Blog Novel 

 

 Chapter 8

 

Alexei didn't know where he was, when his cell phone rang merciless before dawn. He also didn't remember where he had put the phone last night. The Russian national anthem didn't stop playing and was getting louder and louder!

Gregory next to him growled but did not wake up immediately. Alex jumped out of bed and finally found the phone on the washing machine in the bathroom, next to all the other things from his pockets.

Greg was now awake, too. He looked at the alarm clock. Half past five!

Hadn't Alex said he had the weekend off? Gregory pulled the covers back over his head. It was Saturday. He don't want to be awakened at dawn on Saturday!

Alexei's excited voice came to him. Something seemed to have happened. "No, you did it quite right my darling! I'll be right there! Don't worry about it! No, you don't need to call mommy. I'm already on my way."

Now Greg was alerted. Alex was already fully dressed when he returned to the bedroom.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Did you sleep well?"

"Until just now. Did something happen?"

In Gregory's mind echoed the sentences he had heard. Should he have been so wrong about Alexei? Was there a wife and child in his life after all?

"That was my neighbour’s little daughter. Her mother delivers advertising leaflets on Saturday mornings to earn some extra money. The little girl found my father. I guess he fell, and she can't help him by herself. So, she called me. She was all excited because she thought I was on duty. I must leave right away. I'm sorry."

Greg jumped out of bed.

"I'll drive you."

He grabbed his jeans and shirt.

"You don't have to, really!"

"It'll be faster, though."

Socks, shoes, jacket. He took the key and pushed Alexei out the door. They sprinted side by side down the stairs to the underground garage.

"Where do you live?"

"I'll tell you. It's not so easy to find."

It wasn't very far. Only three or four kilometres, but the large apartment building where Alexei lived was in a large, winding complex of several similar houses. Greg probably wouldn't have found it so quickly only by the street name and number. Alexei struggled for a moment with whether to ask Gregory to just let him out at the street. Gregory smiled at him. A warm, loving smile.

"Don't worry about it."

Alex didn't worry. He was abysmally ashamed! He knew very well in what condition he would meet his father. Natalya, his neighbour’s little daughter, was still too young to understand it in full, but what she had told him on the phone was enough to make Alexei's stomach ache. It was embarrassing enough that the neighbours knew what Ivan Urbanokov's problems were. He was desperate to avoid Greg seeing the entire misery.

Gregory Burton was not a little boy. There was a lot of drinking in Alaska, too, and it wasn't news to him what something like that could look like.

"Hey, don't worry about it."

A moment later, they turned into the courtyard.

"You don't have come. Thanks for driving."

"I'll wait here in the car for a bit. In case you need my help. Is that okay with you?"

Alexei already had the door handle in his hand.

"Hey."

"What?"

"I'm here, okay?!"

"Thanks."

The tension was clear in Alexei's voice.

Gregory watched him disappear into the front door. He sat back and took a deep breath. It concerned him how Alexei was doing. It touched him that Alex had worries and he fought with himself not to just run after him. They had only known each other for a few days and yet Gregory was already smitten! A hot wave ran through him and the clear realization that he didn't give a shit about whatever Alexei thought he should be ashamed of. Alexei was a strong man, an interesting man who could also get weak in bed. Gregory liked him. He liked him a lot and he wanted to know everything there was to know about Alexei. But he also accepted that Alexei wanted to handle this on his own. Greg would not impose himself, but he hoped that Alex had sensed that he could count on Greg.

 

He had sensed it, and the feeling was new and unusual for Alexei. He was used to taking responsibility for everything in his life only by himself. To handle everything on his own and to be responsible for everything on his own.

Gregory had jumped out of bed without hesitation and had driven him, without a comment or a remark. The realization that the blond American was by no means superficial or interested just into sex had come to Alexei some time ago, but it was still a difference to be promptly given proof of it.

However, Alexei did not allow himself to dream of sharing more than a short time with Gregory, albeit he was attracted to the blond man a lot.

Alexei had seen Gregory's large family in the photos that evening and that he had a good relationship with his parents and siblings. Surely, he could understand the worries Alexei had about his father.

It was worse than expected. Much worse. Ivan Urbanokov was lying on the floor in the bathroom, unable to get up. Not even when Alexei tried to pull him up. His father was a small, wiry man who weighed not much more than fifty kilos. Nevertheless, Alexei could not get him out of his predicament by himself.

Ivan wailed loudly in pain and did not move any millimetre. His right foot was twisted unnaturally outwards and felt ice cold.

"Dad, how long have you been lying here?!"

"I don't know. I was going to the bathroom, and I slipped. My hip hurts so bad! And so does my head."

He smelled like an unwashed old man, like vodka, and like urine. His pyjamas were old and worn, his slippers slipped off his feet.

Alex saw the twisted right foot and suspected that his father had broken his femoral neck. Alone, he couldn't lift him in the cramped bathroom, wedged between the tub and the toilet. Little Natalja stood in the doorway and asked, "Do you want me to help you?"

"You are a dear darling! Yes, you can help me. Downstairs in front of the door is a big grey car. The man sitting in it is a friend of mine and his name is Gregory. Will you bring him here, please? But quietly, yes. Not that the whole house will wake up."

Natalja ran off at once.

Gregory saw the little girl in pink pyjamas peeking out of the front door. She beckoned him to come. He got out and asked, "Who are you?"

"Natalja. Are you Gregory?"

When he nodded, she said seriously, "I want you to come, but I want us to be very quiet."

"Good, we'll be quiet as mice."

She beamed at him and ran ahead.

Alexei lived on the fourth floor. There were six apartments on each floor. Three on the right and three on the left side of the hallway. One bathroom for each of three families. Gregory had heard about this housing system, called Kommunalka, from his company's employees, but he had never entered such an apartment building. Sometimes families had to share kitchens, too.. The staircase was relatively clean and had probably been painted not so long ago, but in the long corridors to the right and left of it, there was a confused mess of freezers, baby carriages, empty drink crates, playground equipment and whatnot. When they reached the fourth floor, they turned right. Little Natalja hadn't said a word the whole time. Now she whispered, "Boris and Anna will be mad if we wake them up."

She pointed to the first door.

"This is where I live with Mama."

Her little finger pointed to the second door. According to this, the last apartment had to belong to Alexej and his father. At the very end of the hallway was the bathroom. Gregory heard an old man coughing and moaning. Alexei tried to reassure him in a calm voice.

"Natalja, do you know what Alexei Urbanokov's father's name is?"

"Uncle Ivan."

"Yes, and what else? His patronymic?"

The little girl thought for a moment. But then she said very formally, "Ivan Alexeyevich Urbanokov. Yes, that's his name. But nobody says that."

Alex had a pained look on his face as Gregory peered through the bathroom door.

"I can't lift him by myself. His leg seems to be broken."

Gregory bent down to the old man, took his ice-cold hand and said, "Good morning, Ivan Alexeyevich. My name is Gregory Burton. I am a friend of your son and I will try to help you. Is that all right with you?"

Ivan was completely perplexed by the exceedingly polite and respectful form of address the stranger had used and could only nod speechlessly. Turning to Alexei, Gregory asked, "Have you called an ambulance yet? I'm sure that leg needs to be x-rayed."

Alex shook his head. But he immediately pulled out the cell phone and pressed the emergency number.

He talked to the person at the emergency center for a while, describing the emergency and explaining the address.

Meanwhile, Gregory asked little Natalya if she could perhaps get a woollen blanket or something similar from the apartment. He himself did not want to put Alexei in an even more uncomfortable situation by intruding even more into his private life, of which he was obviously ashamed.

A large part of the population lived in communal apartments of this kind, and in itself there was nothing at all objectionable about it. But Gregory now also saw the stark contrast with his apartment house, and he could imagine Alexei's feelings quite well. However, now was not the time for such animosities. Alexei had finished his conversation with the emergency call centre and Natalja came out of Alexei's apartment with a woollen blanket.

"Thank you, you are a very sweet girl."

Alexei didn't know exactly what Greg was going to do now. "The paramedics are coming. But it may take half an hour."

Gregory rolled up the blanket from the long side. "Then we should get your dad out of this jam."

He sounded like he'd done this before.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You go to the head, I'll stay here, and we'll slide the blanket under your dad and wrap him up tight with it. First, he'll be warm again and second, we can then pull him out very gently without having to jerk his leg. It will be a little tricky to pull the blanket under his hip, but if we both lift him a little, Natalya can pull on the blanket once. Can you do that darling?"

Natalja nodded. "Yes, I can."

She was fortunately small enough to fit into the narrow gap under the sink. Four strong arms lifted Ivan Alexeyevich a few inches and two small hands deftly pulled the blanket under Alexey's father. Then it was not difficult to carefully pull him out of the bathroom with the blanket without causing him more pain. Ivan moaned softly and Alexej tried to comfort him. "Dad, the ambulance is already on its way. I'll quickly pack some things for you. Gregory will stay here with you for now. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead boy. At least the blanket is nice and warm."

Alex gave Greg a grateful look and disappeared into his apartment.

Gregory called after him, "Will you bring a pair of warm socks?"

He brought them immediately and pulled them over his father's cold feet. It was plain to see that the right leg was shortened. The foot was also tilting outward, and the old man had severe pain in his right hip. It really seemed to be a fracture. Gregory and Alexei exchanged a few glances without saying anything and when Alex returned a few minutes later with a small travel bag, Greg offered to go downstairs and wait for the paramedics. He didn't have to wait very long, and the ambulance turned into the courtyard. The two paramedics followed Gregory to the fourth floor. They were grateful that the patient was not so heavy and that they could enlist the help of Gregory and Alexei.

"What hospital are you taking my father to?"

Alex was panting a little under the load.

The paramedic answered curtly, "Municipal Trauma Hospital."

"Can I go with you?"

"Sure."

"Thank you."

When they reached the ambulance, a young, very pretty woman on a bicycle stopped beside them. "Oh, my God! Ivan! What happened?"

She looked from Alexei to Gregory and back to the old man on the stretcher. Alexei answered her question, "Good morning, Irina. Dad had a fall. Looks like something might be broken. Your daughter found him and called me."

The paramedics were ready, and Alex got into the ambulance with them. He gestured to Greg that he would call him. "Thank you. We'll be in touch."

Gregory nodded to him, the door closed behind Alexei, and the ambulance rolled out of the courtyard driveway. Irina held out her hand to Gregory and said with a bright smile, "I'm Irina Grushenko, Alexei and Ivan's neighbour and Natalja's mother."

Greg took the offered hand and politely replied, "Gregory Burton. I'm working in Irkutsk for a year and met Alex at the gym."

Irina liked the blond man with the American accent. He seemed a little older than herself and not poor at all. At least if the Mercedes he was obviously about to get into was his.

"Surely you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I bought some fresh bread and cakes. Would you like to have tea with me and my daughter?"

Greg wanted to go home, take a shower, drink coffee in peace, and think about last night, but he didn't want to be rude. Besides, little Natalja was a brave little angel. She deserved a reward for her helpfulness.

"A cup of tea would be great, thank you very much."

Irina chained her bike and went ahead. Better said, she virtually floated up the stairs. Although very athletically dressed in jeans and sneakers, she had a hip swing that could perk up tired men, if they were into female bottoms. Her black hair was held together at the nape of her neck by a wide barrette. Thinking of Martin Brooks and the beautiful Galina, Gregory asked, "Is your husband working this weekend?"

"I'm only with my daughter."

"I'm sure that's not always easy."

She opened the apartment door. "Hello my little girl! Look who I brought!"

Gregory looked around the tiny apartment. The hallway was just enough to take off his shoes and hang his jacket on a hook at the back of the door. Irina's kitchen was clean, neat and kitschy decorated. A girl's household.

Natalja came out of the second door that opened into the small hallway and greeted her mom stormily and her favourite neighbour’s friend politely.

It was good to be friends with a big and strong policeman. Natalja loved Alexei like an uncle. He protected her from the big boys in the house who were always causing trouble everywhere. Since they knew that the policeman had his hand over the little girl, no one dared to bully her anymore. Irina asked Greg to come into her kitchen and lovingly set the small table for three. She kept smiling at him and Greg could literally see the questions on her forehead: is he married? Probably not, no ring. Does he have a girlfriend? Probably, he's too good looking to be single for long. Do I have a chance with him?

"Are you a cop too, Gregory?"

She poured him a cup of tea.

"No, I work for PETROL SIBERIK."

Little Natalja said proudly, "My mom is a teacher and I'm going to be a doctor when I grow up!"

"Oh, I'm sure you will! You already know first aid very well! I saw it myself today. I'm sure Alexei's dad was very happy that you helped him. You deserve a big praise for it and a reward. Do you have a wish, Natalja?"

The little girl beamed at Greg and at first didn't know what to say. Irina stroked her head and asked, "What exactly happened anyway?"

Her daughter told the whole story and Gregory added to her childish descriptions, but without interrupting her directly. Irina hung on his lips and thought: What a man! He is so kind to Natalja!

"I suppose you have children of your own?"

"Me? No, only nephews and nieces. But I like children, and your daughter is a special little girl."

Turning to the little girl, he asked, "What do you want as a reward for your bravery today? Just tell me."

The little girl looked at her mother. Her eyes were asking for permission. Irina said, "Well, good. Go ahead and tell Gregory what you'd like."

"A Barbie doll."

Her eyes sparkled and Greg guessed that this wish otherwise might not come true anytime soon. He was a good customer in the toy department back home in Valdez and knew his way around to some extent. Although he preferred to shop for racetracks or video games, he also knew little girls' preferences for Barbie dolls. The daughters of his oldest brother and his wife Susan, Delia and Miriam were 10 and 11 years old. That meant Greg always bought two dolls and various accessories at once for Christmas. Now he fervently hoped that the global trade in toys reached as far as Irkutsk in Siberia. Otherwise, Susan would have to send a package from Alaska.

"Which Barbie would you like?"

Natalya was excited and Irina rejoiced with her daughter.

"I want one with blonde long hair and blue eyes and a really long dress!"

Gregory smirked. "I think that will work out."

It didn't stop at a cup of tea but quickly developed into a casual, friendly conversation. After some time, Natalja disappeared into her room and Irina began to flirt a little harder with Gregory. However, she quickly noticed that he kept avoiding her glances. He was clearly uncomfortable, and she quickly shifted down.

"How come you speak Russian so well?"

"My grandmother was from Russia. She taught it to me. Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about her past."

"How did she end up in America?"

"After the second world war. I don't know exactly how it was, but my father gave me her diary. Unfortunately, the writing is hard to read. I thought I could read in and uncover some of my family's secrets, but it's really very difficult."

Irina slid around in her chair excitedly. "That's interesting! I'm a teacher of Russian, but I also studied history for two semesters. Reading an old handwriting doesn't give me much trouble. I could help you with that. If you'd like?"

Gregory stirred his tea. A thought formed in his mind into a brilliant win-win idea. "Could you possibly translate it to English?"

Irina looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean exactly?"

"Well. I know Russian quite well, but my father and siblings don't. When he was young, it was cold war. His parents raised him consistently as an American. He doesn't know what's in his mother's diary. He inherited it from her and kept it and because I am here now, he gave it to me. If you could translate it, that would be great!"

When she didn't answer right away, he followed up, "I know it's a lot of work. I don't want you to do it for free."

That wasn't quite what Irina had in mind. She toyed with the idea of cosy, maybe even romantic, read-aloud sessions with handsome Gregory.

This proposal sounded more like desk work. However, it was an interesting opportunity to earn some extra money without having to leave the house. And it was also an opportunity to get to know Gregory a little better. Irina Grushenko was a flexible woman who had learned to recognize the opportunities that came her way. She accepted the offer. With one small caveat. "I can do this. But my English is not so good that it becomes a doctoral thesis. For personal use, maybe it's enough if you help me."

Again, a bright smile. This time Greg returned it. He was pleased and said, "Hey, that would be great! It doesn't matter if your English isn't perfect. What's the best way to do it?"

"Could you maybe scan the text and save it to a flash drive? Then I can edit it on the computer."

"That should be fine. I can try it."

His grandmother's diary had many pages, but the idea of digitizing it appealed to the engineer right away. Why hadn't he thought of it himself yet? The ink was already very pale in many places, and at some point it would no longer be possible to decipher this piece of family history. The thought of saving it this way was great. Irina seemed to be a very smart woman.

"Do you think we can do this by Christmas?"

She grinned broadly. "Present for Dad, right?!"

"Well. Makes sense, doesn't it? Besides, I'm very curious myself about what it was all like back then."

"Didn't your babushka tell you anything?"

"Very little." Greg finished his tea. "I wonder if I could use the bathroom?"

"You know where it is. Just down the hall. Upstairs on the left."

"What's upstairs on the left?"

Gregory looked at her, totally uncomprehending.

"Oh, you don't know about multiple families sharing a bathroom, do you? The toilet paper on the top left is mine. The other one belongs to Ivan and Alex or the Litviko family. Boris and Anna live next door."

Gregory didn't know it that way and now wished he had just said nothing.

He had wondered a little in the morning why little Natalya had found Alexei's father, but he hadn't realized that there were always three families sharing one bathroom in this house. Poor Alex. No extensive spa sessions including shaving, trimming, and oiling ... Just quick, efficient personal hygiene because the next one was already waiting. Gregory couldn't live like that. Without privacy. Not for a long time. Sure, the sanitary conditions in the camps on the pipeline were sometimes a bit makeshift, too, but he could never tolerate that at home. The bathroom was occupied, and Greg decided to finally go home.

In the morning they had left his apartment in such a hurry that he had not even taken his watch, much less his phone.

He said goodbye to Irina and Natalja and promised them to come back soon. The big girl was looking forward to it. The little one too, though for different reasons.

 

 *** tbc! 

 

Thank you for following the story! Any comments would be highly appreciated! 

Reg Dixon