Free The Taste of Penny by Jeff Parker Page A

shouted. “Can you cut that shit out?”
    Bipkus screamed, “Bah wit da wah.” He turned up the volume on the karaoke machine.
    â€œIsn’t it Bah wit da bah ?” I said.
    â€œI don’t understand this song,” Vadim said.
    Mehmet reached for the tower. From the bottom row, which was already missing its middle, he pulled a side. It capsized. A block bounced into Liza’s sangria glass and it spilled onto the white carpet. Mehmet held the block stupidly where the tower just was.

    â€œLet me clean it with something,” said Mehmet. He carefully placed the block on the table.
    Liza told him no, she’d get it, but Inna told her to sit down. Inna got up, came back with the pitcher of sangria, and refilled Liza’s glass.
    â€œWe’re not even going to bother cleaning,” Inna said. She sat back down and started rebuilding the tower. “Living here with”—she pointed at Bipkus’s room. “Living here with this person is living with stain. One more won’t kill us.”
    â€œThat’s not fair, hon,” Vadim said. “You know, he’s my brother.”
    Inna pressed her finger into the middle of the red blotch then looked at her finger, licked it.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Mehmet said. “It’s a hard game.”
    â€œDidn’t take much physics did you?” I say. “I’m just kidding. Listen. That was an impossible move. If there’s three blocks making up the row, and the middle one’s gone. You can’t take either side. That row’s done. Similarly, if one or both side is gone, you can’t take a middle. See what I’m saying?”
    â€œIt’s the nature of a disagreement between us,” Vadim said. “The object of the game is to build the tower as high as possible without knocking it down. So there’s this constant negotiation between sturdiness and potential height. My friend thinks that you should never take a middle, but, see, that makes for a teetering tower. Every five or so levels, you need a stable one, and you get a stable one by taking a middle.”
    â€œLook, Mehmet, speaking of obvious, if you’re going for height, you don’t take middles. Unfortunately some people don’t subscribe to the Theory of the Obvious.”
    â€œThank you, Herb, for The American Perspective,” Vadim said. He poured glasses of vodka for the three men.

    â€œIt is just a game, boys,” Liza said.
    â€œI think that I am now getting this,” Mehmet said.
    â€œCan we go get dessert now?”
    Inna finished stacking but the walls were uneven. Vadim trued it with the straightedge. I went first, taking a bottom side.
    â€œLiza, you’re a sweet girl,” Vadim said. “If it was Liza, I know Liza would accept your brother in her home. If you had a brother like Bipkus, Herb, she would take him in and things, like little things, he did that were kind of weird she would just accept because he’s your brother. I swear, you know, I love Inna.” He reached under the glass table and touched her foot. “But if I didn’t have Inna, and you weren’t with Herb, I would fall in love with you, Liza. I’m just saying.
    â€œSeriously, you guys are our best friends,” Vadim said. “I wanted to tell you that. Even you, Mehmet. Collectively you make up one unit of best friendedship. You plural are our best friend. We mean that. Let’s drink a toast.”
    We clinked glasses. Vadim poured more vodka, and Liza took an easy middle from right in the center of the tower.
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    Mehmet stared at the tower for a long time. We drank vodka and sangria while we waited. Vadim tried to show him which ones were easy.
    â€œSee,” Vadim said, “like these.” He illustrated. He poked casually at middles up and down the tower. Then he poked them all back in. I didn’t say anything about the middles even though there were sides that would