"Don't exaggerate," Enriki, who had been silent till now, said at last. "I don't mind if you change our places."
"You have nothing else left!" Lis snorted.
"Fine, maybe," Enriki shook his head jerkily. "Arel does everything right," he said as calmly as he could but his voice betrayed him, ringing with resentment.
"You're washed to the gutter, Rik, congratulations!" Squint-Eye said. He lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply, and leaned against the back of the chair.
Enriki raised his eyes to the ceiling, looking at the blackened girders. Lis turned to Squint-Eye and slowly, for him to see, flicked him on his eye-patch. Squint-Eye, who was used to such treatment, turned his head with dignity.
"What?" he asked looking at Lis; his eye was narrowed against smoke.
"Congratulations to you, too," Lis said. "You're not 'washed to the gutter'!" He smirked wickedly.
Enriki regained control.
"What are you talking about? I'm even happy with this new allocation! It will be easier for me to prove you that I'm worth something!"
"Enriki, you can rely on me," Vil said gingerly. Enriki didn't answer. "I'll also prove what I'm worth!" But no one listened to Vil.
"Basically, if to be honest," Lis continued, "it is a good allocation… good – if you don't care about interests and feelings of people," he paused, "people who are interconnected with friendly, close, important relations. If to forget about it, this allocation is not bad. But it is too stiff and straightforward, you don't take into account our feelings and ties, as if they are not there at all. And it is not right! If it rude towards Enriki – first of all, it's simply a betrayal, let's call a spade a spade. And I'll also say you couldn't come up with it, Arel."
"What do you mean?"
"It is not your idea! You wouldn't change our places, you would have thought it risky and unprofitable but you would have left us as we are. I know you and your style. You believe in luck. What you're doing now is not your style, Arel."
"Lis, I don't understand you. Do you mean the plan is good? Or is it bad?"
"It isn't good or bad, it isn't yours. It is not yours," he repeated slowly, nearly in syllables.
"Do you want to say that I cannot come up with anything?"
"You can," Lis agreed, " and you did many times, and you would never, never put Asa with Tol. You wouldn't even think of it!"
"You can only criticize, it's easy to do! Can you do anything but take a dig on me? Suggest your allocation, I'll think about it. What, why do you keep silent?"
"Who's gonna listen to me, you listen only to Nikto."
Everyone froze.
"Ooh shit," Nikto, who kept silent till now, drawled.
"So, you think I do what Nikto tells me," Orel reached for a cigarette. "Right?"
"Right," Lis said. "Who else will take Squint-Eye away from Enriki not to risk Squint-Eye, and who else will put Tol with Asa to protect her."
"Lis, don't drag me into it!" Enriki pleaded.
"Really! Enough humiliating him," Squint-Eye said. "He has already got to understand what his love and devotion are worth. And I'm not surprised, Orel did the same to me."
"Yes," Orel raised his voice. "I give up on Enriki, if you care. He is weak and I don't want to risk Squint-Eye for him!" He looked around. "I'm honest with you, what will you say?" He turned to Enriki. "Tell me whatever you want. I admit it, I'm betraying you. If Squint-Eye stood by you, very possibly you'd be just wounded but then Squint-Eye would be wounded, too, and I cannot afford it. With Vil you'll likely be killed. This is how I paid you for everything you did for me." He shook his head tossing his hair back. There was no embarrassment or repentance on his handsome grey face. He looked at Enriki, looked at his face calmly and confidently.
