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Chapter
22
Andrew sat alone in the subway car, mindless of his blood-soaked shirt and hungering for the Pilar. No amount of trauma overcame the healing power of provoked strings. The setting sun cut an orange line down Astor Place, a radiant border between painful realities and comfortable detachment. He wandered the street in a daze, his arms colliding with pedestrians. Saint Marks housed its regulars, shiftless and waiting for anyone to liberate them from the checkerboard doldrums. The clerk called after him.…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
21
Thanksgiving thoughts bred scents of roasted turkey and baked cinnamon. The vibrations in the subway window soothed his aching head until subterranean darkness gave way to sun-soaked sprawl. Outside on the platform, a trio of Yeshiva-tailored boys tossed coins onto the tracks, a dangerous folly carried out without the supervision of the station’s usual patrolman. Andrew was four blocks down Brighton 12 when a feminine howl ripped through the air. Wailing sirens grew deafening on approach as police…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
20
Nikola’s voice woke him from a restless sleep. Through the adjoining wall, the lanky Ukrainian claimed that sex starvation drove him to fuck Dmitri Boscov. Such marvelous nonsense brought a smile to Sash’s face. Niko swore he learned his lesson, delivering a heartfelt apology to Cyril. For some damned reason, though, Niko refused to own his mistake before Andrej, and no amount of bullshit flew past that clever boy’s radar. With typical indifference, Andrej suggested that Niko must’ve been…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
2
The term historic hotel in the year of our lord Nineteen Ninety-Three clearly meant cracked paint and a spartan collection of Salvation Army furnishings. A twin mattress with a matching boxspring sat on a slightly larger wood frame, its sheets clean enough until he noticed stains on the pillowcases. The only window hid behind thick, dark blue panel curtains with an AC unit stuffed into its narrow bottom pocket. Someone had broken a portion of the unit’s hard plastic knob and jammed a pencil into its…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
19
Andrew holed up in his room for several days, stealing the daylight after work to play the Pilar. Fiddling by day didn’t bother his neighbors as much as doing it by night. One day, a knock came at his door, and Cyril’s voice came from the other side when he didn’t answer. Niko missed him, as did Cyril, who didn’t think for a moment that he and Dmitri were involved. The old man’s voice then dropped as he explained in broken English that Sasha was a good man, and so was Andrej—there was no…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
18
Mid-September marked the official end of summer when vacationing locals returned home, and busy restaurants returned to normal. Andrew opted to stay on at the Russian Tea Room, speaking to the evening manager about a possible apprenticeship in the dining hall orchestra. Until then, he waited tables in the afternoons, this time without Dmitri. The raven-haired boy had enrolled in the dance program at NYU, limiting his hours to weekends, when Andrew would soon be playing violin if all went according to…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
17
“Stop!” Burning, pain. “Stop! Please!” Teeth on his nipple, rough and wet. “Please!” Squeezing, tugging, more pain. “St—!” Fullness. A familiar invasion. “Go slower, please….” Laughter, hot breath. “Yeah…like that…” Andrew tumbled off the bed, sheets twisted around his legs. He crawled across the floor, reaching the wastebasket in time to heave what remained of last night’s liquor. Daylight glowed behind the window’s pillowcase,…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
16
Atlantic City greeted him like an unwashed whore. Nothing good happened here after sunset, at least not until summer. Lofty casinos lorded over paved grids of daytime traffic, while their parking towers never afforded free space before the first two levels. Gregory Tangela wanted an anonymous cleaner to eliminate his foes, and the covert aspects of such a position lured Sash to a sit-down. The hulking crime lord looked fresh out of a Scorsese film with his designer pantsuit, narrow mustache, and…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
15
Samil warned him, but Andrew hadn’t listened. Yesterday, he returned to the Tea Room for the spare subway token he had kept in his locker. Grunting drew him to a closed stall in the men’s room, and underneath it were two sets of familiar shoes. “I saw yous at the boardwalk on Saturday,” Dmitri said, folding his modest tip stack and shoving it into his waiter’s smock. “You, Niko, Sam-Sam, and Radek.” Andrew couldn’t look at him. “Why didn’t you come over?” “I was with my…-
39.7 K • Completed
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Chapter
14
Konni walked out of his matka’s place at half-past ten, then rode the train back to Manhattan, where he stopped at the sandwich shop before walking home to his apartment. After months of living with him, Sash knew the man’s routine, and the girl working at the sub shop knew Sash well enough to hand over Konni’s order when he asked for it. Outside, a urine-scented woman on the sidewalk flashed her toothless grin, giving thanks for the wrapped sandwich. “He ordered a small turkey sub and some…-
39.7 K • Completed
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