Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Tisha nodded. “I miss my cousin, Pavel a lot. I do not want to have to mourn Kazimir. Therefore, the Lion must remain safe.”
“I understand.” I gazed at his long, silky strands. “Since meeting you, Tisha I have also wondered if you always had your hair this long.”
He glanced at me with a nostalgic glimmer in his eyes. “Funny you should ask, Emily. I actually let it grow out when I heard about Pavel’s death. It felt like a way to honor him.”
“I get it. I bet Pavel would appreciate that.”
“Me too.”
Kaz chuckled in front of the stage. “Now, I want to play the drums. Come, Sergei. Show me what to do.”
Are you serious?
I let out a long breath. “Baby, we really should head out. Tomorrow will be a lot of planning, before we get on the plane tomorrow night.”
“Oh no.” Misha waved his hands. “I am sure David is on it. What is a number one for anyway? Let the Lion have fun.”
“You better stop it, Mosquito.” I glared at him. “Or you and me are going to have problems.”
Misha chuckled. “I just want Kazimir to get the true Crucifix experience.”
Ava turned Misha’s way and gave him a disapproving look.
Instantly, Misha stopped chuckling and cleared his throat. “Perhaps, I should let the Mouse deem when the night is over for the Lion.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Ava.”
She smiled at me.
Meanwhile, slamming of drums sounded on the left.
Oh my God.
Kaz bobbed his head as he hit a drum here and there, while mainly missing them most of the time. “Like this Sergei?”
Startled, Harlem woke up and rolled over.
I’m really going to have to drag Kaz off the stage myself.
Max and Misha laughed.
Tisha spoke, “Do not worry. My cousin will get tired once he grabs the guitar from Alexi and begins strumming.”
I widened my eyes. “Oh, no. He isn’t going to do that. Right?”
Tisha gave me a sad smile. “Unfortunately, Kaz must always play all of the instruments before Crucifix leaves.”
“Wow. I may not have them at the wedding.”
“But, you must—”
“Look, mysh!” Kaz slammed the stick against the drums at an unsteady rhythm. “I am a rock star.”
I cannot with him right now.
It was almost painful to listen to.
Just then, Harlem ran over and started barking.
You tell him, Harlem.
“I have mastered this.” Kaz gave up on the drums, rose, and headed over to poor Alexei who had just put his guitar away. “Do you all know that had I not picked up the gun, I would have been strumming a guitar?”
“I did not.” Alexei forced a smile and began to pull his guitar out. “Let us see what you can do, Kazimir.”
I looked at Tisha. “Alright. He is on the guitar, so we are almost done?”
Tisha nodded. “We have about ten more minutes of this.”
I grinned. “Good. Because that is about all I can take.”
“I agree.” Tisha leaned back against the wall. “You are good for him.”
“Thank you.”
Tisha directed his view to Kaz. “Do you know why they call my cousin the Lion?”
I blinked. “You know what? I don’t. I mean. . .he just. . .has always been the Lion to me.”
“When Kazimir and I were young boys—barely thirteen, but tall for our age—we got involved with a local gang to make some extra money. They called themselves, Otryad.”
“What does that mean?”
“It is like. . .squad or troop in English.”
“Okay.”
“We mainly ran a few errands for them. Of course, we hid this from our mothers.”
“Uh oh.”
Harlem hurried back over to me and got in my lap.
Tisha continued, “Their leader was named Kon, but everyone called him, the Gorilla.”
“Why did they call him that?”
“He had strength, a big size, and quite an intimidating presence.” Tisha raised one finger. “Also, Kon used to be a competitive powerlifter. But, they say that one night when the group got into a bar fight with some other guys, Kon single-handedly took down several men with his bare hands.”
“Sounds like quite a guy.”
“He was in his own way.”
“Did you enjoy working for the Gorilla?”
“I did not.” Tisha wagged his finger. “But, as always I did what Kazimir asked me to.”
I tried to imagine Kazimir and Tisha at thirteen, walking around with their long, skinny legs and trying to hang with the big guys.
“Also, it was odd when we worked with him.”
“Why?”
“Kon thought Kazimir’s ego was too big. He was always trying to challenge Kazimir to get him to weaken his confidence.”
“That’s fucked up. People should let a kid be confident.”
“Very true, but the Gorilla had a different mindset. One day, he decided it was time for Kazimir to truly prove himself. He gave us a seemingly impossible task.”
I petted Harlem’s head. “What was it?”
“Kon told us to steal a prized motorcycle from a rival gang’s territory.”
“That’s messed up. It sounds dangerous.”
“It was very dangerous. These men. . .they would not care that we were kids. Surely, we could have gotten shot in the process.”