“I don’t know,” I said hoarsely. “I don’t know… I have to make a phone call.”
“Alright, all my love. Call me later, I will be home until five.”
I put the receiver down and stared at it, then took a deep breath and snatched it off again and dialed Misha’s number.
The line rang for a long time, then turned to rapid beeps that didn’t get answered. So I dialed again. And again.
“WHATKOZEL—”
“Misha,” I said.
“Who?”
“Misha, it’s Katya.”
Silence. Then, “Ah. Katya. What do you want, Katya?”
“Is Vitali there?” I said the words as if through pane glass, careful not to let my tone give anything away. The pause that followed gave me ample opportunity to study the kitchen wall tile with the little symmetrical flowers. One, two, three, four, five. Five flowers on each tile.
“No, he’s home. If I see him, I’ll tell him to call. This is the only time I’m doing this, Katya. And only becauseI need Konstantinov to get that stick out of his ass and stop moping around over whatever happened after I left you two unsupervised.Blyad. Sucked all the fun out of everything.”
So he was alive…
…and moping about me…
God would never forgive me for which of those made my heart beat faster.
“…you alright?” Misha asked suddenly.
“Yeah,” I scratched my head, “are you alright?”
“Head hurts.”
“Were you out late?”
“What are you, my babushka? Piss off.”
“So you’ll tell Vitali to call?” I sighed, the weight tumbling off me. Elena, Vitali, and most of Misha were alright.
He snorted. “I can’t tell Vitali to do anything. But, if I see him, I might mention it.”
“Thanks, Mish.”
“Ah no—you haven’t known me long enough to call me that—”
I hung up because the man killed people last night. I shouldn’t have even called, because they both killed people last night, and that meant something…
My cold fingers tapped on the table on each side of the phone, even if I had no one else to call. But then it rang.
Either Vitali was next to him when I called, or Misha had an Olympic Godliness to his hamstrings.
“Allo?”
“Katya.” It wasn’t Vitali, and Misha’s voice had taken on a strange tone. “Vitali wants me to pick you up.”
“What? When?”
“I can be there in forty-five. Thirty if the roads are clear.”
