"previously ON MATRlOSHKl" "It's not much." "But the club has been closed all week." "I need more." "Be smart." "Pretend you don't know me." "I'm not going to file a complaint." "Did you go and see those English guys?" " You can't jerk me around for ever." "You fuckin' cunt!" "Where did you come from?" "What's that?" " lt's your advance I'm paying back." "Well, half of it anyway." "Did you come back specially for that?" "I've had enough of Thailand for a while, man." "What?" "Aren't you going back?" " No." "Not for the time being, anyway." "What about your bar?" " The English guys'll take care of it." "Have you seen Ray out there lately?" "For about twenty minutes, that's all." "I can't be doing with all that crap." "Crap?" "You fuckin' well owe him 40,000 euro." "Hey!" "I paid him back every single cent i owed him!" "I've been trying to get hold of him for two days." "He doesn't return my calls." "I don't want anything more to do with the clown!" "He can take a running jump!" "That's as may be, but I need five Thai chicks by next week." "I wouldn't count on getting 'em, Bob." "Hello, Bob Sels speaking." " lt's Carlo." "Listen, Bob." "Ray Van Mechelen ordered five girls from us." "We've been here an hour." "We can't get hold of him." "What shall we do?" " Carlo Dubois." "I haven't heard from him either." " Uh, Bob..." "Ray said you needed the girls urgently." "Shall I arrange for plane tickets?" "That's not a bad idea." "But they need to be here by Friday at the latest." "OK." " Bye, Carlo." "Why did he call you?" " Because they've gone and lost Ray!" "Hello Bob." "Jean-Paul." "Hi, curly." "You're right." "She's not bad." " You saw her picture." "What's going on?" "How much d'you want?" " 7,000." "Are you gonna sell her?" " lt's for the best, Danny." "Eh?" "What d'you think?" "5,000 and I'll take her with me." " Listen, Jean-Paul..." "She's young and pretty." " Yeah, but that's still too much." "5,000 isn't enough." "Seeing as it's you... 6,000." " Seeing as it's you... 6,500." "You scumbag... I don't understand what he's saying." "You have to pack." "The guy downstairs is your new boss." "He's come to get you." "I'm not going with that guy." "He can piss off." "I want to stay with you." "Bloody hell!" "I'm going with you." "I'm not staying with that scumbag." "Well?" "Call me as soon as you can." "Belgium..." "Where's that?" "Near England." "How are you going to get there?" "By plane." " D'you dare go on one of those things?" "I think so." "What'll happen to us then?" " Nothing, Mum." "I'll make a lot more money over there in Belgium." "Pat says you can send money from there via Western Union." "How does she know?" "Has she been there?" "No." "But she used to have a boyfriend in Belgium." "And he sometimes sent her money." "As long as you don't forget your family." " Of course I won't, Mum." "Maybe you'll find a man over there to marry." "Mum..." "I don't want to marry a Belgian." "Why not?" "Nok's oldest daughter is married to an Englishman." "No, Mum, to a German." "Same thing." " No, it isn't." "If you leave it much longer, you'll be old and ugly." "Then you won't find a good man any more." " Stop it, Mum." "How long are you going to stay there?" " Two, three months." "No longer." "We're leaving the day after tomorrow and have to fly all night." "All night on a plane?" "I'll pray for you." "His answering machine again." "It's me, Ray." "Call me back, will you?" "What's the time there?" " Six hours later than here." "It's almost half past four there." "Something's wrong." "He should've been back two days ago." "Maybe he is back." "He could be." "So why hasn't he called me?" "I dunno." "Maybe his battery's flat." "Or maybe he's lost his phone." " No, no." "Something must've happened." "I'm gonna call the consulate." " Wait a bit longer." "He's not some little kid, Danny." "Have you had a word with Bob Sels yet?" "About me." "About my situation." "I don't think now's a good time, pal." "What d'you mean?" "Doesn't he need anybody?" "I can't make the guy out." "I much preferred working for Ray and John." "Couldn't you just... test the water?" "Who keeps an eye on the chicks at the Pussycat when you're not there?" "Marcel." "He's Esther's cousin." "is Bob happy with him?" "All he does is make sure they don't run off." "That's no job for you." "Why not?" "I haven't got a fuckin' bean!" "Maybe you could lend me something?" "Hello, Willem." " Hi, pal." "That's a new one, eh?" " Yes." "Have you practised with them?" " Yes." "Twenty?" "is she new?" " Yes." "Did she practise?" " Carlo says she did." "Suck and fuck, fifty euro." "Suck and fuck." "Say it, you slut!" "Suck... and fuck." " Fifty euro." "Fifty euro." "Plus the room." "The room." " Plus the room." "No longer." "Understood?" "Watch it!" "I've got my eye on you!" "Slut!" "What d'you pay for a chick?" "I could get 'em for two or three thousand euro each in Moldova." "Good price." " But those days are over." "Mind you, there were risks attached." " What about Bulgaria?" "They're not bad..." "There are some great chicks there." "We had a number of them in Benidorm for a while." "Not too expensive, not much trouble..." "And the clients were happy." "What kind of clients were they?" "A load of old geezers?" "Old geezers with money in the bank and bored out of their skull." "Want some more wine?" "What does this Morozov charge?" "He charges me 4,000 euro plus expenses." "And the rest of Belgium 4,000 euro plus expenses too." "That's the problem." "He's stealing all my customers." "He rings everyone up." "Good job I can still sell some to the Walloons." "The minute Morozov learns a few words of French, I'll lose them too." "4,000..." " How can you make any money?" "You end up working for fuckin' diddly-squat!" "Go and get them yourself." "Cut out the middlemen." "We never paid more than 2,000 euro in Spain." "All-in." "Want me to make a few calls, Bob?" "You bitch!" "Watch it, you filthy whore!" "Watch it!" "German?" "English?" "He wants to see our plane tickets." "Won't they come out?" "I had problems last time too." "So they went and got me some medicine." "Then they shot out." "Well?" "How many more still to come?" "Two more." " Fuckin' hell!" "And all the pharmacies round here are closed!" "Hey!" "Here you are." "Look." "Those two are from Morozov." "Not bad." "Have you given Bulgaria any more thought?" "As a matter of fact, I have given it some thought." "Well?" " Could be interesting." "Yes, but...?" "But I don't trust you." "What?" "Come on, Bob." "Listen, you can go." "But I'm sending someone with you." "Who?" " Tony." "You're havin' me on, right?" "Do I look as if I am?" " Give me a break, Bob..." "Will his mummy let him go abroad on his own?" "Tony..." "Bloody hell..." "Hello." "The Pussycat." "Sveta?" "Hello?" " Hello, Nastya?" "It's me." "I've sent you at least ten text messages!" "You never reply!" "My credit's all gone." "I can't call anyone." "Where are you?" " l've run away." "You're not serious!" "What's happened?" "That scumbag took all my money!" "A client helped me." " What are you going to do now?" "Hello?" " l..." "I'm going home." "Without any money?" " The client gave me some money." "I can't do it any more. I just can't." "Sorry." "Be careful." " Yes." "You too... I'm sorry, Nastya." " Call me when you get home?" "Yes, of course I will." "Don't let those bastards push you around." "Are you still there?" " Yes." "Bye." "Hello?" " You bitch!" "You filthy whore!" "You filthy..." "Hello?" "Did you walk all the way?" " Give me a break, Tony." "How far is Frankfurt from here?" "450 km?" "You were gonna leave at half past ten this morning. lt doesn't take 1 4 hours." "Leave it out!" "Can we settle up?" " Our client doesn't want them any more." "So what?" " You arranged with Bob over the phone that they'd be here by Friday." "It's Sunday now!" "Listen to me, Tony!" "Bob had a deal with Ray Van Mechelen, not with me." "I've helped you out of a hole, so cut the crap!" "That's as may be, but you said they'd be here by Friday." "OK..." "What'll it be?" "You gonna carry on acting like a jerk or what?" "Well?" "Eh?" "That was the deal... 2,500." "You can count it." "OK." "Here, before I forget." "Let's hope we manage to get rid of 'em." " You will." "That's Pat, that's Thip." "This is Tony." "Right, I'm going to bed." "I'll call you tomorrow." "Good morning." "Take a seat." "OK..." "Let's hear it." "Well, Bob, I wondered..." "Whether you needed anyone..." "I don't know..." "Suppose, for two seconds, that I needed someone, why on earth would I take you on of all people?" "Eh?" "Well, I... I don't know." " lf l don't know and you don't know... I haven't got a fuckin' bean to my name." "Jan Verplancke still owes me a pile of dough, but he ain't paying up." "What actually happened in Thailand?" "What d'you mean?" " l thought everything was great there." "He had shares in a club, was living in a fancy villa..." "He fell out with the English guys." " What about?" "I think he was a bit fed up with it there too." "Oh." "Did the English guys buy him out then?" "I don't think so." "At least..." "I don't know." "What about Ray Van Mechelen?" "Jan still owes him a lot of money too." " That's what he always claimed, yeah." "What d'you mean?" "Don't you think it's true?" "No, that's not what I'm saying." "I think it's strange that no one can get hold of Ray any more and that no one knows where he is." "Yeah..." "Have you got a car yet?" "Hi, Bob." "What's wrong?" "They look like they're scared of you." " Haha..." "What's going on?" "Do you know them?" "I think I've seen them before." "At Jan's club." "Right... lt's across the road." "D'you know how the alarm works?" "Press this button twice." "And take good fuckin' care of it, pal!" "Sure." " l mean it." "No scratches and dents!" "And keep it clean." "Tony has just come back from the carwash with it." "Mr Belis?" " l'm Tuur." "Here they are then." "Pretty girls, aren't they?" "This is my brother." " Hello sir." "Right." "Maybe we can go inside to take care of the financial side of things?" "Go inside for the money?" "I'm 150 short." "Right..." "An agreement is an agreement, eh?" "Do you speak any English?" "No." "Still..." "With a bit of good will you can always understand each other, eh?" "At least you won't be able to argue much in the beginning." "True, eh?" " Yes." "If there are any problems, you can always call us." "But they're good-natured." "You'll see." "Right..." "Don't force 'em to do stuff too much to start with." "After all, the girls need to adjust to the situation too." "Give 'em a bit of time." "Then you'll have a lot of fun with them." "And let them phone home now and them." "Family is very important in Thailand." "Enjoy your purchase, gentlemen!" "Yeah..."