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

I was in a haze. Of alcohol. Of cold and heat. Of fear. Of the realization that as I had been plotting against God, I had not once stopped to consider that God had been plotting against me. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport. Loki, who tricks even the gods, just because he likes to, Veles, his Slavic cousin, Hermes, God of Thieves who taught us lies, Eris, goddess of chaos who loves discord and strife, Laverna, goddess of cheaters, liars, and frauds. Isis, Zeus, Odin, all the old pagan gods told lies, played tricks, took revenge, it must be that the modern Gods do, too, but just won’t cop to it. So never trust a fellow named God or a woman called Goddess. Was I Allison’s protector or destroyer? Was it time for my own demise? The fellows who were coming, FSB, modern devils in search of answers that would not be true. What to do, what was I to do?

“Sifu Raja Dubov,” I said.

“You know him?”

“I know of him. I know the things he teaches,” I said.

“How?”

“Russian friends. Who like to fight. In New York. In the mountains to ski with. In Brooklyn to do business.”

“Ah!”

“You know what he says,” I declared, “he says you must finish on a cold!”

Grigor thought about it for a moment. He said, “You’re right!” Which was interesting because I was making it up out of hot tub fumes and vodka waste. He rose. He took the bottle. He swallowed. He put it down. He stepped out of the tub. He strode to the water. As he bent his knees to launch himself, I climbed out of the tub. As he rose in the air, I ran to where he’d been. As he splashed on down, I rose up in the air. I spun around 180 degrees, so that when I landed, standing on his submerged shoulders, I would be facing the ladder and I could grab the metal struts and hold on so that when he tried to push back up I could resist. He pushed. I pressed. He twisted. I pressed harder, working my hands down the ladder, pushing him deeper. He grabbed my ankles. He tried to throw me off. Down. Down, I walked myself down using the ladder for leverage. I felt a burst of bubbles coming up from below. I didn’t stop. I pushed. I held on. It was cold. It didn’t matter. He tugged at my ankles. Then he stopped. Then it all stopped. Stopped.

CHAPTER FIFTY

EMERGENCY 113

IN AUSTRIA, THE EMERGENCY NUMBER for the police is 113.