Marblehead Mistake

“Life be beautiful, yes, it be very beautiful,” said Ivan as he sat in his lounge chair on the upper deck of his mansion on the shore of Lake Huron, about 80 miles north of Detroit. He motioned for his wife, Irma, who had come with him from Russia, to sit by his side. He had no other family here except a sister who lived in a nearby state. He liked to work out, and, at sixty years old, he carried his 180 pounds well on his 5’9” frame. He had made a name for himself, coming from Russia about thirty years ago with very little and slowly working his way up through the crime organizations to now be the head of his own. It spanned about twenty associates in four states participating in the normal jobs, including protection, theft, drugs, gambling, and a well-organized prostitution ring. On the surface, he was a vodka importer and distributor from the home country. Throughout his career, his success was based on one overriding principle. Be ruthless, spare no one, and inflict pain as needed at any time. It was to his advantage that the Russians had a reputation for killing, and everyone was afraid of them. They were enjoying the view when his phone rang. It was Charles, one of his right-hand men. Although Charles was Russian from the old country, he, like many, took to using American names. Obviously, it would not stand out as much. “Sorry to bother you, boss, but I just heard from Ted and two of the other guys that Mark abused one of the girls, badly.” When the new girls came over from Russia, Ivan would let some of his closest men “interview” the girls like an indoctrination, but nothing too serious. Ivan could feel his blood pressure rising as he clenched his fist. “We have our regular monthly meeting Tuesday at the warehouse, so make sure that Ted and the other guys who know what Mark did are there, along with Mark himself. There must be some form of reprisal to Mark for damaging company property.” Tuesday night they met and discussed a few issues, including a drug shipment from Mexico that Ivan wanted to be transferred to their truck in Missouri before it was brought to the warehouse. He then turned to Mark. “Mark, you’re a good man, but I hear from sources that you took unfair advantage of one of the girls, which you know is absolutely forbidden. I’m afraid you’ll have to pay. At this point, Mark started to fear for his life and began to let go in his pants. He was somewhat relieved, only somewhat, when Ivan held up his hand in a fist but allowed the pinky and ring finger to stand up. Mark knew what was coming. Ivan nodded to the men and left the room. Knowing the procedure, the men gave Mark a few shots of vodka while they readied the saw and held his hand on the table. It was fast and efficient, and then the two men left with Mark for the hospital to explain that it was a home workshop accident.