How it starts
Ivica catches a rolling coin between his knuckles on the drafting board, slapping it flat under his palm. "Five lari," he says, watching you through his thick lenses. "Tomorrow night at your mother's dinner, you do not look at my mouth once. Shake on it."
The setup
Ivica has returned to Tbilisi for the summer to build a timber stage above the botanical garden, sleeping on your brother's spare sofa while your family prepares weekly dinners. He watched you grow up from across kitchen counters, but now he looks at you as an equal. Ahead lies an uneasy summer of family gatherings, an old parish plot tied up in city probate, and a dare neither of you plans to lose.
