The Mafhyja

2

2

Nikolaj slowly chews with a tired expression, the small chicken bit finding it hard to pass his throat to his stomach. He swallows it and looks at the other's in the room.

"Say, what made you join the Mafhyja?" He asks.

"Family, they've been members for generations." Chabarova says, "I kind of grew up in this environment too so I don't know how a 'normal' life is."

"They needed someone good with computers and I was desperate about getting money since I got abandoned." Volkov says and fixes his glasses once again.

"I just kind of got forced to, they said that they would kill me because I knew so much about them, so I decided to join. I'm happy that I made that decision."

"Do you ever regret joining the Mafhyja?" Everyone turns silent and stops eating.

"Nikolaj, you're not thinking about anything stupid, are you?"

"I'm not, I just wanted your thought's."

"You can tell us if anything's wrong." A man walks into the room.

"Kyra, are you ready?" He asks.

"Yes, see you later!" Chabarova says to the others and waves.

"Noah, can you be so kind and do my duties today? I'm tired and I need my sleep this evening." Kakhovsky says to Volkov.

"Jurij, how many times do I have to tell you that it's your duty and you can't give them to anyone else." Noah says and shakes his head.

"It was worth a try at least."

"Do any of you have any missions today?"

"Nah, my schedule is empty except for the evening duties. And you?"

"I got requested to track down some smaller organization, so I'm probably going to be busy the whole day." Noah says and sighs, "And you, Nikolaj? Nikolaj?"

-*

"Don't!" Nikolaj kicks towards the man who has a grip around his ankle, "Let go!"

"Let go off him, he's probably too young to carry around money just like that." Another man says.

"Really? Are you-" A bullet goes through the men's heads and Nikolaj gets blood on his cheek.

"There you are, you've been quite troublesome to us, haven't you? Well, not anymore though. You even threaten children these days? You really are troublesome." A man in his teen years says.

"You...." Nikolaj says quietly, "Are you- I've seen on the TV... your face, are you in The Mafhyja?"

"Oh, I got recognized, that doesn't happen so often. But yes, I am."

"How..."

"Hm?"

"How can I repay you?" Nikolaj asks and stands up.

"You don't need to repay me." The man says and chuckles, "Just knowing that you're safe is enough."

"No, I'll do anything!"

"Anything? Tell me, why do you want to repay me?" The man bends towards Nikolaj.

"Because you saved me!"

"I didn't do it for you, I did it because it is my job."

"And I want to be successful like the people in the Mafhyja!"

"Successful? Do you really think that we're successful?"

"You aren't?"

"Not really, maybe the boss, under-boss is successful but not us lower ranking. Say... would you really like working under someone that'll kill you if you disobey? Would you murder and call it being 'successful'?"

"..." Nikolaj looks at him and then looks down until he looks up again, "Yes." The man looks surprised.

"Really?" Nikolaj nods.

"Can I go now?"
"That's... I've been told to kill any civilian outside the Mafhyja... unless they're possible new members."

"You said that you saw us as successful, didn't you?"

"Y-yes."

"Then do you want to become successful yourself?" The man asks and grabs Nikolaj's shoulders.

"Yes, I want to be successful..."

"But I'm worried that they'll think that you're far too young... But first I need your name."

"It's Nikolaj Bezymenskij..."

"Nice to meet you, Nikolaj, I'm Tamryn Ivanov."

-

Nikolaj walks around the streets behind Tamryn with Chabarova, it's night and the streetlights barely light the streets up. Tamryn stops and they do the same, they go behind some buildings without being seen and looks at Tamryn. Counting until 11 pm. A man in a dark suit comes with some men behind him and walks to Tamryn.

"It was a while ago we met anyone from the Mafhyja." He says.

"Yes, it surely been a while. Men..." One man walks to him and gives him a bag and Tamryn opens it and looks inside until he closes it and they shake their hands. Tamryn starts to walk away and the others goes the opposite way.

"Kyra, Nikolaj, they're gone now."

"How much?"

"11 857 000." (Around 160 200 USD)

"I thought it would be more... we'll barely get any of those money!" Nikolaj complains, Tamryn quietly laughs.

"I heard that there's someone new in your team."

"Yes, Yuri Izitov." Kyra says.

"How is it going for him?"

"He seems pretty nervous."

"Well that's not good, with the stuff we do, I mean. I hope you make him feel welcome, we're like family here in the Mafhyja after all!"

"A family..."

"Yeah, we won't leave anyone behind, we'll stay together until our deaths, isn't that right?" Nikolaj looks down at his feet.

"Yes..."