Andrei finally broke the silence, the moment that couldn't last. "So, Sandy. Got any more questions?"
"Yeah. So... what's he done, anyway? Even if it's politics..."
"Well...
life is always a bit more complicated than just sticking the politics
tag onto stuff, you know. Let me..." He switched on the computer and
proceeded to search for something. A video.
The target
was happily toying with a stripper. It was sensual, but I couldn't see
anything wrong with that. I looked at Andrei, confused. "Now that's a
crime?"
He fast-forwarded almost to the ending. And I
understood. Shit. It looked like a scene taken from one of our worst
jobs. I had to look away as the cam focused on the aftermath, I still
wasn't that used to such crude images of mangled bodies.
I
looked at Andrei, taking a deep breath to try to forget what I had just
seen. He proceeded to explain. "You see, this is not exactly
politics... This is... well, no, you won't really do justice. He doesn't
deserve a quick death, you know. But, you'll stop him from doing it
again." He opened the folder again and drew a photo of the girl. "You'll
put this on the body. Nobody will really know what it means... nobody
but a few. For those few, it will be a day to celebrate."
And
I had one of those dangerous lightbulb moments. "Andrei, okay, yeah, I can see
that, but, you know. What about... The stuff with the special clients.
At the clubs, I mean. How is it not the same?"
He
sighed. "I see where you're going. And I guess you're half-right. But,
there are two differences. First, the girls who do special clients do it
because they want. They can always say no, it's not my fault if they're
so greedy to take specials. And second, there are rules in my clubs.
Red lines. A girl ends up in the ER, and the idiot who did it will get
what he deserves. I'll make damn sure of that. So, you see... yeah, I'm
not proud about the whole specials thing, but I tell you, it's totally
not the same as this."
I nodded, kinda absentmindedly.
The man was an expert at bending the rules - his own included. You see,
lots of ... stuff happened with special clients at his night clubs. But
I guess that's a story for another day.
Andrei was staring at me, amused by my reaction. "So, any more questions?"
I snapped back into reality. My ingenuity and the surprise got the best of me. "Yeah. How's prison?"
He seemed confused. "You've never been there?"
"Nope. For one reason or another... I always got away with everything."
His second of silence said it all. A hellhole. Shit. But oh man, was I wrong.
"Okay. Here's the rules. Keep your head low, don't get in trouble, I'll get you out long before anything happens. Okay?"
I looked at him. His instructions didn't make sense at all. I guess he saw my confusion.
"Sandy.
You have to trust me. Don't get in trouble. A guy wants you to get out
of the way, you get out of his way." He sighed hard. "Okay. You don't
believe me. Well, let me... show you something."
He
searched for another video. Before hitting play, he looked at me.
"Sandy, word of warning, this doesn't exist. But... well, see for
yourself."
About a dozen guys in uniform, brutally
beating an inmate. The video ended before the beating, so you could only
guess how it ended. Best case, with the guy in intensive care, I would
dare say. Shit. That was way worse than I had imagined.
Andrei
went on to explain. "See, the inmates aren't usually a problem. But the
guards... They'll go after you at the smallest trouble you make. And,
there are quite a few inmates working for them, trying hard to make you
cause trouble."
I looked at him. "So, why doesn't anybody do anything about this?"
"This
is high-security, Sandy. Nobody gives a shit about what happens there,
most of those guys deserve it, anyway. Almost everybody has heard about
it, but no one is willing to change anything."
I sighed. "Okay. I'll keep my head low, and don't get in trouble. That should do it, right?"
He
let out a long sigh. "Sandy, there's also this... thing. They'll know
you work for me, and... quite a few of them are there because I sent
them. So... they'll want to get you."
"Shit. Okay. So, what do I do."
"Head
low, don't get into trouble, and if trouble goes looking for you...
Sandy, you'll have to bit your tongue and take it. Except... There's one
more thing. Fights. Whatever, and I mean whatever, ... whatever you do,
for all that's holy, don't get into the fights. Here, let me show you
this."
He put another video. A fistfight between two
guys, one of them a big-ass thug. It would haven't been shocking to see
that in a bar fight. Except there were a couple dozens of guards, and
even more inmates, surrounding them, most of them cheering at the big
guy. Again, the vid cut before the end, but... I looked at Andrei.
"Yeah.
It's to death." He looked into my eyes. "You can't possibly win, Sandy.
You just can't. The price is tempting, that's why those idiots keep
trying, but you have no chance of winning at all. You see, whenever they
think someone could win, they rig it."
"Why haven't YOU done anything about this, Andrei."
"Told
you. Nobody gives a shit. Most of those guys deserve it, that's
high-security after all. Nobody's gonna do anything, Sandy, and I'm not
an exception."
I couldn't help sighing at is words.
Okay. Oh-kay. "How do you... know all that. Where do those came from." I
pointed at the screen.
He smiled at me, winking an
eye. "I don't know anything, Sandy. That said, I told you we'll be in
touch. You get in a fight - I'll take you out of there, even if I have
to fly you out in an helicopter. Problem is, it's about a two hour ride
from here - by the time I get there, I may be too late. So, don't get
into the fights, okay?"
"Okay. So... how are you gonna get me out of that hellhole?"
"I...
have quite a few contacts, Sandy. I know a guy or two in there. They
got me those, if you were wondering." He pointed at the screen. "They'll get you out."
