Gatac

  Arkady Arsenovich Ignatyev was worth five cartons and three packs of cigarettes. The pot on the table in front of him was four more packs, but the consternated face across from him was worth more. He was looking at Vadim, who had the belly of a circus strongman, the shoulders of a lumberjack and the personal hygiene of a tank driver. And Vadim was looking at him, not a very happy look, but it was where Arkady wanted Vadim’s eyes to be — the more time the cell block's Authority spent looking at him, the less he was keeping his mind on the stack of tricks in front of him, the Heart trump card next to the pot. Arkady had the best cards at the table and he knew it, the way he knew Vadim had grown up with an older brother who had died in a farm accident, the way he knew Be — the scrawny, balding parasite to his right — was informing on them to the guards, the way he knew Viktor would pound Be to paste if he ever realized he was sitting at the same table as a rat.1Much of the immediate post-WW2 history of the Thieves in Law was concerned with the conflict between the old school Thieves and those who had colborated with the state by serving in the military or even just snitching in prison. The old school Thieves referred to those people as ‘suka’, which more closely transtes to the b-word, but I’m going with ‘rat’ throughout the story because it gets the sentiment across without casually throwing around said b-word.The suka won that conflict, by the way, both by outnumbering the Thieves and by having the tacit and not-so-tacit support of prison authorities. Historians call the conflict ‘The B-word Wars’ because historians suck at naming things. And Arkady knew he wouldn’t win this pot. He could, but he wouldn’t.

  Arkady knew all those things because he had been paying attention those past three months.

  He put down his Ten of Diamonds first. That didn’t beat Be’s King of Diamonds and Arkady was okay with that. He put down his Ace of Spades, which did beat Be’s Jack of Clubs. But that was only one of two cards beaten, not what he needed to score this trick, and so, without betraying he had a 9 of Hearts left in his hand, Arkady passed his turn to Viktor.

  Viktor didn’t think long. He put down an 8 of Hearts and a Queen of Spades. Be said nothing to that. He was the quiet type of loser, the one who hung his head and hid behind his cards — well, card, singur. This was one thing Arkady appreciated about Bura: three cards per hand only. That made it difficult to hide behind. While Be looked down, Arkady’s eyes didn’t budge from Vadim.

  “Damn it,” Vadim murmured, and Arkady tried very, very hard not to grin.

  Vadim threw down his hand: an Ace of Hearts, which Arkady had let him have. He had figured the brute would overestimate it, one trump suit card being as good as any other. He also had a 9 of Diamonds, which didn’t beat anything, and a Jack of Spades, equally useless here. Vadim kept the Ace and pushed the other two cards toward the center of the table. Coolly and without any resistance, Viktor collected the tricks, took a moment to square the cards into a stack and looked from Be to Vadim.

  “I have the points,” Viktor said. Be groaned, not exasperated but pained, and Vadim simply stared at Viktor, daring him to prove it. And so Viktor counted out the points: 4, 2, 10, 11, 0, 3, 0, 2 — 32, in total.2A full expnation of the rules of Bura is outside the scope of this story. Just know that getting 31 or more points first is enough to win the hand, provided you call it out and didn’t miscount your points. Pagat.com expins it in some detail.“It interests me what card you hold, Arkady,” Vadim said.“Naturally,” Arkady said, turning the lone card in his hand around to show a 10 of Clubs. In general, Arkady rarely cheated. And when he did switch his cards, it was as often to be seen losing as it was to win. Perhaps that was why nobody had caught on.“Two tens and an Ace,” Be said quietly. “It seems like you had the best hand.”“You dealt them well,” Arkady asked, and immediately Be lowered his head some more.

  That was Arkady’s other trick to not be caught: he only won every fifth round he shuffled and dealt. It kept him beneath suspicion while managing his losses. And while Viktor collected the pot, Arkady kept his mind on the first rule of gambling: all that mattered was where you stood when you cashed out. The look Vadim sent Be’s way, however, was more along the lines of the second rule of gambling: if you couldn’t spot the sucker at the table, you were the sucker.

  “Thank you for hosting our game, Viktor,” Vadim said.“It was a pleasure to py,” Viktor said. “We will see you tomorrow.”“You will,” Vadim said. He made no attempt to leave, however. “You look sick, Be.”“I’m…I’m fine,” Be said.“Take care that you do not get infected,” Vadim said. “Get some rest.”“Of course, Vadim,” Be said.

  Vadim stared some more, stared at Be until the scrawny man had slouched out of the room and started the journey back to his own cell — or maybe the guard’s quarters, if he was particurly tired of living. Vadim turned his head to Arkady.

  “I have not heard what you think of liars, Arkady,” Vadim said.“I despise them,” Arkady said. “Liars sold me out to the state.”“People who lied to you and told the truth to the garbage,” Vadim said. “You wish it had been the other way around.”“No,” Arkady said. “A man of honor tells neither trues nor lies to the police. He says nothing instead.”Vadim cracked a mirthless smile. “You speak with conviction about your honor,” Vadim said. “So the rumors of your retions with Viktor are false.”

  Viktor tensed up at that. But Arkady kept his game face on. He’d been waiting for this question for three months, and it showed.

  “I do not deny it at all,” Arkady said. “I sought Viktor out, made a deal with him and have kept to that deal since.”“A strong man would never have gotten such an idea in the first pce,” Vadim said. “Much less gone through with it.”“I came to this pce as a criminal,” Arkady expined. “I was not strong and could not afford pride. But I have never given away my honor. I would rather be known as a homosexual than as a liar.”Vadim nodded. “Then you will have no objection if everyone knows,” he said.“That is unnecessary,” Viktor said.“It is very necessary,” Vadim said. “A man of honor will agree. A man of pride, we will make him agree. You understand this.” He looked to Viktor. “Both of you.”“The eyes,” Arkady said, nodding slowly. “You will have no trouble from me.”“Or me,” Viktor added. He looked to Arkady.“When?” Arkady asked.“Tomorrow, after dinner,” Vadim said as he rose from the table. “I appreciate that you see the necessity in this,” he added. “However, it would be good for your reputation to give us a little trouble. You may strike a blow or two in your defense, but you will know when to stop. We will take your measure then.”“I’ll keep it in mind,” Arkady said. “Thank you, Vadim.”“Boy,” Vadim growled, “do not thank me.”

  There it was, after dinner: the silence. Even the men who used to give Arkady dirty looks or talked about him behind his back had averted their eyes from him since Vadim’s pronouncement, and Arkady had noticed. It was his business to notice. He also noticed that, without ever quite talking about it, he was now walking in front of Viktor, who normally walked ahead, and when Arkady opened the door to their room, he knew for sure Viktor had stopped behind him, wouldn’t come inside with him, wouldn’t protect him.

  Inside the room were a dozen men, Vadim presiding with Be at his side. Arkady had never seen a dozen criminals in prison be so quiet. The table and its chairs had been moved aside to make room for the main event. Arkady tensed up when his eyes met Vadim’s, a moment of honest respect before Arkady did the appropriate thing and looked down.

  “Arkady Arsenovich,” Vadim said. “It has come to my attention that you are a homosexual.3Again, we could be using a slur here, but let’s not. Several brothers have told me this in confidence and I trust their word. Expin yourself.”Arkady’s eyes fell upon Be. “I have no expnation for the truth, Vadim,” Arkady says.“You do not deny it,” Vadim said.“I do not,” Arkady said.“Then you will pay the price for it,” Vadim said.

  Arkady steeled himself for the beating, and his eyes flicked to each of the men who rose from their seats on the beds and windowsills of the room.

  “Be,” Vadim said loudly, halting all activity in the room. “Teach him a lesson.”“…me?” Be asked. “Vadim, I do not…not want to rob our brothers of the privilege —”“I have chosen you to do this, Be,” Vadim said. “Show him how a man fights.”

  Be inched forward, eyes locked on Arkady, and after two steps he brought up his fists. Arkady did the same, and they circled each other, two boys half-remembering the stance of a boxer. Neither of them knew how to fight. The difference was Arkady had paid two packs to Viktor to learn how to punch, and Be — well, Arkady could see Be had not made such an investment.

  “P…put down your fists, put them down, and take it, woman!” Be said, his voice cracking from the effort of shouting for the first time in years. He swallowed hard and looked around, but there was nobody to cheer him on. His eyes returned to Arkady. “You will only make me angry if you struggle!” Be added.“Come on, Be,” Arkady said. “The first punch is yours.”

  Arkady had nothing clever to say after this, and neither did Be. Both continued to circle, both felt Vadim’s eyes on them, and true to Arkady’s invitation Be eventually lunged forward. Arkady raised his arms, blocking the blow. It hurt more than he wanted it to hurt, because he thought he had recognized in Vadim’s words a tacit approval for demolishing Be the rat, and he had therefore felt like the universe should have equipped him with every gram of strength needed to do so. Instead, Arkady would have to work for it, and as Be struck again Arkady realized it was a fight.

  Except, of course, it wasn’t. One man against twelve wasn’t a fight.

  Be lunged once more, half-heartedly, and Arkady surged forward underneath his blow, whole-heartedly. Be took the hit on his gut and gasped, while Arkady pushed toward him, driven by what he couldn’t say it was. All he could have said was that after three months of raising neither voice nor fists, he really needed to punch somebody and Be was right there. Arkady hauled back his left hand, a ughably wide swing, but Be was in no condition to dodge it and so Arkady’s fist smmed into Be’s cheek. Arkady half shouted, half screamed as Be tumbled to the floor. He hadn’t punched like Viktor had shown him and paid the price in pain. Be was on the ground, though, and Arkady didn’t stop. He stomped down on Be with his left foot, and the thin man cried out at that, curling up to protect himself. Nobody said anything and Arkady didn’t stop there, either. Three times he kicked Be in the sides and the back. He raised his leg one more time for a final, decisive stomp. A fitting end for a rat.

  “Stop!” Vadim said.

  Arkady stopped moving, heard himself gasping. He was entirely out of breath, and when he put his left leg on the ground, he almost fell on his back. It had only taken a few seconds for him to explode and utterly exhaust himself, and his hands and feet were waking up to how he had hurt them with his clumsy attacks. But it didn’t matter he’d run out of breath or cracked his knuckles or stubbed his toes. He was standing and Be wasn’t. Viktor was standing in the door, obviously having watched the fight. Viktor wasn’t smiling. Nobody was.

  “Do not dare strike one of us again, Arkady Arsenovich,” Vadim said. “Brothers…I think Be needs some help.”

  Arkady had been right about his count, but not in the way he had hoped. Be out made 11, but Viktor in made 12 again. Of course. It didn’t matter what Viktor wanted. Just keeping Arkady in the room wasn’t enough. Just standing close to the brawl wouldn’t be, either. Knowing what this meant, Arkady lowered his head and covered his face with his forearms. They closed in on him.

  One man against twelve wasn’t a fight. It was a straight wall-to-wall asskicking.