Theodore Odrach - Wave of Terror

They made their way through the almost impenetrable thicket, amid the buzzing of insects and the soft swish of grasses. They breathed in the scent of moistened trees and swaying sedges, and watched long-legged birds wade in shallow water and poke their long beaks into the water to catch fish. They heard the sound of the wind and with a quavering in their hearts felt the earth rumble beneath them.

Pinsk was drowned in sunlight, and the broad, ramose chestnut tree, lighted by magnificent cream-colored flowers, towered high above the roof of the trim and tidy Bohdanovich house. Marusia, looking through the open window of her living room, was happy to feel the warmth of spring on her face. Watching flocks of geese soaring high above the treetops and small red squirrels scrambling from tree limb to tree limb, she thought suddenly of Sobakin. His heavy face, with dark pouches under his eyes, haunted her night and day. And to add to her nightmares, he lived in the house next door. Although a wooden fence separated their two properties, from his upstairs window he had a full view of her garden. Marusia felt as if his eyes were always on her.

Her only consolation was in knowing that almost always, into the late hours of the night, he worked in the Zovty Prison. What exactly he did there she didn’t know, or rather, she didn’t want to know, but the one thing she knew for certain was that each time he passed her house he stared hard at her windows. There was no doubt in her mind that she aroused him and he wanted her at any cost. More than anything she regretted having gotten involved with him in the first place. Now she was paying the price. She knew that if their paths crossed again, she would not be so lucky as she had been when he took her to the Railway Hotel. His great drunken body would descend upon hers and crush it. The girl had seen him only once since that awful day. As she sat reading on her front porch, he had come up behind her, and tried to explain away his behavior.

“I acted like a drunken boor,” he said. “I was a pig. That’ll never happen again, I assure you. I even said to my chauffeur Pyelushkin, ‘With the most beautiful flower in all of Pinsk, I acted like a barbarian. Hit me, Pyelushkin, come on, punch me.’ But he refused. ‘I won’t punch you, Lieutenant,’ he told me, ‘my hand is heavy and I’ll only knock you out, and where will that get me?’ Marusia, I beg you, please, forgive me. It was the drink.”

Sobakin’s breathing was heavy and agitated. Dropping her book, she had rushed past him into the house before he could stop her, and slammed and locked the door. Remembering every lurid detail of his assault on her at the hotel, Marusia realized how far she had gone down a slippery slope. How could she ever have become involved with this monster, she asked herself again and again. Could it possibly be that she had actually been attracted to him in some way, or had she been tempted by his high-ranking position in the Party? Whatever the answer, her life was now one of misery and regret. Every time she saw a chauffeur-driven black government car drive by, the mere thought of Sobakin sitting in the back seat filled her with repugnance and despair. She had always loved taking long, leisurely walks along the avenues of Pinsk, looking into shop windows or meeting with friends, but now that luxury did not exist for her; she was no longer free to do as she pleased. Everything had changed. She was afraid to go outside her house, even into the garden, for fear she might meet him. Occasionally she would slip out for a walk at night, with a friend or her parents.

One evening, having seen Sobakin leave for the Zovty Prison and assuming he would be there the entire night, she mustered up the courage to go for a walk on her own, something she hadn’t done for several weeks. Unfortunately, what she didn’t realize was that for some reason he had returned to his quarters almost half an hour after leaving, and now sat at his desk buried in paperwork. Precisely at the moment that Marusia came out her front door, Sobakin raised his head and glanced out the window. What he saw was thrilling to him. Marusia was starting for the street, heading toward the city center, and alone! He couldn’t believe his good fortune.

Quickly putting on his boots and overcoat and throwing water on his face, he ran out the door. Walking swiftly along the sidewalk, he managed to catch up to her at the crossroads. Without being seen, he came up from behind and forcefully grabbed her arm. Marusia cried out and made a fruitless effort to break free. Clutching her in a fierce embrace, he began to drag her toward an alleyway, away from the city center. “Let me go, you drunkard!” she screamed at him, struggling. “Where are you taking me?”

Sobakin smiled. “To the Park of Culture and Recreation. We can take a stroll along the river. I know how you like to take your walks. And we’ll have all the privacy we need. The park has pretty well emptied by now. Don’t look so upset, I won’t hurt you. What’s wrong, don’t you like me any more?”

Sobakin pushed her through the park gates, down several pathways to the river. An ominous swirling of the current could be heard, and with dusk falling, the water near the banks looked black and bottomless. He shoved her toward a bench facing a clump of reeds at the water’s edge and pushed her down.

“Marusia,” he breathed and grunted savagely, “you drive me out of my mind.”

The girl sat stiff and motionless, made sick by the stale smell of his body. She shuddered as she felt his big hands crawl up her back, around her shoulders, onto her breasts. He pulled her to him and held her in a crushing embrace. As he forced her down on her back and climbed on top of her, she felt that her entire body was about to be destroyed. Gasping and writhing, trying to get away, she twisted herself forward, and bending her left arm, with all her strength somehow managed to jab her elbow into his jaw. Sobakin stifled a cry. Blood gushed from his mouth, and moaning, he loosened his grip and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to tend to his wound. Marusia broke free to make a run for the pathway, but he reached out and grabbed her by the neck.

“I’m going to finish you off right now,” he yelled, and dragged her toward a clump of bushes.

Marusia kicked and screamed; her face was on fire. She shouted, “Rape me! Kill me! You disgust me. You have black circles under your eyes because you don’t sleep at night. Murderer! Monster!” Growing more and more enflamed, gasping for breath, she lifted her leg and swung her knee as hard as she could into his groin. He howled from pain. She took to her heels and ran as fast as she could out of the park gates. She raced down the darkened streets for ten or fifteen minutes, to her house, where she burst in and went directly to her room.

This violent episode played on Marusia’s mind over and over and at night she struggled with nightmares. She did not mention it to her parents, who noticed a change in her, but asked no questions. Her mother was distressed to see her daughter so miserable and watched her closely, suspecting the worst. Marusia became a virtual recluse. For the longest time she stayed in the house and didn’t venture even into the garden. She busied herself sweeping, dusting, washing. But Sobakin’s face was always there. The appalling scenes were re-enacted in her mind again and again, and chills rushed up her spine at the thought of his cold fingers upon her flesh. She had no appetite. There was nowhere for her to turn for help, not to her family, not to her friends, and not to the authorities. The thought of Sobakin coming to track her down paralyzed her with fear; she was convinced that in the end he would get her, one way or the other.

It was some time before she dared even to open her bedroom window to let in the cool night air. After almost four weeks she felt her body slowly reviving. Her panic attacks, which had recurred daily, were fading away. She began to enjoy spending her evenings with her parents in the living room, chatting and listening to the radio. With each passing day she grew stronger. She made up her mind not to be beaten by Sobakin.