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Snake was in a foul mood, the kind of mood when he liked to hurt people. He’d been looking for Boris since yesterday afternoon and the Russian hadn’t returned to his rooming house last night. He had no clue where he was. As he drove his battered vehicle around places where Boris was likely to hang, he became angrier and angrier. Screw him, we had a deal, a plan and now we’re behind. My boss’s gonna be furious with us. I’ve got a reputation to protect. Even though he was a low life criminal and capable of committing the worst of crimes, Snake was proud of his work record. In a sense, he had a code of ethics and was proud of his unblemished reputation.
Where the hell was Boris? He crossed the Lee Bridge and drove over the James River into south Richmond. He knew a friend of Boris’s from the old country lived on Porter. Fedor was an old guy, and there was a strong bond between the two men. Once, during a heavy bout of drinking, Snake tried to force Fedor into telling him why Boris left Russia. It was useless. There was no way Fedor was telling tales on Boris and Snake wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Fedor was sitting on his front porch, a bottle of vodka next to him. Snake slid his vehicle into a parking place right in front of the house, slammed the door and looked around the neighborhood.
Fedor wasn’t happy to see him as Snake bounded up the steps two at a time. Fedor stood, the bottle of vodka in his hand. "Wuz up, Snake. Wasn't suspecting to see you anytime soon. Pretty sure I don’t want to see you," he said as he studied him through half-closed eyes. Snake was trouble.
Snake looked at Fedor closely noting the broken veins and telltale flush of too much alcohol etched into his face. "Man, you look like you been hitting it hard. What's up?"
"Ain't nothing up," Fedor said crossly. "What do you want?"
Snake gave Fedor a half-smile and said, "I'm looking for our friend. You know where he is?"
Fedor shook his head. "Nope ain't seen him. Don't know nothing either. Boris ain't been around here for weeks."
"Come on, man," Snake persisted. "Aren't you going to offer an old buddy a drink? It’s hot out here.”
Fedor shoved the bottle of cheap vodka towards Snake. "I'm telling you the truth. I don't know where Boris is. And truth is, if he doesn’t want you to find him, you won't. He’s good at being missing."
Snake sat on an old rusted metal chair on Fedor's front porch. "Nice porch you got here," he said sarcastically as he looked around. "Neighborhood still sucks, though," he remarked. “Now, where’s Boris?”
Fedor eyed him suspiciously. "I dunno nuthin 'cept that I think you and Boris are killing those ladies and kids. He’s been foolin’ around with the poison for years.” His eyes glistened with anger. “Somebody's going to take both of you out one day and I hope I'm here to see it.”
Snake jumped up, the rusted chair clattering against the porch and hollered, "Kids, what the hell you talking about, man? Who’s killing kids?"
"Someone, my guess Boris, killed a bunch of school kids at that fast food place. Put some kinda poison in the chocolate milkshake machine. Or at least that's what the news said a little bit ago," Fedor growled and gave Snake a disgusted look. “You make me sick, like I wanna puke," he added as he returned to his vodka bottle.
What the hell? Has Boris gone rogue on me and killed a bunch of kids? That ain’t gonna work at all. He walked up and grabbed Fedor by the collar. “I’m askin’ you for the last time. Where is Boris?”
Fedor snarled as him. "Told you, I ain't seen Boris for weeks, you damned child killer.”
“I didn't do anything to school children," Snake snarled as he grabbed his phone and looked for news reports on school kids being poisoned. There was, he saw it. Two dead. “Two kids are dead already,” he said, a smile replacing the scowl on his face.
Fedor shook his head. "You found it? Bad, isn't it? Like I said, you make me wanna puke," he added with disgust. "Only chickens prey on children and that's what you and Boris are, Chickenshits. Pick on someone your own age," he said, as revulsion and anger darkened his face. “Anybody can kill kids. You disgust me.”
"Shut up, old man, before I shut you up forever," Snake scowled.
“Screw you,” Fedor spat and before he could move, Snake came at him.
Fedor winced as Snake grabbed his arm and squeezed it as hard as he could. The tattoo on Snake’s hand whitened with pressure. The evil eyes of the tattooed reptile stared at him. Fedor was paralyzed by the pain and remained quiet.
"Now, for the last time, where is Boris?" Snake’s voice was a hiss and Fedor felt fear in the pit of his stomach. He knew Snake would kill him and think nothing of it.
Fedor shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. You can kill me if you want to, but I don't know where he is."
Snake stared into Fedor's eyes and realized he didn't know where Boris was. He threw him roughly against the metal glider on his porch. Fedor howled in pain as his hip scraped on the rusty frame. He cursed Snake in Russian.
"If you see him, tell him I'm looking for him, old man," Snake growled as he walked down the steps towards his van.
Fedor watched him drive away. Good riddance. He'd never tell Snake a thing. Never. He’d die before he helped that killer out. He hated both of them and he was disappointed in Boris. A real man would never hurt a kid. Boris had shown so much promise in his younger years, but now he was a criminal, just like his father. He had half a mind to call the Richmond police about them.