something else.
“There’ll be plenty of visitors from the village here then, everybody wanting to see what Talvi brought me. But I’ll hide most of it in the milk cans. I’ll just leave out a couple of packages of coffee. Not that there would be anything in those cans right now. They’re empty, just a little macaroni and flour. They’re waiting for my daughter to come and visit. She’s coming to spoil her old mother.”
Zara continued to stir around in the sugar bowl with the spoon, which had become an amorphous glob of clinging sugar, and tried to figure out what Aliide was driving at.
“I’ve asked her to bring me all kinds of things,” she said.
All of a sudden it hit Zara. A car! Was Aliide’s daughter coming in a car?
“She’s coming in her own car. And she promised to bring me a new television to replace that old Rekord. What do you think of that? It’s amazing how you can bring electronics over the border nowadays, just like that.”
Zara scooped up a pig’s ear. Her knife clinked against her plate and her fork slowly pierced the ear. She kept missing, her fork was clattering, and she gripped the cutlery tightly in her fingers. She knew she should loosen her grip or Aliide would know that she was trying to keep her hands from trembling. She shouldn’t look too eager, she had to eat her pig’s ear and talk at the same time—chewing it made her voice more level. She asked where Talvi was going when she left here—was she driving straight to Tallinn? Even if Zara could get to the nearest town, though—what town was it, anyway?—she couldn’t take the bus or the train, because Pasha would know about it immediately, and so would the militia. Aliide pointed out that they were called police nowadays, but Zara continued—surely Aliide could understand that she had to get to Tallinn in secret. If anyone saw her, her trip would be cut off right then and there.
“I just need a ride to Tallinn, nothing more.”
Aliide’s brow wrinkled. It was a bad sign, but Zara couldn’t stop herself now, her voice speeded up and her words faltered, she skipped words, went back to pick up the ones she had forgotten. Imagine, a car! Talvi had a car. It could solve all of her problems. When was she coming?
“Soon.”
“How soon?”
“Maybe in the next couple of days.”
If Pasha didn’t get there first, she could escape to Tallinn with Talvi’s help. She shouldn’t think about what would happen then, how she would get from Tallinn to Finland. Maybe she could try to hide in a truck at the harbor or something. How did Pasha arrange to get people over the border? They open the trunks of cars at the border, she knew that. It would have to be a truck, a Finnish truck. Finns could always get through more easily. There was no way for her to get a passport unless she stole one from some Finnish woman, someone her age. Too tricky—she couldn’t manage something like that by herself. First get to Tallinn. She had to get Aliide on her side now. But how? How could she manage to bluff away the wrinkles in Aliide’s brow? She should calm down, forget about Talvi and her car for a little while and not make Aliide any more nervous with her overeagerness. Possibilities steamed in and out of her head, she couldn’t tame them, not enough to think things through. Her temples were throbbing. She should breathe deeply, act trustworthy. Like the kind of girl that older people like. She should try to be sweet and polite and well behaved and helpful, but she had a whore’s face and a whore’s gestures, although cutting her hair had surely helped to some extent. Fuck it—it was no use.
Zara focused her gaze on Aliide’s coffee cup. If she really concentrated on some object, she could do a better job of answering anything she was asked. The yellowish porcelain had black cracks in it like a trace of spiderweb. The sides of the cup were translucent and reminded her of young skin, although the cup was old. It
“There’ll be plenty of visitors from the village here then, everybody wanting to see what Talvi brought me. But I’ll hide most of it in the milk cans. I’ll just leave out a couple of packages of coffee. Not that there would be anything in those cans right now. They’re empty, just a little macaroni and flour. They’re waiting for my daughter to come and visit. She’s coming to spoil her old mother.”
Zara continued to stir around in the sugar bowl with the spoon, which had become an amorphous glob of clinging sugar, and tried to figure out what Aliide was driving at.
“I’ve asked her to bring me all kinds of things,” she said.
All of a sudden it hit Zara. A car! Was Aliide’s daughter coming in a car?
“She’s coming in her own car. And she promised to bring me a new television to replace that old Rekord. What do you think of that? It’s amazing how you can bring electronics over the border nowadays, just like that.”
Zara scooped up a pig’s ear. Her knife clinked against her plate and her fork slowly pierced the ear. She kept missing, her fork was clattering, and she gripped the cutlery tightly in her fingers. She knew she should loosen her grip or Aliide would know that she was trying to keep her hands from trembling. She shouldn’t look too eager, she had to eat her pig’s ear and talk at the same time—chewing it made her voice more level. She asked where Talvi was going when she left here—was she driving straight to Tallinn? Even if Zara could get to the nearest town, though—what town was it, anyway?—she couldn’t take the bus or the train, because Pasha would know about it immediately, and so would the militia. Aliide pointed out that they were called police nowadays, but Zara continued—surely Aliide could understand that she had to get to Tallinn in secret. If anyone saw her, her trip would be cut off right then and there.
“I just need a ride to Tallinn, nothing more.”
Aliide’s brow wrinkled. It was a bad sign, but Zara couldn’t stop herself now, her voice speeded up and her words faltered, she skipped words, went back to pick up the ones she had forgotten. Imagine, a car! Talvi had a car. It could solve all of her problems. When was she coming?
“Soon.”
“How soon?”
“Maybe in the next couple of days.”
If Pasha didn’t get there first, she could escape to Tallinn with Talvi’s help. She shouldn’t think about what would happen then, how she would get from Tallinn to Finland. Maybe she could try to hide in a truck at the harbor or something. How did Pasha arrange to get people over the border? They open the trunks of cars at the border, she knew that. It would have to be a truck, a Finnish truck. Finns could always get through more easily. There was no way for her to get a passport unless she stole one from some Finnish woman, someone her age. Too tricky—she couldn’t manage something like that by herself. First get to Tallinn. She had to get Aliide on her side now. But how? How could she manage to bluff away the wrinkles in Aliide’s brow? She should calm down, forget about Talvi and her car for a little while and not make Aliide any more nervous with her overeagerness. Possibilities steamed in and out of her head, she couldn’t tame them, not enough to think things through. Her temples were throbbing. She should breathe deeply, act trustworthy. Like the kind of girl that older people like. She should try to be sweet and polite and well behaved and helpful, but she had a whore’s face and a whore’s gestures, although cutting her hair had surely helped to some extent. Fuck it—it was no use.
Zara focused her gaze on Aliide’s coffee cup. If she really concentrated on some object, she could do a better job of answering anything she was asked. The yellowish porcelain had black cracks in it like a trace of spiderweb. The sides of the cup were translucent and reminded her of young skin, although the cup was old. It
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