Tom Smith: Secret speech

Uneasy, Raisa stepped away. At the same time a shadowy outline appeared in the door. It was the figure of a young boy. He spoke in a whisper:

– Why don’t you escape?

– Not without Zoya.

He sprang forward, wrapping a leg around hers, uprooting it and forcing her to the floor, her cry stifled by his hand. She was on her back, pinned down. Raisa felt a knife against her throat. He whispered:

– You should’ve run.

She repeated, speaking through his fingers:

– Not without Zoya.

At the mention of Zoya’s name she felt his body tense, the blade press against her neck. Raisa asked:

– You… like her?

There was a shift in his position. His grip around her mouth loosened. She was right. This was about Zoya: the boy was worried about losing her. Raisa said:

– Listen to me. She’s in danger. You are too. Come with us.

– She’s not yours!

– You’re right. She’s not mine. But I care about her a great deal. And if you do too you’ll find a way to get her out of here. You hear the difference between my voice and Fraera’s voice, don’t you? You hear that I care? You know that she doesn’t.

The boy removed the knife from her neck. He seemed uncertain. Raisa guessed his thoughts:

– Come back with us. You’re the reason she’s happy, not Fraera.

The boy got to his feet, hurrying out, shutting the door and then opening it again. Remembering the lock was broken, he whispered:

– Pretend you were trying to break out. If you don’t they’ll kill me.

The boy disappeared. Raisa called out:

– Wait!

The boy reappeared:

– What’s your name?

He hesitated:

– Malysh.

Leo counted at least thirty tanks, a column advancing along the main boulevard into the city. A deployment of this size, mobilizing at six in the morning, meant a full-scale Soviet invasion was imminent. The insurgency was about to be wiped out.

Leo hastened down the hill, running back to Karoly’s apartment. Climbing the stairs, two at a time, he reached the top floor landing, pushing open the door. Karoly was seated at the table, reading a leaflet. Leo explained:

– The Soviets have mobilized over thirty tanks. They’re entering the city. We have to find Zoya and Raisa immediately.

Karoly handed him the leaflet. Impatient, Leo glanced at it. At the top there was a photograph. It was of Leo. Karoly translated the text:

– This man is a Soviet spy. He is disguised as one of us. Report his whereabouts to the nearest revolutionary stronghold.

Leo placed the leaflet down:

– If Fraera’s looking for me, it’s proof that Raisa has been captured.

Karoly remarked:

– Leo, it’s no longer safe for you to go outside.

Leo opened the door, ready to go:

– No one is going to care about one Russian spy when there are Russian tanks on every street corner.

The door to the apartment opposite was ajar. A slice of the neighbor’s face was visible. They held eye contact. Then the neighbor shut the door.

Two Vory entered Raisa’s room, grabbing her by the arms, leading her into the hallway, out the front door, and onto the balcony. The courtyard below was crowded. Fraera stood at the center. Seeing Raisa arrive she waved her men aside. They parted, revealing Leo and Karoly on their knees, their arms bound in front of them like slaves ready for sale. Zoya was in among the crowd of onlookers.

Leo stood up. Guns were directed at him. Fraera gestured for them to be put away:

– Let him speak.

– Fraera, we don’t have much time. There are over thirty T-34s in the city right now. The Soviets are going to crush this resistance. They’re going to kill every man and woman and child holding a gun. There is no chance of victory.

– I disagree.

– Frol Panin is laughing at you. This uprising is a sham. This isn’t about the future of Hungary. You’re being exploited.

– Maxim, you see everything upside down. I am not being exploited: I am exploiting Panin. I could never have done this on my own. My revenge would have finished in Moscow. Instead of merely being able to take revenge on the men and women involved in my arrest, as I originally planned, he has presented me with an opportunity to take revenge upon the very State that destroyed my life. Here, I am hurting Russia.

– No, you’re not. The Soviet forces can lose a hundred tanks and a thousand soldiers and it won’t matter. They won’t care.

– Panin has underestimated the depth of hatred here.

– Hatred isn’t enough.

Fraera turned her attention to Karoly:

– You’re his translator? An appointment arranged by Frol Panin?

– Yes.

– You have instructions to kill me?

Karoly considered, then replied:

– Either myself or Leo was supposed to kill you. Once the uprising began.

Leo was shocked. Fraera shook her head dismissively:

– Did you not realize your true purpose, Leo? You are an unwitting assassin. You are working for Panin, not me.

– I didn’t know.

– That is your answer to everything… You didn’t know. Let me explain. I didn’t start this uprising. All I did was to encourage it. You could kill me. It wouldn’t make any difference.

Leo turned to Zoya. She had a gun over her shoulder, grenades on her belt. Her clothes were torn; her hands were scratched. She held his glance, an expression rigid with hatred as if fearful any other emotion might creep through. The boy who’d murdered the patriarch was beside her. He was holding her hand.

– If you fight, you will die.

Fraera addressed Zoya:

– Zoya? What do you say? Leo is speaking to you.

Zoya punched the air with her gun:

– We fight!

Though Raisa wanted to talk, Leo’s body language was set against it. He’d not spoken since being manhandled into the cell. On the other side of the room, Karoly lay sprawled on the bedding, his eyes closed. His leg had been injured during his capture. Breaking the silence, Raisa said:

– Leo, I’m sorry.

Leo looked up at her:

– I made one mistake, Raisa. I should’ve told you about Zoya. I should’ve told you about her holding the knife over me.

Still lying down, his eyes closed, Karoly interjected:

– The daughter we’re trying to rescue, she stands over you with a knife?

Karoly opened an eye, looking at Raisa, then at Leo.

Leo lowered his voice, trying to cut Karoly out of the conversation:

– The only way we’re going to escape is if we trust each other.

Raisa nodded:

– Trust is not going to break us out of this room.

Leo asked:

– Do you have any idea how we’re going to get Zoya out of here?

– She’s in love.

Leo pulled back in surprise:

– In love with who?

– A vory, he’s young-the same age as her, his name is Malysh.

– That boy is a murderer. I watched him kill the patriarch. He decapitated a seventy-five-year-old man with a length of wire.

Karoly sat up:

– They sound like a good match.

Raisa took hold of Leo’s hands:

– Malysh might be our only hope.

Zoya lay at the crumbling edge of the house. Damaged by shellfire, the entire front had collapsed. Flat on her stomach, with the rifle stretched out before her, Zoya’s eye was pressed up against the scope. There were two tanks at the mouth of the Kossuth-hid, the bridge near Parliament, no doubt waiting for orders to advance into the city as Leo had predicted.

She’d never expected to see Leo again. She couldn’t concentrate, seeing his face. Restless, she needed to pee. Checking on the tanks, seeing no movement, she left her rifle and examined the remains of the bedroom. Since the entire front of the house had fallen down the room was exposed. The wardrobe offered the only privacy without going too far from her post. She slipped inside and shut the doors, squatting. She felt guilty about dabbing dry with the sleeve of a coat, an odd kind of guilt considering she was about to shoot a man. She’d fired her gun on numerous occasions and it was possible she’d already killed, although she hadn’t seen anyone die or fall down. Without warning, grabbing a nearby shoe, she threw up, filling the shoe to the toe.