gonna take it all very easy, ’cause no one has been hurt. And if you and the guy out there can settle your differences without any charges, and that is how I’d really like to handle this, I will give you a citation for trespassing on city property. OK? Sound good? You get all that?
– Citation?
– Like a ticket. Just. Just come on. Come on.
Adam talks in Russian, Martin answers, and footsteps start walking away.
– Hey! Hey! Where’s your friend?
– Friend?
– Tavarich. Right?
– Yes, I know what a friend is.
– Great. So where is he? Guy said there were three of you.
– No.
Silence.
– Yeah, OK, fine. Just. Let’s just get out of here, it’s hot as hell.
I scoot to the edge of the roof and look down and see Adam and Martin threading their way through the buses, followed by a cop.
And my phone rings.
I pull it out of my pocket and press the power stud. The phone turns off, but not before emitting one final loud chime to let me know it won’t be ringing again. I wait. The footsteps don’t come back.
OK. Good. That was good. Sometimes a cop is good. Now I’ll. They were going that way. So now I’ll just go the other way and I’ll. I’ll. Shit. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll get out of here. I dangle my legs over the side of the bus and drop to the ground right at Branko’s feet.
I try to run. Branko trips me. He’s on top of me. His arms dragging mine behind me, his legs twining around mine.
– Calm down.
I jerk and writhe, trying to break free.
– I cannot talk until you calm down.
I open my mouth wide and scream. Branko pulls a racquetball from his pocket, stuffs it in my open mouth and holds his hand over it.
– Stop! We must talk. We will go someplace where we can talk. Out there.
He jerks his chin in the direction of the midway.
– We will go someplace where there are people. You will feel safe and we will talk.
I’m screaming through the ball, trying to force it out of my mouth with my voice.
Branko squeezes my face.
– Stop this. There is no more of this to do. You are not saving your parents this way. Think.
I stop screaming.
I think.
– Yes, think.
I think.
– You see now?
I think.
– Yes, you see.
He takes his hand from my face and holds it below my mouth. I push the ball out with my tongue and it lands in his palm. He wipes it off on his pants and puts it back in his pocket.
– These things, you never know when you may need them again.
I WAIT WHILE Branko buys the tickets.
He waves me over and I go stand with him. We wait side by side, saying nothing. Our turn comes.
We get into our car and sit on opposite benches facing one another. The operator closes the door. It latches, he pulls the big lever that releases the brake and the Wonder Wheel spins, carrying us slowly into the air.
Branko looks out the side of the car, watching the ground drop away. I shift in my seat and the car rocks back and forth.
He looks at me.
– I cannot kill you here.
– I know.
– But you must be killed.
– Sure. That was the plan, right? I kill David’s sister-in-law, and that’s it. Hey, why not? I’m a fucking mess.
He shakes his head.
– No.
I watch his eyes as they gaze down at the midway.
– No. You are a mess. But no. You were not to be killed. No.
He looks at me.
– No.
– Bullshit, Branko. You’re here. You are here.
– Yes. I am here. And I have something for you. Look what I have for you.
He reaches into his pocket and comes out with the Smith & Wesson .22.
– I am here to help you. With Anna. To help. Because you are a fucking mess. But the baseball player wants you. So David wants you. So I must help you. But now. Yes, now you are fucked.
Oh, crap. Wrong again, Henry.
The Wheel stops as the operator lets one couple off and puts another on. And then it spins again. We are near the top.
He puts the gun back in his pocket. He points over my shoulder, back toward Brighton Beach and David’s office. Toward David.
– He is not unreasonable.
– Sure.
– But you had a gun. Those marks.
He points at the welts the bindings left on my wrists.
– These mean you have been held. Threatened. And you came to see David with a gun.
– His sister.
– Yes?
– She. Oh, shit, Branko. His sister-in-law and her damn nephews.
He nods. He looks at the ocean. He nods again.
– I cannot kill you here.
– You said that.
– We will go somewhere else. You will tell me about Anna and her nephews and what they told you.
He touches his upper lip, scratches a slight itch.
– And then I will kill you.
Behind Branko I can see the Cyclone’s ballpark. The stands are full. The players are on the field. A game is being played.
– And what do I get?
– Your mother and your father. What else is there left?
– Right.
The Wheel spins again, carrying us toward the ground.
– But it must be now. You must go with me now. I know David.
He grunts.
– And he likes to have his way.
– Right.
We dip down, and the ballpark is lost to view.
