Russia Girl

by Kenneth Rosenberg

  “The time for secrets between us is over, Gregor. Please show me the respect of a full and honest answer. I think I deserve that much.”

  “Gregor,” he repeated his own name. “Nobody has called me that in a very long time.”

  “Please…”

  “We served together, in the war,” he said. “We belonged to the same unit.”

  “So you knew him well?”

  “Too well. A man like this in wartime is a very dangerous thing.”

  “A man like Zigic is dangerous any time, in peace or in war.”

  “Yes, but in war his behavior is not only accepted, it is encouraged. He is given weapons and the stamp of authority. He is sent into the field and told to rape and to pillage and to murder.”

  “But those are not the rules of war.”

  “No. Not the rules, but the reality. Our reality, anyway.”

  “You were ordered to rape? To murder?” Natalia felt the blood draining from her fingertips and her toes.

  “Ordered, yes.”

  “And?”

  “They were orders that I would never follow, but I certainly couldn’t stop Zigic.”

  Natalia saw the guilt in his eyes and in the way his shoulders slumped. “Why run then, if your own conscience is clear? If your only crime was to silently bear witness?”

  “When the war ended, the entire unit was charged with war crimes. I was a wanted man. I had to run, don’t you see? I was forced to run. So I went into business. The only business I really knew by that point.”

  “But they can’t be searching for war criminals any longer? Why don’t you just go home? Why are you still here?”

  Multinovic laughed to himself. “You’re right that the Hague has no interest in me anymore. Now I’m wanted as a weapons smuggler. There are very few places I can live at this point without being arrested. Besides, I make a decent living here. There is plenty of product to be had in this region and government officials that are amenable to my business-model. No end to customers, either.”

  “What customers? Nobody is fighting around here.”

  “These days it’s mostly Ukraine, both sides. But also, Kurdistan is not so far. Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan. As long as I can arrange the transport I usually don’t have to go anywhere myself. Sometimes I take the goods as far as the Black Sea, but that’s it. I’m back in a few days.”

  “And you call this a life?”

  Multinovic lowered his eyes. “No. Not hardly.”

  “So why don’t you do something else? Get married? Have some children? Holidays on the Adriatic Sea?”

  Multinovic laughed again. “I think it’s too late for all of that. Perhaps a nice quiet life in Argentina, though.”

  Natalia breathed in deeply and exhaled. “So that’s it, then? The mystery of Gregor Multinovic finally solved.”

  “I hope you will have to decency to keep this information to yourself.”

  “On one condition.”

  “I’m not in the habit of accepting conditions.”

  “Maybe you should have thought of that beforehand.”

  “Yes, well, what are your conditions?”

  “I want you to teach me.”

  “Teach you what?”

  “Everything. How to fight, how to use a knife, how to defend myself with household appliances, whatever you think might be of use.”

  “And what do I get out of it, aside from your purported vow of silence, which I think you owe me anyway?”

  “Somebody to talk to now and then.”

  “You’re selling your friendship? Is that it?” He took offense.

  “No,” she shook her head in regret. “That comes free, regardless. If you don’t want to help me, I understand. Your secrets are safe.”

  Multinovic licked his lower lip. “There are some things I could teach you, I suppose.”

  A light smile showed at the corners of Natalia’s mouth. “All right, then. It’s settled.” At these words he seemed almost happy. She leaned back in her seat and took another small sip of tea. It seemed that Sonia had this man all wrong. Despite his questionable history, perhaps Gregor Mulitnovic was not such a bad guy after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  She stood at the counter of the local butcher shop waiting for her order to be filled, flexing her right bicep as she ran her left hand across the bulge of muscle. Natalia was always a strong girl, working on the farm, but now her muscles were becoming even more toned and firm. She was an athlete in training, running each morning at dawn and then pushing herself for an hour more in a private gym at Multinovic’s place. In the past three months, she’d learned more than she ever could have imagined. She could disassemble, assemble and fire various machine guns, assault rifles and even a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. She’d had lessons in explosives, navigation and communications electronics. The equipment Multinovic had on hand ranged from night-vision goggles to GPS units to eavesdropping gear. He was a one-stop shop for battlefield supplies and she knew how to operate them all.

  The lesson Natalia looked forward to the most each day was her afternoon session in martial arts. According to Mulitnovic, she had a natural ability. When it came to brute strength she was no match for him, but she made up for that with speed, flexibility and creativity. Each day she came just a little bit closer to beating him. She could already hold her own. If she ever got this close to Zigic or his men, she’d stand a decent chance.

  When the butcher put the last of three wrapped packages in a bag on the counter, Natalia paid the total. She hefted the bag and walked out onto a wood-plank sidewalk, turning left toward the restaurant. A weak sun shone for the first time in nearly a month and snow on the unpaved street melted into thick mud. She reached an intersection and stopped, searching the road for the clearest path. From directly behind her, Natalia felt a presence even before she heard the long, low whistle. She’d become used to taunts and jeers from the villagers. It started with the rumors of her time abroad and then grew with the gossip about Multinovic. Everybody knew she spent her time with him. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could hide in a place like Drosti. They were outcasts together at this point. Against her better instincts, Natalia turned to face her accusers. She saw Vitaly sitting in a doorway nearby, loitering with two of his childhood friends; Nikola, the suave-looking banker’s son who thought himself a ladies’ man and Boris, a rangy redhead with a hungry, malevolent look in his eye. She’d known these boys all of her life, usually doing her best to avoid them. She hadn’t had to avoid Vitaly lately, seeing him only twice in three months. Both previous times he merely turned and walked the other way. This time he stayed put, a sly smile on his lips.

  “Look who we have here,” said Boris, “Your girlfriend, the prostitute.”

  “Maybe we can have some fun this afternoon. I always wanted a piece of that,” said Nikola.

  Vitaly remained quiet, arms crossed as he eyed Natalia. She turned her back on the three of them and waited as a delivery truck lumbered past down the street. The right rear wheel hit a deep puddle, sending a stream of mud across Natalia’s feet and soaking her pants and shoes.

  “Oh, look, the dirty girl got dirty!” Boris climbed to his feet and approached her.

  “Haven’t you anything better to do than hang around harassing people?” Natalia shot back.

  “Uh oh, I think we’ve upset her!” Nikola flashed a wicked smile, joining Boris to block her way. “You’re not going to raise your rates on us, are you? Because we heard you were very cheap.”

  “Yes, dirt cheap,” said Boris.

  “Your friends are clever boys, aren’t they Vitaly?” Natalia looked in his direction.

  “You’re one to talk.” Vitaly rose slowly and sauntered toward her, an arrogance in his step. “At least none of us are fucking the Serb.”

  “Take that back.” Natalia struggling to restrain herself.

  “Why should I?!” He stuck out his chest and tilted his head slightly, as if to intimidate her.

 
“Are you jealous?” she pressed him.

  “Ha! You two were made for each other. A criminal and a common whore.”

  Natalia wouldn’t let him get to her. He simply wasn’t worth it. She turned her back on Vitaly and pushed past the others. As she took her first step off the sidewalk, a shove from behind sent her flying forward and down face-first into the mud, her bag of meat landing with a thud beside her. Natalia lay where she was for a moment in sheer disbelief. Had Vitaly done that? The man she’d planned to marry? She rolled over and looked up to see the three of them standing on the wood planks above her. Boris and Nikola laughed while Vitaly merely stared down at her. “Go fuck your Serb now,” he said. “I’ll bet he likes it dirty.”

  Natalia sat up and examined herself. Mud on her arms and legs, face and clothing.

  “Too bad Sonia didn’t come back with her,” Boris said. “I’ll bet she liked it dirty, too, didn’t she Nikola?”

  “Shut up,” Nikola quietly seethed.

  “I’m just saying…” Boris laughed.

  “I said shut up!” Nikola cut him off. There was something in the way he said it that made Natalia take notice. The way he bristled at the mention of Sonia’s name. The way he seemed to take it personally. Natalia looked him up and down and it all made sense. Not a bad-looking boy. His family had some money. Why hadn’t she seen it before? Natalia climbed to her feet. “It was you,” she said, staring straight at him. “I should have known.”

  “You know nothing,” Nikola replied, but his swagger was gone.

  “It was your baby she died for.”

  “What baby? There was no baby…”

  Natalia shook her head. “Don’t lie to me, Nikola. I already know. At least you got what you wanted, though. There’s no baby now. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Natalia saw what looked like remorse cross Nikola’s face.

  “Go back to your Serb and leave us alone?” said Vitaly.

  “Leave you alone? Am I bothering you?” Natalia retrieved her bag and placed it on the sidewalk before climbing up after. “I’ll leave you alone when I’m finished with you. Once I’ve taught you some respect.” She stood before Vitaly, noting the smugness that still smoldered in his eyes. He barely had time to laugh before she hit him hard with an open-hand to the side of his smirking face. In one continuous motion she swung her left leg, taking both of his out from under him. He landed hard on the planks and she kicked him off the sidewalk into the mud himself. Boris’ mouth dropped open before Natalia swung an elbow into his gut, knocking him into the street with one blow.

  Nikola was the last to face her, flexing his muscles as he prepared himself for a fight. He swung first at her muddy face, but Natalia ducked to her left and then caught him with a blow to the chest, knocking the wind out of him. She grabbed his jacket with both hands and threw him after the others into the mud below. “Look at that. Beaten by a common whore. What a shame.” She reached down to pick up her bag of meat. Natalia walked past them and made her way up the block, feeling a sense of exhilaration tempered by her newfound knowledge. She never should have suspected Multinovic, but in the end the identity of the father made little difference. Sonia was gone. That pain would never leave Natalia, but when she pictured those three faces as the boys lay in the street, wallowing in mud and beaten by a girl, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. It was as though she’d taken vengeance on the whole town. The old women clucking their tongues and the mothers shooing their children away from her, as if her shame were some deadly virus. The men who stared at her like she was common property. Let’s see how they looked at her now, she thought.

  “What have you done!?” Raisa gasped when Natalia entered the restaurant, dripping mud from head to toe.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll wash it.”

  “Go wash yourself!” Raisa took the package from her hand. “Look at you, you’re tracking dirt everywhere! Take those shoes off!” She shook her head and muttered to herself as she disappeared into the kitchen to salvage her meat.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Multinovic stood looking in the mirror at the reflection of a wrinkled old woman beside him. Spread out on a table before them was an array of makeup, plastic and rubber. “What do you think of me?” the woman croaked.

  “Not bad,” Multinovic answered. “Most people tend to over-do it the first few times. They stand out in a crowd because they try too hard. You’ve shown a good deal of restraint. Very life-like.”

  “Thank you,” Natalia answered in her normal voice. “Maybe I should show up to work at the café like this.”

  “Not unless you want to give Raisa a heart attack” Multinovic offered an easy smile. They’d grown close in the months since she’d started her training. Perhaps even too close. Sometimes in the mornings, when they worked out together on the exercise equipment, Natalia found herself staring at his figure just a few seconds too long. The lightest touch sent previously unknown emotions stirring within her. She did her best to ignore these feelings. All they would do was complicate the situation. Multinovic was her mentor. Her instructor. And yes, her friend. That was what he would remain.

  Natalia peeled away her false skin and used a towel to wipe off her makeup. She removed a curly-gray wig and let down her own hair, which was back to its natural brown and had grown below her shoulders again over the course of the winter. “I think I prefer my younger self. No need to rush things.” Natalia walked into the kitchen to plug in the kettle. “Would you like some tea?” she shouted into the other room.

  “Yes, please,” came the reply.

  Natalia took two mugs and placed them on the counter. It was mid-March and her anxiety was growing with each passing day. As the season changed from winter to spring, she knew that time was short. If Zigic was coming, it would likely be soon. Natalia had already told Raisa that she was quitting her job at the end of the week. What was the use of all of this training if she couldn’t be with her family, to protect them when they needed her? She pulled a wad of Transnistrian rubles from her pocket, thumbing through the bills one at a time. It was a paltry sum for nearly five months of savings, but it was all she had. Enough for train tickets to take her family away, but what then? Where would they go? How would they eat? She felt as though the weight of the world were crushing down upon her. She shoved the rubles back into her pocket, her mind awash in despair.

  Multinovic joined her in the kitchen. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, but her voice wavering enough to give away the truth.

  Multinovic looked her over with concern. “I got something special for tea today,” he said. “Would you like a little treat?”

  “Sure.” She managed a smile.

  “Sit down and close your eyes, it’s a surprise.”

  “Ok, but that sounds awfully mysterious.” Natalia took a seat at the table and clamped her eyes shut. She heard the refrigerator door open and then the rattle of plates and utensils. “What’s taking you so long?!” she chided him.

  “All right, you can look,” he said. When Natalia opened her eyes, Multinovic sat across from her. Between them on the table was a white cake, a single candle burning on top. “Happy birthday.”

  “How did you know?” She was stunned.

  “You told me yourself, months ago.”

  “I didn’t think you’d remember.”

  “Of course I remember. Go ahead, make a wish!”

  Natalia had only one thing to wish for; that she could somehow keep her family safe. She blew out the candle. Multinovic cut two pieces and put them on plates.

  “You’ve been so good to me,” said Natalia as he fetched a box of tea. “I used to be afraid of you, like everyone else. Now you’re the only friend I have left.”

  “Oh, come on, it’s just a cake!” He poured hot water into her mug.

  Natalia smiled. “Thank you.” She took a taste of the cake and then licked a bit of frosting from her lips.

  “I know you’re worried. You have a righ
t to be.”

  “The snow is nearly all gone, even in the hills. It could happen any day.”

  “We don’t know they’ll come. There is a chance he’s forgotten all about you.”

  “I know you don’t believe that.”

  Multinovic shook his head. “You love them very much. Your family.”

  “They are everything to me. Not that there haven’t been some rough periods. There was a time when I fought with my mother constantly.” She took another bite.

  “The teenage years. I think we all go through that, don’t we?”

  “Did you?”

  “Me? Of course. You could say I was a very independent type.”

  “And you still are.”

  “Yes.”

  “When was the last time you saw your parents?”

  “Only my mother is left…,” he replied. “I’ve neglected her, there’s no question.”

  “Maybe you should pay her a visit?”

  “Yes, I should. Maybe someday I even will.” He drank a sip of tea. “But you and your mother, you don’t fight anymore?”

  “No. I think my brother Leon cured me of my rebellious ways.”

  “Your brother?”

  “Mmm, hmm. Aren’t you going to eat your cake?”

  Multinovic took a bite. “Not bad,” he said.

  “Did you bake it yourself?”

  “I did.”

  Natalia raised both eyebrows. “You are a talented man.”

  “Thanks, but don’t change the subject. How does Leon fit into all of this?”

  “I’m surprised that you even care.”

  Multinovic shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I?”

  “I don’t know,” Natalia replied, but the fact that he did was a testament to how close they really had become. “I idolized my brother. When I was growing up he was everything to me,” she tried to explain. “He was handsome and charming and full of life. Leon had aspirations most people in this village couldn’t even comprehend. He wanted to go to college, to study literature, but you know that just isn’t how things are around here. People in Drosti don’t go to college. Nobody in our family ever went to college. Nobody even dreamed of it before him.”