Chapter 21 – Tough Russian Men and Their Women
The first thing that happened to Jinny, as in Little Jinny Blistov, was that Jenley became extinct at the direct orders of Plouriva. She didn’t give a shit what the American passport said, that Jinny, with a kind of perverse pride, showed her. She wasn’t going to call him Jenley. She said it sounded like a nickname for a prissyass English chick named Jennifer. End of that story. After that was settled, Jinny and Plouriva hit it off great. It had been three years since they had seen each other, but that evaporated quickly. In fact, they set a new Russian record for rapidity of jumping into the sack after a long separation. As Elton John sings in one of his best songs, there was thunder, under the covers. After that, Jinny got his vodka.
Much to Jinny’s surprise the next morning (Plouriva having stayed over), Plouriva told him he had an appointment at nine am. “With whom?” he asked (using the Russian version of “whom”, which shocked and intrigued Plouriva).
“With some people with bucks who are interested in getting the hell out of here in the middle of the winter,” she said. “Isn’t that what you asked me to find? Well, I found.”
“How many, and who are they,” Jinny said.
“Two couples,” she said, “and they don’t know each other. But they’re rich, and they don’t want anyone else to know what they’re doing. They want privacy.”
“How do you know them? Why do you trust them?”
Jinny had gotten used to coffee in the morning, but Plouriva had served tea. So not only was there a caffeine deficit to contend with, but he had been thrown a serious fastball first thing in the morning. He’d had faith in Plouriva performing her tasks of finding people who would come to Charleston and spend a lot money, but he wasn’t ready for this level of efficiency, and was a bit ambivalent. He was happy that things were off to a fast start, but this was really fast. He’d not even had a day at home to enjoy himself, and now he was back at work….dangerous work.
Jinny went back to the name thing and told Plouriva she had to call him Jenley, as that was his cover. He kind of liked his new moniker. Plouriva really had enjoyed their love-making interlude the night before, and so she told him she would compromise and call him Jenley most of the time, but not when they were in bed. There, she only would call him Little Jinny. He wondered if this was a double entendre, but decided not to worry about it. He had important things to worry about, like these gangsters that were due to show in half an hour. What the hell was he going to do with them? He took his fourth cup of tea out onto the small balcony overlooking the trash dumpsters in the alley, and put his brain into high gear.
He realized there wasn’t much to figure out. Using his intuition, he had to feel these people out, and if they rang back as trustworthy, or at least somewhat trustworthy, he simply would lay out what the Charleston team had to offer. Part of his parsing of them would be to discover if they really had lots of money, and were they of the type that was likely to part with it. Jinny and the Junes (sounds like a 50s rock n roll band) had decided they needed about three groups per year to make their venture as profitable as they wanted it to be. A group could be a couple, or a family, or a small party of “associates”. If they had three such parties that wanted to buy property, buy antiques to put in the properties, and liked to drink expensive wines and eat expensive foods, they could make some serious money. Hopefully, they would be the sort that would hire Gwen as trainer, cultural educator, and all-around entertainment director. With these fundamental criteria in mind, Jinny sat back and waited for them to arrive.
In Charleston, Jinny knew arrivals were announced by the melodious chiming of the front door bell, sometimes accompanied by the barking of the pet golden retriever. In this apartment, the arrival was sounded by a banging of a fist on a flimsy door. Plouriva answered and ushered the guests in. The two couples, who did not know each other, had arrived at the same time, so they entered the apartment together. Jinny was amazed at the social skill with which Plouriva handled the introductions. She got the six people seated in the small living room, made them as comfortable as possible in the somewhat uncomfortable chairs, brought out a large tray with tea and cups and biscuits (no maple walnut scones, Jinny noticed with dismay), and then a second tray with a bottle of vodka, a bunch of very small glasses, and some bread. Plouriva had decided she needed to be prepared for the guests to be morning people of a gentle nature, or for them to be of a more aggressive type. Hence the tea and vodka options. Jinny eyed the vodka, but immediately put this thought out of his mind, Gwen’s social conditioning having taken hold.
Both women were good looking; both men were marginally good looking. From this, both Jinny and Plouriva deduced that the men were rich, and that was good. Constantine and Slevov Rodstra were from Saint Petersburg, while Henric and Helstof Gromstov were from Moscow. Neither couple offered any further information about their personal lives, nor did Jinny and Plouriva ask about their professions. Jinny wasn’t the only one with designs on the vodka. He could see that Helstof was interested, but refrained from grabbing the bottle. He wondered if getting involved with a Russian woman who drank in the morning was a good idea, but he wasn’t one to judge. He would leave that up to Roger and Gwen. All six partook of the tea.
Plouriva took the lead, and again Jinny was amazed at her social skills. He knew her as a powerhouse manager and administrator of world famous state property, but he knew most of her large workforce were maintenance men and women of different trades. He remembered her as fair to everyone if they did their job, but hell on wheels for slackers. Once she had locked a guy in a small granite storehouse for two days when she found him stealing supplies. Her territory was outside the buildings of the Hermitage, not inside where social functions of a high order were de rigueur, but somewhere along the way she had picked up a bit of diplomacy.
Plouriva introduced Jinny as Jenley Hermantine of the United States. She said he was visiting with two other Americans who were staying at the Corinthia Hotel. Plouriva reiterated what she had told the Russians some weeks before, which was that these Americans had an unusual business opportunity she thought they might find very interesting. With that, Plouriva turned the meeting over to Jenley. The fact that Jenley spoke perfect Russian with Saint Petersburg colloquialisms intrigued the Rodstras and the Gromstovs.
Jinny was calm, deciding that tea had some valuable properties after all. He would have to explore Chinese social traditions when he returned to Charleston. He bet Gwen knew something about that. Jinny was pleased to see that the four visitors also were calm, with the possible exception of Helstof, who kept glancing at the vodka bottle. He thought of offering her a drink, but decided that was her business or that of her husband. Jinny sensed these were serious people, cultured in the Russian fashion, mature, and not, at least on the surface, prone to excessive violence. So, with a glance at Plouriva, he took the plunge. This entire adventure was high risk, and he saw no sense in trying to mitigate that now. He knew it was time to produce for the team.
Jenley explained in a straightforward manner that he and his associates, the Junes, of Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America, were offering an unusual opportunity to a very select and limited group of people here in Saint Petersburg. The opportunity consists of spending time in one of America’s most beautiful small cities during the winter months. Charleston, he explained, was in the southern part of the States, near Florida. In the winter, the temperatures rarely got below freezing at night, and the days were warm and sunny. He stopped talking, and poured everyone more tea. He ate one of the biscuits, at which point he filed away a mental note to have Plouriva buy something better to serve to these clients. He began again, controlling the salesman pitch, but painting a clear and enticing picture of houses on the beach, adorned with handsome Russian furniture, and many bottles of French wine. He laid it on, but not too thick, and he kept the spiel very short. He watched
the faces of the two men and the two women, reading their sensibilities and their mood. The Rodstras remained impassive; the Gromstovs modulated into an upbeat friendliness.
It was Plouriva’s turn to be amazed, thinking Jinny was doing great. She was buying, even more than before, into the virtues of Charleston. Remember, she had memories from long ago when Jinny was just a toilet cleaner inside the big house. Now here he was, Mr. Culture, talking about paintings and sea breezes and champagne. She felt warm, and she hoped the others were getting some of that, too.
Jinny decided to feel out the couple’s sense of culture, history, and patriotism. The business plan was to target Russians who knew and loved their Russian culture, just not the winters, and who knew something about French culture. During planning sessions, the Junes had insisted that the target audience remain extremely small and select, with the aim of reducing the risk of getting involved with overtly criminal types who would start trouble in Charleston. A little trouble they didn’t mind, recognizing that the type of people they were targeting were not going to be angels. The team wanted Russians who had feelings about Russian and French culture, but who lacked knowledge about these things. The objective was for Gwen and Roger to fill these holes, and get paid handsomely to do it.
So Jinny talked a little bit about The Hermitage, pretending he knew something from his days working in Russia for the U.S. Department of State. None of the four Russians believed this masquerade for a second, but that was ok: Jinny was lying, and criminals, politicians, and business people are used to that. It may, in fact, have increased his credibility with them. Plouriva was pleased that Jinny did not talk about the toilets in the Hermitage. Jinny then spoke a bit about the relationship of the French king and the Russian czar, mentioning the dogs, and when he did, Constantine and Helstof both showed an interest. Jinny filed this away for future use. He looked at Plouriva, and noted with satisfaction that she had noticed this point too. He went on, but only briefly, about the French Huguenot friends of the czar and the Huguenots in Charleston. He wasn’t sure if this registered or not, but it was his segue into other aspects of French culture, most notably, wine. The Rodstras continued their impassiveness, while the Gromstovs showed animation. None of them asked questions, and Jinny appreciated their restraint. With an exaggeration that Plouriva did not detect, Jinny described Charleston as a hub of French culture. He thought Gwen could make it so, even if it were not actually so.
Jinny decided to stop his spiel at this point, and ended with a description of his house on the beach. He was referring to his first house, the one which Roger had entered, pointing a handgun at him, and said “You swindled my auntie. Time to pay.” He described a living room filled with Russian furniture and artwork that led out onto a porch suspended on posts over the Atlantic Ocean beach. He said that even in February he sometimes kept the sliding glass door open during the day. He told them he drank his burgundy sitting on the living room sofa and looking out the door to the water.
The Rodstras just looked at each other in their restrained way, while the Gromstovs immediately began to talk to each other in their more animated way. Both of the women appeared to dominate their respective communications. Jinny and Plouriva left them to themselves, taking the tea tray, leaving the vodka tray, and went into the kitchen. Plouriva prepared more snack foods and loaded these onto the tray. She kissed Jinny once and pinched his cheek, just like Gwen had done back in Charleston. Strange habit, he thought, but he liked it. Jinny was tired, and just sat in a kitchen chair. He wished he’d had a day to rest after traveling, but at the same time he was happy to move forward into the mission.
In ten minutes they returned to the living room with the tray of snacks and sat down. They noticed that not only were the Rodstras now talking with each other, but the Gromstovs and the Rodstras were talking with each other. This was good. Helstof took hold of the vodka bottle and poured herself a drink, but, showing restraint, left the glass on the table. Plouriva noted this, and had an epiphany. She got up, went back into the kitchen, opened the closet, and grabbed a bottle. She returned to the living room with another tray on which sat the bottle and six more glasses, and set these on the table next to the food tray. Jinny was shocked at what he saw: a bottle of wine from Provence. It wasn’t burgundy, it wasn’t bordeaux, it wasn’t rhône. But it was FRENCH. He looked at her with undying admiration. Where had she gotten this? Her timing was perfect. Jinny didn’t miss a beat, and asked if anyone would like a glass of wine? It must have been five o’clock somewhere, because all four of the Russians nodded their heads, yes.
With the taste of wine in their mouths, the Russians began to ask questions. Slevov asked about food in Charleston? Henric asked if they played football (soccer)? Helstof asked what kinds of dogs they had there, did they have borzois, and Constantine asked if there were many polizie? Jinny fielded the questions, one by one. He didn’t know the answers to some, but for those he just made them up. He figured what the hell, get these people to Charleston, ply them with alcohol, and they would be happy sitting outside in the sun in February.
Jinny knew he had to get some idea of these peoples financial status. Were they actually wealthy; were they very wealthy; were they very, very wealthy? But before he had a chance to plow into this touchy territory, Constantine said, “Who are these partners of yours, the Americans?” His tone had changed, and it had changed distinctly, charged with suspicion and even a hint of menace. He looked at Jinny with a degree of penetration had not been in his demeanor before. Both Jinny and Plouriva sensed that this was a watershed question for both couples. Jinny took a bite of potato cracker and cheese, a sip of wine, and sat back in his chair. He spoke slowly and deliberately.
“The Junes don’t really work. When they do things for money, they do odd jobs.”
“What things?” said Henric.
“Well, they know stuff about property in Charleston. They know how to own land and houses and pieces of beaches. Mr. June knows a lot about French wine, and a lot about old furniture and art and stuff like that. He knows about the stuff inside houses on the beach and inside houses in the old European section of the town. He knows all the people that live in Charleston, especially all the Huguenots that are descendants of the French people that liked the Czar.” Jinny took a sip of wine. “Mrs. June knows a lot about food. Really good French food. And she knows about clothes. Really nice clothes like they wear in Paris and Rome. She knows about haircuts and what looks nice. She looks nice all the time.” Jinny looked first at the two Russian men and then looked at the two Russian women and said, “She looks really, really nice.” Jinny took another taste of wine before he said, “She also knows a lot about guns, including Russian guns.” When he said this he didn’t look at anyone, but gazed down at the table. Plouriva was riveted. She had no idea Jinny was capable of this kind of theater. He was perfectly understated. He said this devoid of drama, which of course added to its weight. After a few moments he looked up to see how this statement had been received.
Constantine asked, “What do you mean she knows a lot about guns?” Henric seconded the question, with a look rather than with words. Jinny said she carries one in her purse most of the time, a compact Austrian Glock 40 caliber. And he said she knows about Petrova .45 calibers and Brusshev 10mms. She prefers the Brusshev. Constantine looked at Henric, and Henric looked back at Constantine. They didn’t say anything, but they looked back at Jinny.
The reaction of the two women to Jinny’s description of the Junes was perhaps even more interesting than that of the men. And the women’s reactions were different. Mrs. Rodstra, Slevov, appeared to be interested in Mrs. June, while Mrs. Gromstov was interesting in Mr. June. Slevov, the more animated of the two, began asking questions about Charleston houses and furniture. How much did a house on the beach cost? How big was such a house? What type of people lived in houses on the beach? What did they do with their t
ime? Was Mrs. June a broker? Helstof asked if the houses were big enough to hold borzois. Jinny noted the plural on the dogs.
Do you know how big a borzoi is? This was the dog the Russians bred over a thousand years to hunt wolves in Siberia. If a person is six feet tall, and a friendly borzoi rears up to put its front legs on your shoulders, you are looking this dog straight in the eyes. Jinny figured each dog would need its own 1000 square feet of living space. Well, that was ok, because the owner of the dogs would be paying for that space. Jinny told Helstof she might have to walk the dogs on a lease if she took them on the beach, and Helstof looked at him like he was crazy, but didn’t ask any more questions. Jinny wondered if he could make some money by harnessing two borzois to a paraglider, and running them down the beach for several miles with a tourist riding fifty feet up in the air over the water. He dropped the thought quickly and went back to answering questions.
Slevov asked more questions about Gwen. What kind of clothes did she wear, what kind of house did she live in, how is French food different from Russian food, what time of day did people in Charleston start drinking, were there a lot of parties in Charleston, how tall was Gwen, was she fat, etc. Jinny answered slowly, completely, and patiently. Henric also was interested in Gwen because of what Jinny had said about Gwen owning a gun….carrying a gun. Why did she carry a gun, and how did Jinny know this? Jinny debated telling the whole story of how he had walked into a nice French restaurant in Charleston one evening to brace Roger, how he had met Gwen, and how much to his surprise he came to discover that both she and Roger had guns loaded, cocked, and ready below the table by the time he had approached them. He also debated describing the afternoon when Roger had climbed over the deck railing of his beachfront house, had entered the living room pointing a gun at Jinny, and had said, “You swindled my auntie. Time to pay.” He decided against a complete recitation of these events and simply said he didn’t know why the Junes carried guns around, but he definitely knew they did. All the Russians, exhibiting the repressed nature of their ethnic group, nodded and seemed to accept Jinny’s explanation. The fact that Gwen even knew about Petrovas and Brusshevs spoke volumes.
The bottle of wine from Provence was long gone. Plouriva debated getting another one, but realized her stock of French wine was small, and she would need it for other prospective clients. So she poured vodka, and the glasses clinked and the questioning went on. After another hour, all six Russians were at least half crocked. Helstof was totally crocked. The Rodstras were slightly less constrained than at the start of the session, while the Gromstovs were in party mode. Jinny was enjoying a return to his roots. Plouriva was happy to be happy with her lover, and happy that her lover also appeared to be happy. The clients had enjoyed the wine and the vodka, and appeared satisfied with Jinny’s description of the American team’s “opportunity”. After one more tray of snack foods had been devoured, and one more mostly accurate story by Jinny about Charleston culture, the four Russians left. Both Constantine and Henric looked pointedly at Plourvia and told her they would be in touch. She understood this to mean she shouldn’t blab anything about this meeting.
When they were gone, Jinny and Plouriva looked at each other. Two hours of intense socializing with strangers, combined with the question and answer format, and then the booze on top, had taken it out of them, but they were happy. They smiled at each other, and Plouriva told Jinny he was great. Jinny told Plouriva she was great. Simultaneously they turned and headed for the bedroom. They had earned some horizontal time together.