by Sherie Keys
“You look well.” Dimitri finally spoke as the waitress left their coffees on the table. Alicia’s lips curled instantly into a frown.
“You almost get arrested and narrowly dodge immigrations, and you want to tell me how nice I look?” Dimitri immediately backed down.
“Uh, sorry?” Alicia shook her head. She hadn’t calmed down much since they left the police station. Her nerves felt jittery. She couldn’t imagine that a cup of caffeine would help that much.
“What are we going to do?” She asked after a couple of sips. Dimitri lowered his eyes. It was odd to see such a big man look so helpless.
“I do not know.” He sipped at his own coffee. Setting the cup down, he met her eyes. “I am sorry, but I do not want to go back to Russia.”
“I…understand.” Alicia sighed. She wrapped her hands around the coffee cup, more for its warmth than for anything else. “But we dodged a bullet, this time. We have to do something.”
Dimitri stared at the oily surface of his coffee. He didn’t want to give Alicia anymore trouble, but they had to do something. He knew that he could not stand up to another questioning from police again.
“We could move into together.” Alicia finally offered. Dimitri looked back at her, startled. He hadn’t been expecting that offer.
“What?”
“We could move in together.” Alicia repeated. “We’re married. It would make it look more…real…wouldn’t it?”
“I suppose….” Dimitri didn’t much care for this suggestion. He didn’t want to live with anyone else. Part of the reason that he’d like this marital arrangement was so that he didn’t have to actually play the married part.
“What?” He looked up to find that Alicia was staring at him. “I’m good enough to marry for my citizenship but not actually good enough to be around?”
“I did not say that.” He was already screwing up the husband part. “I just don’t…”
“I don’t want to either.” Alicia grumbled into her coffee. “This isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. But if you don’t want to end up back in Russia, we need to come up with a valid plan.” When he didn’t respond, she added on. “One of the things that they noticed was that we didn’t have the same address. If we live together, we can remedy that. Then if you’re questioned again, it won’t be an issue.”
She was right. Dimitri was very impressed. She was a thinker. And she was quick to do it. He wondered what else might surprise him about this young woman.
“OK, ok, all right.” He finally consented. “You will move in with me.”
“Oh no I won’t.” Alicia was not going that far. She would not agree to moving in with him. She had gotten him this far, but she was not going to be the only giver in the relationship.
“Oh come now!” Dimitri argued. “I live right over my work. I would have to drive to work.”
“I suppose you would.” Alicia told him flatly. “You can drive yourself to work.
Dimitri was speechless. No other woman had ever spoken to him like this. He couldn’t imagine a woman who would just make such an order. That was certainly not what the women he was accustomed to dealing with were like around men.
“Why can’t you move in with me?” He demanded. “My apartment is big enough for two.”
“You have two bedrooms?” Alicia asked calmly. “Because I am certainly not sharing a bedroom with you.” Dimitri frowned. He knew where she was going with this-and why. She barely knew him. And she was right-there was no room for both of them in his apartment.
“Fine. I will move in with you.” On top of all this, he had another problem. He would have to go back to Stan. He would have to tell him what happened. He would now probably be out of a job. Stan was a lot of things, but he didn’t think he would hire a man that he couldn’t trust.
“What is it?” His look didn’t express just unhappiness about moving in with her. He looked worried now.
“I…must go talk to talk to boss. I must tell him. He…may not keep me on.” He rested one hand under his chin, picking up his coffee with the other. “I may be out of a job.”
That was a bit concerning. He’d told her how much he enjoyed his work. She hated to see him lose something that he loved. As much as she didn’t want to make this about her, the other truth was lurking. Could her small salary support two people?
“I’ll drive you back. We can talk to him.” Alicia set her half full cup down on the table. “I…guess I’ll have to talk to mine tomorrow as well.”
“Will he be angry?”
“I…don’t think so.” She hadn’t really done anything wrong. Leaving early in the middle of the day wasn’t wrong, and while getting married without telling your employer wasn’t exactly nice, it wasn’t wrong either. The last thing they needed was for both of them to be out of a job. “But my job has benefits. So we can get you on those.”
That was one aspect that Dimitri hadn’t considered.
“That is…nice of you to offer.”
“Well, it’s the right thing to do.” He was her husband after all, even if it was just for legal purposes. “And that’ll look even better if you ever get questioned again.”
“You have thought everything out.” Dimitri looked at her for a long moment. Alicia shrugged.
“It’s all logic.” She shrugged. “Come on. Let’s finish up our coffee and I’ll drive you back to your place. While you talk to your boss, I can call mine.”
They were silent on the drive to Stan’s. Dimitri tried to rehearse his lines. But at the end of everything, he knew that he had to be honest. That was the only thing that was going to solve his problems.
The garage’s door was still open when they pulled into the lot. Dimitri stepped out, looking towards the glowing lights. Stan’s figure was illuminated against them. He saw Stan turn towards the car. He was wiping his hands on an already dirty cloth. Dimitri took a deep breath.
“You will…wish me luck?”
“Good luck.” Alicia was already picking up her phone. She felt that they both needed it. She hoped Dr. Bernard didn’t mind the phone call.
Dimitri got out of Alicia’s battered Ford Focus. It had a few dings in it that he would take care of when he had a minute. After all, that was the least that he could do, right? He could be a good husband to her.
“Dimitri!” Stan raised a hand to him. “How you holding up?” Dimitri moved to stand in front of Stan.
“Stan, I have to tell you something.” He expected something from Stan, but the other man merely looked at him. “I did not come into this country properly.”
“Well, hell son, I knew that.” Stan tossed the rag he was holding onto a work bench. Dimitri was momentarily shocked.
“You…did?”
“I knew that there was no way you were in this country legally.” Stan shrugged. “But I figured don’t ask, don’t tell right? You were a good worker, and I liked having you on. You in trouble? They sending you out?”
“Ah…well…” Dimitri glanced back to the car. “You see, about a month ago, I got married.” Stan’s face registered his surprise. “I…thought it would help. I thought it would…keep me in country.” Stan followed Dimitri’s gaze back to the car.
“Did it?” He wanted to know.
“I…do not know.” Dimitri didn’t know what the proper answer was in this moment. Stan apparently did, however.
“They letting you stay?”
“Yes.”
“Then it helps.” He was right. Dimitri gave him a faint smile.
“I…suppose so.”
“That her?” Stan motioned to the woman in the car. Dimitri nodded.
“Her name is Alicia. I…met her online.” He lowered his head. “I…had to come tell you. To tell you everything, that is.” He was stammering now, which was not like him.
“Well, I appreciate you finally telling me everything.” Stan gave him a pat on the shoulder. Dimitri wished that he was half as proud of himself as Stan seemed to be. “You think you’ll be
in at your normal time tomorrow?”
Dimitri stared at Stan. He could not speak. Was this for real? Was the older man really planning to keep him on?
“You want me to…stay? I mean, you want me to work here…for you?”
“Well of course I do!” Now it was Stan’s turn to look confused. “Unless you don’t want to no more?”
“I…of course I do!” He probably sounded too eager, but this was huge. He’d fully expected Stan to let him go. Maybe there were better people here in the US than he had ever realized.
“Good. I’m not going to let the best mechanic I’ve had wander off thanks to no weird government regulation.” Stan patted his shoulder. He acted like Dimitri had merely had a parking ticket. He was about to thank the man again when Dimitri remembered something else.
“I have to move out of the apartment. I…”
“Will be moving in with your new bride?” Stan chuckled. Dimitri felt like he was blushing.
“Um, yes, actually.”
“That’s right where you should be.”
Dimitri had thought that he had known relief in his life, but all of those moments paled in comparison to right now. If he were a different sort of man, he would have hugged Stan.
“It will only take me a minute to get my things.”
“Take your time. I’ll expect you here at your usual time in the morning.” Dimitri turned. He made his way towards Alicia, who was coming towards him. He watched her eyes move past him.
“Afternoon!” Stan raised a hand. “Name’s Stan.”
“Hi Stan. I’m Alicia.” She waved. “I’m truly sorry for any trouble. I hope this hasn’t been too much for you?”
“Nope. Just make sure your husband ain’t late to work tomorrow.” Stan headed out of the shop, waving a hand at them in fair well as he left.
“So he didn’t…fire you?” Alicia asked gently.
“No.” Dimitri gave her a faint smile. “He…. was very…understanding.”
“I told my boss that he and I would need to talk in the morning. He didn’t sound too upset.” Dr. Bernard had sounded confused, but not upset. She supposed that was one thing to be grateful for in the grand scheme of things.
“That is good.” Dimitri motioned her to follow him. “I will go upstairs and get my things. Then we will go back to your place.”
“OK” Alicia followed him. She watched as Dimitri disappeared up the stairs into the second floor apartment. Once again, she wondered just what she had gotten herself into. Now she had a roommate-whom she barely knew. She hoped that she hadn’t just dug herself into a very deep hole.
Her apartment was dark when she let them in. Alicia’s hand found a light switch, flipping it on.
“I’m sorry that it’s not much.” Dimitri glanced around. It was a small, outdated apartment in a tiny building, but it was clean and big enough for both of them. That was really all he cared about.
“It is fine. I promise. It is…better than anything else I knew.” Alicia nodded.
“Well, ok. You can put your stuff in the room to the left. I guess that’ll be your room.” It seemed so strange to have another person in the apartment. She was supposed that she would have to get used to it.
She gave him a quick tour around the apartment. Not that there was much to it. It was a small kitchen/dining combination with a small living room which connected into a hallway that lead to the two bedroom. One bedroom was slightly larger than the other, but they were both furnished with the same dingy brown carpet and painted beige.
Alicia had shoved a bed into the extra room in case any of her friends decided to come and visit. Surprisingly enough, they had. She enjoyed being that friend who had the spare room ‘just in case you need somewhere to stay.’ She’d had her share of drunken girlfriends crash in it, friends in town for concerts or job interviews, and every now and then the occasional fight with their significant other. She supposed that was now over that her husband was residing in it.
The word husband still made her feel slightly ill.
“Sorry it’s small, but at least it’s clean.”
‘It is fine.” Dimitri set down the bag he had been carrying. “I do not have much myself.” Alicia nodded.
“Do you want dinner?” She’d glanced at the clock and realized just how late it was getting.
“Are you hungry?” She wondered if this would be their lives now-turning questions around to questions.
“Not particularly, but I should probably eat something. You should too.” She offered the words hesitantly. Dimitri did not need her babysitting him. That certainly wasn’t why he was here.
He gave her a smile. Dimitri liked how sweet she was. He was going to have to try hard to be as generous with her. After all, it was his fault that she was in this mess.
“Why don’t we eat? But do not go to too much trouble.” Alicia relaxed a little.
“Do you like pizza?” Dimitri laughed out loud at that.
“Does anyone not?” It was settled.
Alicia rummaged in her take out menus. She found a menu for the nearest chain location. It would be quick and easy. Since Dimitri expressed no real preference, she ordered it with ham and onions.
“What is this?” Dimitri studied the pizza when it was on the table. “Did you have ham put onto a pizza?”
“Sure.” Alicia took two glasses out of the refrigerator. “Haven’t you ever had it like that?”
“No.” Dimitri shook his head. “Ham is for dinner-holidays.” Alicia chuckled as she poured two glasses of soda.
“Well, it’s good on pizza too. Try it. You’ll like it.” She set his soda in front of him before him when it suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t even know if he liked soda. “I’m sorry, I just assumed you’d want--"
“No, it is fine.” Dimitri picked up the glass. “I have always liked Coca-Cola.”
“Oh. Good.” Alicia didn’t want to admit she didn’t know much about what they had or didn’t have in Russia. She knew there was Coke in Europe, but she’d always thought of Russia as a different land. But she didn’t want to assume that he’d been deprived.
She set out two plates and two forks. They both took a slice of pizza. For a moment, they ate in silence.
“Well, what do you think?” Alicia nodded to the pizza. “Is it any good?”
“It is, actually.” Dimitri smiled over at her. “But I still say ham is for holiday.”
“Well, yes, Christmas.” Alicia had to agree with him there. She’d never met anyone who could only make one association with ham. Were they so different?
Yes, she decided. They must be.
“And Easter. Easter comes soon, yes?” Alicia hadn’t thought of that. She quickly thought of today’s date and did the estimate.
“Ah, yeah, actually it’s next weekend.” She chewed on her pizza for a moment. “Are you religious?”
“You mean do I attend church?”
“Well, yeah…or like…I don’t know. Practice a religion?” Dimitri took another slice of pizza from the box.
“I am Russian Orthodox. You understand?”
“Not really.” Alicia had attended a few Catholic masses, but didn’t know much about that either. Her family hadn’t been overly religious, so she’d never learned. “Wait.” Something suddenly occurred to her. “You have different Christmases and Easters than us, right?” She thought she’d remembered hearing something about that, or seeing it marked on a calendar.
“Yes, that is true.” Dimitri chuckled. “But they do not have to celebrate each separately in this country. You want to celebrate Easter next week? We celebrate next week.”
“Oh, we don’t have to--" Alicia didn’t want him thinking it was something that they were obligated to do, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she was ok with getting into being a church-going type.
“No, is no trouble. I cook.” Dimitri was smiling at her over their pizza dinner. Alicia was mildly intrigued. She could cook, but she did not do much of it. It was hard coo
king for just one person.
“So you not only fix cars, but you cook too?” Dimitri nodded, starting on his next slice of pizza.
“It is not hard. Once you can work with your hands with one, you can do it with the other. It is all a matter of having the right tools and ingredients.” His mother had made that comparison once when his father refused to cook. He wondered if he should call his parents and tell them about Alicia.
“That seems…extremely logical.” Alicia had never thought of it like that before. “You are a man of many talents.” She wondered what else she didn’t know about him.
“Hopefully talents that you will like.”
When they had eaten their fill of pizza, Alicia put the closed box into the oven. Dimitri rinsed off the plates in the sink. As she watched him, she thought that perhaps she could get used to this kind of treatment. Maybe the next two years wouldn’t be so bad.
“Just don’t use the garbage disposal.” Alicia warned as Dimitri stopped up the sink and began filling the running water with dish soap.
“Why?” He glanced over at her.
“Because it leaks and it make a mess.” Alicia leaned back against the stove.
“And landlord does not fix?”
“No, he doesn’t.” Alicia shrugged. She’d never bothered to have the battle with him. She’d just accepted that the disposal didn’t work, and that she would get by without one.
“I fix tomorrow.” Dimitri assured her. Alicia waved her hand.
“Really, it’s no big--" Dimitri turned to look fully at her.
“Alicia, I fix garbage disposal tomorrow. It will be no trouble.” He said it with such a certainty that she couldn’t argue with him.
“OK If that’s what you want to do.”
“It is.” He looked satisfied with himself for having won the small argument.
Alicia wasn’t entirely certain what to do now. She’d eaten, and made sure that he had…so was she required to entertain him some more? Did she have to keep talking to him…keep him company? Frankly, she wasn’t sure. So she headed into the living room. There, she flipped on the TV. At this point in the evening, she enjoyed mindless realty television and a few games on her iPad. She’d splurged on the iPad, telling herself that she needed it. It seemed silly now, but she couldn’t bring herself to mind the debt it had caused.