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Hammer to Fall
Hammer to Fall Read online
Also by John Lawton
1963
Black Out
Old Flames
A Little White Death
Bluffing Mr. Churchill
Flesh Wounds
Second Violin
A Lily of the Field
Sweet Sunday
Then We Take Berlin
The Unfortunate Englishman
Friends and Traitors
HAMMER
TO FALL
A JOE WILDERNESS NOVEL
JOHN
LAWTON
Atlantic Monthly Press
New York
Copyright © 2020 by John Lawton
Cover photograph © Bohumil Dobrovolsky
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FIRST EDITION
Published simultaneously in Canada
Printed in the United States of America
First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition: March 2020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data available for this title.
ISBN 978-0-8021-4812-4
eISBN 978-0-8021-4813-1
Atlantic Monthly Press
an imprint of Grove Atlantic
154 West 14th Street
New York, NY 10011
Distributed by Publishers Group West
groveatlantic.com
20 21 22 23 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
per
Marcia
You cannot fold a flood
And put it in a drawer,
Because the winds would find it out,
And tell your cedar floor.
—Emily Dickinson
Table of Contents
Cover
Also by John Lawton
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
I: Peanut Butter
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Vienna
II: Tea and Stollen
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
III: Omelettes
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
IV: Fig Biscuits
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
V: Vodka
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-One
Chapter Seventy-Two
Chapter Seventy-Three
Chapter Seventy-Four
Chapter Seventy-Five
Chapter Seventy-Six
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty-One
Chapter Eighty-Two
Chapter Eighty-Three
Chapter Eighty-Four
Chapter Eighty-Five
Vienna
VI: Armagnac and Easter Eggs
Chapter Eighty-Six
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Chapter Ninety
Chapter Ninety-One
Chapter Ninety-Two
Chapter Ninety-Three
Chapter Ninety-Four
Chapter Ninety-Five
Chapter Ninety-Six
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Chapter Ninety-Nine
Chapter Hundred
Chapter One Hundred One
Chapter One Hundred Two
Chapter One Hundred Three
Chapter One Hundred Four
Chapter One Hundred Five
Chapter One Hundred Six
Chapter One Hundred Seven
Chapter One Hundred Eight
Chapter One Hundred Nine
Vienna
VII: Beer and Sausages
Chapter One Hundred Ten
Chapter One Hundred Eleven
Chapter One Hundred Twelve
Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
Chapter One Hundred Fourteen
Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
Chapter One Hundred Seventeen
Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
Chapter One Hundred Twenty
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Thirty
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven
Chapter One Hun
dred Thirty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Forty
Chapter One Hundred Forty-One
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Seven
VIII: Jam Roly-Poly
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Forty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Fifty
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Sixty
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-One
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Seventy
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-One
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Two
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Three
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Four
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Five
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Six
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Eighty
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-One
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Two
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Three
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Four
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Five
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Six
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred Ninety
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-One
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Two
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Four
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Five
Vienna
IX: Black Coffee
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Eight
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Nine
Chapter Two Hundred
Chapter Two Hundred One
Chapter Two Hundred Two
Chapter Two Hundred Three
Chapter Two Hundred Four
Chapter Two Hundred Five
Chapter Two Hundred Six
Chapter Two Hundred Seven
Chapter Two Hundred Eight
Chapter Two Hundred Nine
Chapter Two Hundred Ten
Chapter Two Hundred Eleven
Chapter Two Hundred Twelve
Chapter Two Hundred Thirteen
Chapter Two Hundred Fourteen
Chapter Two Hundred Fifteen
Stuff
Acknowledgments
Back Cover
I
Peanut Butter
§1
East Berlin: July or August 1948
Das Eishaus: The Egg-Cooling House, Osthafen
“So, Sadie says to Doris—”
“Doris? Что такое дорис?”
“Doris is just a name, Yuri. A woman’s name. Doris, Debbie, Diana … doesn’t matter. Just a fuckin’ name.”
“Da. Da. Еврейское имя?”
“What?”
Frank turned to Wilderness, the exasperation beginning to show in his face. Wilderness translated.
“He’s asking if it’s a Jewish name.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. If you like. It’s a Jewish name. Anyway … Doris says to Sadie—”
“No,” said Wilderness. “Sadie was talking to Doris.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Who’s telling this gag? You or me? So … Sadie says to Doris, ‘My Hymie’s such a gentleman. Every week he brings me flowers.’ And Doris says, ‘Oh yeah, my Jake is such a putz, if he brings me flowers it can mean only one thing. I’ll be spending the night with my legs in the air!’ And Sadie says, ‘Oh, you don’t got a vase?’ ”
Frank laughed at his own joke. All but slapped his thighs. Wilderness managed a smile. He had heard it before. Three or four times, in fact, but Frank was never one to preface a gag with, “Stop me if I told you this one already.”
Yuri looked nonplussed.
The kid next to him, one of those string-bean youths they had nicknamed “Yuri’s Silents,” was smirking. He looked to be about the same age as Wilderness himself, but Wilderness was twenty going on thirty, and this kid was twenty going on twelve. He always looked nervous—scared shitless, as Frank would have it—and perhaps he, a mere corporal, thought it only prudent not to laugh at a dirty joke his boss, a gilded NKVD major with shoulder boards as wide as landing strips, couldn’t get.
Yuri got swiftly back to business.
“Sunday? One hundred pounds?”
Frank glanced quickly at Wilderness. Wilderness nodded.
“Sure. One hundred pounds of finest PX Java.”
Yuri stuck out his hand. He liked to shake on every deal. Even though they’d been trading coffee, butter and anything else the Russians had on their shopping list for months now, he shook every time as though resealing a bond between them. Wilderness did not think Yuri trusted Frank Spoleto, but then he wasn’t at all sure he trusted Frank either.
They were about halfway back to the jeep. Wilderness could see Swift Eddie at the wheel, deep in a Penguin paperback, oblivious to all around him. And he could hear footsteps running behind them.
He turned.
It was the “Silent.” His great flat feet slapping down on the pockmarked tarmac.
“I am sorry. I mean not to surprise you.”
He was a Kolya or a Kostya … one of those abundant Russian diminutives foisted onto children and rarely abandoned as adults. He had the look of an adolescent, features scarcely formed, his face dominated by bright blue eyes that seemed far too trusting to work for an NKVD rogue like Yuri. His Adam’s apple bobbed above his collar. His long fingers disappeared into a pocket to produce … an empty jam jar.
Frank said, “What’s on your mind, kid?”
“Can you get me this?”
Wilderness said, nipping in ahead of Frank, “Our deal is with Major Myshkin. We don’t undercut him and we don’t deal without him.”
Frank rolled the jar in his hand, showed Wilderness the label.
“I don’t think Yuri will give a damn about this, Joe.”
The label read,
COUSIN KITTY’S GEORGIA PEANUT BUTTER
And then, egregiously,
YUM, YUMMY YUM YUMS
“Is true,” said Kolya/Kostya. “The major will let me buy.”
Wilderness shrugged. Who was he to stand in the way of a deal, however petty?
“Can you get it?” he said to Frank.
“Sure. If not this brand, then something like. If there’s one kind of peanut butter coming out of Georgia, there must be fifty. If this is what he wants. I’ll find something. God knows why he wants it. The stuff sticks to your teeth like Plasticine.”
“Is … личное дело … personal, yes?”
“Whatever. Fifty cents a jar, OK. And greenbacks. Capisce? None of those Ostmarks you guys print like toilet paper. US dollars, right?”
“Of course,” the kid grinned. “Grrrrinbaksy.”
“How many jars?”
“Hundred.”
“A hundred?”
“A hundred … to begin with.”
“OK, kid, you got yourself a deal. Now shake on it, just like your Uncle Yuri, and me and my partner here will head back to civilisation.”
They shook, and Kolya/Kostya said, “Major Myshkin not my uncle. I am Kostya—Konstantin Ilyich Zolotukhin.”
As they climbed into the jeep, Frank had his moan.
“Do any of them have a sense of humour? ‘Uncle’ was just a tease. And Yuri … what in hell happened to him? It was as though I’d asked to fuck his grandmother.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like Jewish jokes.”
“Never thought of that. Do you reckon he’s Jewish? I mean, what kind of a name is Myshkin?”
“A Russian name,” Wilderness replied. “And you can bet your last dollar it’s not his real name. By the bye … how much does a jar of peanut butter cost back home?”
Frank’s hand sliced the air, tipping an imaginary fried egg onto an imaginary plate.
“Around twelve cents.”
“That’s quite a markup.”
“Markup from what? We steal the stuff. And how would the kid ever know the right price? He’s going to hop on a plane to Shitcreek, New Jersey, and hit the local grocery store?”
“I meant. Fair play. That’s all.”
“Fair play. Jeezus. Joe, this is no time to grow a conscience. If he’ll pay fifty cents then we collect fifty cents.”
§2
The problem had always been their own people. The military police of the French, British and American occupying forces. The Reds left them alone. Wilderness assumed that they’d all been told by Yuri not to mess with his “Schiebers” … his smugglers. Since the airlift began, the MPs did not cross the line to East Berlin, but on occasion they were not past demanding the odd, random search—and on occasion producing papers showing they were in Intelligence cut no mustard and a half-hearted, odd, random search took place. None of them had ever thought to open the jerry cans mounted on the jeep—all packed with contraband.
There was no room in the cans for the peanut butter, so it sat in a sack in the footwell. So what if it got confiscated? The goods that mattered were the ones that passed for currency … cigarettes and coffee. And who among the English MPs would know what this stuff was? If needs be, Wilderness was prepared to swear it was bunion ointment or pile cream.
Come Sunday, they delivered the coffee.
Yuri paid up, in the usual manner, as though each dollar was flayed from his own back, and disappeared.
They were left alone with Kostya, who beamed with delight at his purchase, and paid without pain.
Hammer to Fall
Friends and Traitors
East of Suez, West of Charing Cross Road
Second Violin
Riptide
A Little White Death
The Unfortunate Englishman
Sweet Sunday
A Lily of the Field
Blue Rondo