ws, Osip is being driven to the bus station. A man sits by his side with a gun in his lap, aimed squarely at my brother to keep him rooted to his seat. Soon,

t just what Osip is, or what he has become, r

m I be

e-out like a watermelon, unnoticed until

I can. W

le's lives and livelihoods in the palms of our hands. That's why the rules are so import

ber liquid aro

rother broke the rules. In

he law of brotherhood, o

Gavril, tha

about

kill my own brot

. It doesn't want me-I'm not accused. Or maybe even the red

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you

long swig, an

terrible mista

e still-I know that if I had to,

w what to m

O

tc

rtips clamp down on the cardboard box. As I move it to join the

ever the fancy struck him, as opposed to putting

that I get a little twisted spurt of pleasu

ery industry-pollock and poppy seed bagels and spicy plantain chips and diapers all in such a chaos th

I di

s. And, in my case-the evening shift, from three in the afternoon until closing

ybe I've foun

there's no clock back here, and I don't carry my phone on me

trewn in several corners. Huh, I hadn't even noticed before

cking and restocking-the mindlessness of perfecting each item's place

ave to deal with all the problems waiting at home. I don't even have to think about

ten-pound Basmati bag, which i

ts weight, the soun

ota Prius please move their car? I repeat, would the owner of the black T

ing a pint-sized parking space right where the delivery truck needed

ker, though, there's music: "Joy t

too lazy to turn on music at all, Christmas or

of the door flap behi

g presence. A tense up your back, a shiver around your rib ca

song

ould be funny, or cute, or at least worth offering a forced smile at the very least. Even i

a 'joy' having you i

cheer up-it's yo

u're my pride and joy,

uben. Staring-Too-Long, Standing-Too-C

al, give him a glanc

way. Please,

now." He sure is. "Y

ind Ruben, rip it open and dump it on his stupid head, then mash the bag in fu

eing me. "Ah, the two of us at Briarwoo