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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - May and June 1917

The Monte Carlo nightclub in Buffalo looked dreadful by daylight, but Lev Peshkov loved it just the same The as scratched, the paint was chipped, the upholstery was stained, and there were cigarette butts all over the carpet; yet Lev thought it was paradise As he walked in he kissed the hat-check girl, gave the door a crate

The job of nightclub er was ideal for him HisAs a thief himself, he kne to do that Otherwise he just had to see that there was enough drink behind the bar and a decent band onstage As well as his salary, he had free cigarettes and all the booze he could take without falling down He alore for dress, which made him feel like a prince Josef Vyalov left hi in, his father-in-law had no other interest in the club, except to turn up occasionally with his cronies and watch the show

Lev had only one probleed For a feeeks, back in the sury for his body But that had been uncharacteristic, he no Since they gothe did displeased her She wanted hi She did not like dancing or drinking and she asked him not to smoke She never came to the club They slept in separate beds She called him low-class "I am low-class," he had said to her one day "That&039;s why I was the chauffeur" She continued dissatisfied

So he had hired Marga

His old fla a new number with the band, while two black woa wore a tight dress and red lipstick Lev had given her a job as a dancer, having no idea whether she was good She had turned out to be not just good but a star Now she was belting out a suggestive nuht for her h I suffer from frustrations

The anticipation&039;s

A boost to our relations

When he comes

Lev knew exactly what she meant

He watched her until she was done She caot two bottles of beer and followed her to her dressing rooreat number," he said as he went in

"Thanks" She put the bottle in her mouth and tilted it Lev watched her red lips on the neck She took a long drink She caught hirinned "That re?"

"You bet it does" He embraced her and ran his hands over her body After a couple of minutes she knelt down, unbuttoned his pants, and took hiood at this, the best he had ever known Either she really liked it, or she was the greatest actor in Ahed with pleasure

The door opened and Josef Vyalov came in

"So it&039;s true!" he said furiously

Two of his thugs, Ilya and Theo, followed him in

Lev was scared half to death He hastily tried to button his pants and apologize at the saa stood up quickly and wiped herroom!" she protested

Vyalov said: "And you&039;re in er You&039;re fired" He turned to Lev "When you&039;re hter, you don&039;t screw the help!"

Marga said defiantly: "He wasn&039;t screwing me, Vyalov, didn&039;t you notice that?"

Vyalov punched her in the"You&039;ve been fired," he said to her "Fuck off"

She picked up her bag and left

Vyalov looked at Lev "You asshole," he said "Haven&039;t I done enough for you?"

Lev said: "I&039;m sorry, Pa" He was terrified of his father-in-law Vyalov would do anything: people who displeased hied, tortured, maimed, or murdered He had no mercy and no fear of the law In his way he was as powerful as the tsar

"Don&039;t tell me it&039;s the first ti these rue here"

Lev said nothing The rua was hired

"I&039; you," Vyalov said

"What do youyou out of the club Too irls here"

Lev&039;s heart sank He loved the Monte Carlo "But ould I do?"

"I own a foundry down by the harbor There are no woot sick, he&039;s in the hospital You can keep an eye on it for me"

"A foundry?" Lev was incredulous "Me?"

"You worked at the Putilov factory"

"In the stables!"

"And in a coal "

"So, you know the environment"

"And I hate it!"

"Did I ask you what you like? Jesus Christ, I just caught you with your pants down You&039;re lucky not to get worse"

Lev shut up

"Go outside and get in the godda roo He could hardly believe he was leaving for good The bar Vyalov said to the barht, Ivan"

"Yes, boss"

Vyalov&039;s Packard Twin Six aiting at the curb A new chauffeur stood proudly beside it, a kid from Kiev The commissionaire hurried to open the rear door for Lev At least I&039;ht

He was living like a Russian nobleman, if not better, he rea had the nursery wing of the spacious prairie house Rich Americans did not keep as many servants as the Russians, but their houses were cleaner and brighter than Petrograd palaces They had modern bathroo The food was good Vyalov did not share the Russian aristocracy&039;s love of chane, but there was alhisky on the sideboard And Lev had six suits

Whenever he felt oppressed by his bullying father-in-law he cast his le rooori, the cheap vodka, the coarse black bread, and the turnip stew He re what a luxury it would be to ride the streetcars instead of walking everywhere Stretching out his legs in the back of Vyalov&039;s limousine, he looked at his silk socks and shiny black shoes, and told hiot in after him and they drove to the waterfront Vyalov&039;s foundry was a ss with broken s, same tall chimneys and black smoke, same drab workers with dirty faces Lev&039;s heart sank

"It&039;s called the Buffalo Metal Works, but it ," Vyalov said "Fans" The car drove through the narrow gateway "Before the war it was losingLately business has picked up We&039;ve got a long list of orders for airplane and ship propellers and fans for aret back sohere, but his fear of Vyalov was stronger, and he did not want to fail He resolved that he would not be the one to give the men a raise

Vyalov showed hi his tuxedo But the place was not like the Putilov works inside It was a lot cleaner There were no children running around Apart fro worked by electric power Where the Russians would get twelve hty ship&039;s propeller was raised by an electric hoist

Vyalov pointed to a balda collar and tie under his overalls "That&039;s your enemy," he said "Brian Hall, secretary of the local union branch"

Lev studied Hall Thea nut with a long-handled wrench He had a pugnacious air and, when he glanced up and saw Lev and Vyalov, he gave theht be about to ask whether they wanted to make trouble

Vyalov shouted over the noise of a nearby grinder "Co the wrench in a toolbox and wiping his hands on a rag before approaching

Vyalov said: "This is your new boss, Lev Peshkov"

"How do," Hall said to Lev, then he turned back to Vyalov "Peter Fisher got a nasty cut on his face fro Had to be taken to the hospital"

"I&039; is a hazardous industry, but no one is forced to work here"

"It just les"

"No one has lost an eye in ry quickly "Do we have to wait until soles?"

"How else will I know you need them?"

"A man who has never been robbed still puts a lock on the door of his house"

"But he&039;s paying for it hi nothing better and, with an air of weary wisdom, returned to hisfor soathered that Vyalov wanted hih Well, he kne to do that It was the way all factories were run in Petrograd

They left the plant and drove up Delaware Avenue Lev guessed they were going home to dinner It would never occur to Vyalov to ask whether that was okay with Lev Vyalov made decisions for everyone

In the house Lev took off his shoes, which were dirty froa had given hia&039;s mother, Lena, was there with Daisy

Lena said: "Look, Daisy, here&039;s your father!"

Lev&039;s daughter was now fourteenacross the roo, then fell over and cried He picked her up and kissed her He had never before taken the least interest in babies or children, but Daisy had captured his heart When she was fractious and did not want to go to bed, and no one else could soothe her, he would rock her, s, until her eyes closed, her tiny body went limp, and she fell asleep in his arms

Lena said: "She looks just like her handsoht she looked like a baby, but he did not contradict his mother-in-law Lena adored him She flirted with him, touched him a lot, and kissed hih she undoubtedly thought she was showing nothing more than normal family affection

On the other side of the rooirl called Polina She was the nurse, but she was not overworked: Olga and Lena spentcare of Daisy Now Lev handed the baby to Polina As he did so, Polina gave him a direct look She was a classic Russian beauty, with blond hair and high cheekbones Lev wondered briefly whether he could have an affair with her and get aith it She had her own tiny bedrooht be worth the risk: that look had shown eagerness

Olga cauilty "What a surprise!" she said when she saw hi"

"Your father hasthe foundry now"

"But why? I thought you were doing well at the club"

"I don&039;t knohy," Lev lied

"Maybe because of the draft," Olga said President Wilson had declared war on Germany and was about to introduce conscription "The foundry will be classified as an essential war industry Daddy wants to keep you out of the army"

Lev knew from the newspapers that conscription would be run by local draft boards Vyalov was sure to have at least one crony on the board ould fix anything he asked for That was how this toorked But Lev did not disabuse Olga He needed a cover story that did not involve Marga, and Olga had invented one "Sure," he said "I guess that must be it"

Daisy said: "Dadda"

"Clever girl!" Polina said

Lena said: "I&039; the foundry"

Lev gave her his best aw-shucks Arin "Guess I&039;ll do my best," he said

{II}

Gus Dewar felt his European mission for the president had been a failure "Failure?" said Woodrow Wilson "Heck, no! You got the Germans to make a peace offer It&039;s not your fault the British and French told them to drop dead You can lead a horse to water, but you can&039;t make it drink" All the sa the two sides together even for prelier to succeed in the next ave him "The Buffalo Metal Works has been closed by a strike," the president said "We have ships and planes andfor the propellers and fans they et theht back in his hometown, Gus went to dinner at the hoa Vyalov Chuck and his neife, Doris, had a Victorian mansion on Elmwood Avenue, which ran parallel to Delaware, and Chuck took the Belt Line railway everyto work in his father&039;s bank

Doris was a pretty girl who looked a bit like Olga, and as Gus watched the needs he wondered how much he would like this life of do next to Olga, but that o years ago, and now that her enchantht prefer his bachelor apartton

When they sat down to their steaks and mashed potatoes, Doris said: "What happened to President Wilson&039;s proive him credit," Gus saidfor peace They just wouldn&039;t listen"

"That doesn&039;t "

Chuck said i American ships!"

"Then tell American ships to stay out of the war zone!" Doris looked cross, and Gus guessed they had had this arguer was fueled by the fear that Chuck would be conscripted

To Gus, these issues were too nuanced for passionate declarations of right and wrong He said gently: "Okay, that&039;s an alternative, and the president considered it But itGermany&039;s power to tell us where Ao"

Chuck said indignantly: "We can&039;t be pushed around that way by Germany or anyone else!"

Doris was adamant "If it saves lives, why not?"

Gus said: "Most Americans seem to feel the way Chuck does"

"That doesn&039;t ht"

"Wilson believes a presidentship treats the wind, using it but never going directly against it"

"Then why must we have conscription? That makes slaves of Aain "Don&039;t you think it&039;s fair that we should all be equally responsible for fighting for our country?"

"We have a professional army At least those men joined voluntarily"

Gus said: "We have an ar in this war We&039;re going to need at least a million"

"A lot more men to die," Doris said

Chuck said: "We&039;re dalad at the bank, I can tell you We have a lot ofthe Allies If the Geries can&039;t pay their debts, we&039;re in trouble"

Doris looked thoughtful "I didn&039;t know that"

Chuck patted her hand "Don&039;t worry about it, honey It&039;s not going to happen The Allies are going to win, especially with the US of A helping out"

Gus said: "There&039;s another reason for us to fight When the war is over, the US will be able to take part as an equal in the postwar settlement That may not sound very iue of nations to resolve future conflicts without us killing one another" He looked at Doris "You uess"

"Certainly"

Chuck changed the subject "What brings you home, Gus? Apart from the desire to explain the president&039;s decisions to us common folk"

He told thehtly, as this was dinner-party talk, but in truth he orried The Buffalo Metal Works was vital to the war effort, and he was not sure how to get the men back to work Wilson had settled a national rail strike shortly before his reelection and seemed to think that intervention in industrial disputes was a natural element of political life Gus found it a heavy responsibility

"You knons that place, don&039;t you?" said Chuck

Gus had checked "Vyalov"

"And who runs it for him?"

"No"

"His new son-in-law, Lev Peshkov"

"Oh," said Gus "I didn&039;t know that"

{III}

Lev was furious about the strike The union was trying to take advantage of his inexperience He felt sure Brian Hall and the men had decided he eak He was deter reasonable "Mr V needs to make back some of the money he lost in the bad years," he had said to Hall

"And the es!" Hall had replied

"It&039;s not the sareed "You&039;re rich and they&039;re poor It&039;s harder for thely quick-witted

Lev was desperate to get back into his father-in-law&039;s good books It was dangerous to let aThe trouble was that charm was Lev&039;s only asset, and it did not work on Vyalov

However, Vyalov was being supportive about the foundry "Sometimes you have to let theive in Just stick it out They becory" But Lev kne fast Vyalov could change his mind

However, Lev had a plan of his own to hasten the collapse of the strike He was going to use the power of the press

Lev was a member of the Buffalo Yacht Club, thanks to his father-in-laho had got hied, including Peter Hoyle, editor of the Buffalo Advertiser One afternoon Lev approached Hoyle in the clubhouse at the foot of Porter Avenue

The Advertiser was a conservative newspaper that always called for stability and blaroes, and socialist troubleure with a blackPeshkov," he said His voice was loud and harsh, as if he was used to shouting over the noise of a printing press "I hear the president has sent Cam Dewar&039;s son up here to settle your strike"

"I believe so, but I haven&039;t heard from him yet"

"I know him He&039;s naive You don&039;t have reed He had taken a dollar frorad in 1914, and last year he had taken Gus&039;s fiancee just as easily "I wanted to talk to you about the strike," he said, sitting in the leather armchair opposite Hoyle

"The Advertiser has already condemned the strikers as un-American socialists and revolutionaries," Hoyle said "What ents," Lev said "They&039;re holding up the production of vehicles that our boys are going to need when they get to Europe-but the workers themselves are exele" Hoyle frowned "But we don&039;t yet kno the draft is going to work"

"It&039;s sure to exclude war industries"

"That&039;s true"

"And yet they&039;re de more money A lot of people would take less for a job that keeps them out of the army"

Hoyle took a notebook froan to write "Take less money for a draft-exempt job," he muttered

"Maybe you want to ask: whose side are they on?"

"Sounds like a headline"

Lev was surprised and pleased It had been easy

Hoyle looked up fro this conversation?"

Lev had not anticipated this question He grinned to cover his confusion If he said no, Hoyle would drop the whole thing immediately "Yes, of course," he lied "In fact it was his idea"