George (Twenty-Five)

I held both their wrists, announced to the crowd the scores. 77-75, 76-76, 77-75 for the winner. Raised George's wrist as high as I could, but since he was still pretty tall, only lifted it like 3 quarters of the way up. George hopped around on his stiff pin, then grabbed his family and left the gym quick as he could.

Viktor slumped away, looking like he lost everything a 2^nd time. He left the ring, but his family went to him, and Tanya went over and hugged him. Viktor kept crying something into Tanya's hair, but she kept saying it was all right [I had to look up the translation, but he kept saying, “I'm sorry.” -Dara].

After a while, Viktor calmed down, invited his family, his corner, and me and Dara out to dinner, cause at least they were all together, and they needed to celebrate this, win or lose. Dara went with, while I said I was tired, but I thanked him, finally gave him my card. Tired as he was, he still bear hugged me and lifted me off the ground.

Saw them off from Stu's, then thanked Stu for all his help. He threw a right hook at my head, and I barely dodged it. Stu just said that making sure my reflexes were still good was thanks enough.

I dropped by the Vanguard. George let me in, looked so pleased. Leaned back in his chair, lit a cigar. While his family went to dinner, he was taking care of all the paperwork they'd need to make sure he could keep the Vanguard. Told me that things couldn'ta worked out better, between the Vanguard and Viktor. Handed me a final check settling up, and 2 tickets to the opera. Told me it was an extra thank you, for everything I done.

I told him he shoulda talked to Tanya and Viktor and the family afterwards. He said there wasn't nothing to say, that was all in the past, and he'd moved on, now, finally. He was gonna make things better, do everything right, take care of his family and the Vanguard. That was all that mattered now.

Asked him if he wondered whatever happened to the baby. His eye twitched, but he said it wasn't his responsibility, and the kid probably got adopted by a good family. Told him I thought he did. Shook his hand one last time, even though I didn't really want to. It was good business.

Outside, I put my fist through the ticket window glass, then tore up the check and sprinkled the bits on the counter. Now we were even. Bad for business, but I didn't plan on talking to him anymore. Time to move on, look towards the future.

Went back to the station, and locker 3917. That was a lot of flush. Too much. Part of me just wanted to catch a bus south, not look back. But what's an old slob like me gonna do then? Sit around, get fatter and lazier, waste the rest of my life? Took it straight to Father Julien. Told him not to ask questions, just to help the kids with it. Walked outta there quick as I could, before I changed my mind. Walked back in there to ask for a cut, but Father Julien had already put it away, just smiled and said the kids thanked me for the donation. It was the right thing to do. Hadta be, cause it felt so wrong.

Next day, I ask Dara if she and Billy want to go to the opera. She said Billy was gonna be working that night, but she'd go with me. I knew Stu or Jake weren't gonna take the tickets, not when there was a fight on tv. And von Braun, he was just gonna ask where the rent was, laugh that I was trying to pay him with opera tix.

Come the night of, I put on my monkey suit, sit there reading the paper. There's a knock at the door. I go answer, and it's Miz Becca wearing a silvery evening gown and a shawl. She apologizes, says Dara got busy, asked her to substitute. Then she asks if I wouldn't mind taking her. I smile at her, and she puts her arm in mine [And, of course, all Trace would tell me was that they had a nice night listening to “Car Men Purina.” -Dara].

George (Twenty-Four)

Come the afternoon of the fight, some dame in jeans and a plain t-shirt comes into Stu's, takes a seat right next to the ring. It's funny cause the only other dames in the place are George's family, a couple of Viktor's corner, Viktor's family, and Dara. Woman's got real long brown hair, down to the middle of her back. She's not wearing a lick of makeup, but she's got a really easy look to her, puts you at ease, cause she's got some soft smile. I think twice, put my hands to frame her hair out of the picture. It's Tanya, outside in normal people clothes.

Go over and sit next to her. She blushes a little, says the gym is kinda punjint [Pungent. I'm not the only one that thinks so. -Dara]. I shrug my shoulders, apologize, wave Dara over so the 2 of them can make nice with the small talk [I've never known a nun on a personal level. Given that my conversations with Trace revolve around bourbon, burgers and whatever the details of our latest case, it felt refreshing to actually talk with someone related to a case that could hold a conversation. She seemed similarly pleased to talk with someone that wasn't knee-deep in the nunnery and concerned with God and heaven all day long. -Dara].

At one point, Tanya goes over to talk with Viktor's wife and 2 kids. I watch em for a bit, and the little girl's wrinkling her nose and looking around, gotta be 5 or 6, cute kid. Her brother, lot older, gotta be 19 or 20, towering over everyone else. Didn't see much of Viktor in the kid's face. Mostly, I notice them eyebrows which were real thin, like George's thin eyebrows. Saw a lot of his aunt Tanya in him, though, especially that soft smile.

Watching Viktor and George get ready, I can see they're gonna be stiff coming out. A few weeks of training ain't gonna do much for you when all you been doing is being a lazy slob for 20 years now. What I'm wondering is if they're gonna stay stuck in the past. George was top dog in high school, and if this happened then, Viktor wouldn't stand a chance. Viktor was top dog now, and George was just trying to hold onto the status quote [Status quo. I believe Trace is referring to George's inability to accept how the world has changed. I hope he is not referring to a Facebook status update. -Dara].

Viktor had everything going for him except for one thing: reach. All them expensive trainers did their job. You watch him walking in, warming up, he actually looked like a fighter. His feet were moving exactly where he wanted them to go, and he wasn't wasting time or extra steps trying to get in place. He was definitely gonna have to dance inside George's range and punish him close.

Thing is, Stu ain't no slob. He's been doing this longer than anyone except for me in the gym has been alive. He's seen it all. He probably invented some of it along the way. I watched them training, and Stu was gonna keep it simple. Lot of their practice involved weaving, turning in circles, jabbing, real simple foot movement cause of his bad leg. He was gonna play keep-away, clinch him if he got close, then on the reset, keep on doing it. Since his right leg was the bad one, Stu trained him to throw the right jab a lot, even though he was right handed. This way, he could keep his bad leg forward, get power from his good back left leg.

We were gonna go 8 rounds. I pulled on my ref jersey, did the intros, and there was a lot of cheering. Only person that didn't make a peep was Tanya. Brought the 2 of them to the middle, told them the rules one more time. Told em to shake hands and come out fighting, but they just glared bullets at each other.

Give em credit, they didn't come out swinging like slobs like I thought they were gonna. From the start, George kept throwing his left jab, popping Viktor real easy-like. Viktor kept throwing up his guard. It wasn't doing much damage at all, but at least George was working, and Viktor wasn't doing anything except blocking. Once and a while, Viktor would throw a couple punches, but he couldn't really get inside.

That all changed in the third, when George got a little lazy or tired or confident. He sailed a jab kinda high and Viktor ducked low, weaved in and started body shotting George. Real solid punches, I could hear the air rush outta George. All the training, but you never know how someone's gonna react in an actual fight. Took him a little while to remember the game plan, and Stu is yelling himself sick to get in a clinch. When he finally does, George's sides look like raw.

Viktor's smiling, he's got confidence. They keep on dancing, George throwing them light jabs, staying defensive. Outta nowhere, near the end of the 5^th, Viktor drops his guard for a sec, and George piles a hook into his temple. It staggers Viktor backwards, and I give him a standing 8 count to get his bearings. They're both huffing like overworked lawn mowers, but they lasted this long. I ask him if he's ok, and Viktor looks at me, smiles like a madman, tells me he's loving this.

George threw a few too many early on, and he was getting tired faster than Viktor. This let Viktor rush in more, throw some body shots, fight got a lot more even towards the end. They were both giving as good as they got, getting sloppy, but they were doing what they had to. By the time the bell rang at the end of the 8^th, they actually hugged each other. Maybe it wasn't all better, but for now, it was gonna be ok.

George (Twenty-Three)

Ever watch 2 slobs get in a fight, don't know how to throw a punch? 2 of them were rolling around on the ground like a couple of high schoolers in puppy love. Dara's standing there, screaming at them to stop, her face as red as her hair. People form a ring around them to watch, cause ain't no one seen a fight in a good long time, especially not on the sidewalk. It doesn't matter, cause they ain't doing much damage to each other. Really, they're just gonna tire each other out first.

I limp back outside, smarting bad, pull em apart. They're huffing and puffing and looking as middle-aged as I feel right now. Yell at everyone that the show's over, and they should get back to work or whatever they were doing. Drag those 2 slobs around the corner, just cause I gotta get them away from where they were fighting. Tell em if they want to settle it like this, they gotta do it right. Dara says she's ready to have them talk, but it ain't gonna make any difference. 20 some years of this? They gotta punch it out [Men. -Dara].

Tell em that they need to learn to fight, then they can settle it in the ring. George says they should bet the Vanguard on this fight, and Viktor agrees. George also says either way, they get the Diablos to stop. Viktor says he doesn't know what George is talking about, but is pretty sure that the Diablos would wanna stop after they fix up their issue. Says he's gonna be a little sad that George loses his dream, but it happens. They do that handshake thing where both of em try to squeeze the other's hand to kingdom come and back, but again, it's just kinda sad to watch. At this point, both of them are stupid mad, which is extra dangerous. We don't get them to settle it in the ring, they're gonna keep coming at each other till 1 is dead. Least this way, I can keep an eye on these slobs.

Next few weeks after 5, I force em down to Stu's, and they get a crash course in boxing so they won't embarrass themselves in the ring. I try to stay between them when I can, which means I work the speed bag a lot, right near the middle of the whole place. Tried to get Dara in there so I could teach her a few things, but she just comes in some tight sweatsuit wasn't never made for exercise, gets on the treadmill. Stu comes over, tells me she's gotta go, she's throwing off the whole gym. I tell him I can't make that dame do anything. Stu clears his throat and licks his lips and slicks back what little hair he's got left on his head. Walks on over, winks at her, starts chatting her up. After a few minutes, she leave Stu's. I ain't never seen Dara move that quick when she was on the treadmill [Stu's smells like the inside of a used jock strap anyway. -Dara].

Viktor's on one side with a whole crew of trainers, nutritionists, doctors, the whole works. He's really getting the technique down, good footwork, and you can see in his eyes that he's doing this for family, and he's gonna knock George's block off first chance he gets.

Meanwhile, George is on the other side, just him and a few random boxers and Stu. Stu's throwing his blocking pads at George, and George is taking a lot of hits to the head, which ain't so bad, cause you gotta learn sooner or later that getting hit ain't that bad. I sorta remember that part of my training. George's footwork, it's kinda weak, especially because of his bum leg, but he has range and power, gotta be at least a foot taller than Viktor. Now that he knows what is on the line, he's really going at it, and giving Stu a little workout at the same time.

Where it gets ugly, we set up some sparring sessions between them, help them try to work it all out. They're sitting in each corner, both of em pawing at their headgear like animals. Viktor's corner is trying to keep him calm, tell him everything he learned. Stu is standing there spouting off to George, all the basics a corner man's gotta tell his fighter. I ring the bell, and they come out wailing away at each other like kids. Good thing we put the headgear on, cause they were going for blood. I ain't seen stray cats get that wild. Takes half the gym to pull em off each other.

Least we know they're gonna make it interesting.

George (Twenty-Two)

George and me stood outside in front of the building. Guards kept pointing at me, daring me to come in. Dara went up to go bring Viktor downstairs.

I asked George why he couldn't just run with the flush, start another theater. He was getting more than enough to do it. George said it wasn't just the theater. He put his hand in his pocket, rocked on his heels. Told me he always won, except when he blew out his knee. But beyond that, when he was healthy, it always worked. If it wasn't for the knee, he woulda been on some cereal box. The Vanguard was his. Selling meant he woulda failed. He never failed.

I looked him in the eye, told him losing ain't something anyone likes, but it's something everyone's gotta deal with. Wished I'd been able to make it far as he did without ever losing.

Viktor stomped out the building, biggest grin on his face. Came over and bear hugged me, lifted me off the ground. Started gushing like a dame, saying he couldn't believe we actually tracked him down. I told him it was mostly Dara, but he just slapped my back so hard it rattled in my ribs. Said he could respect a guy who was determined. Demanded a business card so if he ever needed help, he could contact me.

I was about to hand him a crumpled one from my pocket when George slapped it outta my hand, screamed I was still working for him.

George and Viktor faced each other down. Viktor, probably as tall as Dara, met George's glare, didn't back down. George told Viktor to stop with the Diablos, and to stop buying the Vanguard. Viktor's smile spread across his face real slow, like an oil slick in the rain. Claimed he didn't know what George was talking about.

I pushed Dara back a step, took a step closer. George had that look in his eye, kind you get when you realize you lost, but you can leave a parting shot. He asked how Tanya was doing.

Holding Viktor back was like trying to hold back a pickup truck. He yelled things in what I guess was Russian, while George kept going full-on dame, saying stuff about Tanya I don't want to repeat.

Told Dara to shut George up, while I pushed Viktor all the way back to the glass doors. People were staring to watch. I had to get Viktor out of sight. What could I do? Had to push him inside.

Them guards, they were smacking batons into their palms. I'm trying to push Viktor back around the corner in the lobby, and they're trying to beat me senseless.

Almost had him back when 1 of the guards cracks the back of my knee with that night stick. I drop like a slob, just in time to watch Viktor go barreling back outside, screaming bloody murder in Russian.

George (Twenty-One)

Caught the metro home and slept like I didn't know nothing else. Woke up. Dara handed me my mug. I topped it off with some bourbon. Told her Viktor was after George cause George got his sister pregnant some twenty years ago. Sat there, tapping my finger cause there was still something wrong. Didn't know what, though. Just got caught in the middle of some high school love story. I wished they coulda let go, but I knew what it was like to not let go of a dame. Still working on it today.

We knew why Viktor was mad, so how were we gonna get him to stop? From what we'd seen, he didn't want money. Already had power. Hid himself real well. Had a wife, a family. He just wanted to take the guy got his sister pregnant and buy up his theater.

Thing was, it wasn't even revenge. They were giving him above market value for a rundown theater. Sure, in 15 years, if it laster that long, mighta been worth a fortune. Right now, it looked like it was dragging George down. Then again, what if George really had been talking about this theater since high school, and Viktor knew it was his dream? People paid a lot more than Viktor was talking about to ruin someone's dreams.

We drove over to the Vanguard, talked to George. Told him about Tanya. He didn't remember her. He rattled off on his fingers a list of names, said none of them got pregnant. He made sure, made them all stand up after to keep them from getting pregnant, and none of them ever told him they had kids, at least, not where he was the dad. What a slob.

I told him it was Viktor's sister, asked if he had a yearbook somewhere. He grabbed 4 from his bookshelf right behind him, and the 3 of us started flipping through everything. Found Tanya Lubchenko and Viktor Lubchenko side by side in the junior year yearbook. After, looking at the pics, I asked if he remembered Viktor. He said he did now, just couldn't remember Viktor's last name. Scrawny guy, big eyebrows. He sat there, then snapped his fingers, remembered Tanya. Cute, but quiet. That one took a while to warm up to him. Then he kept on talking, said that he bullied Viktor. Locked the kid in a locker once.

George got a real sour look. He raised his eyebrow, said he wasn't gonna apologize to the guy, that it was high school, he needed to move on. Everyone did stupid stuff, and it wasn't really his fault that the Lubchenkos sent Tanya to the nun house. He woulda paid for the abortion if she stuck around.

Classiest slob I ever met. I hadta put my hand on Dara's shoulder and clamp down a little, cause I could tell she was about to go full-on dame on him. At the same time, if I didn't put my hand on her shoulder, then I'd put my fist through his face.

I put it to him real simple. He was gonna lose the Vanguard if he didn't figure a way to get Viktor off his back. Far as we knew, Viktor was still mad about high school. George's best chance was to go over and apologize. Told him we were gonna go to George's business, Dara was gonna tell him to knock off the funny stuff. George could also come along, at least ask for forgiveness, or get ready to sign over his theater.

On the way over, George's jaw was real set. He was working his jaw over like there was some old beef jerky in there. Maybe it wasn't the best idea we had, making the 2 of them meet, but we didn't have much else.

George (Twenty)

It was 1 of em old churches. I could hear each step I took on stone steps. Looked down, it was a bunch of different shapes mortared together. Someone on their hands and knees spent a lot of time putting it together. Stone everywhere, lot of it smoothed down over the years.

Inside, big stained glass windows, all the stations of the cross. The old pews, scratched wood, but none of them kneeling brackets, no cushions on the seats. You came here, you were uncomfortable, you came to worship God almighty.

Up front near a table full of lit candles, a nun kept praying in front of the crucifix, whispering just loud enough I couldn't understand what she was praying for. Looked around, she was the only person anywhere nearby, except maybe in the confessional.

Walked inside the confessional, shut the door. A screen slid open. I asked the shadowy father on the other side for forgiveness. It'd been at least 6 or 7 months since the last time I confessed. Figured it wasn't too necessary, cause I beat myself up over them sins. Mostly fighting and drinking, not too bad in terms of the big sins. Felt like I'd done enough of both for a lifetime. Kinda felt lost in there.

He told me to do 15 rosaries and 15 Hale Maries for penance. Then I asked him if he talked to anyone just now, like the guy came in before me. Real simple, real slow voice, he told me whatever the guy said was between him and God almighty.

Slipped out of the confessional. Nun was still praying up front when she made the sign of the cross. She stood up, turned back, smiled at me. Little older, cheeks starting to sag, thin lips made for praying, but green eyes real clear.

I walked up to the nun, asked her how she was doing. She said she was fine, smiled back at me. I asked about Viktor, and she showed a small smile. Sister Tasha, she said he'd come by once a week. Never had time for church on Sundays, so he came on Wednesdays. Still counted, cause it was more than most slobs did, like me.

We sat down in the front pew, staring up at the pale Jesus. Real nice paint job, crown of thorns and blood trickling down his face. I asked what Viktor did for those Wednesdays, and she said they'd pray and talk, and then he'd confess his sins in the confessional. All she knew was that he was trying to make things better, said he was trying to do better. She said she was kinda proud of what he'd become, how he'd never forgotten her after all these years.

Told her I was investigating him, that any help she could give would help me. Thing is, she didn't have anything to say but good.

I asked her how long she'd known him, and she said they grew up together. Crunched my fedora in my hand, asked who she was. She told me Viktor was her brother.

Kept asking questions, but it was pointless. Really stuck up for him. Didn't know about much besides God almighty and what Viktor would tell her. It was obvious, when I mentioned his business, she sighed, looked at the ground, said she wished she could go out more. Said occasionally, she just wanted to see the world.

I asked her if she missed speculator life [Secular life. -Dara]. She said every once and a while, but this was all she'd known since she was 16.

Asked why she ended up here so young, what happened in school. Sister Tanya looked up at the crucifix again, crossed her hands in her lap. High school was a different lifetime. She was different. Got pregnant, and her parents forced her here.

She turned back to me, smiled faint like she was tired of thinking about all that. She was just a wide eyed girl then, and he was the star point guard on the basketball team. Sister Tanya rubbed a bead on her rosary, wondered whatever happened to George.

George (Nineteen)

I watched what Dara saw while she left. Funny how much more boring it was watching when it wasn't you. Then she got to the ground floor, stood in front of the woman's bathroom, tapped the button twice and told me to close the laptop. I did.

Dara came out to the car 20 minutes later, so I figure she was probably in the bathroom about 10 [Trace, thank you so much for all these details. Why did you feel it necessary to mention how long I was in the bathroom? -Dara]. We called up George, asked if he knew Viktor. He paused a while, said he didn't, but it was one of them real pauses, not a fake pause where his voice changed. I asked him to think harder, but nothing was coming up. Said he knew a Vik Chenmar, they lost touch. We told George that it seemed like this guy was behind it, but we wanted to make sure.

Dara drove, tried to teach me how to use the internets to do an internets search. Didn't work so well [Somehow, Trace managed to delete every shortcut on my desktop and erase every saved bookmark on my browser. -Dara].

Figured that Viktor was just as hard to find as anyone, covered his tracks real well. Figured we'd have to trail him a while. We went back to the building, into the garage, drove around to see if maybe we could find his car.

Wasn't hard to find it, the one sleek as a camera flash. Just parked a bit away and waited. When he came down and started driving, he tore away like the devil was chasing him. Bunch of twists and turns till it ended up at a church out in the country. Stayed about an hour, then he got out and left. Told Dara to chase after him, while I went inside. Had to talk to the almighty anyways.

[Viktor stopped at Pearlescent for dinner, ordering a wedge salad. I just kept getting water and breadsticks, pretending my date stood me up. Not that anyone would really believe it, but the waiter gave me his number just in case. At one point, Viktor pointed outside and passed a few dollar bills to the waiter. Later on, his waiter handed a vagrant two plastic bags, sagging at the handles, packed full of food.

When he left, he drove off to his penthouse apartment building. Try as I might, I couldn't find a way past the front doorman. At this point, any possible answers were up to Trace to find. -Dara]