you very busy?”
“Yes, they have. I’m at work now. Why?”
Nellie Barkov hesitated. Andrew noticed that she was in the cellar of her garage – there was a shelf with tools in the background.
“Could you come around… when you have some free time?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, sonny. I am alive and kicking.”
“Mother, speak up! Why are you down there? And why are you whispering?”
“Well, I’ve just gone down. There are strangers up in the house. It seems, robbers. Don’t worry, I’ve locked myself up. They don’t even know that I’m here.”
“I’ll be there right away.”
It was just like his tactful mother to not want to give him trouble. Barkov instantly imagined big, strong rogues rushing into the cellar and beating her to find out where cash is hidden, even though she had none. She had some savings, but they were small and in a bank account. Would the bandits believe it? She had a good house in a prestigious area. Caches of diamonds are usually hidden in such places and somewhere behind a wardrobe there is a safe full of money – or so the robbers would assume.
I must hurry up.
Barkov made a U-turn and drove the electromobile back. The tires squealed as he drove around obstacles making zigzags, but it wasn’t possible to increase his speed enough for Barkov.
Emily knocked on the partition fiercely.
“It’s one-way traffic here! We’ll get smashed up!”
Andrew switched on the flashing lights and the audio alarm. The whole surface of the hood, roof and trunk began to sparkle like a New Year’s garland. Howling sounds floated from the loudspeakers.
The car careened about one and a half kilometers through the oncoming traffic lane. At the nearest intersection, Barkov turned to the road leading to the Pinecrest area where his mother lived.
Twenty-five minutes drive seemed to be like eternity. Terrible images flickered in his head. His mom pummeled mercilessly… covered with blood… dying trying to crawl out of the house…
At the turn to Montgomery Street, he switched off the alarm system. Robbers should be caught unawares instead of being warned about police arrival. Making two more turns, he saw the three coconut palm trees growing before his mother’s house. To the right and to the left of them, a narrow asphalted road formed a semicircle. As Andrew’s car approached one side, an old dark blue Cadillac turned out from the other side. It overturned a garbage can near the road, some black bags of garbage and a couple empty bottles of Coke fell out, and the car sped down the street.
Barkov made a mental snapshot of its number plate – “USW 116 F” – and turned to the house.
Nellie Barkov had a one-storied beautiful house with big windows, decorative columns on the facade and a tile roof. The garage adjoined the house at the left. Its door was closed, and before it, as always, there was a potted cactus. It meant that robbers had not opened the garage. However, the house’s front door was wide open. Having stopped the car at the door, Andrew rushed inside. “Mom!”
The house was in complete disorder: wardrobes and cabinets were open, the floor was covered with clothes, books, papers and broken vases. The unusual and unpleasant stink of beer and cigarettes filled the air. And dead silence.
Peeping in all the rooms, he ran through the living room and flung open the door leading to the garage. There were no changes in it. Mother’s white double mini-electromobile was in the center. Its rear bumper hung over a wooden hatch of the cellar. The hatch was shut tight.
Knocking on it with his knuckles, Andrew said loudly in Russian, “Mom! Are you there?”
The answer in the same language came from below, “Yes, sonny!”
The lock clicked. The cover started to open slowly.
Andrew helped Nellie up and embraced her.
“Thank God.” He shifted back to English. “How are you, Mom?”
“I’m OK. I heard such awful noises and clatter. They must have turned the house upside down, haven’t they?”
“Yes, they have. Don’t worry, I’ll find them. Did you see the faces?”
“Yes, I did. Fearful ones. At first they broke into the neighbor’s house; I saw them out my window. I tried to call the police, but couldn’t get through. Then they headed here. I hid and called you. I hope they didn’t break the vase your father had presented me for my birthday!”
Andrew had only a vague memory of his father. George Barkov was killed in a battle against separatists in the north of Russia when Andrew was five years old. But he knew very well what vase mother was worried about. It was an elegant Chinese porcelain with a high narrow neck that had always stood on a shelf in her bedroom.
She hurried to the bedroom and stared at fragments of the vase scattered on the floor. “They broke it!”
Andrew tried to soothe her. “Mom, we’ll glue it together.”
Nellie objected, “No. To glue porcelain is a bad sign.” She looked round. “And where’s my wooden box?”
Andrew walked around and examined the room. “They must have taken it. Was there anything valuable in it?”
“Nothing but your father’s signet ring.”
Andrew remembered this ring. It was a stylish thing made of platinum and decorated with the Capricorn image – his father’s zodiacal sign.
“Mom, don’t be upset, I’ll do my best to find those swines and get the ring back. I know how important it is to you. All the memories it brings…”
“The memories of him are here,” she touched her forehead with her finger. “Losing the vase and the ring is not the worst thing. Before the robbers came, I was watching the e-vision. There was terrible news from all over the world. Did you see?” As she talked, they walked toward the living room; the e-vision was still on, just as she’d left it. An ancient holographic video emitter with big old-fashioned loudspeakers hung on a wall, safe and sound. Apparently it had not gained the burglars interest – it cost no more than five credits at a flea market. The sound was down but semitransparent images of destruction floated in front of the emitter.
“No. But I saw what has happened in our city. Car crashes on roads. The stadium roof broke down. And an airplane fell on a residential neighborhood.”
Nellie lowered her voice. “All airplanes fell that had been in the air. Ships sank… Whole fleets did… And even satellites fell from the near-earth orbit, two of them with astronauts on board! Nothing like that has happened before. In a few minutes, they are guessing that more people were killed than in the Unification War… Thank God distant satellites remained, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to contact you!”
Her eyes filled with tears. Andrew touched her shoulder. “But we are alive. And we will live!”
“The
