Untrodden paths

Sasha: Hi, Vitya! Come over here for a chat.

To Andrei lying on the next bunk: A good guy, Vitya Fedorovich, we live near each other. To Fedorovich, sitting down on his cot: How come you’re here?

Fedorovich showed his bandaged left forearm.

Sasha: Slashed your wrist? Why?

Fedorovich: Had to, got into a fix… Let’s go out and have a smoke.

Sasha: Go ahead. Shoot, these guys are OK. Anyway, our toilet is teeming with snitches.

Fedorovich: There’s little to say. I was just trying to buy a little gold, so I went to a pawn-shop in Moscow to see who’s bringing in what, and tried to offer my own price. I was arrested there and then.

Sasha: Jeez! Are you really mad? To do such a crazy thing to get this serious rap? There are always undercover cops slouching about such places, besides the guys who want to engage in gold and hard currency speculation first make sure they have reliable suppliers and buyers, then they take the risks. You, instead, did such childishly stupid thing as to go straight to a pawn-shop!

Fedorovich: I just wanted to give it a try. You know people take to the pawn-shops lots of precious things, and the state buys them up, paying by weight – a sheer pittance. So I thought of giving it a try: to make a little money and do people a good turn, too, because what they get paid by the state is nothing but legalized robbery in broad daylight.

Sasha: Well, you are a damned fool, Vitya.

Fedorovich: Not just I, Alex the Afghan was with me too.

Sasha: God, what fools! You aggravated your case by conspiracy and group felony, a good prospect of 15 years! Who arrested you?

Fedorovich: Moscow’s CID.

Sasha: Too bad.

Andrei: Why?

Fedorovich: They treat you Gestapo style there. Alex tried to keep silent at his first interrogation, so they took him back to the cell, and gave him such a whaling that I, returning from my own questioning to our cell, almost peed in my pants: it was all smeared in blood.

Andrei: Did they beat you up too?

Fedorovich: No, I was more lucky. When they told me they would beat the shit out of me unless I confessed, I warned them I had a heart problem, that my father has a degree in cardiology and works at a Moscow regional clinic where I undergo regular examinations. This actually saved me from being killed or crippled.

Sasha: Yes, it’s nice to have a father with a degree in cardiology. How come you are here?

Fedorovich: The CID knew better than to get involved with me, so they passed me to Schelkovo Police