The Life We Lead: Ascending Read Free

looking of
the two girls selling candy and screamed at her in Russian. James
couldn’t see what the girl had done to offend the teenager, but the
girl suddenly began hitting the younger one. The crowd gave them
room, and no one made any motion to stop it.
    James moved toward them, but before he’d
taken two steps, it was over. The older girl vanished while the
younger one lay crying on the floor. As James reached her, she
stood up, wiped her tears, and resumed her work. Looking down,
James suddenly understood.
    A candy wrapper lay on the ground. The girl
had eaten a piece of candy, and the older teenage girl was the
boss, punishing her for it. Simple and swift. The older girl had
done what she’d felt she had to do, but hadn’t gone overboard. The
girl had accepted her punishment and returned to work. Perhaps this
wasn’t what would happen back home, but it was a system of justice
that allowed the kids to survive.
    Walking away, James noticed a vendor watching
him, a man in his early twenties. He had a variety of objects on
his table, but wasn’t pushing them like the other vendors. James
walked over, curious as to why this man had locked eyes with him,
and pretended to look at the watches, pens, and handmade objects on
the table. Once or twice, he asked for a price.
    The vendor answered curtly, but had lost
interest in James and was now watching the crowd, his eyes sweeping
back and forth. Finally, James selected a small pin and paid the
man, who spoke to him in English.
    “Thank you for your purchase. But you should
know not to get involved in our business. It is lucky for you that
you did not stop what you saw with the girls.”
    “Why is that?” James waited for his
change.
    “Because our ways are not yours, and you
would have had to pay a lot more than she did,” he said, his eyes
coming to rest on James.
    James knew at that moment that this man was
the real boss. He controlled what happened here, and the girl was
just his enforcer. Despite his youth, he had a hard look about
him.
    “I see. Thank you for the advice,” James
replied in a measured voice. “Please, keep the change as a sign of
gratitude for your help.” He turned to walk away, but the vendor
grabbed his wrist.
    “You should show more respect, American.”
    James quickly twisted out of the grab and
locked onto the vendor’s wrist and elbow, exposing the under part
of his arm, which was covered in tattoos. They stared at each other
for a moment before James released him.
    Smiling, James said, “Thanks again,” and
walked toward the exit.
    As he climbed the steps, he realized he was
being followed. He thought to himself, These guys are a bit
unhinged.
    He let the boy, just a kid, follow him for a
short while and was surprised at the skill he had. He’d been
followed by CIA agents that this kid could teach a few lessons to,
but James had things to do, so he decided enough was enough. The
boy obviously was to report where James had gone.
    James led the boy back to the shabby hotel.
When the boy followed him in, James made a split-second decision
and decided to go to the room directly below his.
    Since his room was on the second floor, he
simply walked across the lobby and down the hall. Stopping at what
he hoped was the right door, James pretended to make a long search
for the key, giving the child plenty of time to see which room he
was attempting to enter.
    This way, the boy succeeded and didn’t get
hurt, while James retained control of the situation.
    Noticing the boy disappear through the
revolving door, James walked to the front desk. “Hello, Natalia,
how is your day?”
    The receptionist was an older woman who loved
to converse in English whenever she could.
    “Mr. Lewis, I am good. You are good, too?”
she asked.
    “I am very good, yes, thank you. Can you tell
me if room nine is open to rent?”
    With a frown on her face, the woman answered,
“Your room is bad? Everything wrong? I fix.”
    “No, no. The room is fine. I just