Moscow Mule

"Aleksi Aristov, DOB 31.01.2000, weight 178lbs, blonde hair, blue eyes 6ft 3, non-smoker, no previous medical conditions, no relatives in the country, no children, no spouse, no other dependants." It felt like my obituary was being read out as I lay on the table semi-conscious.

I peeked through one eye to see the back of a lab coat, luckily its owner hadn't seen me open my eyes. I felt sick to my stomach and dizzy, what was going on? Who was the guy at the end of the room reading all my details out to the creepy doctor? Where was I? "Hmm... yes a perfect candidate, he will do nicely, well done for getting him here."

“- Ok, ok, don't panic!” I told myself, just stay calm and lie perfectly still, there is no reason for them to know you are awake. What is this thing attached to my chest? wait a minute my hands are tied to this table. Don't move! I told myself, whoever these people are, it’s imperative that they think you are still asleep, so keep your eyes closed. Ok, how did this happen, let me retrace my steps, where was I before this? Let me try and remember.'

This morning, I had an early lecture. I was late for the bus, so I started running down the street. I must get to this lecture so I can see Olivia, so I can explain what happened last night with Natasha, she got it all mixed up. She caught us on the roof together last night sharing a drink and talking, I guess she didn’t take it as innocently as I did.

The bus looks so crowded, but then again, it’s always crowded in this neighbourhood, where most of my Russian comrades reside. It’s not easy being a scholarship kid, if I had any money, I would definitely spend it on a car, perhaps that's probably the case for a lot of young men in their early 20's but the difference is I really needed one. It’s not easy getting around LA, and I could save face around Olivia's friends, plus give her the man she deserves.

Every day I grab the Metro bus from West Hollywood to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. It’s about 28 mins from Sunset Blvd, so I use the commute to prep for my upcoming lectures, but there was no chance I could concentrate on anything today.

I just made the bus by the skin of my teeth. I couldn’t believe there was an empty seat at the front. Perfect, I thought to myself, I can sit here, read my textbook and forget all about the things that happened last night. Just my luck, here comes a big tubby fellow, does he have to sit here? soon his elbows started to dig into my side which forced me to awkwardly pivot my back against the window so I could read my book in peace.

“Oh, Sorry if I bother you son, I was skinny and slender when I was your age, how old are you if you don’t mind if I ask?” I could tell from his thick Russian accent that he too was an immigrant just like me. “I’m 21.” I said barely looking up from my textbook.

He carried on “And zis book on medicine zat you are reading seems very impotent, are you a student?” I looked up at him and remembered when I too had struggled to speak proper English. “Yes, I study bio medical science.” “Vow! You speak enough English, maybe you teach me plis, Mr…? He gestured his chubby hand toward me and waited for me to respond with my name. “Aleksi.”

No sooner than I told him my name, his eyes lit up and he grabbed my hand and shook vigorously so that my textbook fell to the floor. He started speaking Russian to which I said, “I am sorry my Russian is very poor.” I lied. I didn't like a stranger knowing too much about me.

“Oh, sorrry, sorrry, I don’t vant to interfere with your studies, plis continue.” With that he ushered his hand toward the textbook I retrieved off the floor and let me start reading for a little bit before starting up again. “Are you studying at UCLA medical? Do you know if there is a good place to have drinking something a little stronger?”? Maybe you can advices? I sighed and said, “I don't know, Hanks Bar I guess.”

“Zat sounds good to me, see you there sometime.” Then he winked and elbowed me and said “do you have a lot of girls to study? I bet yes there should be a lot of choices. Can you introduce me?” then he chuckled inwardly in a creepy way. Thank god! This was my stop; I couldn't bear to talk to him for another second. “Sorry, this is my stop, take care.” I said briskly as I shoved my book into my bag and dashed toward the bus doors. “Aleksi!” he shouted after me and then winked and said “Dosvedanya.”

I raced to the find Olivia, I can picture her now, with her long black hair cascading down her shoulders and her electric blue eyes. She is the most beautiful woman in the world and the love of my life.

As I lay there, awaiting my fate it occurred to me that I may never see her again, I may never get to take her back to Moscow to meet my mother. I would give anything to turn back time, or to have her lying here with me right now, running my fingers through her silky hair for the rest of my life even if that may just be a few more minutes.

I can remember trying to make things right, her eyes were sad, and her words echoed in my head, "I hope you and Natasha will be very happy together." I was glued to the floor, why didn't I chase after her? I promise if I make it out of here alive, I will never be such a coward ever again. Instead, I texted Doug asking if we could go for a drink.

He messaged back - "Hanks at 5." It was a bit abrupt, but I assumed he was too busy to text. I was so relieved to get to Hanks Bar, Doug wasn’t there so I dropped him a text and decided to order myself a drink. Before I could, the porky man from the bus appeared and pulled up a chair next to me. "Hello again, I didn't sink I would see you here." he said as he wiped his nose across his forearm. "Yes, it’s quite unexpected."

He turned to me and said, "You must have a tough day, let me buy you a drink," he gestured to the bar tender and said, "one Moscow mule." It was a little strange, but the man kept me drinking at a reasonable pace, until 45 minutes later when I grabbed my phone and dropped Doug another message. Just as I sent the message, I saw my fatties phone light up with my text as it lay on the bar. I looked up at him in dismay, he smiled and said "Dosvedanya" then everything went dark.

I dared to peek again and there he was, standing right next to the man in the white lab coat. “You have done an excellent job, here is your $20,000, if you keep them coming like this, I will put in a good word for you. “Ya it vas too easy to switch phone numbers and drug his drink, I zink it will be very easy to bring you more of these, zanks. Is it for one kidney or his liver?”

“No, this one's kidney will do nicely, the liver can wait, but we can take it out for good measure and preserve it.” said the surgeon. “So, now we remove one kidney or both?” asked Chubbers. “Both.” said the doctor callously. “Okay, vell he is passed out, I drugged him enough to sedate him for hours.”

“Ok, you go and sanitise, and I shall prepare him for the operating table.” This was my chance, Porky underestimated the amount of sedative I would need, in this case his ignorance saved my life. The doctor came closer and began loosening the ropes around my wrists.

I wasn't going to miss my chance. I grabbed the scalpel on the side table and stabbed him in the neck. I tried to get to my feet, but my legs were numb. I had to muster all my strength to get to the front of the room. I scooped up the $20000 and put it in the black garbage bag beside it which held all of my belongings.

Through my blurry eyed vision, I could see my name and the names of everyone else I knew written in a notebook, I shut the little black moleskin book and dumped it into the bag. The doctor grabbed my ankle from the floor, I kicked him, but I was dizzy, he took the scalpel out from his neck and tried to stab me, but as he bled out, he missed the mark.

I kicked him off and said, "I believe I shall be taking this $20,000 as compensation." I locked the door before our grammatically challenged friend could return. I looked around the room, it seemed I was in a dark basement somewhere, there was a staircase at the corner of the room. I darted for it.

The staircase led to the upstairs entrance, I moved as quietly and as fast as I could with my jittery legs and made it to the front door. I swiped the car keys on the wall and ran out the door to the car. I got in the Maserati but was swiftly followed by my nemesis Mr. Thunder Thighs, so I dropped my foot on the gas pedal. The car moved at lightning speed and burst through the wooden gate.

As I sped to Olivia's house, I rummaged through the black garbage bag, $20,000 I couldn't believe it! I held the thick wads of cash for a moment, held it to my nose, smelt it and smiled. I could send my mother some money, I could take Olivia on a trip somewhere nice, I could get myself a nicer apartment to rent.

I felt around in the bag and found my phone and called her frantically, pleading with her to come out of her house, no time to explain. She came outside and stood by the car, waving her arms in the air in defiance, as I tried to persuade her to get in the car, I heard a screech behind me and a gunshot.

Olivia fell to the ground, my heart sank. the fat man had caught up with me and what is worse than dying myself is losing the love of my life right before my very eyes. I saw a gun in the car and opened the door holding up the black book as a shield.

Just then a bullet hit the book so hard it went flying. I started shooting back and yelled “DOSVEDANYA!”

Just over the shining headlights I could see him fall to his knees. I ran over to Olivia crying, and was so relieved to see that she was still breathing.

I carefully picked her up and put her in the car and brought her here, to the hospital. The nurse nodded as I finished my story, "So, you got away, with the money and the car, and rescued the girl, but what happened to the fat man?" she asked.

"Well, let’s just keep the money and the car between us. When the police got to the scene there was no body, no sign of the fat Russian, all they found was a little black book."