The Russians are Coming!, 14 Months in the Life of the Town
«Yes, officer.» Vera addressed Jeff. «We found this poor animal when it was struggling out of the river.» She smiled. «I’m almost finished this picture. Wanna look?»
Jeff stepped closer and gazed at her work. It was a sketch, showing two women rescuing a cat from the water, and an impressed Jeff only shook his head. He saw her signature on the paper. Vera Grach, and he was surprised; as he knew an African-American girl with the same name.
«My God!» Vera glanced at her watch. «Sorry, officer, I’ve gotta run. Nina will explain everything.» She took the picture, closed the box with her painting paraphernalia, and, waving her hand, she left.
Jeff stood still, trying to understand what he felt in his soul. But his sense of duty compelled him to go back to business, and he addressed Nina Lapina. «Okay, ma’am, could you tell me exactly where you found the cat?»
* * * * *
Vlad Lapin had driven home, and saw a police car in the parking lot. Thinking about his family, he hastily got out of the car, rushed into the apartment, and almost collided with the police officer.
«What happened?» Vlad saw his wife and calmed down a little. «Is Larisa okay?»
He spoke English so the policeman would understand.
«Don’t worry, honey.» Nina smiled. «I just found a cat.»
Vlad sighed with relief. Then he demonstratively frowned, «It’s very typical of you.»
His job was over here, so Jeff Menard picked up the box with the cat inside and left. Nina followed his car with her eyes, then hugged her husband, «I’m sorry. But the poor kitty almost drowned!»
Vlad laughed, grabbed Nina in his arms, and spun her around a few times.
«Thank God you are all right!» he exclaimed happily. «One day your jokes will give me a heart attack.»
«You already took my heart away,» whispered Nina, bringing her lips close to his.
«I love you, my wonderful little girl.» Vlad panted with adoration, kissing her, and Lapina smiled, recalling the first day she had seen her future husband.
It had happened eight years ago, when Nina was seventeen, and it was her first day in the University. Shyly, the girl had peeped into the classroom, then gone inside. The other students had looked at her, and Nina asked, «Is this group P-16?»
«Yes,» a girl replied. She took out a notebook, and Nina understood that this girl was the monitor of the group, so Nina came close to register her attendance.
«You’ve missed two days,» the monitor said. «The government gives us free education, so you must not be late or skip school.»
«I was sick,» murmured Nina. «I have a certificate from the doctor.»
«Okay.» The girl made a note. «Just remember in future.» She surveyed Nina and grinned. «You’re Jewish, aren’t you?»
«I’m Russian,» Nina retorted. «You can check my papers.»
«Give me a break.» The girl snorted. «You are too ugly to be a Russian.»
Oh! This hurt Nina more than anything, and she silently went deep into the room and sat down at a free place.
«Don’t mind her.» A plain girl sat next to Nina and sighed. «Just five guys for twenty of us. We have no chance, buddy. But we are here for study, not looking for a man, eh?»
Nina nodded. «Ugly,» she thought with bitterness. «I’m ugly…»
«Victor!» the girls screamed, and Nina looked at the young man just entering. Athletic and tall, he waved to the auditorium, casually sat at his place, and struck a pose.
Nina sighed, watching some of the girls move closer to Victor. But a new guy entered the room and her heart jumped like a frightened bunny. Very slender, this blue-eyed blonde was cute as a cherub. His slightly curly hair emphasized the affection in his tender face. Bashful and shy, he looked like the Little Prince of Saint-Exupery.
«It’s an angel.» Nina only could stare at him. ' How could this creature walk on Earth? He should fly…»
«The right man for an ugly girl,» a mocking voice sounded in her mind, and she thought with vexation: «Who cares about him? What kind of man could he be?»
But her heart did not want to hear her mind.
A technician came into the room. She pulled a wagon carrying a big gas cylinder. Nearing the central table, she tried to put the cylinder on it, and she could not, as it was too heavy. Then the thin «angel» hoisted the cylinder with one of his hands, and put it in its place on the table. A whisper of delight ran over the hall.
«Thank you, Vlad,» the technician said.
«Vlad!» Adoring the sound of his name, Nina exclaimed impulsively. «You are a real noble knight.»
His long gold-colored eyelashes flapped like wings of a butterfly as he glimpsed her.
«He looked at me.» Exited, Nina did not even notice gazes from the other girls.
«It’s her job, tubby, to take care of the equipment!» the monitor girl loudly addressed her, for the second time driving Nina into the puddle of painful shame, as she was always concerned about her weight.
«You deserved it,» Nina said to herself. «You’re stupid! If you are ugly, then sit silently.»
But she could not resist herself.
She tried to catch the attention of this guy, but she could not. A group of girls followed Vlad all day long, in the cafeteria, during the reception, at the next lecture. He did not see her behind those tall blondes, and Nina dared not push someone away, as the others did many times to her.
The only relief for Nina was that Vlad Lapin looked very concentrated on study and was so absorbed that he did not even notice the efforts of those girls.
They accompanied him until he returned after school to the apartment building for male students, where entry of females was prohibited.
«He’s dumb,» the monitor girl said with disappointment. «Third day. I bet he’s gay. Or just sick. I give up. There are other guys here.»
The girls went in different directions.
«Sick?» Nina thought about Vlad. «Gay? No matter, we can be just friends. Oh, God! Just to see him… Just to see.»
At home, Nina stared at her reflection in the mirror, and watched as her mother, Alla, came close. They lived together, alone. Alla divorced a long time ago, and Nina did not even remember her father.
The woman tenderly caressed her daughter’s black ringlets. «How was your first day, honey?»
«Mom, am I ugly?» Nina asked instead of giving an answer.
Alla sighed. «You are beautiful, it’s just that not everybody likes classic beauty. I’m afraid you’ll never find a man who can appreciate you enough.»
She left, but Nina still searched her own face; she was satisfied with her lips only.
«It’s considered that big eyes are beautiful. Lie! I look like a cow!» Nina took sunglasses and put them on, trying to hide her eyes, but now her long nose made her resemble an owl. She threw the glasses away and cried with despair.
«I am ugly,» she thought again. «Nothing can help.»
* * * * *
«God Bless America,» thought Nina, smiling with those memories. «So many women around are stout and black-headed. I’m not a social outcast anymore.»
* * * * *
Jeff Menard finished all the formalities in the local animal shelter and returned to his police cruiser. He got in and hesitated for a while. Deliberately, Jeff turned his computer on and typed: «Vera Grach.»
He gazed at the screen. Married. This word killed all his hope.
«Of course, she should be,» Jeff muttered inaudibly. A bitter pain pricked his heart. «I’m a fool. Such a woman…» And he turned the computer off.
* * * * *
A few days later, as Jeff Menard was driving his police cruiser along the small road behind an apartment building, he saw a vehicle moving in the opposite direction.
He recognized the car of Vera Grach, and he sighed. To his surprise, the car was moving very erratically, and he thought that Vera might be drunk.
However, when the vehicles neared each other, he saw Nina Lapina was driving and Vera was next to her. Jeff understood that Vera was teaching her friend how to drive. The car passed by the police cruiser, and Jeff continued to watch it in the mirror.
A few hundred yards farther down, the road turned. Nina lost control, and the vehicle, still heading straight, left the road and vanished from Jeff’s view into a ditch.
Jeff gasped and whirled his cruiser around.
He reached the place where the accident had happened, got out, and looked down.
He sighed with relief. The slope of the ditch was not steep. The car just stopped, and both the women, safe and sound, were standing near it looking at each other in confusion. They heard the police officer’s arrival and turned toward him.
Vera waved her hand, and Jeff neared.
«Officer,» she started to talk. «We have a problem.»
«Don’t you remember me?» asked Jeff, and both Russians gazed at him.
«What am I talking about?» He thought trying to take himself under control. «Who am I to her? Just a policeman.»
«I remember you.» Vera smiled. «You took away the cat that we found.»
Chuckling, Nina gently poked Vera and whispered something into her ear.
«Stop it, Nina.» Vera did not let on, but he understood.
«They noticed my feelings!» Jeff thought, averting his eyes. «I look stupid.»
«I read somewhere,» Vera was addressing Jeff. «A man put a bouquet of the flowers on the porch of his neighbor. The owner of the house reported it to the police, and the man was arrested.»
«Crazy lady,» Nina giggled. «I wish someone put flowers on my porch.»
«I think you’re right, Nina.» Vera fixed her glare on Jeff, and the embarrassed policeman wanted to change the subject. He looked at her car.
«Your car is much cheaper than your husband’s,» he said with surprise.
«We have separate accounts and budgets,» Vera calmly answered, reviving hope in his heart. «We spend money how we want. I need to pay for my study, and the paints are very expensive. Oleg has his own business in Russia. But my account is all the money that I have. I have to be practical.»
«I don’t understand,» Nina cut in. «Why Vera doesn’t kick her light-headed hubby out and find some good, serious man instead.»
«Oleg loves me,» explained Vera, moving her braid in front of her. Enchanted by the view, Jeff watched her long thin fingers mechanically playing with her chestnut hair. «Immigration is a very difficult process. It would be a dishonest act and a betrayal to divorce him.»
«And this is why…» Jeff felt irritation, and lost his careful manner. «you’re ready to sacrifice your life, and maybe the happiness of some other man?»
«Yes, because I appreciate and value such feelings.»
«Don’t you think another man can have the same or maybe even stronger feelings for you?» He saw Nina walk aside leaving him alone with Vera, and he fell silent.
«You don’t know me.» Squeezing her braid, Vera stared at Jeff. The small, refined features of her dizzyingly white face made her look like a mouse.
«I feel as if I’ve known you all my life,» Jeff replied very quietly, and Vera lowered her eyes thinking about her husband.
Vera had been dating Oleg about two months when she received the invitation from the University.
She was afraid that she had misunderstood. She went to her trusted professor, then to the Embassy of the United States.
Everybody confirmed these papers, and an excited Vera barely believed her luck.
She was sorting her belongings when Oleg entered her apartment, and she felt confused. He was a nice man, he helped her, but Vera had no strong feeling for him. She was happy to have a reason to break up with him in a friendly way, without, she hoped, a scandal.
«Oleg.» She tried to talk calmly. «I’m sorry, but we have to stop seeing each other.»
He gazed at her, and Vera finished quickly. «I’ve got a fellowship to study in the U.S.A. I’m moving there.»
Without a word, Oleg circled the room twice.
It seemed as if he could not decide what to do. Suddenly, he approached Vera, fell on his knees, grabbed her hands, and started erotically kissing them.
«How could you think I’d leave you because of that?» He was talking, with a catch in his voice. «I can’t live without you. You are my sunshine and air. Let’s get married! I’ll go with you to the ends of the world!»
Dazed, Vera could not reply; she just did not know what to say. Oleg caressed her and his skillful touching enchanted her, as usual mixing up her thoughts.
Panting and trembling, they helped each other undress, and, drunk with excitement, they hastily got into bed.
«I’m not a whore, am I?» Vera could barely think. «I probably do love Oleg, as I can feel such pleasure. Oh God.» She lost herself for a moment, but thoughts about moving came back. «It’s so difficult to live alone in a foreign country. Well, the Lapins will be in the same city, but they have their own family. Oleg loves me. God, how he loves me! He can always find an out to any situation. It’s great to have someone beside you. Someone whom you can trust.»
The deep vortex of enjoyment sucked her in, and she melted into it.
When she finally opened her eyes and saw Oleg’s face close to her, Vera had difficulty recalling what they had been talking about.
«Would you marry me?» She heard his tender voice, and she nodded. Worry lodged in her heart for a second, but he gasped with such sincere gladness that all her concern was gone at once.
«Everything will be fine,» she thought.
* * * * *
«My name is Jeff.»
The sentence dragged Vera back to the present, and she stared with amazement at the black police officer, discerning true and powerful passion glowing in his dark brown eyes.
«Jeff,» she repeated, dreamily. «Jeff.»
Chapter 3: The Last Day of October
«Honey, it’s too cold outside.» Nina hesitated, then looked through the window at the first snowflakes whirling in the air like white bees.
«But I can’t go without a costume!» cried Larisa. «You’re a bad mom. Why didn’t you buy me a costume?»
«You chose this yourself.» Nina pointed at the ballerina’s dress. «At the school party you were the cutest one. It’s not my fault that the weather became so cold.»
«But I need a costume to go out.» Larisa still wept while an upset Nina looked at her with compassion and pain in her heart.
«Sweetie, we have no money to buy another one.» The woman stopped short as an idea came to her. She ran to the closet and took out her white lacy blouse with long sleeves and a brown mini-skirt.
«Put on your clothes,» she told Larisa, and when the girl did, Nina pulled the blouse straight over Larisa’s orange coat. She tied the collar and the sleeves with ribbons, and admired the job that she had done. It seemed now as if the girl was wearing only this blouse.
Then Nina put the skirt on her daughter, and tied the belt so it fit the girl’s waist. Since Nina was very short for an adult woman, the skirt reached Larisa’s calves.
Next Nina took her straw hat and tied it onto Larisa’s head with a pink scarf. Nina decorated her daughter’s shoes with bows, and Larisa looked like a peasant girl. She ran to a mirror checking herself out, and laughed with delight.
«I am a shepherdess!»
«Yep, honey.» Nina gave her a big toy lamb. «And you won’t be cold now.»
«We’re ready!» exclaimed Larisa, seeing her father, along with David VanStein and Hannah, enter the room.
«Are you crazy?» Vlad gasped. «It’s snowing outside and you wanna send Larisa out wearing only that?»
«Not to worry, honey.» Nina smirked, explaining about Larisa’s costume, and Vlad hugged his wife. «You’re the smartest woman ever!» He kissed her, then his daughter. «Good luck, my girls.»
«Where is Megan?» Nina asked David.
«She’s with Dylon. He is too small to go out,» said David, patting Hannah’s head. «Besides, he feels unwell. Maybe next year.»
And they all, except Vlad, left the house.
Vlad looked around the deserted room and sighed. He yearned to go with his family, but he had no driver’s license yet, and he was not familiar with the town. His eyes rested on the plate of candy that Nina had prepared for treating the children who would come to the door, and the thoughts of the young scientist changed.
«Interesting,» he thought. «How many calories in one portion of the treats?»
From the kitchen he brought a scale and plastic cups, and started sorting the candy. Wrapped up in the task, Lapin took his notebook, and did some calculations.
«Don’t forget to count out the weight of the papers,» Vlad told himself, forgetting everything. «Minus the weight of the sticks of the lollipops…»
The knock at the door disturbed him. Vlad jerkily opened the door. «What? What do you want?»
A boy wearing a pirate’s costume looked at Vlad in bewilderment. «Trick or treat.»
Vlad came back to reality.
«Sure.» He held a cup brimming with candy and dropped its contents it into the child’s bag. «Here you go.»
«Wow!» The encouraged boy shook his bag. «Thank you, sir!»
«Happy Halloween.» Vlad closed the door and wanted to go back to his calculations, but he heard a tapping. He threw his notebook and thought angrily, «If I turn off the lights and go to the bedroom, I can count and no one will disturb me.» But, shaking his head, he returned to Earth at once, and taking the plate with candy, Vlad said to himself, «Have I cracked or what? It’s a children’s holiday. Relax, buddy!»
During the next few hours he just opened and closed the door giving candy out, and he was surprised at how many children were in this small town. The process became rote for Vlad, and when the door opened and Nina and Larisa came in, he mechanically held out a plate towards them.
«Daddy, daddy!» exclaimed the girl, showing her bag. «Look how much candy I got!»
«Some people offered candy to me, too.» Nina was talking with a winsome grin. «They said, „Let your sister have some candy, too!“» She burst out laughing. Vlad just smiled at his female family members, deriving joy from their naively happy report.
«And I saw a dog with horns,» Larisa said, piling her candy into the almost empty plate.
«Yeah, Vlad.» Nina’s doe eyes sparkled with emotion. «I thought I was going insane. Picture it. The door opened, and I saw a goat in the house. But it was just a golden retriever.»
«Goldy is her name,» cut in Larisa, rummaging into the candy.
«Yep,» Nina continued. «Her owner put something like a cap with devil’s horns on her head. Oh, he is such a cute old guy. You know, with a walking stick, neat clothes. Very nice man.»
«He asked me,» yawning, Larisa interrupted her. «And others asked me, „Aren’t you cold?“»
«Oh, what time is it?» The woman gasped. «Go to sleep, go to sleep.»
«But the candy…» The tired girl became capricious, and Nina took her in her arms, and brought Larisa into her room.
Vlad looked at the sweets, then at the plastic cups, and took up his notebook and calculator again.
When Nina finally came back to the room, he was asleep, with his head on his arms, half lying on the coffee table, and the plastic caps with candy in them surrounding him.
The woman took his notebook, and shook her head. «Oh, Vlad, Vlad…»
She gently woke him and helped him get in bed. Even falling asleep, Vlad still murmured about the calculation, and Nina lay next to him, pressing his head to her chest. «Sh-sh-sh. Enough, honey,» she whispered with all her tenderness. «Sleep, sleep, my beloved man.»
His closeness revived her memories and Nina thought about their first date.
That day Vlad unexpectedly asked her to marry him and invited her to a soccer game.
It was a great surprise to Nina. Vlad was her true love, the love from the first sight, but Vlad neither courted nor flirted with her before. He only paid attention to study, and the girl was sure Vlad even did not notice her existence.
That day a professor offended her, and Nina was crying in the University’s corridor. Then Vlad came to her and made his proposal.
«Would you marry me?» he asked casually, and the girl could not believe her ears. Vlad hugged her. «I’d like to go out with you. Right now. Would you come?»
She nodded, and did not even think that it was strange. It was her chance, and Nina rushed into this adventure, like jumping into the water.
It was also the last day of October, and the first snowflakes parachuted from the gray sky. It was very cold even for Moscow, but the frost could not cool down the true soccer fans gathered at the stadium. The stormy reactions of Vlad amazed the girl, because in most situations he was very reserved.
She did not understand all the details of the game, and only followed her beloved man.
If he was getting upset, she felt tears in her eyes. When he shouted, cheering on their team, she was screaming too.
And when the visitors scored a goal and the stadium fell into a deep gloomy silence, the girl sensed such hatred for the player who did it that it surprised her.
But the host team soon tied the score, and when a player from the host team scored the final goal, the stadium burst into an elated victory ovation.
«We won!» shouted Vlad, grabbing Nina into his arms. Carrying her like she was a child, he spun around a few times.
No one had ever done this to her, and the wowed girl panted, wild with euphoria. It was their first day together, and she prayed that it would not be the last.
When they went downstairs to the metro station, people going from the game were throwing coins making a glittering tapping stream of money running down along the steps.
«Why are they doing this?» wondered Nina. Vlad shrugged his shoulders.
«We won. It’s a tradition.»
She saw him hesitate, but he took out a small coin and threw it too.
«Oh, you’re a tightwad,» the girl thought, but even this only increased her feelings for Vlad.
At home, as Alla opened the door, the giddy Nina gleefully addressed her: «Mom, I’m gonna get married!»
While her daughter was telling her all the details of the day, Alla just stared at her.
When the girl finished, smiling like a drunk, Alla slowly replied, smoothing her daughter’s hair. «It’s okay. Even if he abandons you with a child, I’ll help you raise our baby, don’t worry.»
Nina could not reply, and Alla left the room.
«Abandon me?» This thought made the girl anxious, but another, stronger feeling immediately pushed all her worry aside. «No matter! I was happy today. No matter what happens next. No one can take this day from me. No one.»
* * * * *
Recalling that day, thinking about her family life, Nina thought, «What did I do that God sent me such happiness?»
She was tired after the Halloween walk, but Nina also was glad, as she liked this tradition. It was the first Halloween in their life, due to the fact that this holiday does not exist in Russia.
Asleep, Vlad was next to her, and, feeling his calm breathing tickling her breasts, Nina smiled, losing herself in the thrill of peace and love.
Chapter 4: To Be With Your Loved One
At the same time that Nina and Larisa Lapina were getting home, Vera entered the city supermarket to do her shopping. In spite of the fact that today was Halloween, she knew no kids would be at her door, because she lived in an apartment building.
She was not in a hurry, and at a leisurely pace she walked down aisle after aisle looking for staples.
«Hello!» she heard. Vera saw a black police officer, and she recognized Jeff Menard.
In this small town they often met by chance. They had already had a few short talks, and Vera smiled. Nobody was around them now, and they were free to chat for a while.
«Hi, Jeff,» she whispered, giving him a playful glance. «Ready for trick-or-treat?»
«I’ve already given out a lot of candy,» murmured Jeff, looking at her with adoration. «Many children came into the police station for Halloween.»
«I didn’t know…» Vera stopped short, and turned toward a shelf, pretending to choose a product. Jeff did the same as two women entered the aisle at almost the same time.
Waiting for these outsiders to leave, Jeff, with an impatient sigh, rummaged through boxes of cookies as unnecessary for him now as a package of salt for a person suffering thirst.