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Agap. Yep.
Sea Lion. Agap! I’d really like to clean your clock…
Agap. Why?
Sea Lion. You’re saying these unpleasantries with too much relish.
Agap. I’m just…
Sea Lion. What else did they talk about?
Agap. I told you all I’ve got.
Sea Lion. That’s too bad!
Agap. It was too noisy in the kitchen.
Sea Lion. And what about the key-hole? Have you forgotten what I taught you?
Agap. Makar was way too far from the door.
Sea Lion. Watch it, Agap. If I find out that you’re in cahoots with him, I’ll skin you alive.
Agap. Boss!
Sea Lion. You can go now.
Agap leaves
Sea Lion. What are you up to, Makar?
Nadya enters carrying a tray with a glass of red berry juice.
Nadya. Cranberry, just like you like it, my sweet sailor.
Sea Lion. [Drinking the juice]. Thank you.
Nadya. We have to send money to Katya.
Sea Lion. Money?
Nadya. To pay for the second semester.
Sea Lion. Does anyone really need this education?
Nadya. We do.
Sea Lion. Paying to the help while having our own worker!
Nadya. Katya won’t be scrubbing floors for the rest of her life, will she? Enough’s enough.
Sea Lion. Enough?
Nadya. Eighty three thousand for the second semester.
Sea Lion opens a drawer of the desk, counts out the money, and hands it over to Nadya.
Sea Lion. Call Makar.
Nadya leaves
Sea Lion. There are many honest people but there are fewer and fewer decent ones.
Makar enters the study.
Makar. Nadya is angry at me again.
Sea Lion. No, Makar. It’s me who’s angry at you. Nadya just doesn’t want you.
Makar. Just spare me your lectures, I’m out of sorts today!
Sea Lion. Fine.
Pause.
Makar. Do you have something to drink? [Without waiting for a response, he opens the mini-bar fridge and pours himself a glass of whiskey.]
Sea Lion. How much did you lose to the swindlers in yesterday’s game of Bura?
Makar. So, somebody’s already ratted. I was just about to cut out but they dragged me back in.
Sea Lion. A freaking Al Capone.
Makar. Around hundred grand, maybe more.
Sea Lion. A gambling debt is a debt of honor.
Makar. You want me to get stabbed?
Sea Lion. You’re used to it, aren’t you?
Makar. It’s not funny, Oleg. Give me the money.
Sea Lion. Perhaps you’d also like a share of the hotel stock?
Makar. Ha-ha-ha! I saw this creep ambushing in the kitchen, so I faked him out.
Sea Lion. Right, you’re a real master of lurking. While Agap still has a lot to learn.
Sea Lion opens the drawer again, gets a wad of banknotes out, and offers it to Makar.
Sea Lion. One hundred and fifty. It’s the last time I give you money this month.
Makar. Thank you, my boy.
Sea Lion. Pour me this whiskey too.
Makar. How much?
Sea Lion. You don’t see the edges?
Makar. As the saying goes, trust in God but lock your car.
Makar pours a full glass and puts it on the desk in front of Sea Lion, then tops off his own glass.
Sea Lion. Godspeed.
Makar. Here we go.
Pause.
Sea Lion. Someone’s digging into us.
Makar. Who?
Sea Lion. You tell me.
Makar. Everything comes at a price. We’re bound to pay it some day.
Sea Lion. Oh, please, give these loads of philosophical garbage to your skirts!
Makar. There’s rumor going round the village that an officer came to the far mine, asking all about the gold.
Sea Lion. That nosy dork got mauled to death by a bear yesterday. An accident.
Makar. Poor little bear.
Sea Lion. The Siberian forests are vast, there are enough bears for everyone.
Makar. We’ll deal with the locals but my gut tells me that the digging was initiated in Moscow.
Sea Lion. Merp.
Makar. Our gold makes everybody restless. Speaking of which… How much did you get this time?
Sea Lion puts the travel bag on his desk. Makar opens it and gives a whistle.
Makar. We’d better beef up security. All kinds of loafers are hanging around here. [He takes the bag by the handles, weighing it, and puts it back on the desk.] Around eight kilos of pure gold.
Sea Lion. Katzmann advanced the rate.
Makar. Son of a bitch!
Sea Lion. We all earn money as best we can. Now’s not the time to pick a fight with him.
Makar. A la ger com a la ger. I say we bring this huckster to heel later. We’ll get our share of the cake, be sure.
Sea Lion. They won’t get me. Neither by force nor in any other way. I will use my own teeth to rip out their throats!
Makar. Tusks.
Sea Lion. What?
Makar. You will use your tusks to do that. You are a sea beast, Eumetopias jubatus, Steller’s sea lion!
Sea Lion. Get out of here.
Pause.
Sea Lion. When the rumpus starts, I’ll set up all-round defense. And if it comes to the push, I’m gonna have to lie low. But you know what, Makar?
Makar. What?
Sea Lion. My brother. Makar Sergeevich. When the going gets rough… I’ll look around. And if you aren’t here, I’ll know that you’d set off in quest of your fortune and I won’t see you again.
Pause.
Sea Lion. And if you are still here, it’ll be clear to me that my beloved brother has only one wish – to be here, with me. And you, Makar, will have to prove that to me in deed every single moment.
Makar. I won’t betray you, Oleg.
Sea Lion. Splendid. Good talk. You can go now.
Makar. Ear to the ground.
Makar walks towards the door.
Sea Lion. Makar!
Makar. What?
Sea Lion. Put back the money you’ve stolen from the cash register today. Do that again, and I’ll break your fingers.
Makar. Okay.
Makar leaves.
Scene 7
