Part II-Chapter 20: THE STREET BOUNTY

Chapter 20

The Street Bounty
(Ó 2009)

The Siberia Restaurant

Three Nights Later

11:35 PM

The exhausted and disheveled figure of Pieter Chekov sat alone at his private booth. In front of him on the table was a hot bowl of Russian beet borsch along with a loaf of black bread, his first meal in three days. Also on the table was a freshly opened bottle of Stolichnaya Vodka. Pieter had already helped himself to two shot glasses full.

For the past three days Pieter sat, hour after hour, at the hospital bedside of his oldest son, Julian. It took a lot of begging and pleading from family and friends to make him leave his son’s bedside this evening, after some gentle persuasion though, he succumbed to their requests. Pieter was wearing the same clothes that he had put on in the early morning when he received word that his son had been taken to the emergency room. He had not shaven or bathed since. He sat now at his table, staring down at the bowl of borsch, though his stomach ached from hunger he was too saddened and depressed to dine. After a few more moments though, he tore off a piece of the bread, dipped it into the borsch, and began to eat it.

His mind was overflowing with the images of his son, lying motionless in the hospital bed, his empty eye sockets bound with medical gauze, blood and other fluids seeping their way to the surface of the bandages. His shoulder and chest wrapped as well in gauze with the same blood and fluids coming through on Julian’s right shoulder. The doctors informed Pieter that, even with the extensive damage to the nerves and tendons on Julian’s shoulder, he would still have movement in his right arm and hand, although it would be quite limited. 

What’s more, and to Pieter the most unbearable, the images of his son with his legs up on the OB/GYN stirrups, in order to keep his legs apart. His groin area wrapped in surgical gauze stained with the same red and orange colors of blood and bodily fluids. However, there was a catheter tube protruding outward from under the gauze wrap, a tube that had to be inserted into Julian’s bladder through his penis in order for him to urinate. The tube led down to a collection bag on the side of the bed, that was filling with a combination of urine and blood.

Pieter began to feel the warmth in his veins that was produced from the vodka. He shut his eyes for a moment and in the stillness of the room, he could still hear the whirring sounds of all the machines that were attached to Julian in order to monitor his vital signs.

The silence of the moment was then broken by the voice of Rudy, the waiter, “Mr. Chekov?”

The somber and unshaven face of Pieter Chekov looked up from the table, “Yes Rudy.” He answered back both gently and tired.

“The people you have sent for have arrived sir.” Rudy said.

“Thank you Rudy, please, bring them to me.”

“Yes Mr. Chekov.” Rudy then turned to bring the guests to his employer. Pieter then poured some more vodka into his glass. He set the bottle back onto the table, then brought the glass to his lips and swallowed it in one hard shot. He felt the burn of the vodka going down into his stomach. He then tore off another piece of the bread, dipped it into the borsch and then devoured it. In another moment, Rudy returned to the table with the two guests that Pieter Chekov had been expecting, Jorge Garcia and Dee Dee Stillwater. “Your guests Mr. Chekov.”

Pieter Chekov looked up again from his soup bowl and looked to his guests with exhausted eyes, “Thank you Rudy, could you please bring me two more glasses for my guests?”

“Yes sir, right away sir.” Rudy then quickly left the room.

Pieter Chekov looked over his two guests for a second. He thought to himself how Jorge Garcia would always come in with that same shit-eating grin on his face. Pieter always said to his son that ‘this Jorge Garcia has the face of a man whom, when he speaks to you, can never be believed.’ He would also tell Julian that Dee Dee Stillwater ‘looked more and more frightened every time he saw her.’ Tonight was no different. “Please, both of you … sit down.” He told his guests.

“Thank you Mr. Chekov.” Jorge said as he slid into the booth. Dee Dee just nodded in acknowledgment and sat next to Jorge. “Let me start out by saying that Dee Dee and I are so shocked and concerned over what happened to Julian. You have our sincerest thoughts and prayers.”

Pieter Chekov looked at Jorge Garcia … and thought to himself of just how full of shit Jorge Garcia was right at that moment; however, the vodka was now well mixed into his bloodstream, which was also compounded by the fact that he was exhausted. He simply answered with, “Thank you, I appreciate that.” A second later, Rudy returned to the room with two clean shot glasses and set them on the table along with Pieter’s glass. Rudy then picked up the bottle of vodka and filled all three glasses. He set the bottle back down and Pieter said to him, “Thank you Rudy, that will be all for this evening. You may go home now.”

“Thank you sir and good night. If there is anything that I can do for you, anything that you need, please do not hesitate to call me. Don’t worry about the time.”

“Thank you Rudy, I do appreciate that.” Pieter Chekov said to Rudy, meaning every word of it, “I am though going to heed the advice of my family and everyone else at the hospital and am going home and to try and get some sleep.”

“Yes sir, you must do that.” Rudy said, “Good night Mr. Chekov. Good night sir, ma’am.” Rudy then turned and left the three of them alone.

“Rudy is a good man, a dedicated employee.” Pieter Chekov said. “He has been with me here at this restaurant for many, many years. He is a rare kind of worker these days. Dedicated and loyal to me and this business.”

“You’re very lucky to have him.” Jorge said. “Now, what is it that you wanted to speak with us about Mr. Chekov?”

“First … we drink.” Pieter Chekov said and pointed to the three glasses of vodka. Pieter picked up his, Jorge took the remaining two and handed one to Dee Dee. Pieter raised his glass and said, “For my son.” Jorge and Dee Dee acknowledged his toast. Then all three downed to vodka in one simultaneous swallow. Pieter Chekov placed his glass back onto the tabletop, looked to Jorge Garcia and calmly asked. “So … Jorge, what is it that you can tell me about this man?”

A slight expression of confusion came to Jorge’s face, “Man? What man is that Mr. Chekov?”

“The man who did these things to my son Jorge.” Pieter answered still calmly.

“Do you mean the vigilante Mr. Chekov?” Jorge asked.

“Yes Jorge, this vigilante as you call him, who do these things to my son. What do you know about him?”

Jorge Garcia was now in a state of awkwardness, for he had no answer to give. So he did answer with all that he did know, “Why nothing sir. I know absolutely nothing about the vigilante. It’s no secret that he has made himself impossible to find. He leaves no clue behind. He is a specialist of some sort.”

“Did not this man cripple one of your people?” Pieter asked in the same composed manner.

“Why yes sir. Yes he did.”

“Oh I see.” Jorge said serenely. He then looked to Dee Dee Stillwater, and when he did, he noticed how she flinched slightly. “Tell me then Miss Stillwater, what is it that you know about this man?”

Dee Dee Stillwater looked at the face of Pieter Chekov and for a moment, she felt no fear of him. She answered confidently, “I too sir have no answer for you. I know absolutely nothing about this vigilante character. All I know is that he somehow leaves no trace whatsoever of him behind for the police to work on. It’s strange, and I have to say that it is as if he were some g-d damned ghost or something.”

Pieter then asked her, “And did this man not cripple some of your people as well? I believe more people than Jorge?”

“Yes Mr. Chekov. This vigilante character hurt three of my people very badly.”

Pieter Chekov looked at Jorge, then to Dee Dee, then back to Jorge. “This is the difference between what you two are, and of what we are.” He still spoke with the same calmness. “You have your own people crippled and destroyed, you have your businesses disrupted and the way you make your livings put in to jeopardy; and you do nothing about it.” He drew a long breath through his nostrils and exhaled it through his mouth. He then continued to speak in the same calm tone, “You people are trash and you have trash working for you. And what do you do with trash that gets in your way? Why you throw it off to the side or away in the garbage, then you find more trash to do the work. Me and my countrymen who choose this way to make our living? We know the value of good loyal workers. The garbage that you both choose? They will turn on you within a second if their own lives or freedom is put at risk. That is why you and your kind always make sure that they are disposable. The difference between what you have working for you and who works for us? Well, my people are willing to go to prison to protect me; they are willing to lay their lives down for me. Why? Because I would show to them how valuable that they are to me. If it were my people hurt by this vigilante, I would be scouring the streets so as to find him and avenge my people. That it why we have lasted all of these centuries.”

Jorge Garcia swallowed hard and sat silent as well as Dee Dee Stillwater.

Pieter Chekov continued to speak; only now the tone of his voice became somewhat sinister. “So you ask me what it is that I want to speak with you about Jorge? Simple, it is this. I want you both to send out the news to your trash out on the streets. I want you to tell them that I am offering a reward … a reward for the man who did this to my son.”

Jorge Garcia’s eyes widened slightly, “A reward? Do you mean a bounty Mr. Chekov? A street bounty?”

“That is precisely what I am saying.” Pieter answered.

“What type of reward sir?” Jorge asked with concern.

“Anyone who can bring this man to me, and prove that it is indeed him, the one who did these terrible things to my son, I will give to this person … one million dollars in cash. One million dollars in cash if they bring this man to me dead.”

Jorge tried to answer with slight protest, “Mr. Chekov, please may I? Listen to me …”

Pieter Chekov held up a stern hand to silence Jorge Garcia, to which Jorge immediately stopped speaking. Pieter then continued. “Yes, one million dollars in cash if they bring this man to me dead. However …” Pieter Chekov leaned over to Jorge and said coldly, “however … I will give anyone TWO million dollars cash … if they bring this man to me … alive.” Pieter then sat back in his seat.

There was tense silence for a moment, then Jorge Garcia spoke with concern, “Mr. Chekov, I can’t imagine the emotions that you are going through at this time, but please may I speak candidly?”

“Go ahead Jorge,” Pieter answered calmly, “I knew that you would have something to say about this, but go ahead, I will listen.”

“Please Mr. Chekov, think this over, I know how angry you must be with what has happened to Julian, but I’m asking you to please … please think this over a bit longer.” Jorge himself now leaned towards Pieter and began to tap his index finger on the table to emphasize what he was trying to convey. “This street bounty … I mean … this could do more harm than good. This will create some chaos out there on the street. Those idiots out there? They’ll be killing anybody that they are suspicious of and dragging bodies to you.”

Pieter looked at him for a second and answered coldly, “That is not my problem.”

Jorge felt anger jolt through his body towards Pieter Chekov, but he knew that any sign of anger to Pieter Chekov could mean certain torture for him, so he forced himself to remain calm. “Yes, I know Mr. Chekov, but there will be problems created that could … well … cause not only chaos, but violence on the street too.” Then a thought came to Jorge, something that he believe he would make Pieter Chekov understand. “This bedlam will not go unnoticed sir, and it could, I mean it will, bring unwanted attention … unwanted attention … that will lead to us all. Don’t you agree Dee Dee?”

Dee Dee Stillwater shot an angry glance to Jorge; however, she too knew that he was speaking the truth. She quietly, and nervously answered, “Yes … yes I do.” She then looked to Pieter Chekov, “Jorge is correct Mr. Chekov, what you want may bring unwanted people paying unwanted attention and it could bring things to the surface … sir.”

Pieter Chekov looked at the frightened eyes of Dee Dee Stillwater and then calmly asked. “Do you speak of these two policemen that are searching for the man that did these things to my son?”

Dee Dee answered, “It could start with them yes.”

Pieter then looked to Jorge, “What can you tell me about these two men?”

“Todd and Jaworski?” Jorge answered.

“Da, these Todd and Jaworski. What are they like?”

“I can tell you that they are both a couple of straight arrows Mr. Chekov.” Jorge answered, “I try to get what I know of them through channels, but I can tell you this, they want to find this man as much as you do. As much as we all do. Dee Dee and I have to be careful when dealing with them sir. We have to go through channels because as I said, we do not want to draw unwanted attention. If Dee Dee and I show too much interest in this, their suspicions will definitely come our way.”

Dee Dee then added, “We know that they have been working with Gang Crimes because of what happened to our men, Jorge’s and mine. So we have to walk on egg shells and be very discreet.”

Pieter sat back in his seat and sighed, he then looked to Jorge, “So … Jorge. You … tell me … that you … know how angry I must feel because of what happened to my son.” Pieter then leaned again towards Jorge, which made Jorge extremely uncomfortable, “So … do you really? Do you really know how angry I must feel?”

Jorge began to feel frightened.

Pieter then leaned closer, “You … you have two sons yourself, is that not correct … Jorge?”

“Y-yes Mr. Chekov”

“Then maybe you should think more before you make stupid statements like that you know how angry I am.”

“Y-yes s-sir Mr. Chekov. I spoke … I spoke without thinking, please sir I apologize.”

“Do you know … Jorge?” Pieter continued, and he stared into the frightened eyes of Jorge Garcia, “Do you know what this man did to my son? To begin with, he blinded Julian; he plucked his eyes right out of their sockets Jorge. Julian will never see again. Then he crippled my son … Jorge, Julian’s arm is going to be useless to him.” Pieter leaned slightly closer, “Then he beat him Jorge, he beat my son so brutally. But … then do you know what he did Jorge?” Pieter leaned so that his nose was only two inches for Jorge’s, “Do you know what he did? This man? He makes it so that my Julian can never give me grandchildren Jorge. This man has cut off my bloodline.” Pieter stared into the eyes of Jorge Garcia for several silent seconds; he then sat back into his seat. “He took my sons manhood.” Pieter then looked down to the table, “But that … that is not the worst thing that he does to Julian …no … it is not the worst thing. Do you know what the worst thing that he does to my son Jorge? Do you?”

Jorge realized that he was not breathing, he managed to ask, “No … no sir … what?”

“Pieter looked up at Jorge and answered sadly, “The worst thing that he did to my son … is that he let him live. Julian is going to make it the doctors tell me. He is going to live. But why? He has to live … like this? His life from now on … it will be like death. No … it will be worse than death.” He then had a serious expression come to his face. “This man … this man has severed my bloodline. He has made it so that Julian can never give me the grandchildren that will carry on my name. This to me is the same as if these grandchildren were now here … and he killed them. So this is now a matter of honor … family honor … something that lacks greatly in all of you. So this is why I want this man Jorge. There will be no arguments; there will be no talking me out of it. The both of you tonight will go to your people and tell them of what I offer. Do you both understand this?”

“Yes Mr. Chekov.” Answered Jorge.

“Yes Mr. Chekov.” Dee Dee answered right behind him.

Pieter Chekov then breathed deeply and rubbed his eyes, “Now for the second thing that you both will do for me, and then I shall excuse you.”

Jorge and Dee Dee quickly glanced to each other and then back to Pieter. Jorge asked, “Second thing Mr. Chekov?”

“Da, the second thing you will do for me.” Pieter finished rubbing his eyes and looked at them both very tiredly, “You will both use the power of your offices, the power of your positions, all of your political ways to help me find this man.”

Jorge was now stunned, but still found a way to keep himself composed. “Mr. Chekov, with all due respect sir, how can you expect us to do that?”

“I do not care how you both do it Jorge, I don’t. But do what you can to help me to find this man. If you have any favors owed to you both, call them in and collect on them. If you have any of these so called strings to pull, well then pull them. Think of something and find a way to bring this man to me.” Pieter looked at both Jorge and Dee Dee, they were dumbfounded and he knew that there was no way that they could answer back to him. So he leaned straight back in his seat, held up both his hands and spoke to them very calmly and assuredly, “Listen, I know what I am demanding of you is difficult, but I shall make it both worth your while. If you deliver this man to me, then the money is yours.” Pieter then placed his hands on the table, leaned towards them both and said, “Then … I shall also sever all my ties with you both. You both shall not be obligated to me no more. Our relationship shall come to an end, and I will deny to anyone that we ever knew each other, making so that our relationship never existed.”

Dee Dee Stillwater had a rush of warmth run through her blood when she heard Pieter Chekov say those words to her.

“Now … it is time for me to go home.” Pieter Chekov said. “I need to shower because I stink and then I need to sleep. Because tomorrow I must go and be with my son and wait for him to wake up. I must be there to tell him of what his life will now be. I think of how it will be when he then must cry, how tears will come from where there are no eyes.” He waved his hands slightly as if he were gently shooing them away. “Go now and do as I ask.”

Jorge and Dee Dee then quickly removed themselves, stood from the booth and began to make there way from the room. “Good night Mr. Chekov.” Jorge said as he stepped away.

“Yes … good night Mr. Chekov.” Dee Dee repeated. She watched as Pieter Chekov placed his forehead in his hand, and then once again gave the shooing sign with the other. He joined his hands together again and rested his face there. As Jorge and Dee Dee passed the bar, they could hear the sounds of Pieter Chekov as he began to weep. As they both drew nearer to the main entrance door of the restaurant her pace began to quicken. Jorge noticed this. Near the door there was the night porter kneeling down as he was plugging in the vacuum cleaner cord to the wall outlet. He saw as Dee Dee and Jorge made their way to the door. The porter then stood, unlocked the thumb latch on the door and opened it wide as to let Dee Dee and Jorge leave the Siberia Restaurant. “Thank you.” she said in passing the porter, who smiled and bowed his head twice as the both of them exited.

Now outside of the building the door closed behind them both and was then locked securely from the inside. Dee Dee never stopped, in fact, she hastened herself even more and Jorge found himself jogging to catch up with her. “Hey Alderman Stillwater, what’s your hurry? Trying to grasp on to that two mil yourself before anyone else can?”

Dee Dee Stillwater came to an immediate halt. She slowly turned around and looked up at Jorge Garcia. “What the fuck did you just say to me you mother fucking sack of shit?” She asked in anger. Jorge was stunned into silence and she then stepped up to him. She then grabbed him by the collar of his suit coat with both her hands tightly and asked through her clenched teeth, “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“Hey, Dee Dee … take it easy.”

“Take it easy? Take it easy? Fuck you Jorge!” She said now pushing her face closer to his. “You think I’m going to try and collect on this? You are fucking “A” right I am. Yeah, I’m in a hurry to see if I can do this myself. And do you know why asshole? Because didn’t you hear what he said? Didn’t you hear what he fucking said to me? He said that if we can deliver this motherfucker to him ourselves then we can get away from him.” She released her grip and shoved him away. “We would no longer be obligated … to him!” She emphasized this by pointing back towards the restaurant. “Do you know what that means dumb shit? It means that maybe I can get back to sleeping normally again. It means that I won’t have to jump every time my fucking phone rings. It means that I don’t have to force my food down my throat when I eat. It means that my stomach will no longer be tied up in knots.” She paused and then stepped back up to him. “It means that I’ll be able to take a shit normally again too. Not be all constipated and sit on the toilet every four days and squeeze my guts as hard as I can just to pass out a brick.” She then began to walk away from him.

Jorge watched as she made her way to the darkened parking lot, he then called out to her, “And that two million doesn’t sweeten that deal, right Dee Dee?”

She stopped abruptly again, turned around, and walked slowly back towards him. “You know what Jorge, if I find this fuck; when I find this fuck, I’m going to surprise you. I’m going to tell Chekov to keep his fucking money, because I don’t want it. All I want is to get that evil … son … of a … bitch out of my life, and that’s what he is Jorge, the epitome of fucking evil. That man is the devil himself, and my soul was sold to him. I’m willing to lose it all, just to get my fucking life back, do you hear me? Lose it all.”

Jorge himself now stepped up to her, “Well whatever you do Dee Dee, don’t let your hunt for this man make me lose anything or put my ass at risk, do you understand?”

“Fuck you Jorge. You want out from under that evil son of a bitch as much as I do. Now it’s time to weigh your fucking options and figure out what you want. You want out of this? Then you have to risk a lot of shit too. You told me in my office that night with that fucking shit eating smile on your face, that you may have a way to get us all out of this shit. Well asshole, I’m tired waiting for you to tell me what that is, do you hear me? Me? Well much to your surprise, while waiting for you I have been thinking of a way myself to get out of all this shit, and Chekov himself has just given me all the motivation that I need to give it a try. So now I’m going home, and I’m going to try and think of what I have to do now. Because now I am willing to do anything … anything … that will get my black ass out of this and away from the Chekov family for good. What I have in mind may sound ridiculous and far-fetched to you, but it’s mine … my idea, and I’m going to fucking go do it.” She stood for a moment and realized that she was actually panting. “If you want to help, then fine. If not, go fuck yourself and have a nice life.”

Dee Dee turned her back to him and again began to make her way through the parking lot towards her car. Jorge spoke out to her as she walked fast, “Be careful Alderman, think real good about what you want to do.” She did not answer him and just kept walking, “I’ll see what I can come up with too, all right?” She still did not acknowledge him. “Come on Dee Dee, listen to me, we have to keep doing everything we can to keep this thing from getting out of control.”

She stopped suddenly and turned around and began to step towards him. “Out of control? Did you just fucking say that we have to keep this from getting out of control?” She stopped a few feet from him. “You’re not as smart as you make yourself out to be, are you Jorge? This thing already is out of control. It has been for a long time, ever since that crazy motherfucker showed up and crippled those two sexual deviate shits. We’ve never been in control Jorge.” She stared at him for a second, “Do you know what I hear through the channels you dumb spic? That this man watches and studies all his targets before acting out. You ever think about that Jorge? How long he watches these so called targets? If he follows them to see where they go … and with whom they meet? This is what I hear he does Jorge? What the fuck makes you think that he may never have come across us already and has watched us, huh?” She stepped up a little closer to him, “Or hell, that maybe … just maybe … he just may be watching us now?” She then mocked Jorge by looking wide eyed in all directions. “When you think about it … that is some creepy assed shit”. She saw the expression on Jorge Garcia’s face, and knew that she have may struck a chord. She then turned again abruptly away from him and began once to again make her way to her car.

Jorge stood fast as he watched her walk away. He then called out to her, “I’ll call you in a couple of days to see how you’re doing and hear what you have in mind, Okay?”

 

Dee Dee just kept walking with her back to him. She then raised her right arm straight up … and extended her middle finger.