BLACK HUSTLE SERIES: SASHA

He was prepared to take a beating if necessary.

ALPHA

“Alpha... son. Help me.” Alpha sat on the floor next to the beast he once feared. The young boy’s eyes were blackened from the beating he had received earlier in the day. His father accused him of stealing. Even though it was a setup from the beginning, and the boy was well aware of what would happen if he got caught, Alpha did what he knew he must do before he and his brother starved to death.

Earlier that day, hunger gnawed at his insides in a way that made him feel he would succumb to a fit of retching if he didn’t eat something soon. After a moment of reflection, he realized his father must have requested that the cook place a fresh loaf of bread on the table. As dangerous as the outcome of the setup was, the suffering was greater than the consequences he would face should he refrain from taking action.

Alpha remembered telling his brother to sit in the room and wait for him to return. His brother relied on him to solve their problems which made it impossible to just think about himself. Once he successfully snatched the loaf, he would grab his brother in search of their favorite hiding place to enjoy their loot in peace. The man who was known to starve his sons and then punish them if they took food without his permission would certainly be after them once the crime had occurred, but the pains that stabbed him in the stomach drove him to the brink of insanity.

Understanding the dangers associated with stealing, he was prepared to take a beating if necessary. To ease the suffering he and his little brother were continuously subjected to, Alpha made his move.

ʂʂʂ

They would learn to trust no one and only rely on one another.

KASIMIR

Unbeknownst to Alpha, from the closed-circuit monitor in his office, his father waited patiently to see who was strong enough and possessed the resolve needed to take the bread. With an inner sense of certainty, the man hovered assuring himself of which boys he knew would take the bait.

The twin’s father was indeed a sadistic piece of shit. It was his intention to bring out every foul characteristic in his children. Their survival in the underworld required that they learn to be resilient in the face of danger. Desire to survive must be the force driving them to do whatever was required to live. No excuses. No fear.

Alpha showed the most promise. The man already sensed his eldest son would be triumphant because he exhibited the right characteristics. He was confident his son would become just like the man who should have shown him the love of a father. Instead, the boys’ father worked ruthlessly to root out anything he felt would weaken his children. Alpha’s constitution concerned him because the boy was resilient yet thin. The boy’s tenacity was destined to create in him the abilities to become an enforcer if he continued to make progress living under such brutal conditions.

Every day the boys’ father placed them under unbearable pressure to make sure they were strong enough to endure what they might encounter throughout their lives. Even though he was quite sure of his beliefs, Kasimir also enjoyed the brutal training he inflicted on them far more than was socially acceptable.

The average person would never understand the training he was imposing upon his children. Since they stood to inherit the family fortune one day, Kasimir believed the best way to prevent them from succumbing to swindlers and thieves was to expose them to every potential hardship in a twisted premeditated advance course on survival... of sorts. They would learn to trust no one and only rely on one another. The alliance between them was meant to be forged and never broken.

Kasimir was a despicable monster who derived a deep level of joy from toying with his children’s lives. His father brutalized him and now that he was one of the wealthiest men in Russia, he knew he must bestow the same treatment on his offspring to prepare them for the world.

As he watched Alpha scan the room and sneak away with the food, Kasimir gave the boy a slight head start. He allowed his son to take it back to wherever Sasha was hiding. After the right amount of time passed to catch them with a few bites in their hands, he kicked in the closet door to one of the guest rooms. The look of sheer terror in their eyes was the source of the deep growl which swelled up in the pit of his stomach.

Kasimir was elated by the fear that washed across the boys’ faces as they realized they were caught red-handed with stolen food. Only a certified lunatic could ever understand the level of twisted pleasure the man gained from the games he plotted for his children.

With one boy in one hand and the other boy in the other, the beast grabbed both boys and slung them across the floor until they slammed into the wall on the other side of the room. A sickly thud was heard as their puny little bodies slid down to the baseboard and then the floor like used towels casually tossed away after being used.

“Маленькие воры!/ Malen’kiye vory!/ Little thief!” He screamed at them in their native Russian tongue as the deep rumbling sound reached the lifeless bodies. The bear of a man grabbed Alpha and slapped him hard. His father punched him in the face several times before the fourteen-year-old boy fell to the floor once again daring not to utter a sound.

If his father saw one tear, he would beat the boy more, so he took the beating like a man. All his life he had been told to fight for his life and never cry.

Even though the law was to take a beating like a man or kill the bastard who was beating him, Alpha understood the contradiction of that warning. He knew if he attempted to fight his father the man would beat him close to death, therefore, he closed his eyes and accepted the onslaught.

The sound of his ribs crunching and the sharp pain that followed was more than he could withstand, so his frail body went limp as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Alpha no longer felt anything as he drifted into the void.

ʂʂʂ

Fight for your life and never cry.

SASHA

Sasha watched as his brother received the mother of all beatings. An all-to-familiar sensation crept in as it slithered up his spine. He watched his father beat his brother unconscious causing a familiar voice to start in again. It whispered to him as it had many times before. Often, the small frail boy would ignore the voice and press it away from his mind but witnessing the way his brother suffered broke something in him.

The break gave him the strength to call out to it requesting the strength necessary to end their nightmare.

Not sure if Alpha was dead or alive, something snapped in his mind. Sasha continued to call out to the faceless thing praying for it to help him... and of course... the voice willing answered the call.

“Your father has a gun in his desk drawer. Go get it.” The voice hissed as it issued instructions.

After he quietly eased himself from the floor, he made his way out of the room without drawing the attention of his father. Quietly he retrieved the gun from his father’s desk and placed it in the front pocket of the slacks he wore. Sasha calmly re-entered the room where the beast hovered over Alpha ready to beat the boy some more. Not sure what to do next, his feet remained glued to the floor as he awaited the next command.

“Grab the stick by the fire and hit him as hard as you can with it. You must knock him out or he will kill you.” Again, Sasha followed the snakelike directions as he grabbed a piece of wood and swung it with all his might. A hollow crack sounded off the moment the wood connected with the back of his father’s skull.

The stout man’s body dropped down to his knees, and briefly, he paused as if it were slowly registering that he had been taken down. Kasimir turned his head to the left just before his body fell forward and his face smacked the floor. As if he were still in control of himself, the man rolled over onto his back and came to a stop. The whites of his eyes seemed larger as his eyes widened in fear and then rolled into the back of his head.

“Now, shoot his knee caps off.” The boy wasted no time executing the command. PAP! PAP! The pop of the gun rang throughout the house. Sash walked around to where his brother was lying on the floor and pulled him away from the creature who reveled in torturing them.

When he came to his brother’s side, he saw something shiny on the floor. As his eyes trailed over to the object on the floor, he heard his father plead for someone to help him. This vision of the man lying there begging and crying went against everything they were taught. He distinctly remembered his father’s words.

“Fight for your life and never cry. Take a beating like a man or kill the bastard who is beating you. That’s the law in this home.” This was the rule imposed by their father Kasimir Tsezarov.

At the moment the thought flashed through his mind, he identified the object that caught his attention. Of course, it was his father’s switchblade. Its handle was inlaid with jewels surrounding the Russian emblem of the double-headed eagle on a red background. The artistic work on the knife was more beautiful than anything Sasha had ever seen. He knew it was precious. The value of it enticed his small hand to reach down to retrieve the blade.

As he pressed the button on its side, the gold blade sprung forward cutting his eyebrow and cheek as the sharp weapon grazed him. His lack of weapon knowledge nearly caused him to lose an eye, yet the boy moved as if he was no longer in control of his own actions.

ʂʂʂ