“Well, that was a hell of a thing,” said Joy, looking at Luka with a new respect as the kids ran off. “We might have graduated him last year with his class if you could have bottled some of that shit. Just how did you and Mia meet anyway?”
Mia stumbled, but Luka stepped in easily. “She treated my cousin after an injury. It was hard not to be drawn to her confidence and her beauty.” Her mother accepted that answer, and Luka whispered in Mia’s ear, “I’ve been working on that quirky little response for a while.”
“Shut up,” she whispered, fighting a giggle. Speaking louder, she added, “You guys can stay out here, but I need to start frying the chebureki.”
“The what?” asked Joy, staring at her retreating back.
“We’ll be in in a second,” said Luka. He wanted to make sure the kids were set before leaving them to their own devices. “It’s a traditional Russian dish. I tried to talk her into something simpler, but she wanted to treat you. She’s worked hard for two days preparing your meal.”
Robbie and the girls returned with the basketball, but tough Karrie grabbed it, holding it out to taunt her brother with more inappropriate language. Luka was surprised that Joy did nothing to correct her when Robbie grabbed the ball and shoved his sister to the ground. Again, Luka waited for their mother to step in, but when Joy retrieved a pack of cigarettes from her oversized bag, he moved closer to the children to stare the boy down.
Pointing his finger in his face, Luka’s tone was deadly. “Don’t you ever, ever hurt her again. You’re a man, and she’s a little girl. Your job is to protect her. Do you understand?” For the second time, the boy backed down with a nod, even helping his sister off the ground and offering her the ball, and the kids continued to play.
“Thank you,” said Joy quietly, when Luka returned to her side. “I haven’t had a whole lot of luck with changing his behaviors but he wasn’t always like this. His father’s a useless piece of shit, but his grandfather on that side of his family spent a lot of quality time with him. He died when Robbie was in grade school, and that’s when we really started to lose him.”
“Extended families often fill in the gaps where we need it the most,” said Luka. “My grandfather was a good role model to me and my siblings when my father was not. His death changed our family dynamics in ways I’d never imagined.”
“My great-grandmother lived with us when I was little,” said Joy. “She used to sing me old German folk songs and bake cookies, the whole nine yards. She looked a lot like Mia and Karrie, but with my parents both dead, I’m might be the only person left alive who really knew her.”
Luka nodded, but Joy continued. “Did you ever wonder what happens when the last person who knew you dies? I mean, like all of your children, your friends, your extended family? Even a casual acquaintance from the grocery store. That day when there is nobody in this world who can remember what you looked like or what was important to you.”
Her expression was pained, as though she were remembering too many pasts that fell short of her needs. To deny somebody their unhappiness did them no good, so he answered honestly. “I think part of your soul lives on in those who remember you, but when that last person is gone, something about you dies too.”
“And those scars on your face?” Joy asked without judgement. “Are those part of your past that didn’t die off with the memory?”
“We all have scars.” Luka dismissed her with a shrug. “You know you have left them in your past when you no longer think about their origin.”
“Ain’t that the fucking truth,” she said with a sigh.
Luka prepared to direct her to the house when Mia’s frightened scream billowed through the open window. He ran to her side with Joy and the kids close behind to find the fire spreading from the stove and catching her curtains, the aged, brittle material engulfed before the burning tendrils reached toward the cheap cabinets.
With hot grease splattered everywhere, it was obvious a panicked Mia had thrown water on the fire, igniting the inferno to an angry blaze. Grabbing an extinguisher from under the sink, he pushed aside her desperate attempt to put out the flames with a small kitchen towel. He doused everything until they’d died, leaving a hot, smoldering mess of chemicals splattered across the counter, the walls, and the meal she’d spent days preparing.
His heartbeat was still racing when he grabbed her, but close examination revealed no signs of burns or trauma. He kissed her wrists and pulled her into his arms. “I’m fine,” she said shakily. “Really, I’m fine.”
“You shoulda let it go,” said Karrie with a smart-assed smirk. “A little fire in here would have done this kitchen some good.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Mia,” snapped her mother, poking at the remains of their ruined dinner. “Couldn’t you have just made hamburgers like a normal person instead of chera-whatever the hell it was? And how the hell did you think you were going to control the heat to fry anything on that shitty stove?”
Robbie pushed Karrie’s shoulder. “We dodged a bullet on that meal, anyway. If I can’t pronounce it, I sure as hell wasn’t going to eat it.”
His shaking koshka did nothing to defend herself, and he snapped at the ungrateful visitors. “She was working to give you a true Russian meal. She even made the potato salad and rolls from scratch. If you had an ounce of respect for her effort to please you, you would not be taunting her.”
The guilty quiet satisfied his need to protect her, but he would get a true apology from Joy before she left. Taking out his wallet, he said, “Rob, here’s a hundred dollars. Take my car keys and the girls and go get pizza and wings and anything else you want to eat. There is a takeout place about five or six blocks down the road with a bakery and a convenience store in the same plaza. “
“The Mustang!” said Robbie, his tone almost giddy. “Are you shitting me? Really?”
Without a hint of smile, Luka held the keys just a little out of his reach to slow the kid down a pace or two. “Are you afraid of me, Rob?”
“Well, maybe a little,” he said honestly, eyeing the car keys as Karrie grabbed the money. “You’re a big shit.”
“And I am afraid of my uncle. He is a forgiving man when it comes to accidents, but he would not appreciate carelessness, speed, or distractions. If I were you, I wouldn’t do anything to his car that would make him angry. He’s not nearly as nice as I am.” Reasonably subdued, the kid nodded and left the kitchen behind his giggling sisters.
Joy and Mia cleaned up the mess, placing chemical-filled bowls and plates in the sink and wiping down the walls with hot, soapy water. Luka pulled down the charred curtains and filled a big plastic garbage bag with trash, but Joy took it from him and left through the back door.
Mia’s trembling began the moment she stood still. Luka pulled her into his arms, but she tried to push him away. “Stop,” he demanded. “I’m going to hold you until we both feel better. It was an accident, nobody’s fault and nobody should be judging you, but maybe we need a few reminders on why you never throw water on a grease fire. And your mother is right, nobody could cook on that stove. You told me weeks ago you were going to use your cash from taking care of Anton to buy new appliances. Have you spent any of it?”
“I’ve spent a lot of it,” she said, wiping her tears. “You know, cash wherever I can. And... and I’ve been doing a lot for my mom and the kids with it, too. Besides, I haven’t had to buy much. You’re paying for most of our expenses.”
“I hope you’re decent.” Joy startled them from the back door. “But I just got a text from Karrie. Robbie’s hooked up with those shitheads who’ve been coming around every time I’m not there to chase them away, and she’s nervous. They were in the parking lot selling pot.”
“He’s been hanging out with drug dealers?” shouted Mia, her frayed nerves snapping as she pushed away from Luka’s embrace. “When in the fucking hell were you going to tell me that?”
“He’s my kid,” snapped Joy. “What makes you think you can do a
ny better at controlling him than I do? And when I was going to tell you? You don’t answer your fucking phone most of the time.”
“I’ve got a job! Remember?” said Mia, taking a step closer to Joy, pointing her finger with her temper rising. “And other responsibilities besides cleaning up your mess. And at least I pay for my own fucking phone.”
“You aren’t the only one who works, you know,” responded her mother with an eerie similarity to her furious firstborn. “Just because you make more money than I do, doesn’t mean you work any harder.”
“Let’s just take a breath,” said Luka, stepping between the two women for fear they were going to come to blows.
He’d seen his koshka upset before, but this out of control fury was new. Instead of calming, Mia turned her anger on him, the surprise attack forcing him to take a step backward. “I told you this whole family reunion was a bat shit, stupid idea,” she shouted, poking her finger into his chest. “Maybe the next time, you’ll listen to me.”
Confronted with the very real possibility she might have been right, it was hard to be angry with her disrespect. “Stay here,” he said to both of them with a sigh. “Finish cleaning up the mess, and I’ll take care of this. I just need your car keys, Joy.”
“He’s my fucking kid,” dismissed Joy, digging through her bag to find them. “I’ll go get him.”
“And that’s why you can’t go,” said Luka, taking the keys from her. “As his mother, you play a different role. Koshka, if ever there was a day in our relationship you do not want to defy me, this is it. Stay here. Even I wouldn’t trust my patience today.”
The kids weren’t at the store he’d sent them to, and it took two phone calls and an extra fifteen minutes before he’d located Robbie and three thugs standing around the Mustang. The two little girls were off to one side with Karrie’s arm protectively wrapped around her sister. With a direct correlation to their age, all three of them displayed their personal combination of scared innocence and misplaced maturity.
Luka parked Joy’s car and walked into the middle of the crowd, keeping alert to every sight and sound and maintaining a calm, even tone as he silently assessed the situation. “Is everything okay?”
“I didn’t know they were going to call you,” said Robbie. The quiver in his voice was barely noticeable and his arrogant grin did not meet his eyes. He didn’t want the drama or the potential for violence. He just didn’t know how to stop it. “I’m fine. I don’t need shit from you.”
One of the half-grown men took a step closer to Luka, but made no move to favor one side of his body like the weight of a gun might have been pulling at him, so Luka was fairly confident that he wasn’t armed. Luka’s own weapon was firmly attached to his calf, but taking it out would jeopardize too many people, including Robbie and his sisters. He could take these punks without it, but all three of the children would need to cooperate to assure an easy victory.
“Listen, old man,” said another one with an arrogance that grated on his nerves. He moved toward Luka who stood at his full height, staring the kid down until he stopped walking, but his mouth continued to run. “Fuck off. We’re just hanging out with our bro, here. Robbie does all sorts of work for us out there in trailer trash land, don’t you, Robbie?”
“You will want to step back,” said Luka, never taking his eyes off the clear leader. “Karrie, Rosie, get into your mother’s car. Now.”
Reminding him too much of their sister, neither girl listened, staying in harm’s way and requiring him to change his plans. “We aren’t looking for any trouble,” he said after giving the girls a glare that should have scared the shit out of them, “but these three are coming with me.”
The gang continued to posture, circling the Mustang and the kids, but never making the move that warranted his immediate response. He was still considering his options when a car squealed into the parking lot, and Vadik got out with the two large Russians from the furniture store. His men came to stand behind him, Vadik reading the situation quickly enough to nudge the girls a little further away from the drama.
“How old are you, boy?” Luka asked Robbie.
“I’m eighteen,” said the kid with a trembling tone. “I’ll be nineteen in September.”
“A man can go too far,” said Luka, keeping his tone even. “I’ll make them go away one time, but I’ll beat the shit out of you if you ever fuck up again. Your business with them is over. Never again. Do you understand?”
The kid nodded, and Luka turned back to the drug-dealing punks who’d backed away, showing the first sign of intelligence since he’d pulled into the parking lot. “I’ll give you two fucking options. You can have this conversation now, with me and my friends, or you can get in your car and never come near this family again. Because if I hear that you’ve disobeyed me, I will find you.”
“Boy, did they pick the wrong day to go out for a fucking pizza,” summarized Karrie, leaning around Vadik’s oversized frame to get a better view, her eyes wide with excitement.
* * *
“You didn’t have to call anybody,” Luka scolded Mia as her family lay around her living room eating pizza and wings. “I could have handled it on my own. There was no violence.”
He pointed his finger at her sisters. “And you two need to learn to listen better. I told you to wait in the car.”
“Yeah, like that was going to happen,” said Karrie, rolling her eyes. “Those guys might have wet themselves when your friends pulled up. It was the right call, Mia, don’t let him talk you out of that.”
“Use a napkin, Rosie,” scolded Luka with a frustrated sigh. “It’s going to take me a week to clean that couch the way you’re wiping your hands all over it.”
“There’s no reason to have big friends if you don’t call them when you need help,” Mia said quietly. She’d understood that, one day, she might find herself confronted with a threat to Luka’s safety, but she never envisioned she would be the cause. “I’m just glad Vadik had a few friends over for the afternoon.”
“Well, you need to call some of those friends and buy a new stove,” said her mother, who’d also eaten very little. Luka sent Joy a sharp expression before she took a deep breath and continued. “And I’m sorry if I sounded like a bitch over the fire, really. It was, you know, a little stressful seeing my kid surrounded by flames, and I don’t always handle stress well.”
He’d clearly arranged the apology, but Joy added, “I worry about you walking to work, too. It’s too far, especially after dark. You need to get a new car so I can check that one off my list.”
“She doesn’t walk to work.” Luka spoke firmly. “When I am here, I drive her, and when I am out of town, I have a friend who picks her up, but please, keep nagging her about the stove and the car because I’ve been telling her the same thing.”
Robbie stood, pulling up his pants from where they always seemed to settle around his hips. “I’m sorry about all of this shit, too, man. I didn’t want anybody to get hurt, I just wasn’t sure how to back away, peaceful like.”
“Sometimes, you back away by standing down,” said Luka. “In life, you need to know at what point that is the best plan. And your apology means a great deal to me, thank you. If you are done eating, why don’t we play a little basketball? We could go two on two. Rosie, you can be on my team.”
Rosie’s eyes lit up, and she grabbed Luka’s hand. “Okay, but I get a free shot because everybody else is so much taller than I am.”
“With me on your team,” said Luka with a smile as he followed her to the door, “you won’t need a free shot. I’m like a secret weapon.” Turning back to the room, he said, “Oh, and now that I have spent an afternoon with you, Joy, I understand where my koshka gets her grit from.”
The women offered the requisite smiles, but he added incredulously, “That isn’t a compliment for either one of you.”
Luka left with the kids, and it took Mia a few seconds to realize she’d been left alone with her mother in full judgement
mode. “What?” Mia snapped. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Hey,” dismissed Joy with a wave, “if that kind of stern machismo shit floats your boat, don’t let me interfere. I like the guy.”
“Oh, my God, Mom,” she groaned, rubbing her forehead. “Can we please not talk about... about my boat? We need to set some boundaries around here. If we can just get Robbie through high school, we can stop worrying about him.”
“You don’t know shit. What makes you think you stop worrying about your kid when they graduate from high school? When they leave home is when you really start to lose sleep.”
“Come on,” dismissed Mia with a huff. “You aren’t exactly the overprotective type.”
“Don’t give me that attitude,” said Joy, moving to the window to watch the kids. “You have no idea what fear is. A social worker had to drive us home from the hospital when you were born because my parents wouldn’t come get me. They never forgave me for getting knocked up at seventeen. We went home alone, Mia, and I had no idea what to do with you.”
The honesty left Mia a little shaken. Joy had been just a few years older than Karrie and Mia sure as hell would be there to support her sister if she were a pregnant teenager, after she killed her, of course. The simplest conclusion had always been to categorize Joy as the villain in her drama, but this small window into Joy’s fears added to the previous revelations about her father’s lack of interest and her mother’s efforts to protect her.
She moved to stand behind her mother, but Joy never turned around as she continued to speak. “I never planned for it to turn out this way, you know. I had it all figured out when I found out I was pregnant. Your father was going to help, I had friends who said they’d watch you during the day so I could finish high school, but that all fell apart. A few years later, I wanted to have Robbie so you didn’t grow up alone, and Karrie, well, Teddy wanted a kid of his own, and I thought he was going to be forever until I fucked that up. Rosie...”
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