Free Ganglands: Russia: Russia by Ross Kemp Page B

burly skinhead seemed unsure of what to do.As Medved faltered, Svetlana snatched up her bag with a shriek of annoyance, and stormed out of the gym.
    ‘You’re in trouble there, Medved,’ grinned Marat. ‘Hope you weren’t planning on having sex tonight.’
    ‘You’d better hope he wasn’t,’ cut in Pavel, ‘or it’ll be your bedroom door he’ll be knocking on to make up for it.’
    He slapped Marat on the back with a guttural laugh.Even as the rest of the gang joined in, Alexei felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Viktor was studying him intently, no trace of a smile on his face.

11. Surprise Package
    Alexei stood over the Uzbek boy, who was slumped helplessly beneath him on the pile of rubbish bags. The boy looked up at him with pleading eyes .
    ‘I didn’t do anything!’ he whispered. ‘Please … !’
    Alexei reached down and grabbed the boy by the hair .
    ‘Shut up,’ he said, and punched him hard in the face, as somewhere in the background a faint ringing sound began …
    Alexei sat bolt upright in bed, stifling a shout of horror.To his immense relief, he saw that he was back in his uncle’s apartment.His mobile was chirruping insistently on his bedside table; Alexei reached over and picked it up.
    ‘Yeah?’
    ‘You still sleeping, you lazy bastard?’ a voice replied gleefully.Still recovering from his nightmare, it took Alexei a couple of seconds to work out it was Marat speaking.‘Put some clothes on and come and meet me. We’ve got work to do.’
    Alexei wearily rubbed the sleep from his eyes.‘OK,’ he said. ‘Give me an hour.’
    Reluctantly he hauled himself from the warm haven of his bed, pulled on a sweatshirt and padded barefoottowards the kitchen, relishing the smell of warm porridge floating towards him.Alexei had been prepared to spend another night in the monastery, but to his surprise Trojan had sent him home.Maybe it was a reward for taking part in the Eagles’ ambush – maybe it was just to stop Stepan from asking more questions.It was never easy to tell with Trojan.One thing was for sure: after two days in the unsavoury company of the Moscow Eagles, it was great to be back in familiar surroundings.
    Stepan had taken up his usual position by the stove, where he was carefully tending to the kasha.He gave his nephew a cool stare as he entered the kitchen, ignoring Alexei’s cheery greeting.
    ‘That haircut university policy?’ said Stepan, pointing at Alexei’s skinhead with a wooden spoon.
    Alexei rubbed his head ruefully.‘It wasn’t my idea.A couple of guys from the course thought it’d be a laugh if we all shaved our heads.’
    ‘I see.’ Alexei’s uncle began stirring the porridge vigorously.‘Did they also think it would be funny to get involved in a punch-up?’
    Alexei glanced guiltily down at his swollen purple knuckles.‘It was just training, uncle!’ he protested.‘Sparring got a bit out of hand.’
    ‘You look like a thug after a bar-room brawl,’ Stepan said coldly.‘You’d better grow your hair back before your mother sees you. I’ll be the one who gets into trouble for it, mark my words.’ For a second Stepan had once again become the forbidding military man Alexei remembered from his childhood.Then his uncle relented, and said ina softer voice: ‘Sit down and have some breakfast.You look tired.Any news of Lena?’
    Alexei shook his head dumbly, sat down and began guiltily spooning the porridge into his mouth.It was the first time he had thought about Lena for an entire day.There was so much whirling round in his head that it was difficult to keep on top of everything.Still, that was no excuse, Alexei said to himself sternly, making a mental note to visit the hospital as soon as he had finished with Marat.
    After breakfast, he showered and pulled on a tracksuit, covering his skinhead with a baseball cap.Telling Stepan he was going out training, Alexei headed out into the city.Marat was