Irene Zabytko: The Sky Unwashed

The priest laughed. “Well, I’d like to stay for more excitement, but I’m off for the night shift. I’m getting a lift in my cousin’s car.”

“You’re on for the night too? I might as well go with you. I’m through having a good time here, that’s for sure.”

“Come with us. He’s meeting me in a few minutes outside.”

Yurko looked for his mother to tell her he was going. Everyone in the packed hall had clustered into a tight circle around the bride, her mother, Evdokia and some of Hanna’s girlfriends.

He found Marusia and squeezed his way between the guests to get to her.

“ Mamo , I’m leaving now for work. I’m getting a ride to the plant with the priest, so I don’t have to wait for the bus.” He kissed his mother’s forehead.

Marusia held on to his arm. “Where’s your jacket? Never mind, I’ll find it later. See you tomorrow, darling. I’ll tell Zosia you left. Don’t worry, things will look better. You’ll see.”

Yurko didn’t hear much of what she said because the band had struck up again. Hanna sat on a velvet cushioned chair in the center of the room. Her friends and mother took off her veil, and Evdokia unplaited the new bride’s hair. Yurko kissed his mother again and left just as they were putting a paisley fringed babushka on Hanna’s head. “You’re a married woman now,” her grandmother said. “No more fancy things without a fight from now on!” Everyone laughed except Evdokia, who cried out several times, “My baby,” and smothered Hanna’s face with kisses.

The guests gathered around Hanna and offered her presents of money. Marusia took out one karbovanets she kept deep in her sweater pocket. “For luck,” she sighed, and smiled at Hanna when it was her turn to throw the money into a pot. Married people need it more than anyone, Marusia thought to herself. She cast a disapproving glance at Hanna’s new husband, who was huddled in a corner with a young woman and laughing more than he should have been.

THE BAND PLAYED until almost midnight. Marusia watched as Zosia lifted her tiny son and danced with him. Little Tarasyk, his face smeared with cake crumbs, was half-asleep in his mother’s arms. Katia was dancing a fast polka with another little girl, her long blond hair and satin ribbons flying wildly as she galloped the length of the hall with her friend. Finally they collapsed on the floor laughing because the twirling had made them dizzy.

Past midnight, Marusia and her daughter-in-law collected the sleepy children and headed home. Marusia yawned and was proud to know that all of the korovai was eaten, that not a crumb was left to take back with her.

Tarasyk murmured and woke up in the crisp air. “He can walk a little bit,” Zosia suggested. Marusia held both of the children’s hands and started to make up a story. “Once there was a beautiful little girl named Katia, and a handsome young boy named Tarasyk who danced all night at a magic wedding feast given by the queen of the Lisovi . The Lisovi , as you know, are the spirits of the forest. Well, the queen fell in love with a wolf who was really the lost king of the caves a long time ago….”

ZOSIA LAGGED BEHIND her family. She dragged her husband’s sweat-stained jacket on the ground, thinking about why she was never happy with any man in her life. She was attractive, she was fun, at least she was when she didn’t have to worry about her job, or the children or Yurko’s cold ways. If he weren’t such a bore, such a know-it-all, she might try to be faithful to him. Now, her current lover had left her. She had this new baby to think about. How could she convince Yurko that it might be his after all, when they hadn’t made love in so long? How would he take the news if he knew the truth? Would he kill her and the other man? He’s too much of a coward, she fumed.

The wedding had depressed her, and she vowed to herself that she wouldn’t go to the reception tomorrow. Why are these stupid weddings three days long, she wondered. Once they stop celebrating then it gets bad, so I guess they have to get as much fun as they can out of it before things go to hell….

She kicked at a stone and felt the toe of her nylons rip. I’m too old to have a good time anymore, she told herself, noticing that her short, cracked fingernails looked blue in the twilight. I’m old and ugly and stuck, stuck, stuck. She shivered and put Yurko’s jacket around her shoulders. Hugging it closer to her bare arms, she caught a whiff of his cologne—an awful Polish import called “Steve.” Then she remembered his real, natural body scent that was so familiar to her—a fragrance similar to damp mushrooms in a dark forest—and how her own lush, wet body was anointed by his scent whenever he lay on top of her. And she suddenly felt very sorry for him and wished that she could love him again.

THE CHILDREN DIDN’T fuss or coax their Baba to let them stay up longer as they usually did. Marusia pulled the divan out and made up their beds. Their heads hit the soft down pillows, and they slept hard and still. Marusia was exhausted but managed to get through her nighttime prayers. She heard Zosia pacing around in the kitchen, opening cabinet doors, looking for something. But long after Zosia went to bed, Marusia herself was restless and slept badly. After rolling about for what seemed like hours, she decided to get up. Too many sweets, she thought, rubbing her swollen gums against her tongue. That’s what I get for breaking the Lenten fast. She shuffled into the kitchen and found the sage and mint spirits she had bought from Slavka Lazorska years ago and dabbed the pungent liquid on her gums. Next, she took a clove from one of her spice bottles, bit into it and let a piece seep into a cracked molar before finally brewing a tea with hops and going back to her bed.

Marusia glanced at her clock. It was after one in the morning. Gradually, her pain eased and she was able to slip into a dream. In it, she was trapped inside a fog of black clouds, with windstorms kicking up all around her. She was looking for the front door to her house, but couldn’t find it, and she screamed for someone to help her. She found a window and saw her neighbors’ homes uproot and roll away like tumbleweed. Then she saw the Virgin Mary arising out of a white mist, dressed in blue robes and a long black veil, coming toward her with Her arms out, ready to catch something or someone.

THE NEXT DAY was a Saturday. Marusia awoke earlier than usual. The sun had just appeared in the sky, but the hazy gray clouds screened its light. Marusia slowly lifted herself out from beneath the high folds of the goose down peryna , careful not to wake the children, who were snoring peacefully nearby, their mouths open and translucent eyelids shut. Marusia stretched and yawned and wondered if Yurko had returned. She hadn’t heard him come in and thought that maybe she had slept soundly after all. But her gums still ached. It’s only a matter of time, she thought, before the few good teeth she had left would have to be replaced by more gold ones.

Marusia prayed fervently to the Blessed Virgin that morning because she suddenly remembered seeing Mary in her dream. Then she put on her tattered corduroy house slippers. The soft flapping sound of the slippers hammering against her callused heels echoed its way into the kitchen, where she warmed up some water in a pot for her morning cup of instant coffee and chicory. She rinsed her mouth with warm salt water to soothe her swollen gums and this time plugged her aching tooth with salt pork. “Ukrainians and their salt pork.” She smiled to herself. “Scratch a Ukrainian, find salt pork.”

Zosia peered into the kitchen. “Oh, Mamo , it’s you,” she said. “I thought it might be Yurko.” Her eye makeup was smeared and her face looked puffy.