| General Fiction posted January 8, 2023 |
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Lies--all lies
A Baby Soldier Memoir/ Entry 5
by John Ciarmello
“Prologue / Entry 4 / Novgorod Orphanage 1934
“I’d like to ask an unusual favor of you.”
“Of course, anything.”
“I’d like to come on as a resident for a few days to do some probing, see if anyone knows anything. Do you think you’d be able to handle the particulars? Clothes, identification, admittance paperwork? It has to be as authentic as we can make it.”
He studied her for a few seconds. “That is an unusual request.” he paused again and raised his palm.”There’s no doubt you could pull it off, Zora. I mean, you look fantastic!” Luka cleared his throat. "No offense."
“None taken?”
“That was kind of a backdoor compliment. Sorry, sometimes I trip and land face down on my suaveness.”
“Yes—well. I’m sure that has stung a little in the past. You don’t seem to have much of a suaveness cushion.”
“What’re you both laughing about?” Lubora interrupted. “Who is she, Luka?”
“This is Zora Karavich, Lubora.”
“So–”
“She’s with O.B.I”
O.B.I?”
Luka lowered his head and looked at Lubora with an upward gaze. “Zora heads the Oversight Bureau of Investigations. You know, Lubora, those little inspections we have every now and then to ensure the facility runs smoothly–and courteously.”
“Oh.”
Zora’s bracelets ticked as she signed to Luka. She finished with a quick glance in Lubora’s direction.
“She said your classes start on Monday, Lubora.”
“Classes?”
“Yes, in lieu of her asking for your resignation. She’s requested you take a year of anger restraint and two years of sign language.”
Lubora raised her finger, and her mouth opened slightly before Luka interjected. “At your expense!”
Lubora shrank back into her chair and nervously cleared her throat. “Tell her I said thank you.”
Novgorod Orphanage 1934 / Entry 5
Zora leaned into the mirror and touched her face.“It’s amazing. Where on earth did you learn to do this?” Zora signed.
Luka quickly lowered Zora's hand. “Don’t go playing around with it! And stop smiling so much you’ll crack the foundation before it sets.”
“If you can make a twenty-seven-year-old woman look like a child–I have got to ask what else can you do?”
Luka smirked and closed the makeup case. “It’s all in the shadowing. I did my dad's makeup from age ten until I was twenty-four.”
“You’re dad’s makeup?”
“He was a theater performer—quite a celebrity in his day. I should add.”
Zora looked into the mirror again. “So, your dad taught you how to do this?”
“Yes, I became his sole makeup artist in the latter years of his theater days–until he suddenly passed away three years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” Zora signed.
“Thanks. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone that long." Luka slid the case into an overhead cabinet. “Anyway, I made him look ten years younger in his casket.”
“Luka!”
“I know it sounds morbid, but I promised him when the day came that he drew his final curtain, I’d make him look presentable to God.”
Zora lowered her gaze, and Luka tapped her shoulder. “That look of skepticism, is it because you don’t believe I made him look ten years younger?” He signed.
“No! It’s because I don’t believe in God—not anymore.”
“You’re angry with Him. I can see it in your eyes. Why?”
“He did nothing, Luka.” She signed.
“I’m not following you. What do you mean? He did nothing?”
”My ten-year-old brother and my mother burned to death in a prison fire in Mozhaisk. Where was He, Luka? I wished and prayed, and He answered me with their deaths. The only God that would do that is a God that doesn’t exist—at least not in my eyes.”
“Yikes! Go easy on the Guy!” Luka signed. He’s not a genie in a bottle. Like my mom used to say, sometimes, he watches events in the world unfold in real time. He cries when we cry and mourns beside us when we lose someone unexpectedly. Of course, I’m paraphrasing. Mom said it more gracefully.”
She gave Luka a dismissive wave. “It’s all in the past now.” she signed. “I’m sorry–I’m acting like a fool.”
“Not at all.” Luka reached into his back pocket and handed her his handkerchief. “It’s clean.”
“Thank you.” Zora sniffed in a breath and patted under her nose. “I was there, Luka. Why didn’t I try to save them? Instead, I sat there and cried. I just sat there.” She stared off into an empty corner of the room. “I watched it burn.”
“You were a child. Children don’t run into burning buildings.”
“Yes, but I was a street child–a survivor–I should’ve been able to save my own family.”
Luka moved to the entryway, peered down the corridor, and closed the door. He turned to Zora. “I’m going to tell you something, and you have to promise me you won’t overreact.”
Zora cocked her head. “Go on.” She signed. “Luka, why are you hesitating? Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“It’s about Lev.”
“What about him?”
“He’s not dead.”
She moved to Luka, signing with a quizzical expression. “Luka—? I know he’s dead. I cried at his grave! I traced the letters of his name with my finger a thousand times. My god, Luka! If he’s not there, who is?”
“Zora, please–sit down for a second.”
“Luka? Who’s buried there? Tell me!”
“Your mother–your mother is there.”
“My mother?”
“Zora, please sit back down. I can’t talk to you while you’re pacing.”
Zora swung around and signed angrily. “My mother?!”
“Yes, but there’s more.”
“Oh, I can’t wait!" She signed and threw her arms in the air.
“Your mother—”
“Go on—don’t hold back now.”
“She didn’t die in that fire. She was murdered at least six hours before the fire started.”
“Murdered?”
Luka nodded.
“This is unbelievable! Murdered?”
“Zora, I’m sorry…”
“How?”
“Zora, Please, you don’t need to hear the gruesome…”
“Tell Me!”
“Zora, I’d rather not…”
“Tell me, Luka!”
Luka took her by her upper arms and eased her into a chair. “She was shot.”
“Shot!”
“Yes, execution style. I can assure you she didn’t feel a thing. If it’s of any consolation.”
“It’s not, and how do you know these gory details, Luka? How do I know you didn’t kill her.”
“You’re not speaking rationally, he signed; can you stop being an investigator for one minute and take the information I’m giving you for what it’s worth?”
“I’m not speaking rationally? You just told me my dead brother is alive, and my mother–who was murdered execution style is buried in his grave. Now you want me to act rational. I’m more like suicidal!”
“Are you being sarcastic, or…” Luka’s head pitched violently to one side. “Ah! Damn it, woman!”
“That punch is just the beginning if you don’t start explaining yourself! Start with my brother. Where is he?”
Luka wiggled his jaw and held a palm out. “Okay, okay. Lev is here under an assumed last name but listen to me. You can’t approach him.”
“Can’t approach him? He’s my brother.”
“His life is in danger. I can’t allow yours to be too.”
“YOU–can’t allow? This is my Job, Luka. I don’t ever remember having you around to protect me in the past. You’re hiding something, Luka.”
“Okay, look. I’m going to level with you. We have had a few children taken from here, but we couldn’t catch the men.”
Zora stood, moved to the window, and peered out behind the curtain separation. She turned and faced Luka. “You know I could arrest you right now for withholding information from an open investigation. Why all the lies, Luka? What’s going on here?” She signed.
“I can see the anguish on your face, and it hurts me that I’ve caused that, but you have to understand these aren’t random men trafficking children. It’s bigger than that.” Luka cut the plastic packing from a case of soda and put a six-pack on the counter. “Look, I know he’s your brother, and you want to help him, but heed my warning when I say. You have to keep your distance from Lev.”
“Tell me something, Luka, why did we go through all this? I mean the makeup, the clothes, the paperwork. Why? If this is bigger than me, which you’ve said it is, then Why the facade?”
Luka flipped off the tab to a soda can and held it up to Zora.
“No thanks.” She signed.
“Zora, look, it’s not by chance that you’re here. Strings were pulled, and tons of weight was thrown around to get you here inconspicuously.”
“What’re you talking about?"”
“These men are after you too, and we don’t know why. The only thing that makes any sense—”
“Go ahead.”
“Is that your father has something to do with this.”
“My father!”
"Yes, He’s a Mafia kingpin. The biggest trafficking lord in the country…”
Zora signed quickly. “I know who he is, Luka!”
Luka cleared his throat. “Yes, of course, you do.”
“Vadim–I haven’t said that man’s name in years. The sound of it still makes me sick.”
“I’m sorry, but here’s where it gets dangerous for you! They want whoever could interrupt their operation out of the way. Big guys, small guys, it doesn’t matter. They want them exterminated.”
“My father wants me dead?”
“That shouldn’t surprise you. The bad part is that they know what you look like, he signed; but they’d have a hard time recognizing you now. You and Lev will both be safe here.”
Zora touched her cheek with the tips of her fingers. “Lev’s being here was planned too?”
Luka gulped the last of his soda.
Zora looked in his direction, and he shot her an upward glance. “Shit! It was you! Wasn’t it? It was you! Or one of your cronies that pulled Lev from that burning building. How else would he have gotten out? How did you do it without anyone noticing? But more importantly, Why?”
“Look–we saved his life. We’re not the bad guys here.”
“I don’t believe you! How, Luka? How'd you get him out of there? The building was an inferno!” She lunged for Luka and spun him around. “Don’t turn your back on me, Luka!”
“I already told you enough to get my ass killed.”
“Well, you have nothing to lose then, do you?”
“You do know you're starting to get under my skin, right?”
“Mission accomplished.” She signed.
Luka shook his head and cracked open another soda. “We transported him to the hospital through the secret tunnels under the jail.”
“Tunnels? They connect to the hospital?”
“They connect everywhere.”
“We? You keep saying, we– who’s–we, Luka?”
“I can’t say anymore without jeopardizing–never mind. Look, you have to believe me when I say this. If anything goes down, Lev will be protected.”
“Oh, my god– that’s it! Luka looked her in the eyes as she squeezed the bend in his arm. “You son-of -a- bitch. You’re using Lev as live bait–arent you? Who do you work for?---Answer me, Luka!”
To be continued:
Story of the Month contest entry
“Prologue / Entry 4 / Novgorod Orphanage 1934
“I’d like to ask an unusual favor of you.”
“Of course, anything.”
“I’d like to come on as a resident for a few days to do some probing, see if anyone knows anything. Do you think you’d be able to handle the particulars? Clothes, identification, admittance paperwork? It has to be as authentic as we can make it.”
He studied her for a few seconds. “That is an unusual request.” he paused again and raised his palm.”There’s no doubt you could pull it off, Zora. I mean, you look fantastic!” Luka cleared his throat. "No offense."
“None taken?”
“That was kind of a backdoor compliment. Sorry, sometimes I trip and land face down on my suaveness.”
“Yes—well. I’m sure that has stung a little in the past. You don’t seem to have much of a suaveness cushion.”
“What’re you both laughing about?” Lubora interrupted. “Who is she, Luka?”
“This is Zora Karavich, Lubora.”
“So–”
“She’s with O.B.I”
O.B.I?”
Luka lowered his head and looked at Lubora with an upward gaze. “Zora heads the Oversight Bureau of Investigations. You know, Lubora, those little inspections we have every now and then to ensure the facility runs smoothly–and courteously.”
“Oh.”
Zora’s bracelets ticked as she signed to Luka. She finished with a quick glance in Lubora’s direction.
“She said your classes start on Monday, Lubora.”
“Classes?”
“Yes, in lieu of her asking for your resignation. She’s requested you take a year of anger restraint and two years of sign language.”
Lubora raised her finger, and her mouth opened slightly before Luka interjected. “At your expense!”
Lubora shrank back into her chair and nervously cleared her throat. “Tell her I said thank you.”
Novgorod Orphanage 1934 / Entry 5
Zora leaned into the mirror and touched her face.“It’s amazing. Where on earth did you learn to do this?” Zora signed.
Luka quickly lowered Zora's hand. “Don’t go playing around with it! And stop smiling so much you’ll crack the foundation before it sets.”
“If you can make a twenty-seven-year-old woman look like a child–I have got to ask what else can you do?”
Luka smirked and closed the makeup case. “It’s all in the shadowing. I did my dad's makeup from age ten until I was twenty-four.”
“You’re dad’s makeup?”
“He was a theater performer—quite a celebrity in his day. I should add.”
Zora looked into the mirror again. “So, your dad taught you how to do this?”
“Yes, I became his sole makeup artist in the latter years of his theater days–until he suddenly passed away three years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” Zora signed.
“Thanks. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone that long." Luka slid the case into an overhead cabinet. “Anyway, I made him look ten years younger in his casket.”
“Luka!”
“I know it sounds morbid, but I promised him when the day came that he drew his final curtain, I’d make him look presentable to God.”
Zora lowered her gaze, and Luka tapped her shoulder. “That look of skepticism, is it because you don’t believe I made him look ten years younger?” He signed.
“No! It’s because I don’t believe in God—not anymore.”
“You’re angry with Him. I can see it in your eyes. Why?”
“He did nothing, Luka.” She signed.
“I’m not following you. What do you mean? He did nothing?”
”My ten-year-old brother and my mother burned to death in a prison fire in Mozhaisk. Where was He, Luka? I wished and prayed, and He answered me with their deaths. The only God that would do that is a God that doesn’t exist—at least not in my eyes.”
“Yikes! Go easy on the Guy!” Luka signed. He’s not a genie in a bottle. Like my mom used to say, sometimes, he watches events in the world unfold in real time. He cries when we cry and mourns beside us when we lose someone unexpectedly. Of course, I’m paraphrasing. Mom said it more gracefully.”
She gave Luka a dismissive wave. “It’s all in the past now.” she signed. “I’m sorry–I’m acting like a fool.”
“Not at all.” Luka reached into his back pocket and handed her his handkerchief. “It’s clean.”
“Thank you.” Zora sniffed in a breath and patted under her nose. “I was there, Luka. Why didn’t I try to save them? Instead, I sat there and cried. I just sat there.” She stared off into an empty corner of the room. “I watched it burn.”
“You were a child. Children don’t run into burning buildings.”
“Yes, but I was a street child–a survivor–I should’ve been able to save my own family.”
Luka moved to the entryway, peered down the corridor, and closed the door. He turned to Zora. “I’m going to tell you something, and you have to promise me you won’t overreact.”
Zora cocked her head. “Go on.” She signed. “Luka, why are you hesitating? Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“It’s about Lev.”
“What about him?”
“He’s not dead.”
She moved to Luka, signing with a quizzical expression. “Luka—? I know he’s dead. I cried at his grave! I traced the letters of his name with my finger a thousand times. My god, Luka! If he’s not there, who is?”
“Zora, please–sit down for a second.”
“Luka? Who’s buried there? Tell me!”
“Your mother–your mother is there.”
“My mother?”
“Zora, please sit back down. I can’t talk to you while you’re pacing.”
Zora swung around and signed angrily. “My mother?!”
“Yes, but there’s more.”
“Oh, I can’t wait!" She signed and threw her arms in the air.
“Your mother—”
“Go on—don’t hold back now.”
“She didn’t die in that fire. She was murdered at least six hours before the fire started.”
“Murdered?”
Luka nodded.
“This is unbelievable! Murdered?”
“Zora, I’m sorry…”
“How?”
“Zora, Please, you don’t need to hear the gruesome…”
“Tell Me!”
“Zora, I’d rather not…”
“Tell me, Luka!”
Luka took her by her upper arms and eased her into a chair. “She was shot.”
“Shot!”
“Yes, execution style. I can assure you she didn’t feel a thing. If it’s of any consolation.”
“It’s not, and how do you know these gory details, Luka? How do I know you didn’t kill her.”
“You’re not speaking rationally, he signed; can you stop being an investigator for one minute and take the information I’m giving you for what it’s worth?”
“I’m not speaking rationally? You just told me my dead brother is alive, and my mother–who was murdered execution style is buried in his grave. Now you want me to act rational. I’m more like suicidal!”
“Are you being sarcastic, or…” Luka’s head pitched violently to one side. “Ah! Damn it, woman!”
“That punch is just the beginning if you don’t start explaining yourself! Start with my brother. Where is he?”
Luka wiggled his jaw and held a palm out. “Okay, okay. Lev is here under an assumed last name but listen to me. You can’t approach him.”
“Can’t approach him? He’s my brother.”
“His life is in danger. I can’t allow yours to be too.”
“YOU–can’t allow? This is my Job, Luka. I don’t ever remember having you around to protect me in the past. You’re hiding something, Luka.”
“Okay, look. I’m going to level with you. We have had a few children taken from here, but we couldn’t catch the men.”
Zora stood, moved to the window, and peered out behind the curtain separation. She turned and faced Luka. “You know I could arrest you right now for withholding information from an open investigation. Why all the lies, Luka? What’s going on here?” She signed.
“I can see the anguish on your face, and it hurts me that I’ve caused that, but you have to understand these aren’t random men trafficking children. It’s bigger than that.” Luka cut the plastic packing from a case of soda and put a six-pack on the counter. “Look, I know he’s your brother, and you want to help him, but heed my warning when I say. You have to keep your distance from Lev.”
“Tell me something, Luka, why did we go through all this? I mean the makeup, the clothes, the paperwork. Why? If this is bigger than me, which you’ve said it is, then Why the facade?”
Luka flipped off the tab to a soda can and held it up to Zora.
“No thanks.” She signed.
“Zora, look, it’s not by chance that you’re here. Strings were pulled, and tons of weight was thrown around to get you here inconspicuously.”
“What’re you talking about?"”
“These men are after you too, and we don’t know why. The only thing that makes any sense—”
“Go ahead.”
“Is that your father has something to do with this.”
“My father!”
"Yes, He’s a Mafia kingpin. The biggest trafficking lord in the country…”
Zora signed quickly. “I know who he is, Luka!”
Luka cleared his throat. “Yes, of course, you do.”
“Vadim–I haven’t said that man’s name in years. The sound of it still makes me sick.”
“I’m sorry, but here’s where it gets dangerous for you! They want whoever could interrupt their operation out of the way. Big guys, small guys, it doesn’t matter. They want them exterminated.”
“My father wants me dead?”
“That shouldn’t surprise you. The bad part is that they know what you look like, he signed; but they’d have a hard time recognizing you now. You and Lev will both be safe here.”
Zora touched her cheek with the tips of her fingers. “Lev’s being here was planned too?”
Luka gulped the last of his soda.
Zora looked in his direction, and he shot her an upward glance. “Shit! It was you! Wasn’t it? It was you! Or one of your cronies that pulled Lev from that burning building. How else would he have gotten out? How did you do it without anyone noticing? But more importantly, Why?”
“Look–we saved his life. We’re not the bad guys here.”
“I don’t believe you! How, Luka? How'd you get him out of there? The building was an inferno!” She lunged for Luka and spun him around. “Don’t turn your back on me, Luka!”
“I already told you enough to get my ass killed.”
“Well, you have nothing to lose then, do you?”
“You do know you're starting to get under my skin, right?”
“Mission accomplished.” She signed.
Luka shook his head and cracked open another soda. “We transported him to the hospital through the secret tunnels under the jail.”
“Tunnels? They connect to the hospital?”
“They connect everywhere.”
“We? You keep saying, we– who’s–we, Luka?”
“I can’t say anymore without jeopardizing–never mind. Look, you have to believe me when I say this. If anything goes down, Lev will be protected.”
“Oh, my god– that’s it! Luka looked her in the eyes as she squeezed the bend in his arm. “You son-of -a- bitch. You’re using Lev as live bait–arent you? Who do you work for?---Answer me, Luka!”
To be continued:
 Recognized |
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