BooksBarbecue
Back The Deal Goes Down
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. CHAPTER FIVE
  9. CHAPTER SIX
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN
  11. CHAPTER EIGHT
  12. CHAPTER NINE
  13. CHAPTER TEN
  14. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  15. CHAPTER TWELVE
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  43. CHAPTER FORTY
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  55. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

He picked up the bucket and poured what remained over the stones. It whooshed and hissed as it instantly turned to steam. The steam felt good, too. He put the bucket under a faucet and refilled it. “Next year we’ll have a plunge bath in here, too.”

We sat back on the benches. “Small towns. Here, little villages,” he said. “If you listen, everybody hears everything. I heard that Rick Cochrane, from long ago, was back.”

It didn’t make sense to deny or confirm at that point. I remained silent.

“I am certain that you are that person.”

“Would you like to see my passport? Or my credit card?”

“I like you. I really do. Which makes this unfortunate.”

“What is unfortunate?”

Sweat was pouring off me. It should have been. Due to the heat and the steam. But that wasn’t it. I thought about the physicality of the situation. He was twenty years younger than me and the twenty years between fifty and seventy are decades that mean a lot. He was about twenty pounds heavier. He was much drunker, but I had no idea how that would affect things. It was a Russian Theme night, drunk was its natural state.

Grigor said, “I’m going to call you Rick, OK?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

“We are going to do something special now.”

“I thought we already were.”

“Even more special. A cleansing. Maybe the right word is purification.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

GOD IN THE NIGHT

“I’m looking forward to the most fascinating experience in life, which is dying.”

TIMOTHY LEARY

WE LEFT THE BANYA. BACK into the chill of the night and beautiful falling snow. Then into the hot tub. Somehow, God had another bottle of vodka with him. I knew it was another because it was full and the previous time that I’d looked it was nearly empty. Then we climbed into the hot tub. We lay back. We watched the snow falling. He drank. I pretended to drink.

—

“In the small town in which I live, which isn’t really a town. It is a…a circle…a special small circle…like in Dante’s Inferno…and in my circle, there are people who are saying bad things about me. I have to counter that. Partly by doing things that will prove that I am both loyal and valuable. In such situations, it is best to come up with some special gesture, special gift, that has…how do I say it?…That is attention getting and that is better than substance.