He nodded in fascination, granting me the relief of feeling like the most interesting person in the room… hallway… stair landing.
“Brothers and sisters?”
“One brother,” I said.
He looked away from me, taking another drag. “I remember the bus.”
My heart jumped… to some very unlikely conclusions. At least he remembered me.
“You want a jacket?” he asked, and in the same moment, thinking better of it, he separated from the wall and walked past me, disappearing inside. Only a few heartbeats passed before he emerged with a thick leather jacket, silently draped it over my shoulders, and took his place again. I gripped the lining to keep it from slipping.
“You remember the bus,” I reminded him.
He still wasn’t looking at me, but he nodded, and that was all. Somehow, this was the best and still the most awkward conversation of my life. Disjointed and giving me nothing but the smallest talk, but I couldn’t figure out a better subject right then. He seemed okay with this, and I was the one struggling, which should have been the opposite because only one of us was drunk.
“What about you?” I asked. “Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“A sister,” he said. “Just entered the third grade.”
“What’s her name?”
“Dasha. Who brought you here?”
“It’s my best friend’s cousin’s place,” I said, the abrasive subject changes getting on my nerves.
“Your blond friend?”
“Yeah, Elena.”
Hehmm’d. Nothing about the interaction said he wanted to get in my pants. I had gotten more out of fruit stand cashiers.
At that moment, the door swung open and three laughing people came stumbling out. Of course, one was Elena herself. She paused, her smile turning curious at the sight of us.
“Do you want to come to thediscoteca?” she asked coyly, and glanced at Vitali’s coat draped over me like a tent. “Both of you?”
“I’m on my way out,” he told her.
“What a coincidence!” she exclaimed. “So is Katya!”
I started to protest, but I’d already told her I planned on leaving—just not with him. Or, maybe not‘with’him but I was pretty sure that’s what she meant to happen.
I wasn’t that kind of girl. I had done things with boys when I was younger, and there had been a brief period where I dated a French man in university who was fond of going down on me, but we never had sex. My mama didn’t raise me that way.
But the scent of that leather jacket went a long way toward making me question my morality.
“I’ll give you a ride,” he said, putting out his cigarette.
“See? Everything works out for the best.” Elena giggled, and one of the men she’d been with grabbed her arm and dragged her squeaking and laughing toward the elevator. It whined and rattled as the bent doors came open.
I was surprised to hear that Vitali had a car. No one had a car. Aside from them being wildly expensive, the city was crowded and not built for that. The only person I knew with an old Ladawas our next-door neighbor, who had been some high rank in the army, which allowed for luxuries many families didn’t see. But then again, none of my neighbors had cologne like Vitali…
I grabbed my purse inside, and he gave a quick whistle which carried across the room despite the boombox screaming‘But where do you go from here?’
“Mish,” he called.
The man with the shaved head pushed aside his drink and was up and moving faster than a man his size should be allowed. He said nothing as he followed us out the door.
The fall air immediately stung my bare legs, but I didn’t let on. Vitali walked beside me as we made our way down the street lit with the cold, blue light of tall overhead lamps.
