AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I could run away, but that would be stupid.
Instead, I push the door open, saying, “Sorry. I really like that song.”
Vlad looks at me, silent, unsmiling.
“It’s my mom’s favorite.”
“Hm,” he grunts. “Mine too.”
“Do you know the words?”
“Yeah. Can’t sing for shit, though.”
“Me neither.”
He plucks the strings with his thick fingers, beginning over again.
I lean against the doorframe, closing my eyes. Letting the notes float around me in the air.
Even though I really have no voice, I softly sing along:
Hold me close and hold me fast …
This magic spell you cast …
This is la vie en rose…
I sing the whole song, imagining my mom singing it the way she does, much sweeter than I could ever manage.
When it’s over, we both stay quiet a moment, letting the last vibrations fade away.
“How come the ukulele?” I ask Vlad.
“I went to Hawaii once. Only time I ever went on a trip with my parents. It felt like we flew to literal paradise. Not like here. It didn’t seem like the same planet at all. Every place we saw was more beautiful than the last. More peaceful. I heard the ukulele, like angels strumming on harps. It was men playing it, big men. I was already a big kid. I thought,I could do that. I could make it feel like heaven everywhere I go.It’s not the same when I play it here. But it’s a little the same.”
This is the most I’ve ever heard Vlad speak at once. Especially sober.
“It was heaven,” I say. “For a minute.”
Vlad lets out a puff of air. He’s not smiling, but he’s also not glowering at me like usual.
“Why are you awake?”
I shrug. “Sometimes I get wired and can’t sleep even when I’m tired.”
He nods. “Me too.”
“Well.” I lift one hand in farewell, or maybe a salute. “Thanks.”
As I leave I hear him strumming the chorus one last time.
24
ADRIK
We start selling Sabrina’s drug in Eban Franko’s strip clubs. It’s an immediate success. Sabrina recruits the most popular strippers to sell for us in the private rooms. Their clients pop a pill, and an hour later they’re having the best night of their lives. The girls love it becauseMolniyamakes their clients cheerful and generous, shoving so much money down their G-strings they can hardly keep hold of it all.
Before we’ve even made a deal for the nightclubs, Vlad and Jasper are inundated with orders from street dealers who have heard of the new product. I have to be careful not to step on the wrong toes, but I let a couple of independents sell in open territories.
