Andrei drove me to a shabby pawn shop, the kind where all sort of useless trash fills the walls, in hopes somebody will think some of it is worth their money. A couple of the things made kinda clear that there was more to it than what it seemed -- which, knowing that the man worked for Andrei, didn't come as a surprise.
The man's eyes illuminated when he heard the door chime and saw a new face, but soon turned ice cold as he saw Andrei enter right behind me. Still, he tried to be polite and hide his uneasiness. "Hello, my friends. May I interest you in something? I have recently acquired--"
"Cut that crap." Andrei coldly interrupted him. "My friend wants to talk to you."
The man looked at me, surprised. "Oh, sorry, my bad." He forced a polite smile. "I'm used to people being here purely for business. So, what do you want?"
I sighed before dropping the bomb."Why work here."
He was trying hard to be polite. "Well, I like this place. It's like a dreamland. People sell the trash they don't want anymore, and others find treasures in it."
"You know what I mean," I said bluntly, pointing at Andrei with my head.
"I wouldn't be here if not for him, you know. It's... This all is like a dream come true." I could tell he was telling only part of the truth. As in, yeah, that was technically true, but he was omitting the other side of the coin.
"So, what do you think of him."
Again he forced a smile, trying hard to hide his nervousness. "Well... I see you bear the mark, so, I can't really tell you anything new under the sun, can I? ... We all know how he is."
I glanced at Andrei -- his guy wouldn't actually talk with him there. He didn't need a word. "I'll leave you two talk in private. Sandy, I'll be in the car waiting for you." And so he left.
I looked again at the man. "Be honest. I'd like to know why."
He glanced at the door and relaxed a bit. "Well, I haven't told you a single lie..."
"Yet you haven't told me the whole truth, am I right?"
He sighed. "Yeah. This is a nice place, and I'm really happy that I got to be here, but... he's a headache to deal with. I wouldn't be here if not for him, but every time he comes through that door, I wonder if all this is worth the price I pay for it."
"Would you leave, if you had the chance?"
"My contract says nothing about ending it, so I guess technically I can. But you know, I'm too old to find something else. This pays well, I live a comfortable life... And I somehow don't think he'd be thrilled if I told him I'm leaving, you know."
Yeah. Exactly what I had expected. A polite smile as thanks for a comfy life, that under the nice surface was hell.
I sighed. "Okay, okay. Last question. This... doesn't really have anything to do with you, it's just a standard screening question we do when doing a job evaluation, but I think it's a really interesting question."
He seemed slightly worried at my wording. "Fire away."
"Okay. So, I get you to a motel room, nobody knows you're there. Okay? And inside, you find Andrei, strapped to a chair, not able to really do anything. Also, nobody knows he's there. What do you do?"
He put up a polite smile, but the color seemed to drain from his face. "I... can't really answer that, you know."
"Why not," I asked, trying to be friendly. The question was indeed pretty standard in screenings. I simply found it incredibly interesting.
He sighed. "Fine. I'd call the cops, let them take care of him." He was trying to imply that the cops would go after him, but it was nonsense, and he knew it. Not only Andrei was the Head of Detentions, Intelligence, but also unofficially half of the cops worked for him, and most of the other half knew better than to mess with him.
"You know I'm good at telling when someone's lying, right?" I smiled.
He went white. "I--"
Someone decided it was a good moment to interrupt our conversation. He was creepily grinning, as usual, when he casually opened the door and leaned against the counter. "Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing what you said. You know, I want to know what your answer actually is."
The man froze for a couple seconds. I stared at him -- something was not right, I saw it in his eyes. Out of the blue, he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Andrei. "You want to know what I'd do? I'd blow up your fucking head, that's what I'd do."
Andrei looked at him, amused. Ready. Damn, he was good at this. He had that grin of his, but multiplied by a lot. "Then pull the trigger."
I tensed up. I knew he had it well under control, but still, it was a risky thing to do. I readied myself to act -- just in case something went wrong.
Andrei ducked a split second before the loud bang left my ears ringing. Then he grabbed the man's wrist, forcing him to drop the gun, and brutally slammed him into the counter. "You seriously thought that could work, you idiot?" If he'd been grinning creepily before, now he was beaming, his eyes gleaming with a special shade of void -- there's a reason the whole 'he's the devil' thing is a thing.
The poor man started sobbing. "Fuck, no, please... I'm sorry..."
"That doesn't change the fact that you just tried to kill me. And here I thought I could trust you."
"I'm sorry, boss, please..."
"First, I have a name. Say it."
The man closed his eyes, as if that would somehow help him. "A-Andrei, please... don't do this, I'm--"
Andrei finally leaned back, letting the man get up and sit on his stool, before drawing out his revolver. "And second," he said as he let the cylinder in sight, showing a single bullet, "you're supposed to do whatever the hell I ask. So we're going to play Russian Roulette." He let it spin before swiftly pushing it closed. "But we'll do it with a small twist. You'll be the one who gets to have the gun." He shoved it into the man's hand. "Now, point it at your temple and pull the trigger."
The man was still sobbing profusely. He looked at the gun as if it was an alien. "No, please... I... I can't..."
Andrei grabbed the man's handgun from the floor and pointed it at him. "Well, it's your call. One in six, or certain death."
"Fuck, no, no, don't..." He stared at Andrei for about two seconds before closing his eyes, taking the revolver to his temple, and pulling the trigger.
Click.
He almost burst out laughing when he heard that innocent sound.
Yet Andrei wasn't going to stop anytime soon. "Now, point it at me. And pull the trigger."
The man's happiness vanished, blood draining from his face. He was in this mess 'cause he had made the mistake of... doing exactly what Andrei was asking him to do again. "Fuck... no... boss..."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I have a name, huh?" He looked at me. "Sandy. Do it."
I took a deep breath as I gently took the revolver from the man's hand. I knew well what the chances were -- the game always rigged, the position of the bullet well known beforehand -- but still, it made me uneasy. If something were to go wrong... No. It couldn't. I knew him well. I raised my hand and pulled the trigger.
Click.
We all sighed in relief.
"Give him the gun, Sandy. The game is not over." Andrei's eyes locked on the man. "Try again."
The man was already broken. He was still sobbing, but he didn't have the strength to do it properly anymore. He mumbled nonsense for an answer. "Fuck, no, please..."
Andrei didn't say another word, just took the gun, pressed it against the man's forehead, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The man couldn't bring himself to be happy about it anymore. He had probably realized that the game was rigged, that the only way to win was hoping... hoping Andrei didn't want him dead.
Have I ever told you that hope is a bitch?
Andrei left the gun on the counter again. "My turn. Don't make me ask twice."
Dead silence. The man was broken, he couldn't possibly do anything else than stare without seeing.
Andrei sighed, both annoyed and resigned. "Sandy? Will you please...?"
Shit. I hated this, even knowing that he knew well what he was doing. I'd have had no problem in risking my own life... but risking his was different. Still, there was no way around it. Again I took a deep breath, raised my hand, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Phew. I left it on the counter. I knew well it wasn't over.
Andrei moved it further towards the man. "Your turn." He pointed the man's handgun at him.
The man had given up. He didn't say a word, he just took it to his temple.
Click.
Andrei's grin was wider than before, if that was somehow possible. "Now, we know where it is, don't we? Now, I'm not going to play any more games on you. Take it to your head and pull the trigger."
I thought the man was already broken. But I guess you can always stomp on the shards 'till they become dust. He started mumbling again. "No, please... don't ask me this... I... I can't possibly..."
"And here I thought you'd do anything I asked."
The man couldn't really hear him anymore, he simply kept mumbling, more and more unintelligibly by the moment.
"You see, if you're not willing to do what I ask... Then what's the point, huh?" Andrei paused, waiting for an answer that wouldn't come. He sighed, finally giving up, and handing me a knife. "Sandy, kill him."
I took it. I knew well what would happen if I didn't. He'd do it -- no, actually, he'd make it worse. So I circled around the counter, and slashed the man's throat open. I closed my eyes as his warm blood soaked me. I couldn't help but to smile at the mess -- blood has something mesmerizing.
