by Nick Dear
Lika You’re joking!
Leonidik ’Fraid not.
Lika (laughing) If that’s true, it’s hilarious!
Leonidik He still hasn’t written?
Lika No. I have only had three telegrams from him. On my birthday. In ’43, in ’44, in ’45.
Leonidik Just greetings telegrams? Didn’t give his address?
Lika No. (a note of despair) No! – Leonidik …! (She takes his hand.) Do you think he’s alive?
Leonidik Presumably we’ll find out in a fortnight’s time. When your birthday comes around …
Lika He wouldn’t forget us, would he?
Leonidik (firmly) He wouldn’t dare.
Lika (with a calm conviction) He’s been killed.
Leonidik No, he’s just odd.
Lika Stay with me. For old time’s sake, stay with me. I’ll rig up a screen.
Leonidik (laughs, and kisses her forehead) Thanks, but I’ll go to my cousin’s.
Lika You aren’t leaving?
Leonidik I’ve drunk the tea and eaten the jam. What would I want to stay for?
Lika (seriously) Are you an idiot?
Leonidik (seriously) Yes.
Lika Come tomorrow, then.
Leonidik Is that an order?
Lika Absolutely.
Leonidik Then I’ll come. (He tries to put on his greatcoat. It’s a struggle.)
Lika Let me help –
Leonidik No! He must learn to do things for himself! (Smiles.) Or he’s totally screwed. (With difficulty, he gets the coat on.) Victory!
They go to the door.
Lika It’s very strange. We haven’t actually told each other anything.
Leonidik You think not?
Again they’re silent, looking at each other.
I’ll see you tomorrow. (He goes quickly.)
SCENE EIGHT
17 April. The end of the day, but the room is still full of spring sunshine. Leonidik is settled cosily on the window sill, reading a book. Lika enters.
Lika Hello!
Leonidik Hello! You’re half an hour late!
Lika Committee meeting. – How did you get in?
Leonidik Over the last three weeks I’ve ingratiated myself with every single one of the neighbours. They’ll even let me in at night, now.
Lika You’re quite a man, aren’t you?
Leonidik Oh, the public adore me. I’ve charmed all the old dears on your landing. One of them enquired when I was moving in.
Lika (stops smiling) What did you reply?
Leonidik … I referred her to Comrade Medical Probationer Vasilyevna for further information.
Lika … Not one of your best jokes.
Leonidik (glum) Sorry.
Lika Did you pick up the cinema tickets?
Leonidik (nods) Nine o’clock. But I’m not sure I want to go now.
Lika (softly) Look, don’t be cross.
Leonidik I’m not cross. But it’s pretty bloody awkward for me, isn’t it?
Lika We’re not going to talk about it.
Leonidik Fair enough, let’s talk about something else. I have a plan. I thought dinner first, in a restaurant – not too expensive, perhaps, but not a greasy spoon. A glass or two. What do you think?
Lika Fine. – You know you’re drinking really rather a lot.
Leonidik If you think I’m drinking to drown my sorrows, I’m clearly not drinking enough.
Lika Oh, God.
Leonidik Am I boring you?
Lika Starting to. And your health isn’t great, you must accept that. I’ve booked you into the clinic for a check-up.
Leonidik Am I on my last legs?
Lika Listen, the war’s over, Leonidik. It’s time to be sensible.
Leonidik Fair enough. But tonight we’ll get stewed.
Lika Why?
Leonidik Celebrating. (Takes some money from his pocket.) He has received an advance.
Lika (delighted) You sold some poems?
Leonidik He has sold a satirical piece about the sanitation in his apartment block.
Lika (disappointed) I thought perhaps … your proper work …
Leonidik You don’t get paid for poetry. But anyway, let’s get drunk. We’ll have some of that Moldavian wine, the one called ‘Lidya’, after you. You drank a whole bottle on your birthday.
Lika Yes. And I cried in the restaurant. What a performance!
Leonidik (cautiously) Maybe the telegram will come …
Lika No, it’s three days. It’s not wartime, the post is working perfectly. Three days! There won’t be a telegram. I just want to know why! Has he forgotten us? Or is he dead? (tetchily) What’s your opinion, comrade?
Leonidik Don’t be cross with me. I can’t help it that I’ve come back alive … and he hasn’t.
Lika Don’t you think he’ll come back?
Leonidik doesn’t answer.
Fine. Why should you? You don’t want Marat around, do you?
Leonidik (angrily) What are you saying?
Lika You know what I’m saying!
Leonidik That’s enough, Lika!
Lika (sinking into a chair) Oh, it’s so awful …
Leonidik takes his coat down from the rack.
Leonidik I’d better be going.
Lika No! Don’t. I’ll feel rotten if you leave now.
Leonidik Then I’ll stay.
Lika Thank you. You’re wonderful.
Leonidik Wonderful, attentive, and terrific?
Lika … You think I still love him, don’t you? Actually I’ve nearly forgotten him. But it’s as though I belong to the little girl I was in 1942, that brave, happy little girl … I have to obey her will …
Leonidik Let’s get out in the sunshine.
Lika Please don’t think I’m not happy now. I’m studying for the best profession in the world, I’m going to be a doctor! What can go wrong? (cheerfully) Come on, let’s go.
She takes his coat and decides to help him on with it.
Leonidik Don’t! I told you, don’t help him! He has to do it by himself!
Lika Sorry.
There’s a ring at the door. They both look round. Lika goes into the hall, as Leonidik struggles into his coat. She comes back.
A boy brought me a note. (Reads it.) Marat!
Leonidik What? Where is he?
Lika gives him the note.
(Reads.) ‘I’m downstairs. If you want, I’ll come up. Or tell the boy if you don’t want to see me. And I’ll vanish. Hero of the Soviet Union Marat Yevstigneyev.’
Lika (whispers) He’s alive.
Leonidik See?
Lika (galvanised) Where’s the boy? I must tell him!
Lika runs out.
Leonidik (smiles) Marik.
He takes out a comb and combs his hair. Lika comes back.
Lika The light bulb’s gone.
Leonidik Stop worrying.
Lika … I’ve opened the front door. Is that all right, do you think, dear Leonidik?
Leonidik What’s got into you?
Lika My head’s spinning. (She paces the room.) I’ll go
and meet him.
Lika makes for the door just as Marat enters. He wears the dress uniform of a Guards captain. Strangely, he has hardly changed. He’s still a boy, though his skin is weatherbeaten. He sees Lika, and they stand in silence for a few moments.
Marat Hello there!
Lika You’re alive?
Marat Absolutely! (He moves towards her, but then he notices Leonidik.) You?
Marat goes to Leonidik and hugs him. They kiss on both cheeks.
We’ve been damn lucky, haven’t we, my friend?
Leonidik Could’ve been a lot worse.
Marat What did you do?
Leonidik Infantry. Then war correspondent. You?
Marat Intelligence.
Lika Marat! Have you forgotten me?
Marat No, but he’s a soldier, isn’t he? (He kisses Lika.) Well, there we are. Just let them try and beat us now!
Lika Who?
<
br /> Marat I don’t know. Our enemies.
Marat has thrown off his greatcoat. Leonidik admires his decorations.
Leonidik Look at that, he’s got a star!
Marat (to Lika) So what did you think had happened?
Lika Why didn’t you write?
Marat Many reasons. But the crucial thing is, I came back. Nothing else matters. (to Leonidik) Isn’t that right? – Now hold on for one minute. (He is looking at the two of them together.) You haven’t gone and got married, have you?
Leonidik The Matrimonial Affairs Sub-Committee has yet to reach agreement on this contentious issue.
Marat That’s terrific, chaps!
Lika I waited and waited … three days ago … for a telegram.
Marat Yes, but that would’ve completely spoilt my entrance, wouldn’t it?
Lika I think he stole that star, Leonidik.
Marat (outraged) I beg your pardon?
Lika And I thought he’d been killed …
Marat You don’t know me. (to Leonidik) She doesn’t, does she?
Marat slaps Leonidik on the arm and falls silent, realising the arm is artificial.
Gosh, I’m sorry.
Leonidik (shrugs) Nothing to be done.
Marat Can’t say I like it.
Leonidik (smiles) Can’t say I do either.
Marat (sharply) Well I like it even less than you do.
Leonidik Why?
Marat … Another time.
Leonidik (to Lika) I have a few things to get from the market. I’ll shoot off. Might have a quick drink whilst I’m at it …
Marat You didn’t think I’d come empty-handed, did you?
Marat produces a bottle of cognac from his greatcoat.
Leonidik Well, look at that.
Marat (laughing) What did you take me for?
Lika fetches glasses as Marat opens the bottle.
Lika, you’re not just beautiful, you’re too beautiful, it’s hurting my eyes. It’s like staring at the sun. (Marat pours three shots of cognac.)
Leonidik (raising his glass) What shall we drink to?
They all think.
Marat Let’s drink in silence.
They all knock back their shots. Marat immediately pours three more shots, and they all raise their glasses and knock them back. Marat begins to pour again.
SCENE NINE
2 May. Another sunny day. The windows are wide open. Distant music from loudspeakers down in the street. Marat paces restlessly. Lika sits and listens.
Marat I flew in on a Douglas from Berlin. Visibility was perfect, yet all I could see was destruction. Right across Russia, total carnage. Desolation. (with quiet fury) In the autumn I’ll enrol at the Technical Institute. Hell, I will! And then we can start building bridges. That’s my holy crusade: bridges. Things that join. (Pause.) I’ll be twenty-two any minute. I used to think that was old. Not now, though. God, remember the dreams we had, back in ’42!
Lika We were raw. We bared ourselves. Like film exposed to the light.
Marat Two weeks back, when I walked in here, I didn’t realise how complicated it all is. We took Berlin a year ago, but it’s only now, in Leningrad, that I believe the war is over.
Lika Does that make you sad?
Marat Scared, more like.
Lika Scared?
Marat Well, I suppose I mean lonely … As if I’d lost my family all over again. (Pause.) No one left.
Lika No one?
Marat I’m sorry. Suppose I’ll just have to get used to it.
Lika Get used to what?
Marat Life. You. (Laughs.) Sometimes I’m not convinced that I am really alive. And that you are really you.
Lika Come here. Convince yourself.
Marat (introverted) Four years … seems like four decades sometimes … things one can’t forget …
Lika Have you been … in love with anyone?
Marat This and that. Not worth discussing. – You know, it’s funny. I’ve gone half way round the world and back again, and I still don’t understand a damn thing about who I am. Do you understand anything? About who you are?
Lika Yes, everything!
Marat Everything? (sternly) You delude yourself, Lika. (Pause.) That’s a lovely necklace you have.
Lika You gave it to me.
Marat That’s not true. When did I do that?
Lika Last year, on my birthday. An old woman was selling it in Sadovaya Market. I admit I chose it and paid for it, but I knew it was from you.
Marat Well – thanks. (Pause. He moves away.) Did you just make that up?
Lika Maybe.
Marat Still … it’s a very sweet thought.
Marat’s at the window. The waltz to which they danced in ’42 is heard on the loudspeakers in the street.
Remember that?
Lika (quietly) Yes.
They stand and listen.
And then Leonidik walked in.
Marat And ate your parcel. Where is he, by the way? We said three o’clock.
Lika He’ll be here. He’s punctual.
Marat He’s changed. I was the eldest in ’42. Not now.
Lika Not then either.
Marat Whatever you say … (Pause.) I think of him often.
Lika So do I.
Marat I want him to be all right.
Lika So do I. Very much.
Marat Are his poems any good?
Lika (thinks) They’re a bit labyrinthine.
Marat Is that good or bad?
Lika Risky, maybe … During the war I liked Turgenev. Used to read like mad. Turgenev and Tolstoy. But now for some inexplicable reason I find I only want to read children’s books. Silly books, you know, for kids …
Marat (somewhere else) I really would like him to be happy.
Lika He had bad luck with that arm.
Marat No, that was my bad luck. – Has he told you he loves you?
Lika No. Not in so many words.
Marat But it is obvious.
Lika You know, you haven’t told me either.
Marat If you can wait, I might tell you.
Lika Only might?
Marat Well, I’m not doing it in public … Would it be worth my while?
Lika Tell me first, and then we’ll see.
Marat Leonidik holds higher trumps than me.
Lika I’m sorry?
Marat Lika, I’m horribly proud. I’m so proud I disgust myself. They’ve given me a vile little room at the hostel. Do I complain? No, I’m a hero, aren’t I! Heroes don’t complain!
Lika Marik, I’ve been meaning to say this for ages – this is your room, by rights, and if you –
Marat Oh, for God’s sake belt up. I don’t want to hear about that.
Lika (laughing at him) So, one day they had a rip-roaring argument about the housing allocation.
Marat They didn’t have an argument. That’s half the trouble.
Leonidik comes in at a run.
Leonidik Konitiva! Konitiva! That’s ‘good day’ in Japanese. (He bows ceremoniously.) And now the distribution of the presents for the first of May. Snowdrops for the young lady, and a yo-yo for the Red Army hero. (He gives them presents.) What larks for the children of the revolution! (to Marat) Later on, we’ll raffle the special prize.
Marat You’re sloshed, Mr War Correspondent.
Leonidik Only had the one bottle, and that was with my creepy cousin. (Slams on the table another bottle he has brought.) More is required to finish the job.
Lika I’m going to kick you out.
Leonidik Marat won’t let you. Marat loves me. He’s a friend of the people, is Marat. (He blows a shrill blast on a toy whistle.) Marat, tell her you love me. And then give me the bloody corkscrew.
Marat Give him the corkscrew.
Lika Not likely! I’ve had him examined by specialists. He has a dozen separate complaints, and his heart isn’t worth ten kopeks.
Leonidik He’s going to die soon –
Lika Cretin.
Leon
idik – so give him the corkscrew.
Lika No.
Leonidik First of May – Workers’ International Holiday!
Lika No.
Leonidik Meeting of two comrades-in-arms!
Lika This has been going on for a fortnight.
Leonidik (pleading) It’s the last time! I’ll never get drunk again!
Lika (handing him the corkscrew) It’d better be the last time.
Leonidik You can count on me, sweetheart. (He goes to the window, opening the bottle.) It’s like before the war out there. Flags on the battleships, music, dancing – as if these five years hadn’t happened, as if all the chaos had never been!
Marat But it has. (to Lika) Remember that argument we had? I wanted everything to be the same after the war. But you were right, as I realised this morning, watching the parade. The bands were playing just like before, the troops were marching, the tanks and halftracks rattling by, parents holding up children to watch. But what it meant … what it meant was different. Suddenly I understood: we’ve entered a new age. Meaning, the past is not coming back.
Lika Maybe we’ve changed …
Leonidik ‘We’? Who’s ‘we’? Be intriguing to find out, wouldn’t it, who ‘we’ are?
Lika ‘We’ are the grown-ups who read children’s books.
Leonidik I was in the East when they dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. That day something became clear to me: ‘we’ are the survivors.
Marat (fiercely) No! The victors! We are the victors! If we ever forget that, they will trample us into the earth.
Leonidik Intoxicating stuff, victory, isn’t it, old chap? Watch out when you sober up. Let me tell you the single greatest danger of being victorious.
Marat Go ahead.
Leonidik That we take on the vices of the defeated.
Marat You never used to do so much thinking, Leon. Sure it’s good for you?
Leonidik Take note, Lika – Marat doesn’t want me to think. He’s a dictator. He’s taking over Russia, like a Cossack, at the gallop – tally ho!