It was late in America when Ivan arrived, the time difference confused him. He was quite upset that he wouldn't get to have a look around at his new surroundings until tomorrow morning. Ivan's father had barely said more than two words to him on the twelve hour flight to Washington D.C, but Ivan was used to it…it's not like he expected his father to care about him but the young boy just couldn't help feeling alone and scared. Ivan was jet lagged and the tiredness was almost too much for him to cope with as he waited for his luggage to come though, why does it have to take so long, da… He prayed that they had not left his suitcase behind in Russia; it had all of his most treasured belongings inside. Finally, after waiting around half an hour the luggage started to come through, Ivan lifted his large suitcase off of the conveyer belt with some difficulty, he was a very tall boy for his age but his suitcase was overweight what with all of his possessions crammed inside just one. Ivan's father's suitcase followed shortly after and they made their way to the exit of the busy airport.
It was past midnight, and apparently Ivan's father had hired a driver to take them to their new home. Ivan knew that his father was rich, but Ivan himself was never given any money. Ivan saw a black car with blacked out windows, "Come on boy" he heard his father say as his father made his way over to the car.
"Hello, sir" the driver greeted, Ivan could see fear in the driver's eyes, Ivan understood why, his father was a scary man. The driver had blond hair and wore glasses, Ivan's father nodded at the Estonian man, who went by the name of Eduard von Bock. The driver lifted both suitcases into the boot of the car and Ivan got into the back of the car which had black leather seats. He didn't often travel by car, normally if he wanted to go anywhere he would go by bus or just simply walk, it felt nice to be in such an expensive car. Ivan leaned against the window and his eye lids started to feel very heavy, he closed them and took a small nap. It didn't seem like he had slept very long, but he was awoken by Eduard who patted him lightly on the shoulder
"Um, Ivan is it?" the Estonian asked, Ivan opened his violet and eyes and blinked a few times
"Da" Ivan answered, forgetting to answer in English
"Your father wishes you to follow him inside" the Estonian continued
"Spasibo, uh I mean thank you" Ivan rubbed his eyes and got out of the car. He entered his new home, well technically it wasn't a house it was an apartment but it was big for an apartment and he knew this is where rich people would normally live. His house back in Russia wasn't terrible but it was nothing compared to this. Somehow he preferred simple things; a nice house that had a cosy feeling, this apartment was modern and lifeless.
"Right come over here, Ivan I'll show you your bedroom". Ivan followed his father down the corridor keeping his distance as usual. His father opened the door and revealed a nice sized bedroom. "Right now get to sleep; I don't want to see you again for the rest of the night." His father said coldly
"Da, papa" Ivan said obediently, he lifted his suitcase into his new room and sat on the bed, he didn't like his new room one bit. It was so empty. In his old bedroom he had pictures that he had drawn stuck on his wall he always seemed to draw sunflowers. This room had an unwelcoming feeling about it, however he turned to the window, he was quite high up in the apartment and had a nice view of a park.
The first thing he decided to do was take out the most important things from his suitcase; he rummaged through it and came across a framed photograph. It was of him as a young child with his mother. He smiled softly at the picture, he had remembered it being taken, it was on a cold winter's day in Moscow there was snow all around…His mother wore a thick fur coat with a Russian hat and he was also wearing a heavy coat, he was holding his mother's hand looking very happy. Katyusha had taken the photograph; it was before Nat had been born…he must have been about three or four years old, it was a decade old. He placed it on his bedside table; he then took out another picture that wasn't in a frame. It was of his two sisters, he stuck it above his bed on the wall, laughing to himself gently as he remembered how Natalia had reacted when he told her he was leaving Russia "No Ivan! You can't go! I don't want you to go! I won't allow it" she clung onto his arm tightly and didn't let go "Papa says I have to, I'm sorry Natasha" he said sadly, but there was always something about his little sister that unnerved him a little, he then shuddered at the thought. Ivan took out a few more of his belongings and then found himself lying on his bed. I guess he was more tired than he thought, his eyes were heavy with sleep again as he had not slept properly on the plane because it was too uncomfortable and just the sheer excitement of being on the airplane prevented him from sleeping, and so he found himself drifting off, he hadn't even removed his clothes, scarf or shoes and he was asleep in a matter of minutes.
Ivan's father decided to go and check on his son. When he opened the door he saw that Ivan was spread across his bed still fully clothed and fast asleep. His father merely stood at the door for a few moments, and then decided to walk in "I see he hasn't unpacked much" he muttered looking at the suitcase, he walked over to the bedside table, seeing a photograph. The large man took the photo frame into his hands; it was his late wife and Ivan. The man was not completely heartless, he did love his wife…he stared at it, his face lacked emotion but he had a tinge of sadness looking at her. He then sighed and placed the photo back down, he then left the room "Good night" he said almost inaudibly. Ivan was currently suffering from a nightmare; he had been worrying about going to an American school. Firstly, he didn't even fit in that well at the school in his homeland and only had a few friends, secondly, his English was not too good, and thirdly, he was Russian and he knew that he would be bullied and teased for being a "commie". He knew that Americans hated communists, despite Russia wasn't even communist now and nor was Ivan. His father on the other hand was very against America, he despised Americans and worshipped Soviet Russia and communism; Ivan knew that before he was born and before his father became a diplomat he had been high up in the ranks of the KGB back in the days of the USSR, and still held loyalty to it. Ivan didn't like the idea of communism but he would never tell his father that otherwise he would be beaten. Ivan tossed and turned a little in his sleep, dreaming that he went to the school and the pupils hated him and even the teachers. He was segregated from the rest of the school and everybody ran from him as if he had some sort of disease, when he awoke from the nightmare he could see rays of sunlight shining through his window, he sat up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, he hoped that he would at least make one friend to make high school slightly more bearable.