“Excellent,” Leo mutters, lowering his binoculars.
I slide back on the wooden chair we’ve set up here. We’re sitting on the rooftop. Grandpa has renovated the entire space for us, building a room and reinforcing the boundaries with sandbag walls and elevated sniper nests at the corners. After dinner, we come up here and stayoutside until nine or ten at night. I practice shooting, Leo watches.
He sits on the parapet wall. “In a few more months, you’ll be able to shoot up to three or more kilometers, just like Pa said.”
I watch the endless stretch of green fields rolling out in front of me and nod.
“You talked with Kaz?” I ask him.
He nods. “His condition has improved, but he won’t be able to walk for a while.”
Kazimir Mikhailov is our cousin. Uncle Maksim’s son. He’d been in an accident a month back.
“We’ll go visit him once the old man gives us the green card.” He says.
“You mean two more years.”
He grunts. “I’m gonna start crying over a call to Mom.”
I nod. “Yeah, and everyone will start believing you miss home.”
He smirks. “No, but Mom will start missing me, and she’ll start nagging Pa to send us back.”
My phone buzzes on the table. Avira’s name lights up the screen. My little sister. She calls every night to tell me about her day.
Leo rises from the wall and heads inside the room. I swipe to answer.
“Hello?” a small voice comes from the other end.
“Hello, Dove.”
“What are you doing?” Her tone is heavy.
“Nothing. What happened?”
“Wen couldn’t go to school today because she got a fever. So I was alone. Zoan… no one came to sit beside me in any of the classes. This is happening because of Jeni and her friends. They talk bad about Wen and me behind our backs. I won’t go to school tomorrow. Wen is still not fine, so she won’t be able to go.”
“If you don’t like it there without Wen, then you don’t have to go alone. Stay at home. Send me the topics, and I’ll send you study material for both of you.”
“Okay! I will also tell Mama and Daddy that you will help us, so they won’t ask me to go either.” She chirps happily now.
A small smile tugs at my lips. I hate her sadness as much as I love her happiness.
“I talked with Pa, and he said you won’t come back soon. Can I come to see you there?”
“If Mom and Dad agree.”
“I will make them agree!” I can almost see her bouncing on her bed, her excitement vibrating through her voice.
But I doubt Mom and Dad will allow it. The last time she came with them, she refused to let Grandpa train me. She insisted on doing everything with me, even thephysically intense exercises. By the end of the day, she had a fever.
“What did you do the whole day?” she asks.
“I spent time in the field, and finalized the code.”
“You did nothing interesting.”
“Go to bed. It’s already late.”
