gave them a jangle. ‘Time to check out your new bedrooms.’
*
‘Ethan, are you in there, mate?’
Usually Ethan liked nothing more than hearing Natalka’s voice on the other side of his door, but he hadn’t put any clothes over his burning arse after taking a shower and he didn’t have time to hide the fact he’d been crying.
‘I’m sick,’ Ethan answered weakly. ‘Probably contagious, so it’s better if you stay away.’
‘I saw Boris drag you off,’ Natalka said, as she put her head around the door. ‘What did Leonid do to you?’
Ethan sniffed. ‘Leave me alone.’
The lights were off, but there was enough twilight creeping through the barred windows for Natalka to glimpse pubes as Ethan hurriedly yanked his duvet over his midriff.
‘Why does it smell of horse shit in here?’ Natalka asked.
‘Go away,’ Ethan sniffed. ‘There’s nothing you can do.’
But Natalka ignored the plea and sat beside Ethan on the bed.
‘Did Leonid beat you?’ Natalka asked.
‘Massive rubber cosh on my arse,’ Ethan said. ‘I’ve got mega bruises, and I spent all day working at the stables. They’re giving me all the dirtiest jobs and I can’t go back to school until the end of the month.’
‘Sounds rough,’ Natalka said. ‘Why’s he pissed off with you?’
‘They found out I’ve been using the Internet.’
‘What, when we go to the web café in the bazaar?’
‘No, here. On Irena’s computer. I’m not supposed to go online in case the Americans are tracking me or something. And I might not be allowed to go off to school in Dubai now either.’
‘Shit!’ Natalka said. ‘Did you try speaking to Irena?’
‘Leonid got to her first. She’s really mad at me. I had to go to her room and she yelled at me. Said I was lucky to only get three whacks with the cosh and that it was time I acted like a man instead of a spoilt brat.’
‘Is there anything I can do?’ Natalka asked. ‘Bruise cream or something?’
‘I hate it so much here,’ Ethan said. ‘I might as well be dead.’
‘Now you do sound like a spoilt brat,’ Natalka said, her voice becoming firmer.
Ethan sobbed loudly. ‘Just go away.’
‘Make me,’ Natalka said.
Ethan scowled. ‘What? Now you’re gonna torment me like everyone else?’
Natalka grunted. ‘Jesus, Ethan! Your mum’s dead, your grandma’s dying and Leonid’s a bastard. You’ve every right to be pissed off, but you’ve got to fight it. I’ve got no sympathy if you curl up and sniffle.’
Ethan snorted. ‘If I step out of line again, Leonid and his boys will squish me like a bug.’
Natalka stood up. ‘I came up here to see if you were OK and maybe help you out. But I can’t help someone who’s given up, so I might as well go down to the bar. With any luck Vlad will try getting me drunk.’
Ethan managed a slight smile. ‘How can you even be near that guy? He’s such a dum-dum.’
‘He’s my big blond bimbo,’ Natalka explained.
Ethan looked slightly more cheerful as he reached into a bedside drawer unit and pulled out six one-thousand-som notes.
‘Well how about you bunk school and go to the bazaar with your bimbo?’ Ethan asked. ‘I’ll need you to buy me a USB stick. That should be plenty to buy a sixteen- or thirty-two-gigabyte one. Get the biggest capacity in the smallest-sized key you can find. Then I need you to go in one of the web cafés and download a file for me.’
Natalka looked uncertain. ‘Why do you need a memory stick? You haven’t even got a computer.’
‘The less you know the better,’ Ethan said. ‘But you said you wanted to help me out, and you can keep the change. Use it to smoke yourself to death, or buy condoms to shag bimbo boy. Get the super-safe ones, you wouldn’t want any nasty accidents with that ape.’
Natalka was happy that Ethan had bucked up, but she didn’t regard this as a licence to be cheeky.
‘You’re going the right way about getting a smack in the chops,’ she warned.
*
‘Ethan, are you in there, mate?’
Usually Ethan liked nothing more than hearing Natalka’s voice on the other side of his door, but he hadn’t put any clothes over his burning arse after taking a shower and he didn’t have time to hide the fact he’d been crying.
‘I’m sick,’ Ethan answered weakly. ‘Probably contagious, so it’s better if you stay away.’
‘I saw Boris drag you off,’ Natalka said, as she put her head around the door. ‘What did Leonid do to you?’
Ethan sniffed. ‘Leave me alone.’
The lights were off, but there was enough twilight creeping through the barred windows for Natalka to glimpse pubes as Ethan hurriedly yanked his duvet over his midriff.
‘Why does it smell of horse shit in here?’ Natalka asked.
‘Go away,’ Ethan sniffed. ‘There’s nothing you can do.’
But Natalka ignored the plea and sat beside Ethan on the bed.
‘Did Leonid beat you?’ Natalka asked.
‘Massive rubber cosh on my arse,’ Ethan said. ‘I’ve got mega bruises, and I spent all day working at the stables. They’re giving me all the dirtiest jobs and I can’t go back to school until the end of the month.’
‘Sounds rough,’ Natalka said. ‘Why’s he pissed off with you?’
‘They found out I’ve been using the Internet.’
‘What, when we go to the web café in the bazaar?’
‘No, here. On Irena’s computer. I’m not supposed to go online in case the Americans are tracking me or something. And I might not be allowed to go off to school in Dubai now either.’
‘Shit!’ Natalka said. ‘Did you try speaking to Irena?’
‘Leonid got to her first. She’s really mad at me. I had to go to her room and she yelled at me. Said I was lucky to only get three whacks with the cosh and that it was time I acted like a man instead of a spoilt brat.’
‘Is there anything I can do?’ Natalka asked. ‘Bruise cream or something?’
‘I hate it so much here,’ Ethan said. ‘I might as well be dead.’
‘Now you do sound like a spoilt brat,’ Natalka said, her voice becoming firmer.
Ethan sobbed loudly. ‘Just go away.’
‘Make me,’ Natalka said.
Ethan scowled. ‘What? Now you’re gonna torment me like everyone else?’
Natalka grunted. ‘Jesus, Ethan! Your mum’s dead, your grandma’s dying and Leonid’s a bastard. You’ve every right to be pissed off, but you’ve got to fight it. I’ve got no sympathy if you curl up and sniffle.’
Ethan snorted. ‘If I step out of line again, Leonid and his boys will squish me like a bug.’
Natalka stood up. ‘I came up here to see if you were OK and maybe help you out. But I can’t help someone who’s given up, so I might as well go down to the bar. With any luck Vlad will try getting me drunk.’
Ethan managed a slight smile. ‘How can you even be near that guy? He’s such a dum-dum.’
‘He’s my big blond bimbo,’ Natalka explained.
Ethan looked slightly more cheerful as he reached into a bedside drawer unit and pulled out six one-thousand-som notes.
‘Well how about you bunk school and go to the bazaar with your bimbo?’ Ethan asked. ‘I’ll need you to buy me a USB stick. That should be plenty to buy a sixteen- or thirty-two-gigabyte one. Get the biggest capacity in the smallest-sized key you can find. Then I need you to go in one of the web cafés and download a file for me.’
Natalka looked uncertain. ‘Why do you need a memory stick? You haven’t even got a computer.’
‘The less you know the better,’ Ethan said. ‘But you said you wanted to help me out, and you can keep the change. Use it to smoke yourself to death, or buy condoms to shag bimbo boy. Get the super-safe ones, you wouldn’t want any nasty accidents with that ape.’
Natalka was happy that Ethan had bucked up, but she didn’t regard this as a licence to be cheeky.
‘You’re going the right way about getting a smack in the chops,’ she warned.
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