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Nightfall in Belarus is different. In Russia, the sun slips away quicker than it comes up, leaving you with a darkness that comes swiftly like a winged bird, swooping in and snatching its prey in long talons. It came down slowly tonight, as it always did, like a lover caressing the partner, trying to coax a response instead of forcing one out.
Ivan walked down the hallway, his eyes darting this way and that as he went. Everyone knew him here as the weird Russian kid who doesn’t talk to anyone. He keeps to himself, burying his face in his books and there was always a ton of it with him at all times. He didn’t play any games or sports. He wasn’t a member of any clubs or societies and there were a ton of those at the University.
As he walked the hallways tonight, a couple of boys jumped out of the shadows and stood right on his path. He had spent a great deal of the day at the library, reading, and had lost track of time.
“What do you want,” Ivan asked.
“Someone wants to talk to you,” One of the boys said.
“Who?’ Ivan asked.
“You’ll have to come with us to find out,” the taller of the three boys with blonde hair and bulgy eyes said.
“I am tired, I have been at the library all day and I need to get in and find some food, so if you don’t mind, I will rather do this another day,” Ivan said and made to walk on. The boys formed a wall in front of him, standing firm without giving an inch.
“I don’t think you understand, brother, we weren’t asking,” the same spokesman said.
Ivan shrugged and went along with them. They led him down to the hockey pitch. There was no ice, winter season is over the hockey season was over with it as well. The boys made their way towards a shadowy edge of the field, with the spokesman in front and the other two bringing up the rear.
Suddenly, the leader stopped and they all did. The theatrics was already annoying Ivan and he smirked. Two other boys sat placidly, puffing on the butt of fat wraps of weed. For a moment, no one said a word, they stood and stared at Ivan. One stood and circled him, blowing smoke on his face as he walked around him. Ivan stepped out of the circle, putting his and out quickly to dissuade the boy from his actions.
“I don’t smoke, and that includes the smokes I take into my system myself and the one others blow in my general direction,” Ivan said.
“I like how he speaks; the language just glides off his tongue as though he owns it. He certainly acts like he owns the whole place as well and not just the language alone.” The one who had been navigating around Ivan spat.
“Aleksandr, remember Mr. Ivan is our guest,” the other man said.
“A guest should be humble, Sergey. This one is too arrogant.”
“Listen, Ivan. The boys came to me with a problem, I thought we should discuss it. This is why we invited you here, to talk, pardon my friend here. Vlad, go on now, Aleksandr and I will handle the rest of the conversation.” Sergey said. Ivan could tell the deceptive aroma of power when he sees it and he could certainly see it on Sergey here but more of it seemed to rest on Aleksandr who was probably second in command to a man who has no power. It is funny how young people parade themselves in a community of other young people. They give themselves airs and try to maintain something meaningless. Ivan chuckled.
“Something funny, Ivan?” Sergey asked.
“No, not at all. I mean, you summoned me to have a conversation, your boys downright kidnapped me and you say this is an invitation?” Ivan quipped.
“I am sorry if they presented the wrong image to you, I promise, I have no plans to disrespect you, and I am hoping you can show me the same courtesy,” Sergey said, putting out his cigarette. He motioned to Aleksandr, signaling for him to put his cigarette off.
Ivan watched, his face expressionless as always. Sergey had all the questions so he waited for him to put them to him. Aleksandr on the other hand fumed. It was obvious on his face, he couldn’t hide what he was thinking.
“Can you tell me why you refuse to join the assemblies of the men in Yuriy Petkoff hall? I mean I have stayed in that hall for over five years, yes, I know, my course was supposed to be a four-year course, but here we are. In my long stay at the hall, I have never seen anyone refuse to be a part of the brotherhood. We always gathered as one, played, and enjoyed ourselves but you seem to always seek solitude. Don’t get me wrong, Ivan, I like solitude as much as the next man, especially when I have a woman with me, but you’re different,” Sergey said.
“You just proffered the answer to your question, we are all different, I chose to live the way I live, why do you want me to change my ways?” Ivan asked.
“It creeps the men out. You bath out in the open early in the morning when the boys are still sleeping, you never come back until late evening and when you do, you’re lurking in the corners, like you were a government spy or something.” Aleksandr chimed in.
“I wish I were a government spy, Aleksandr, I would have told them of your small drug ring and the prostitution ring you run on campus,” Ivan said, fixing Ivan with a long stare.
“Bastard!” Aleksandr burst out.
“Calm down Alek, we are having a civilized conversation here, you don’t want to keep your tempers flying about the place. Ivan, the small business you have noticed is not the subject of our conversation, we are talking about brotherhood, about looking out for one another, you know like family which is what the Petkoff hall is all about,” Sergey continued.
“Well, since we are talking about brotherhood, Aleksandr, are you going to tell your brother here what you are always doing with his girlfriend at the Olana motel at the corner of Vulica,” Ivan said with an expressionless face.
“What?” Aleksandr turned sharply, throwing a hooked punch. Ivan was quicker, standing quickly and brushing the push away. He was ready to throw his punch back when Sergey grabbed a hold of him.
“Easy now, Ivan. I have known for a while what Aleksandr is doing, it is not news,” Sergey said.
“What? You believe this fool?”
“Alek, if you are going to fuck my woman behind my back, you should know better than to take her to Olana.”
The girl in question was sitting right there, she placed her face in her lap and Ivan could see her body heaving. Come now, Valentina, it is okay. I just wish you had told me you were tired of me instead of this dance and song you resorted to.” Sergey said. “Ivan, I guess I have my answer then, I tried to school you, and turns out I was the one who got schooled.”
“Sergey!” Aleksandr called out angrily.
“Go home, Alek, the night might swallow you if you stay out longer.”
“That sounds like a threat,” Aleksandr shouted.
“You have known me for too long to think I make threats. Go home,” Sergey said again, this time, he turned and fixed his friend with a withering stare. As Aleksandr ambled away, Ivan watched Sergey, the anger in his eyes, and the controlled emotion was one he recognized. He had felt the same things, he had reacted the same way. He knew the matter wasn’t over.
“I am guessing you’d forgive them,” Ivan asked.
“Go home Ivan, I have to walk my girlfriend back to her hall, thank you for coming out tonight and whenever you can join the company of men, the troubles will always come, but the brotherhood will always be something for men,” he said.
Ivan walked home that night thinking of Sergey and that tremendous control he exhibited. He could tell too that he hadn’t known about his friend’s betrayal, it was all news to him yet he had acted like he had always known. That control had something else in it and Ivan wanted to know more.
Two weeks later Ivan was summoned to the rector’s office. He was surprised. He had tried his best in the past year to stay out of trouble and out of the radar. He did his duties with minimal fuss and stayed out of the light. What could the rector want with him?
When he walked into the room, the rector was with a prim-looking younger man in a tailored suit. He looked smart and had eyes that darted about faster than his words left his mouth. Ivan had seen a lot of them back in his home after the fire to know that the man is special police. They are a notch above the politsiya. Better dressed, higher brain function, and better results since they are always brought in when there is an issue that stymied the regular police.
A thousand thoughts sailed through his mind at that moment. He wondered whether they had caught the arsonist that burnt down his home and the people of his home. But it was such a long time ago that no one will ever know who did it.
“Don’t be scared son, there is nothing to be scared of,” The rector said.
“I am not scared but the last time I saw a man dressed like this, my mother had been burnt to dust,” Ivan said before walking into the room.
“What do you mean burnt?” The well-dressed man said.
“Someone set fire to my home, burnt my mother and kid sister and grandmother.” There was pity in their eyes, and he looked away uninterested in what they were feeling. He had buried the feelings deep and unburying took more than he was willing to give.
“I haven’t introduced myself, I am Fyodor Tugenev. You’re right, I am special police and we have some questions for you. Your rector will be here while I question you but you have nothing to worry about really,” he said.
Ivan took a seat opposite the man still at a loss. His mind continued its search for answers but try as he could, there was nothing he could lay his hands on.
“Do you know a certain Aleksandr Zhuck?” Fyodor asked.
“I know an Aleksandr, I don’t know his surname. He is friends with Sergey,” Ivan answered.
“That should be Sergey Kravchenko, correct?”
“I do not know his surname either, a certain Vlad and two other boys waylaid me on my way back from the library one night and marched me down to the hockey pitch for an impromptu meeting with the two gentlemen in question.”
“The one you call Vlad should be Vladmir Moroz,” Fyodor asked.
“Like I said, I don’t know these men enough to know their surnames. I got to know their names because they called each other by name on the night when I was half-kidnapped.” Ivan answered. Fyodor chuckled and nodded.
“I like this guy. Tell me what happened that night,” he said.
“Vlad and the boys took me down to where Sergey and Aleksandr were seated. Sergey said he wanted to have a conversation about brotherhood and how I could better associate with the people at Petkoff hall. They said I am too reclusive and they would like for me to be more integrated with the others. Then they started an argument about girls and tempers flared a little,” Ivan explained.
“Which girl?”
“Valentina,” Ivan answered.
“Valentina Volkov,” Fyodor said. “But you do not know her surname, of course,” Fyodor added.
“It seems Aleksandr was sleeping with Sergey’s girlfriend behind his back. But that’s all I got to hear before I left,” Ivan said.
“Thank you for sharing all of this with me. I will like for you to meet me here later this evening, I have to speak with Sergey and I will like for you to be in here while we talk. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“When Vlad and the other boys came for me that night, they made it clear I didn’t have a choice, I think you are saying the same thing, sir.”
“More or less, I will like to think I am polite about it,” Fyodor stated.
Ivan walked back to the library thinking about the line of questioning. He will be here in the evening, no questions about that. He would like to know what all this is about. Fyodor is like every other special police, he smiled and made you think you are on the same side while he grilled you and tried his best to wring answers out of you. Ivan never liked people who used power as bait.
When the librarian announced the closure at 5 pm, Ivan knew it was time for his date with the officer in a nice suit. He walked down to the Rector’s office and knocked lightly, waiting for word from within to enter. The officer was seated just as he was earlier as was the rector.
“I knew you won’t disappoint me, Ivan,” the officer said, taking Ivan’s hand in a tight shake. He took a seat, still at a loss why they need him. His alibi for that very day is still airtight and he couldn’t see how they could hold him for any of the crimes. Suddenly the door opened and Sergey was led into the room in cuffs. He wasn’t fighting, instead, he walked slowly into the room, placid as water.
He greeted the rector cordially and slipped into a seat before turning to Fyodor. Their eyes met for a second before he nodded.
“What is this about, detective? I have told my side of the story, given you my alibi as well, what more do you want from me?” Sergey asked.
“You see, Vladimir, he told us an interesting story about the night you found out your girlfriend was cheating on you with your top lieutenant. He said there was a fight, punches were thrown and angry words were exchanged, but conveniently, both of you omitted that part in your testimony. In my experience, I have found that omissions of this sort mean that something is being hidden from me, will any one of you care to comment on what I might be missing?” Sergey asked, smiling as he looked from one to the other. Ivan never liked smiles of this sort, all teeth, and the man’s teeth weren’t all that pretty.
“Vladimir got his information wrong then. For starters, there was no exchange of words, it was Alek being his usual self, always treating everything like a war. He was yelling at Ivan here,” Sergey said, turning to nod towards Ivan. “I calmed him down and we began to have a more civilized conversation. Secondly, that wasn’t the first time I was discovering Alek’s betrayal, I have known them for quite a while, but I am a quiet man who does not go around making noise and shouting down the roof when fickle humans betray his trust,” Sergey said, his voice calm as he spoke. Ivan didn’t say a word, he just listened and waited. “About the punches, Alek threw one at Ivan here, but again, Alek was bad with physical combat, he always came in slow and Ivan was able to step away from the punch before I calmed him down.”
“So you expect me to believe that a man like yourself discovered your girlfriend’s infidelity and decided to give her a pass on that?” Fyodor asked.
“She was not my wife, we were merely dating, in college so it wasn’t like any one of us had concrete plans for the future. Ivan had always minded his business, I don’t understand what his business is with this whole kerfuffle,” Sergey commented.
“You’ll let me decide how to handle my case, Sergey, you answer my questions and keep your commentaries to yourself,” Fyodor blew up.
“Someone is pissed,” Sergey quipped, chuckling.
“Tell me again the last time you saw Alek,” Fyodor said.
“I already made a written statement with your people, if you have questions from what I wrote down, I will answer them, but I should remind you, my lawyers should be here for that. And as at this evening, I have been told by my father to inform you that Ivan here will henceforth be represented by the offices of Ivanovic and associates, his lawyer should be present before ay questioning is done,” Sergey smiled as he spoke, staring Fyodor in the eye. The detective glared back at Sergey, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.
“I will listen to that drivel when I see the lawyer. You may choose not to answer my questions but Ivan here will talk to me until I see his representation.” Fyodor quipped.
“You are looking at him now,” a loud baritone bellowed behind Fyodor as the rector’s door was flung open without ceremony.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Dmitry Ivanovic, Ivan Petrovich’s representative. If you happen to question my client one more time without his lawyer present, I will have charges brought up against you so fast you will not know what hit you. And you, Rector, I am sorely disappointed at how casually you allowed this man to violate everything that is good about this great institution. Common Ivan, let me get you back to your hall,” The man said. For a moment, Ivan was lost for words. He stared at Dmitry’s white beard and the menacing figure and wondered what he would be like in court. He came to his sense and rose off the seat suddenly, following the lawyer out.
Sergey maintained an expressionless face while staring straight at Fyodor. After a while, he too rose and walked out of the room.
Ivan understood the whole story later from Dmitry. The lawyer explained Aleksandr and Valentina’s missing. A few days after that meeting at the Hockey pitch, both of them went missing and none of them has turned up since then. All searches for them proved abortive.
“I am sure you have nothing to do with that and once Sergey mentioned to us that they might target you because you have no one in Belarus to speak for you, we had to swing into action. Listen, kid, if you know anything about the disappearance of those two, I will like to hear them, but if you are sure you have nothing to do with their disappearance, you can trust me and my team to get you out of this little quandary,” he said.
“I never saw the two after that night, not that I wanted to anyways.”
“Good, your testimony is airtight. Where were you on April 12?” Dmitry asked.
“At the library, there are multiple people who can attest to that including the librarian. At 6:00 pm, I walked back to my room and stayed in until the next morning. My roommate, an Israeli boy can attest to this assuming he doesn’t hate me enough to perjure himself,” Ivan explained.
“Good, keep the thread that way, nothing will happen to you. Whatever you do, don’t try to contact Sergey, it will appear like you are colluding if you do so. Keep your head down, although I hear that’s what you’re already doing,” Dmitry said, turned around, and walked on.