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They think because he’s old, he doesn’t have the hold on the network that he used to He’s spread himself too thinly, they say He can’t possibly have control of so many syndicates so widely dispersed

They think too small

They don’t understand that aout opportunities at every turn, andhiion you choose to take your business

They don’t understand how much business he controls, or how many links and deals and trades he has with other lobe

They don’t understand how he enforces any of it

Ruslan was a case in point

No doubt he would be going straight to Grigori Menshikov, the Ukraninan, with the ringing of the shop bell still in his ears He’d already be thinking of ways to try and get a better deal as the door swung closed behind him And by the end of the week, I would have to show hi that he did not intend to carry out, and did not abide by dishonest dealings no e you spoke

Ruslan’s religion, his nationality didn’t matter to me Better Uzbek than A pot of Jews and Muslims and Russian Orthodox since it had fors, and the latest iteration contained as uises as devout worshippers from all three major faiths

Brighton Beach ht not have been familiar with the Chechen Musli were aging and dying off, steadily being replaced by ht their mosques with them

Men like Mehe, because we didn’t have the Russian tongue to bind us together But I’d had no cause to make enemies of the Turks so far And I liked their coffee better than the American filth

If I could, I’d return to Moscow in a heartbeat, away from this constant stream of people who cheated each other with no sense of honor, or the consequences they bring down on theht as well be here

There was no understanding when it came to the petty cri out for themselves No code to fall back on The rats would cross and double cross until they had both sides gunning for them It had rubbed off on some of the local racketeers too, and I eary of it

I’d co with a wave of other ially in that first wave, but I was from a later batch when it beca to fly If those in control in the motherland wanted to maintain their overseas endeavors, there had to be some subtlety