C Taylor - Nadya's War

“So, you’re asking me to keep an eye on you?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m telling you not to let me out of your sight. At least not until winter is over or I can ignore the pain.”

Alexandra tousled my hair and squeezed me tight. “Where you go, I go,” she said. “You know, if you’d told me sooner, I could’ve helped more. Papa taught me some other non-drug ways to help pain on top of massages. We could have been doing those too, you know, but I thought this was enough.”

Alexandra returned to working on my arm. “We should cut extra wood for the barrel today. That will help, especially at night.”

“You’re busy enough as it is.”

“If it means keeping you off that stuff, I’ll find the time.”

Her words warmed my soul, and I wondered what I’d done to deserve such a friend. “You’re too good to me.”

She looked at me playfully. “I am. Don’t forget that.”

“Have you thought about what you wanted?” I asked.

“For?”

“Keeping me alive that last dogfight.”

Alexandra gave a wishful sigh. “Ah. A Stradivarius would be nice.”

I arched an eyebrow. “You play the violin?”

“I’m no Mischa Elman, but I’m quite good, thank you. Is there something wrong with that?”

“On account of your singing, yes,” I said with a laugh. “How can you not hear how out of tune you are?”

“Maybe I don’t care,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me. “Anyway, what’s in that new sack of yours?”

She was in reference to the large, worn burlap sack I had placed at the foot of my bunk last evening. No one else had said anything about it, and I doubted the other girls even noticed. “Might be something for you.”

Alexandra grabbed the sack. The contents clanked as she dove into the bag like a child at Christmas. “Milk,” she said, pulling free a couple of bottles. She stuck her hand back in and pulled out two smaller bottles. “Wine? Wine!”

Her face was radiant, and I was thrilled such simple pleasures were not lost on her. The fresh milk wasn’t easy to come by, let alone good wine. I was proud of myself for piecing it all together so fast.

“There’s one more thing,” I said. I leaned over and rummaged under the bunk until I found a small box I had wrapped in butcher paper and tied off with twine and a fancy bow.

Alexandra’s eyes went wide. “Now this looks special. Did you chop a pig for me? Because nothing says special to a girl like hunks of bloody pork.”

I laughed. “No. It’s much sweeter than that.”

Carefully, Alexandra undid the knot and unwrapped the paper. Underneath were bars of chocolate, two kilos worth in all. “Chocolate?” she said as if I’d parted the Red Sea before her very eyes. “Nadya, you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“You shouldn’t have,” she said. “How?”

“A lot of barter over the past couple days,” I said. “And a lot of persistence.”

“This must have cost a fortune.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe a small one.”

“Seriously, what did you give up?”

I laughed. “Manners not your forte anymore? Who told you it was all right to ask what gifts cost.”

“I can’t take all this,” she said, setting it all aside. “You’ve spent far too much. I mean, the wine alone must have been half your bonus pay.”

“Pretty much all that was left,” I said. When I saw the breath leave her, I added, “I’d already set some aside for after the war, so don’t act like you got it all. Besides, you’re more important to me than some stupid bundle of money. Now stop being insulting.”

“If you insist.” Alexandra delicately peeled back the paper to one of the chocolate bars and broke off a small piece and offered it to me. “You should have some.”

“I can’t. It’s yours.”

“Then it’s mine to give. I insist.”

When I balked, Alexandra gave an impish grin and held the chocolate over the oil drum.

“What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she mashed the now warm and soft hunk of chocolate into my hand, leaving my palms and fingers covered in sticky sweetness. “Too late now.”

“You’re such a child,” I said, planning my retaliation. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Believe it,” she said, biting into the bar. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Not stoop to your level.”

I popped the piece in my mouth and bided my time. My taste buds delighted in the sweet explosion of flavor. My mouth watered, and I breathed deep. God, this tiny morsel was a slice of heaven. After all of the bread, water, and salted mush we’d been eating day in and day out, I’d forgotten what good food was like. Then, like a snake striking its prey, I planted my left hand on Alexandra’s face and smeared chocolate over half of it.

Her jaw dropped, and she stared at me. I could see the little gears turning in her head trying to comprehend what had taken place. “Oh… you are so dead!”

I bolted out of the dugout before she could make good on her promise. I shielded my eyes from the morning sun. Snow-covered ground crunched under my feet. The sounds of her laughter as she gave chase struck a chord in my soul I’d never heard. This is who I was, who I wanted to be. Someone who gave laughter and fun, not death and misery.

I ran down the length of the airstrip. I could hear her gaining. Several onlookers watched the spectacle with mixes of amusement and confusion. “Don’t let her get me!” I yelled, but none came to my rescue.

“Nadya, look out!”

I rooted myself to the ground, nearly falling over as I did. I spun around at Alexandra’s sharp warning and caught a snowball in the face. The hit sent me stumbling backward, and I lost my footing. I fell on my rump, bracing myself with my right hand. A stab of pain shot up my arm, but I dug deep, pushed it aside, and vowed to defend my honor.

“That was dirty!” I said, brushing the frozen debris from my eyes.

“No, it was clean. I took it off the top,” she said. “This one is dirty.”

I rolled sideways, and a grey ball of slush impacted where I’d been a split second before. I tried to scoop up enough snow to return fire, but Alexandra was faster and more merciless than I could match.

“Do you yield?” she said, driving snowball after snowball into my side and head. Another one popped me in the mouth, and I ended up coughing and spitting. I hadn’t planned it, but Alexandra let up for a moment, clearly concerned she’d gone too far. “Oh no. Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know,” I said, crouching and breathing loudly. Predictably, she dropped her guard even more, and I packed a handful of icy slush and nailed her right between the eyes.

“You girls can play when your duties are done,” said a voice to the side.

I turned to find Zhenia walking by, dressed in her full flight suit and heading for her plane. “Yes, Mother,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Don’t you start, Nadya,” she said, holding up a finger. “I’ve got enough to do already for tonight’s exercises.”

“You’re such a killjoy,” I said, dropping the half-formed snowball I had as Zhenia left.

Alexandra came to my side and leaned her shoulder against mine. “I really, really don’t want to chop wood.”

“Or re-write all the post-op reports from last week,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Did you have to be such a klutz and spill Gridnev’s tea on them?”

“Fate seemed to think so.”

“Do you want to go to the bathhouse after?” I asked, thinking a trip to the banya sounded divine. “We haven’t used our time this month.”

“I’d like that,” she said. “There’s one other thing I have to do first, though.”