skip with joy as she walked in little steps next to him.
After they sat down, Tatiana could tell that something was weighing heavily on his mind, something he wanted to say and couldn’t. She hoped it wasn’t about Dasha. She thought, aren’t we past that? She wasn’t. But he was older. He should have been.
“Alexander, what’s that building over there?” she asked, pointing across the street.
“Oh, that’s the European Hotel,” Alexander replied. “That and the Astoria are the best hotels in Leningrad.”
“It looks like a palace. Who is allowed to stay there?”
“Foreigners.”
Tatiana said, “My father went to Poland on business once a few years ago, and when he came back, he told us that in his Warsaw hotel
Polish
people from Krakow were staying! Can you imagine? We didn’t believe him for a week. How could
Polish
people be staying in a hotel in
Warsaw
?” She chuckled. “That’s like me staying at the European over there.”
Alexander looked at her with an amused expression and said, “There
are
places where people can actually travel as they please in their own country.”
Tatiana waved him off. “I guess,” she said. “Like Poland.” She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “Alexander… I’m so sorry about your mother and father.” She touched him gently on the shoulder. “Please tell me what happened.”
With a suspended breath of relief escaping his mouth, Alexander said, “Your father is right, you know.” He paused. “I’m not from Krasnodar.”
“Really? Where are you from?”
“Have you ever heard of a town called Barrington?”
“No. Where is that?”
“Massachusetts.”
She thought she had misheard. Her eyes became saucers. “Massachusetts?” she gasped. “As in, as in
America
?”
“Yes. As in America.”
“You’re from Massachusetts,
America
?” Tatiana said, astonished.
“Yes.”
For a full minute, maybe two, Tatiana could not speak. Her heart drummed deafeningly and electrifyingly in her ears. She willed her jaw to stay shut.
“You’re just teasing me,” she said at last. “I am not that gullible.”
Alexander shook his head. “I’m not teasing.”
“You know why I don’t believe you?”
“Yes,” Alexander said. “You’re thinking, who would want to come
here
?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Communal living
was
a great disillusionment for us,” Alexander told Tatiana. “We came here—my father anyway—so full of hope, and suddenly there were no showers.”
“Showers?”
“Never mind. Where was the hot water? We couldn’t even take a bath in the residential hotel we were staying at. Do you have hot water?”
“Of course we don’t. We boil water on the stove and add it to the cold water in the bath. Every Saturday we go to the public bathhouse to wash. Like everybody in Leningrad.”
Alexander nodded. “In Leningrad, in Moscow, in Kiev, in all of the Soviet Union.”
“We’re lucky. In the big cities we actually have running water. In provincial towns they don’t even have that. Deda told me that about Molotov.”
“He is right.” Alexander nodded. “But even in Moscow the toilets flushed sporadically at best; the smell accumulated in the bathrooms. My parents and I, we adjusted somehow. We cooked on firewood and thought we were the Ingalls family.”
“The who?”
“The Ingalls family lived in the American West in the late eighteen hundreds. Yet here
we
were, and this was socialist utopia. I said to my father once, with some irony, that he was right, this was much better than Massachusetts. He replied that you didn’t build ‘
socialism in one country
’ without a struggle. For a while I think he really believed it.”
“When did you come?”
“In 1930, right after the 1929 stock market crash.” Alexander looked at her blank expression and sighed. “Never mind. I was eleven. Never wanted to leave Barrington in the first place.”
“Oh, no,” Tatiana
After they sat down, Tatiana could tell that something was weighing heavily on his mind, something he wanted to say and couldn’t. She hoped it wasn’t about Dasha. She thought, aren’t we past that? She wasn’t. But he was older. He should have been.
“Alexander, what’s that building over there?” she asked, pointing across the street.
“Oh, that’s the European Hotel,” Alexander replied. “That and the Astoria are the best hotels in Leningrad.”
“It looks like a palace. Who is allowed to stay there?”
“Foreigners.”
Tatiana said, “My father went to Poland on business once a few years ago, and when he came back, he told us that in his Warsaw hotel
Polish
people from Krakow were staying! Can you imagine? We didn’t believe him for a week. How could
Polish
people be staying in a hotel in
Warsaw
?” She chuckled. “That’s like me staying at the European over there.”
Alexander looked at her with an amused expression and said, “There
are
places where people can actually travel as they please in their own country.”
Tatiana waved him off. “I guess,” she said. “Like Poland.” She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “Alexander… I’m so sorry about your mother and father.” She touched him gently on the shoulder. “Please tell me what happened.”
With a suspended breath of relief escaping his mouth, Alexander said, “Your father is right, you know.” He paused. “I’m not from Krasnodar.”
“Really? Where are you from?”
“Have you ever heard of a town called Barrington?”
“No. Where is that?”
“Massachusetts.”
She thought she had misheard. Her eyes became saucers. “Massachusetts?” she gasped. “As in, as in
America
?”
“Yes. As in America.”
“You’re from Massachusetts,
America
?” Tatiana said, astonished.
“Yes.”
For a full minute, maybe two, Tatiana could not speak. Her heart drummed deafeningly and electrifyingly in her ears. She willed her jaw to stay shut.
“You’re just teasing me,” she said at last. “I am not that gullible.”
Alexander shook his head. “I’m not teasing.”
“You know why I don’t believe you?”
“Yes,” Alexander said. “You’re thinking, who would want to come
here
?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Communal living
was
a great disillusionment for us,” Alexander told Tatiana. “We came here—my father anyway—so full of hope, and suddenly there were no showers.”
“Showers?”
“Never mind. Where was the hot water? We couldn’t even take a bath in the residential hotel we were staying at. Do you have hot water?”
“Of course we don’t. We boil water on the stove and add it to the cold water in the bath. Every Saturday we go to the public bathhouse to wash. Like everybody in Leningrad.”
Alexander nodded. “In Leningrad, in Moscow, in Kiev, in all of the Soviet Union.”
“We’re lucky. In the big cities we actually have running water. In provincial towns they don’t even have that. Deda told me that about Molotov.”
“He is right.” Alexander nodded. “But even in Moscow the toilets flushed sporadically at best; the smell accumulated in the bathrooms. My parents and I, we adjusted somehow. We cooked on firewood and thought we were the Ingalls family.”
“The who?”
“The Ingalls family lived in the American West in the late eighteen hundreds. Yet here
we
were, and this was socialist utopia. I said to my father once, with some irony, that he was right, this was much better than Massachusetts. He replied that you didn’t build ‘
socialism in one country
’ without a struggle. For a while I think he really believed it.”
“When did you come?”
“In 1930, right after the 1929 stock market crash.” Alexander looked at her blank expression and sighed. “Never mind. I was eleven. Never wanted to leave Barrington in the first place.”
“Oh, no,” Tatiana
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