

  ''Deny it? I intend to kill Vladimir and his men tomorrow as soon as your gate closes behind them'' Dmitri says in a grave tone. Ivan knows Dmitri well, better than anyone and knows that he never jokes about such things.

  ''Silence!'' Ivan shouts and Dmitri kneels from his chair in front of Ivan.

  ''I remember the cold night in which you found me in Saint Petersburg, you gave me a choice but I had to earn it, I became your shadow, your man, your will and your whip. You told me for one to learn to lead he must first obey. You gave me food and a roof and I stole, tortured, killed and carried out your orders to the letter. I watched you dance with death smiling because you were smart. You turned me from an idiot to a genius. So good I became that I knew what you wanted before you did, I walked in your footsteps and yet my shadow walked in front of you, always anticipating and squishing any problem. Here we are now, twenty five years later, we are still here and I have never failed you, never disobeyed you, never lied to you. I am an extension of you, I am you and even though I became your equal in rank, a full pledged vor, I am still and always will be beneath you, and even if your cursed cancer takes your life, in the afterlife we shall meet and I will still be yours to command for eternity. If I have failed you in anyway, you need only say so.'' Dmitri whispers with passion, reaches into his coat, grabs his gun, points it at his own head and waits, breathing steadily.

  A tear slides across Ivan's face, he places both hands over Dmitri's gun, takes it and lays it down on the glass table next to them. Ivan regains his rocklike composure and whispers deeply ''sit back on the chair and tell me why and how you killed the boy, Vladimir's nephew.''

  ''Very well'' Dmitri says and sits back on the chair, lights a cigarette and continues '' three weeks ago, I was at one of my clubs, the one in South Moscow, you know the strip club. I was upstairs, counting some money and bribing some cops. I heard women screaming over the music and I looked down through the one sided mirror glass to a twenty year old punk waving a gun at the bouncers and some poor whore. The boy was clearly high on cocaine, drunk and paranoid. I went downstairs to solve the nonsense because that is what I do. I grabbed his gun and knocked him out, breaking his nose then I told the bouncers to throw him out through the backdoor and went back upstairs to the office for more hustling with the two inspectors. Detectives now-a-days are almost as greedy as politicians. Anyway, I left the club around four in the morning, about two hours after the incident with the boy and he was waiting for me in the parking lot. He was very calm, walked straight up to me with another gun in his hand, aimed for my head and pressed the trigger. The gun misfired and blew up in his hand, no surprise there because it was a new model. I grabbed his hair, pulled out my knife and he started laughing at me so I stabbed him once in the abdomen, taking measure on the blade with my fingers, just to draw some blood and scare him. And then something curious happened, he called me by my full name, Dmitri Alekseev, said he was Vladimir's nephew and that myself and that cancerous old fart Ivan are as good as dead anyway.''

  Ivan scratches his thin beard and listens closely.

  ''You know how I get when I hear Vladimir's name so I stabbed the kid in the neck about two, three, let's say seventy times until there was nothing but thick bone holding his head attached to the rest of his body. And that's that. After that I called Train and Dalesio, Train came with a couple of guys because you know he always sleeps during the day and set the body on top of the Peter the Great Statue, near the flag. They came close enough to the top, Train said it would be impossible to put the body higher up and he was right.'' Dmitri says.

  ''You mean that ship statue that was unveiled a couple of years ago? Where did they put the body?'' Ivan asks.

  ''Dangling, head down on Saint Peter's arm.'' Dmitri answers, smiling like he's proud.

  ''You've never been a flashy man so why place the body so public? You could have easily made it disappear and never be found again.'' Ivan asks, sensing there is more to this story.

  ''I've been getting many rumors about Vladimir in the past months, I knew he was greedy and suspected that he was planning a move on us'' Dmitri says.

  ''Well, you did kind of killed his sister in the worst possible way'' Ivan says but stops talking as he sees Dmitri's eyes change to black and his face fills with anger.

  Dmitri shakes it off ''don't remind me of that...the body's placement was a declaration of war, the exposure and mockery was a way to infuriate him, to make him overplay his hand.''

  ''I see, but do you know for sure he intends to take us out? You got any proof? It seems farfetched at best, I know Vladimir hates you as much as you hate him, but still to try something like this...'' Ivan says, shaking his head in disbelief.

  ''Proof? In this business, you go by instinct. I mean honestly the man is stupid but he's not retarded. I knew you would say that, I know you like to be sure and so do I. After killing the boy I began my own investigation into the matter.'' Dmitri says.

  ''Like you said, Vladimir is not that bright but some of his men are and he has learned from them. You hang around wolves too much, you lose your wool. That makes him smart and dangerous.'' Ivan says, pawning a strategy.

  ''You are referring of course to Sergei Patchenko and Vladimir's brother Anatoly. There's not one man in Moscow and maybe Russia itself that doesn't know those two names, they all fear them. Anatoly's intelligence is sinister and Sergei's brutality limitless, but that didn't stop me.'' Dmitri says, smirking sinisterly.

  ''What did you do?'' Ivan asks impatiently.

  ''Many things, I first went after Sergei with Train, my lieutenant. We followed him around for a couple of days and took him in the street when he was coming out of his mistress's apartment. Train clubbed him in the head and we placed him in the trunk of my car after tying and gagging him. He was always drunk, barely ate or slept at all, he didn't see us coming. The loss of vigilance is a consequence of decadence. Anatoly was very hard to subdue, the man was always alert, always packing, always had men with him, always had a car following him around with extra muscle. I approached him as
a friend, as we knew each other from those cowboy crazy robberies I did with his crew, you know the robberies that got me five years in Siberia. He read me like an open book, saw through my play and was probably expecting a move from me, he questioned even why I was in North Moscow in the first place. I am sure now that he knew about his brother's plan for us so he drew on me, even managed to shoot me in the shoulder. Again, Train saved my life, blasted the two men Anatoly had with him and helped me take the man down without killing him.'' Dmitri says, clearly proud of Train.

  ''So, did you interrogate them ? What did you find out, speak out already! '' Ivan commands.

  ''They are still in the trunk of my car'' Dmitri says.

  ''What? You've kept them in the trunk for days? You drove from Moscow to Murmansk with them in the trunk?'' Ivan asks, shocked.

  ''Yes, it was going to be a surprise for you birthday, you didn't think I forgot, did you ? Come on, where's the excitement in your eyes? You used to love these things, ripping a man, turning him into a weasel. Let's do it like in the old days, I rip pieces of them and you watch.'' Dmitri says, ecstatic.

  Ivan bursts into laughter and only a violent cough stops it.

  ''You are still as crazy as always. Are you still eating a rat every Monday morning?'' Ivan asks smiling.

  ''Sure, I don't want to forget where I came from, besides they're not sewer rats anymore, they're fancy pedigree rats, dancing rats with chocolate ribbons, glamorous rats.'' Dmitri says in a pale voice.

  Both men look at each other seriously and then burst into laughter.

  Ivan is the first to stop laughing and says ''come on, let's get to the bottom of this and if it's true, you have my permission to skin Vladimir alive.''

  ''I've never been wrong about anything in my life'' Dmitri says and points his index finger towards Ivan.

  ''That's the only reason this whole situation bothers me'' Ivan answers.

  ''So we doing this or what?'' Dmitri asks and jumps on his feet.

  ''Boy, come here.'' Ivan shouts and the boy that was with Ivan before enters the room in seconds. Dmitri stares at the boy with no expression on his face, as if he's searching for something.

  ''Listen to me Dmitri, we've been together through Hell and back at least a dozen times, we've done things men barely dream of.'' Ivan says waiting for a response from Dmitri.

  ''Yes, we have.'' Dmitri answers bluntly.

  ''This boy here is named'' Ivan says pointing at the eager boy but Dmitri growls.

  ''Don't...I don't want to know his name or who he is.'' Dmitri whispers.

  ''But you will do for him what I have done for you. You will teach him to be you, you are the only one I can entrust with this, to make him worthy. The stars on our shoulders have not been a birthright for either of us and they won't be for this boy either.'' the passion with which Ivan speaks throw him into a violent cough.

  ''Is this child a relative of yours? I think training him will be like teaching a cat how to bark. I can see by the way he breaths, the way he moves, the weakness in his eyes.'' Dmitri says.

  ''He's the son of my dead sister, I know what you're thinking Dmitri, you've never upheld the code of the vory v zakone in your life.'' Ivan says.

  ''Fuck the rules, it's because of our rules that we were almost wiped out after the second world war, stupid rules in a game that has no rules. Pride always leads to downfall.'' Dmitri says violently. Ivan has not seen Dmitri use curse words in years.

  ''The code forbids emotions and family but we are humans and we are defined by what we perceive, what we feel. Having no emotions makes us weak, inexistent, dead. I've tried to keep my heart and soul locked all my life but I saw beyond that'' Dmitri says.

  Ivan stands up from his chair, barely standing upright '' do you understand what I've sacrificed for this life? Everything and everyone. If it was anyone but you saying such things, I would kill them.'' Ivan says with his eyes red and tearing. ''Maybe you are right and the code leads only to emptiness but as long as I live you will obey it and you will obey me when I say take this stupid child and turn him into a man, just like I did with you, like someone else did with me'' Ivan shouts and points at the boy.

  ''I can see in the boy's eyes he's not like us, he will never survive. Are you ready to accept that he will most likely die?'' Dmitri asks.

  ''Dying is a part of living and if he dies, he dies.'' Ivan says, sitting back down.

  ''You do understand war is upon us? Have you lost your mind?'' Dmitri asks, smashing his fist on the glass table, shattering it to pieces. They boy flinches.

  ''If a boy learns to survive in times of war, the man that remains will easily rise in times of peace'' Ivan says.

  ''Now I see, I was sure that Vladimir had called this meeting to assassinate us but it was you.'' Dmitri says.

  ''I'll be dead in months, I need to get my affairs in order. This lung cancer has spread, nobody can save me now. Grant me this final request. Don't be fooled, you are my successor, not the boy.'' Ivan says.

  ''I need to think, leave me for a few hours in this room with this boy.'' Dmitri says, removing shards of glass from his hand. The boy seems frightened at the idea.

  Ivan nods and leaves the room, the boy closes the door and they both remain in darkness.

  Chapter II History

  The floor gently creaks as the boy moves in front of the chair that Dmitri is sitting in. He stands straight like expecting orders. Dmitri points to his feet and the boy kneels in front of him.

  ''Before you speak, know that every man in this world pays no less than the consequences of his mistakes, and you, even though the nephew of a legend, will pay for foolishness. You are not a proven man to me so you are less than nothing.'' Dmitri says, searching for the boys eyes that are pinned to the floor '' you can look at me boy, what do they call you, what is your name?''

  ''Nikolai, sir, my name is Nikolai.'' the boy whispers, his mouth trembling as his eyes meet Dmitri's.

  ''Do you know who I am? And don't call me 'sir', this is not the army, we are not in prison and we are not politicians. Age by itself does not command respect either.'' Dmitri says harshly.

  ''I called you 'sir' because I respect what you have done because I know who you are, Dmitri Alekseev, the most famous vor in our entire country, a legend!'' Nikolai says, steadying his voice.

  ''Legend? how can I be a legend if I'm still living? Surely there are many others that can teach you, why do you wish to learn from me? Did Ivan force this upon you ? You seem weak and pitiful.'' Dmitri asks, raising his thick, dark eyebrows.

  ''Because you are the best. This is my own decision because is it the only life for me.'' Nikolai says. Dmitri sees the boy's confidence increase and through the fear in his eyes, he catches a glimpse of ambition and desire.

  ''Why do you say it's the only life for you? you are young enough and rich enough by blood to do anything you want, to lead a careless easy life. The life of a vor is a life of sacrifice, death and emptiness.'' Dmitri asks, fainting a mild curiosity.

  ''Because I am what I am, I don't fit in and I don't try to, the way I see it I am dead already but the others that lead normal lives are worse than dead. I enjoy nothing and still I want more than everything.'' Nikolai says, clinching his fists, pushing them into the floor.

  ''Good, your answer is acceptable but do you understand that you will probably die, and very soon?'' Dmitri asks, scratching his beard.

  ''I do not desire death, but I do not fear it!'' Nikolai answers.

  ''No boy, you must fear death to an extent, that is what will carry you through hell...but you will learn these things in time. I accept you. Now grab that chair and sit beside me'' Dmitri says and points towards a chair. Nikolai takes the chair and brings it close to Dmitri's and sits on it.

  ''My name is Dmitri Alekseev and before anything else I am a soldier and a captain of the vory v zakone, my grandfather died in Stalin's prisons, a reward for staying loyal to the thief's world. My father died when I was two years old, killed by the
KGB and my mother was a soulless whore who sold me to an orphanage in order to get herself a little more heroin, she died from it eventually. My only living relative is my grandmother and I tracked her down years later, she told me the story of my family. I escaped the orphanage when I was old enough to posses some logic and Ivan found me three years later stealing shoes in Saint Petersburg. I was nothing, living like a rat in shadows and darkness. Back then, he wasn’t a captain, he was nothing, he had nothing but he was building something. He took me along on his journey and I rose day after day through the ranks and when I was fifteen years old, instead of selling me for organs to some fat, old Swedish fag, he promoted me. From thieving to drugs, guns , women and murder. I killed my first man when I was sixteen years old, shoot him four times with a Nagant M1895 revolver, twice in the head and twice in the chest as he was coming out of a bank on a Monday morning. I do not and never have considered myself a killer, I am a survivor, a soldier and this is war. I spent seven years in prison, two for murder and five for a robbery. Ivan sprung me at great cost from the murder charge only after two years, saving my life again. Prison made me stronger, I went in stone and came out steel. I never cried once in prison. I am strong and I will die strong. I control a quarter of Moscow, and I have two vors working with me, dozens working under me and hundreds of other soldiers. I am a loan shark, a pimp, a thief, a drug dealer, a weapons dealer, a torturer, an executioner and whatever else is required. Nothing is bellow me. I am by the normal people’s definition…scum of the earth. Now you know my story and who I am. Tell me what you are.'' Dmitri says.

  ''My name is Nikolai Antonov and I am twenty years old. I've done nothing with my life with one exception. I killed a boy with my bare hands eight years ago because I was bored, I spent the last eight years in prison. I am weak, a coward, but I am smart for my age. My father died in the courthouse when he heard the sentencing, my mother died in car crash not long ago. And that is everything.''

  ''Understand what we do is not murder, it is much more. Murder is when some idiot kills his wife because she was cheating on him with the tennis instructor. Murder is when there is nothing to be gained, and it's a horrible thing to do. Cause and effect, what we do is not murder, it is progress, growth. We clear a path. We solve problems the easiest and fastest way we can. We have a code that you will learn in time but for now only know that a code can kill you these days. Also know that being smart is not necessarily an advantage.'' Dmitri says and stands up.