Just like every other day, Vasily got off the bus at the same street corner and walked the last kilometer to his family's store. Wearing a pair of stained coveralls to protect his clothing and daydreaming about the hot shower he was going to have when he got there. The aching muscles in his neck and back would thank him for the momentary reprieve, before he resumed abusing them in the morning. It was simply what being an adult entailed, and he lived for the time spent with his family at the end of a long day's work. Especially now that his mother was home.
Though the sight of a limousine pulling up to the curb in front of the store reminded him she wasn't going to have dinner with them tonight. It made him feel a bit relieved for her though. He knew it would be good for her to get out, to see more of the city, and interact with people other than just themselves. He thought it might help her relax a little bit, even as his eyes widened at the sight of a chauffeur stepping out from the driver's side to go around to open the door.
"You must be Nicky," Vasily sounded amused, pausing to wait for her as Nicky's curly head emerged out of the car. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, with a black t-shirt, and black converse sneakers.
"You must be Vasily," Nicky said back.
"I don't think she knew you were serious," Vasily motioned to the limo.
"I don't know why she always thinks I'm kidding," Nicky looked pleased. "There's never been a time that I haven't followed through with any of my schenanigans. It's fun to be over-the-top."
"I'm sure she'll be impressed," Vasily sounded reassuring, walking ahead to get the door for an older couple leaving the store.
They each were carrying a large bag loaded with groceries and they both immediately recognized him. Nicky watched as the man patted Vasily affectionately on the shoulder, and his wife inquired after his babies and if he was still overworking himself. It reminded Nicky that even though they were in the middle of the city, this was a close knit neighbourhood of first, second, and third generation Russian families. That could be both an advantage and a disadvantage to Red, depending on how you looked at it.
"How's Galina coping?" the woman asked, as if she was reading Nicky's mind.
"She's doing fine," Vasily assured them. He still had one hand on the door and he pulled it open again.
"I'll tell her you asked," he added, nodding his head at Nicky to signify that she should go in ahead of him. "Have a good night."
"Nosy," Nicky said loudly, as the couple walked away.
"I played soccer with their son for ten years growing up," Vasily explained, after he followed Nicky inside. "I can't count how many times I've been asked that question in the past couple of days. They mean well. "
"Are you sure about that?" Nicky asked skeptically.
"I assume so," Vasily replied. "Though a lot of it is people just being nosy, I'm sure. Our neighbours had a lot of sympathy when things went down. We banked on that pity to keep the business going for her. After all this time, I'm surprised anyone still remembers that though...hey Pop."
The sight of Dmitri sitting at the furthest table with a newspaper and coffee left Nicky without any doubt that he would not have been capable of keeping this business going on his own merit. If she hadn't already known who he was, Nicky wouldn't have been able to discern him as an owner, even with his name on the sign. It made more sense that affection for his wife had maintained their customers' loyalty despite everything, and that other family members stepping up to do the work had kept things operating smoothly.
"You must be Nicky," Dmitri said kindly, holding out a hand to shake hers.
"It's nice to meet you," Nicky replied politely. "This place is beautiful."
She could see why Red had taken so much pride in building it. Everything was cozy and warm with simplistic decor and every bit of space utilized purposefully. An eatery, with baked goods in a display case and a deli by the back. A grocery store, with a lot of specialty Russian foods donning the shelves that outlined the room. There were three round tables in the center, brightened by all the natural light that came through the big picture windows. It seemed like just a lovely place to hang out and enjoy a cup of coffee, with a drinks menu that could have competed with Starbucks.
"I'm going to start ordering my boss's coffee from here," Nicky said, pointing at the chalkboard with the coffees, lattes, and Cappuccinos available. "Then I'll have an excuse to come back."
"That would be nice," Dmitri told her.
Nicky's heart quickened at the sound of women's shoes clicking across the floor but then halted when she saw a petite blonde coming from the back instead of Red. Nicky recognized her at once as a daughter-in-law, she had been to visit at Christmas a couple of times and Nicky had been curious about all of them. She had in her hands a box full of small packages, but she balanced it in one arm so that she too could shake Nicky's hand.
"I'm Lida," she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you, Nicky."
It hadn't escaped Nicky's notice that every single member of Red's family she met already knew exactly who she was without her even having to say anything. It made her feel welcomed, accepted, and happy that Red was back with these people who seemed to really care about her. Though it took her aback a little to not have seen Red yet. Nicky had expected to have to drag her away from the store to get her to stop working. After seeing the way Red had managed the kitchen, she had naturally assumed that passion would be magnified out here.
"Everyone upstairs?" Vasily asked, taking the box out of his wife's arms.
"Yes," Lida nodded. "Ask her if she will take those to the post office tomorrow. They're all ready to go. She just has to drop them off."
"You know she won't want to," Vasily replied.
"Ask her anyway," Lida insisted, as Nicky glanced back and forth between them wondering what was going on.
"My brother made us a website a couple of years ago," Vasily explained, a few minutes later as he led Nicky up the stairs at the back of the store that led to the family home. "We started doing online orders on certain products. We get people from all over the country now. We might start expanding to Canada."
"She must be so thrilled," Nicky said, from where she stood it looked to be everything that Red had ever wanted.
Vasily opened the door at the top of the stairs which revealed a bright hallway with oak flooring and cream coloured walls. A collage frame of photographs was hung right where you walked in, but before Nicky could get a good look, a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes jumped out and fired a nerf gun at them. A foam dart shot somewhere into Nicky's hair.
"That's lost forever," she joked, while the little boy started talking robotically at them.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert," he said monotonously, pacing back and forth with stiff arms and legs.
"What the hell, Koyla?" Vasily scolded his son. "You aren't supposed to play with that indoors."
"Baba said I could so long as it wasn't in the same room as the baby," Koyla replied, switching back to his normal voice. "And Uncle Yuri said so long as it wasn't in his room. I got him good when he was sleeping."
"He must have been delighted," Vasily rolled his eyes, but Nicky couldn't help but laugh.
She was combing her fingers through her hair trying to untangle the nerf dart, as she kicked her shoes off by the door and then padded down the hall in her socks after Vasily. It opened onto a small space with an open concept living room and kitchen. Red glanced up at them with a smile from the floor, where she was sitting next to a blanket fort made over the kitchen chairs. Red had her other hand resting on the sleeping baby in the swing beside her.
"There she is," Red murmured, holding out an arm after Nicky had hopped over a couple of throw pillows to come embrace her.
"Now I know why you aren't down at work," Nicky teased, leaning down to kiss Red's cheek. Her eyes looked into the blanket fort and she jumped when she saw a little girl standing in the middle of it staring at her.
"They're everywhere!" she exclaimed dramatically, yanking the foam bullet out of her hair finally. She wasn't a kid person by any stretch of the imagination, but she knew getting to be with her grandchildren had been something Red had always wanted.
"That's what I told their mom," Vasily joked, setting the box of packets down on the kitchen table. "Sometimes she still talks about wanting another baby."
"No more!" the little girl hiding in the blanket fort scrambled out and stomped her foot in front of her father. "No, Daddy!"
"But Vera disagrees," Vasily added, swinging his daughter up into her arms.
"Ma, Lida packaged up all these orders. They need to be dropped off in the morning. Can you take them?" he asked.
"Couldn't you just bring them with you on your way to work?" Red asked, squeezing Nicky's hand to help pull herself up off the floor.
"Yes, I can," Vasily agreed compliantly after a pause. He then winced as Vera yanked on his ear.
"Ow, what?" he asked.
"Daddy, you smell bad," Vera giggled. "And now you make me smell bad!"
"Then run away," Vasily advised her, lowering her back to the ground. "I'm going to take a shower anyway."
Supper was simmering on the stove. Red had been giving Yuri a break by cooking the last couple times. She made plenty, and now when the store closed for the evening, Lida and Vasily came up with the children to eat. The crowded but barren apartment of Dmitri's had been transformed in the past couple days. There was gear for the baby and a filled toy box for the two older kids, which had once belonged to their father. It was a strength she had that Dmitri didn't. Pouring life back into the home, with grandchildren running around and everyone gathered together.
"Do you want us to wait for you?" Red offered.
"No, go ahead," Vasily assured her. "The baby is sleeping and I'll be fast. They can behave for five minutes."
"She still has my nerf dart," Koyla said, pointing a finger at Nicky.
"Just don't shoot me again," Nicky suggested, tossing it at him.
"I told you not to shoot it at people," Red told her grandson, smoothing his hair back affectionately to soften the blow. While Koyla loaded his nerf gun with the bullet Nicky had returned.
"You never would have let that fly when I was Koyla's age," Vasily shook his head at his mother.
"It's not the same," Red protested with a smile, watching Koyla charge down the hallway again while Vera came over for a quick snuggle.
Red had gotten to be a Grandmother to these children for less than a week, and already she couldn't imagine a day without them. They brought back all the same wonderful things that she remembered fondly from raising her sons, but they also brought out a softness in her. Vasily wasn't wrong to point out she had been much more rigid as a mother, but that was how it was supposed to be.
She just was beyond overjoyed to have a place in her grandchildren's lives and already be connecting with them so naturally. The disappointment Koyla and Vera both expressed at her leaving, should have diffused any lingering doubts she might have been harbouring about the place she could have within her family. The kids' reactions made Nicky feel almost guilty about kidnapping, though the look on Red's face when they went outside and she saw the limo parked out front made it all worth it.
"What on earth are you doing?" Red asked her incredulously. That didn't stop her from sitting down in the back of the limo when the door was opened for her. Looking around and that bar, television, and long bench of seats. It was ridiculous, but before it even started to move it was already fun.
"Marka's firm leases a limo for VIP clients," Nicky shrugged, as she slid in the back seat after Red. "I decided, who are they to decide who gets to use it or not?"
"You pick me up in this and your mother is going to be picking up some crown princess in a dirty taxi," Red commented. "I guess this must mean you're still working there?"
"If you can call it that," Nicky said, stretching her legs out across the seats and resting her hands behind her head. A few minutes later, the chauffeur was merging them into traffic. Nicky had already asked him to just drive around the city so they could enjoy the sights, and see whatever they happened to see. It all looked beautiful after being in such a bland concrete world.
"Marka gave me a desk next to the water jug, because apparently I distract her staff if I'm allowed to wander," Nicky added. "Told me what the wifi password was and occasionally asks me to shred papers."
"Sounds pretty pleasant for a pretend job," Red said, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement.
"It's not pretend, it's invented," Nicky corrected. "I have an employee ID badge just like the rest of them. I'm Marka's second assistant, but she mostly just asks me for coffee and tells me there's no reason to hurry back . Meanwhile, her first assistant is all hostile because she thinks I'm her competition."
"But why not actually do something useful?" Red asked. "Marka only gives you menial tasks because she thinks that's all you can handle. Don't you want to prove her wrong? She could teach you a lot."
"She taught me to not want to be like her," Nicky answered.
"I just think that a smart girl like you should be getting pretty bored of that by now," Red replied.
"Well, then maybe you should hire me," Nicky smiled. "It honestly surprised me to walk in the store today and not see you there."
"I'm not rushing into things," Red admitted. She saw Nicky staring at her questioningly out of the corner of her eye and elaborated.
"Suddenly I feel very old," she said. "It was like time froze inside, and now I've gotten hit with all those years at once. I'm not the same person I used to be."
"None of us are," Nicky reminded her. "I think you're probably still the same in all the important ways."
"I just don't think I'm up to it anymore," Red said.
"You won't know unless you try," Nicky pointed out.
"I don't want to try," Red confessed. "I thought I did, but not anymore."
"Maybe you have cold feet?" Nicky suggested. "Not that there is anything wrong with just spending time with your grandkids and keeping house, but I think you enjoy working too much to just retire like that."
Red had her tongue in her cheek as she considered Nicky's words. It was a surprise to her too, just how difficult it was to jump into everything again. Being back at home right now was a culture shock like she had never known before. More difficult than immigrating to America with her new husband and his family or even adjusting to the harsh climate of prison. She was so accustomed to being focused entirely on survival and strategy, that feeling safe and comforted just left more room for all her anxieties. She was constantly worrying about all the things she couldn't control, and the few things she could. She was terrified of putting a foot wrong and messing up this second chance.
"I went shopping the day after I got home," Red confessed, brushing her hair back with her face. "It was my idea, I wanted to go. Lida and I went together, and if I had lost her in the crowd I'm not sure I'd have ever found her. We had Emilia with us in her stroller and that just made me so nervous, to have that precious baby in a crowd of people who could do anything...I guess I don't have much faith in humanity anymore."
"I never did," Nicky replied. "Is that why you asked Vasily to drop off those packages for you?"
"Mmm," Red nodded slowly. "I think he understands though, I don't think he minds. They've all been very good to me. Very forgiving hearts, which they didn't get from me."
"I think they recognize how much you sacrificed for them," Nicky said. "They're your family."
"That doesn't guarantee anything," Red told her, a pained expression on her face. "Look at Tricia."
"Tricia?" Nicky repeated.
"I've been thinking about her a lot," Red admitted, squeezing her hands together.
Nicky silently pushed herself around the seating until she was directly next to her, still sprawled out compared to Red's rigid posture. She didn't understand why Red was thinking of Tricia after all this time. They hadn't spoken of her in years. They didn't know what had become of her. Nicky had learned to keep Tricia out of her stream of consciousness because it would have eaten at her to think regularly about how her own participation in Mendez's drug operation had contributed nearly as much to the breakage of the relationship, as Tricia's own usage did. She thought Red had blocked out those memories in much the same way.
"I don't know, Ma," Nicky sighed. "I think you did all you could. Take it from an addict, she wasn't going to stop unless she wanted to stop."
"And I took away her only incentive to want to get clean," Red said sadly. "I left that little girl with nobody. I never gave her the same patience and mercy that I'm receiving from my family right now."
"I think you acted the way any mom of a kid addicted to drugs would act," Nicky replied. "You can't win in that scenario, as Marka is fond of reminding me."
She tried turning the conversation to happier things after that, which partially worked for the most part. They opted out of going to a restaurant, instead eating takeout in the back of the limo where they just didn't have to deal with other people. The sky darkened and the city lights glimmered everywhere you looked. It was beautiful, and Nicky filled the air with funny stories from personalities she'd ran into in Marka's firm.
The mention of Tricia turned out to be just a tiny fraction of their evening, but it made Nicky aware of the full brokenness of Red's heart. It was like she had survivor's guilt. Had realized the full potential for her happy life out here, but didn't think she deserved to have it all. She felt compelled to sacrifice something, and in this instance at least it seemed to be her participation in her business, rather than her family life. Still it saddened Nicky to realize how unnecessary it was. Though it was still very early days, and maybe it wouldn't last.