How It All Goes Down
23 March
- Aleksandr is closing up the train station for the night. The dude loves his job: it gives him "a kind of freedom" that few enjoy these days (3.26.1).
- Although Alex had been a promising young athlete, he eventually settled on working with his parents at the local station. They even live in an apartment right beside it.
- After changing, Alex heads to the cinema—one of his favorite pastimes. He's already seen tonight's movie, however, so he decides to stroll around the center of Victory Park (3.25.6).
- So Alex strolls, his heart pounding like an EDM beat. He makes eye contact with a dude walking ahead of him and approaches him, telling the man to follow him. Oh, we get it now.
- Alex leads the dude to the ticket booth and locks the door behind him. His excitement getting the better of him, Alex leans forward "to kiss him" (3.25.12).
- Suddenly, there's pounding at the door. Alex assumes that it's his parents, but that assumption is shattered after the man turns and spits in his face. Instinctively, he clocks the dude in the face.
- Alex opens the door to find Leo and Nesterov with several other militiamen. One tries to attack Alex, but Nesterov stops him.
- Nesterov tells Alex that he will keep his "crimes" under wraps if he makes a list of every other known gay man in the town.