by K. J. Dahlen
“He committed a mortal sin.” Roman shook his head. “By taking his own life he sinned against God and the church.”
“I didn’t know you believed so strongly.” Nikoli gazed at the young man.
Roman shrugged. “I don’t know that I do believe in the church but everyone else I know does and they tell me what he just did is something that will damn you to hell.”
“Why would he do that?” Sazon asked.
“Because he never thought it could happen to him.” Barshan snorted. “The man thought he was invincible and we just showed him he wasn’t. That he could be taken down. He just couldn’t live with that knowledge.”
They moved back from the fire but didn’t leave as they watched the building burn to the ground. The sun was almost up before the smoldering bits of embers were finally doused by the fire department.
Yuri, Roman, Mikial, Sazon, Barshan and Nikoli moved back into the shadows and watched the goings on. Finally, even they left the scene.
Nikoli’s driver took them back to the gym in his big car.
Yuri opened the door to let them all out, then turned to Nikoli and asked, “If we were to join the Bratva could we stay together? We are brothers now and always will be.”
Nikoli grinned. “Of course, you will stay together. You will grow and become strong as real brothers do. I will train you and watch over you all. Wherever I go, you will go with me and when you are ready, you will become your own force to be reckoned with.”
Yuri stared at him for a moment then nodded. “You will let us be on our own?” He looked as if he didn’t believe this statement.
Nikoli nodded. “Da. It was a promise I got from Sergi, himself. I know that someday, you will be ready.”
Yuri studied his face as if calculating the truth of the man’s words. “Let us talk about this and we’ll let you know.” With that, he got out of the vehicle and went inside the gym. His four brothers followed his lead.
The car pulled away.
Yuri and Roman watched it drive down the street and turn the corner.
Yuri turned to face the others. “Well, what do you say? It has to be unanimous between us. Do we stay here or do we go and work for the Bratva?”
4
Moscow 1999
One by one, five young men came into the office.
All of them were grown men now and all of them together, formed a strong line of defense. They parted and allowed Nikoli Silvanic to stand in front of them.
Sergi watched from behind the big desk. He tried not to smile at the sight of this unlikely group of men. Five young boys had grown into fine young men under his man, Nikoli. They were all tall broad shouldered men. Three of them towered over most men. Formidable. But it wasn’t just the way they looked. It was what resided beneath those exteriors. Loyalty, honor and steel. He noted again, the determined looks in their eyes. He knew they weren’t related by blood. They did not even look alike, but underneath, they were brothers.
Nikoli had told them the truth six years ago, the Bratva was changing. It was still a strong and organized crime syndicate but they didn’t use corporal punishment anymore unless it was warranted.
Sergi looked at the five young men and smiled. They had grown up to be strong men, Ty sil'nyy. Strong and very tough. No one crossed them because while they could simply take what they wanted from the less fortunate, they didn’t. They were fair in their dealings with the people, yet they still upheld the boundaries the Bratva stood for. They also didn’t take any shit from anyone. Many times they would take care of a problem without any knowledge of people in the streets. He chuckled. Especially trouble makers, drug dealers, men who forced women into prostitution. He remembered a time back, when they were after a child slaver.
Sergi shook his head. Even he never knew what happened to that slime and his men. All he knew was that ring disappeared in one night.
Sergi glanced at Nikoli and smiled. Getting to his feet, he reached out his hand and grasped Nikoli’s hand. “Well, you have made me proud all this time and now it is time for you to take your place in America.”
Nikoli smiled and nodded. “Thank you, you will not be sorry for this decision.”
Sergi gave him a nod. “You will be to New York and set up your place of business. When that is settled, I want you to go to New Orleans. We have been offered a unique opportunity there. The underground syndicates need someone strong to lead them. Right now, they have the Ukrainians but they are not strong enough to remain in command. I believe you can become stronger than them and rule that city.” Sergi went over to his wardrobe and opened the door. He reached inside and took out a small wooden case. Passing it to Nikoli, he waited until the other man opened the case.
Inside was a very old medallion.
Sergi nodded at the metal circle. “That is our invitation to the factions of New Orleans. They are ruled by a Council and to be one of the Council you have to have one of those. Right now the city is in turmoil. You can stop the chaos and lead the people in any way you choose, but you will always report back to me. This is an opportunity to make your own fortunes. I will not interfere with that but you must be there when I need you to preform your duties as my representatives.”
“Just so we all are on the same page, so to speak,” Nikoli motioned to the men behind him. “They go where I go, correct?”
Sergi smiled. “Of course, they are your men. You trained them, they serve you and you serve me.”
Nikoli grinned.
Sergi stood there and his smile dropped. “You will find some resistance in New York. The old regime doesn’t take too well to new comers. Just stand your ground and make them yield to you not the other way around. Do not let your guard down even for a moment or they will swallow you whole. Watch your backs because they will have knives and they would love nothing better than to stick you with them.”
Nikoli nodded. “I have a guard of five men. They will watch my back.”
“Then go with my blessings and make me proud,” Sergi told him. “I will be there to visit when you get settled.”
The six men climbed on the private plane and when they found their seats and buckled in Yuri looked over at Nikoli. “You kept your word.”
Nikoli smiled. “I never make a promise that I don’t intent to keep. I told you six years ago, where I go you will go with me. This is our opportunity to make our fortunes. This is our opportunity to make our own way in this crazy thing we call life.”
“Will America be so different from Russia?” Sazon asked.
Nikoli laughed. “Indeed it will be. Russia is a great country, or it used to be before the red curtain came down. But there is a freedom in America we know nothing about, or very little about. You will have to learn when people are lying to you and when they are telling the truth. Many will lie to get your money or your position. We all have to watch our backs until we are established.” He shook his head. “I think we will find even the women are different in America. They are much freer there than they are here.”
“That wouldn’t be so hard to endure.” Sazon grinned.
His brothers laughed.
Nikoli joined them. Yes, these men were all grown now. He shook his head. To think, when he met them, they were teens, tall wiry and tough, but lean from the years of running in the streets. Now, look at them. Walls of muscle. Handsome and powerful. American women would want to…He shook his head again and laughed. Oh, da. Perhaps it would be the women we should watch out for.
The plane engines roared and slowly took off down the runway gaining speed and when the plane climbed up into the sky, the five young men felt a fierce excitement in their bellies. Each of them had their own dreams for the future.
Roman looked out the window and saw the clouds below them. He hadn’t dared to voice his dreams out loud, not for some time now. He’d never spoken of what he kept deep in his heart. He could barely remember his mother anymore and he’d forgotten his brother’s face. He looked around the plane and saw the men he was prou
d to call his brothers. They had grown up since the first day they were together. It had been long years, some lean, but most filled with laughter and growing together as a family they all wanted so badly.
He knew some of their stories but like him, they hadn’t told the others everything. Even Nikoli held part of his past back. The last six years he had trained them and given them a home. He’d watched over them all. He watched them grow into the men they were today from scrawny young boys. He formed them and taught them to think for themselves. He encouraged them to be individuals yet he urged them to remain a family of sorts. He knew they weren’t related by blood but he often told them some families were born from different parents and those families were often closer than the ones related by blood.
The five of them had taken the right of human dignity seriously. As the proclamation penned recently in the Russian papers boasted: Endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Roman could only wonder what living in America would come to mean to him. The future could not be predicted and it wasn’t set in stone. He remembered something Ivan had told them once, “Sud’ba, boys,” he’d announced one day while training them. “Fate…it often plays a part in everyone’s lives and only fate knows the future.”
Roman couldn’t help but wonder what fate had in store for them.
Yuri watched the clouds and also wondered what their future was going to be in a new land. He tried not to think about his own past, he didn’t want to remember the bad things that happened, instead he wanted to remember the good things he had to look forward too.
A lifetime of new memories. He turned his head and looked around the plane. Nikoli had come to mean something special, not only to Yuri but to the others as well. All five of them had flourished under his watch. They had grown from boys to men in the last six years. Nikoli had taught them to become good men. He taught them about the rules of the Bratva, but he also taught them what a father would teach his son about being a man.
He hadn’t known his own father and could barely remember the woman who’d given him birth but he would never forget Nikoli, or Sergi or Misha. In a way, they were harsh men but they were fair men one and all. They had helped to shape the man he had become.
Yuri looked at each of his brothers. These four men and himself owed Nikoli a great deal more than just their lives. They owed him everything and one day, he hoped to be able to repay the favor.
Yes, he seemed to be their leader from day one, but he did not think of himself as their boss. Only their older brother. They all agreed, they should be equal in everything. When they all read something that had been proclaimed in the Russian media, they agreed with it. It was what they’d always felt to be the ideal they should hold themselves up to.
Vse lyudi rozhdayutsya svobodnymi i ravnymi v svoyem dostoinstve i pravakh. Oni nadeleny razumom i sovest'yu i dolzhny postupat' v otnoshenii drug druga v dukhe bratstva.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
This was close to the American proclamation, as he well knew. He and his brothers learned English and studied the history of that country.
They would be in another place. One that taught of equality.
Sazon felt a nervous buzz in his belly, but then he always did when something new came up. His belly felt hollow and his heart pounded in his chest. He’d had so much upheaval in his young life over the years and it didn’t make sense to him but as long as he was with the others, he knew nothing bad would happen.
Since they found each other over ten years ago, the fear he lived with every day had lessened. He had learned to trust again. He never thought he’d feel that feeling again in his life. When his parents walked out on him at first, he didn’t understand why they would just leave him behind. Then he got to the point where it didn’t matter anymore. He’d been ready to just curl up and let the devil take him.
He lived like that for two years before he found Yuri and the older boy dragged him out of his funk. He was quiet and watched Yuri for the longest time. Then Mikial came to them and he accepted him into the group. Sazon watched how the two of them interacted. Respect came slowly to Sazon but those two earned his.
Yuri was a good leader. When Barshan and then Roman came into their group, no one pushed their way to the top of the food chain, instead they all learned to work together to benefit everyone. He nodded. Equal in dignity and rights.
Now they were all beginning a new life in a new country. Sazon couldn’t wait for the new adventure to begin. It would be a new beginning for them all. They had a chance to make their own life and he couldn’t wait.
Barshan’s hands squeezed the seat handles until his knuckles were white. He decided he hated flying. As the plane climbed higher into the sky, his belly rolled with fear. He knew his fear was irrational as he had faced down bullies without reserve during his lifetime and speed never bothered him before… but flying? He figured if man were supposed to fly, God would have given them wings.
He turned his mind to upcoming challenge. Starting over in a new country. All human beings are born free. This, they all fought for. They weren’t born free where they started. They fought for their freedom.
To go to America was a golden opportunity to start his own life, yet be part of a family too. Glancing around the small plane, he saw the faces of the men that rescued him. He wasn’t alone anymore and hadn’t been from the day he found Yuri and the others. They accepted him into their little group and from that day to this, he hadn’t been alone anymore and it was wonderful. Something he’d never had before, a family.
Now they would all begin a new life together. Despite the flying terror, he felt good about this chance. They said America was the land of opportunity, well he was praying they could make a good life for themselves there.
Mikial smiled to himself as the plane flew toward their new life. He was a grown man now and while his life hadn’t been easy when he was a kid, it had been better recently. He’d found the others as a preteen and never looked back. He had become part of them through thick and thin and some days, the think almost broke them but they hung together and now this was their reward. A new life. He couldn’t wait to find out what life would be like in America. He didn’t think it would be the same as Russia. This, he felt would be an adventure he wanted in on.
All in all, Mikial felt the five of them had done well together before they met Nikoli. The real challenge had been after they met Nikoli and Sergi. Under the rules of the Bratva, their training had been complete. They’d grown strong and disciplined. Under the Bratva, their lives had taken on a whole new meaning.
His worst nightmare had been pushed to the back of his mind and there it stayed. He never had bad dreams anymore. He actually looked forward to each new day now. Looking around the plane again, he knew he finally had friends and these men were the only family he would ever need. He would die for them and he knew they would do the same for him.
Brothers. And should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
America would be a challenge for him to conquer and he felt a new hope building in his chest. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get there and begin his life.
When the plane landed in New York, the sun was coming up in the eastern sky. It was the dawning of a new day and a new life for the six men that walked off the plane.
Each of the men had their own dreams, their own goals and their own hopes in their quest to begin their new life. They would experience joy and despair, broken trusts and betrayal, new hopes and shattered dreams but they would do it together. They would never be alone again.
At special times or when they’d achieved another goal. They often would toast vodka with,
“We are brothers by choice. Blood has brought us together and will forever hold us strong.
Brothers we are and brothers we will always be.”<
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And they would find the love of their lives here in the new country someday. All they would have to do was grab hold of it and hang on tight…
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Prologue
Star
I felt it through his fingertips the first time he grabbed me, back when I hated him and everything burned around us. I couldn’t accept it then.
Then, much later, I felt it again through every raised hair on the nape of my neck as we sped off that final time.
Hope.
The low, tumultuous vibrations of his bike pushed their way through my chest. I squeezed him so tight that I thought my arms might cut him in half. He hardly noticed.
With that shit-hole bar slipping into the blackness behind us and the crisp night air whipping at my hair, I dug my head into his shoulder blades and I felt overcome by this uncertainty. These feelings, they were too elusive to name, but so overpowering when they hit.
It was scorching, violent, dirty joy in its purest form.
All that had run through my head when they took me in for questioning. What was Muse’s place? How far away were they taking me? Will I ever see my parents again? But above all that was—
Who was this man, and why did he keep me alive?
Eventually, the questions stopped. Not because I found any real answers, but because I started living. For the first time, I really felt alive.
