62
ŞAIZECE ŞI DOI
:00 a.m.
Layers.5 Two pair of socks. Three shirts. Hat. Gloves. Jacket. Ration card.
I left the apartment as if to stand in line but hid across the street.
And then I waited.
Cici left the apartment wrapped in a yellow scarf. I followed at a distance.
The textile factory she worked at was supposedly across town and that’s why she had to leave so early. After a fifteen-minute walk, she turned
down a street. I rushed to keep up.
When I got to the street, she was gone.
I looked up at the buildings. It wasn’t a commercial district, it was a residential district. And then I saw the pop of her yellow scarf. Behind the
window— Of a black Dacia.
Each step I took toward the car felt like a kilometer.
Should I do this?
Yes, I had to know.
I approached the passenger-side door. A package of BT cigarettes sat on the dash, next to my sister’s elevated foot.
Through the window, I saw the shape of two figures amidst a swirl of hostaged cigarette smoke. I pressed my face against the glass.
Cici jumped. So did the driver. It was quick, but I saw.
The thinning hair, one eyebrow, his huge mitts foraging my sister’s lap.
Paddle Hands.
I pointed my finger at the glass. I slowly shook my head.
And then I ran.
Her voice rang out behind me. “Pui, wait. Wait!” The Dacia’s engine roared to life. I continued to run, cutting and dodging quickly across the sidewalks. My lungs burned, my pulse raged.
My state-made sneakers were ragged, with barely any tread. I slipped, almost fell, and lost time. Those who were out early looked at me. There’s a difference between someone who’s running, and someone who’s running from something. I looked more than suspicious.
The black Dacia sped to my side, squeezing closer and closer, trapping me.
My sister jumped out of the car, and Paddle Hands drove off.
Cici’s face burned plum. Her lipstick was smeared. “Pui, let me explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain. You became an informer, a traitor, for perfume and tampons.”
“No, you don’t understand. They were poisoning Bunu. They were serving him irradiated coffee! I had to help him. They promised me medicine and a passport if I would cooperate.”
“Cooperate how?”
“They were badgering Mama for information on the Americans, but she wouldn’t give them anything. They came to me, said if I seduced Van Dorn, they would treat Bunu. But Van Dorn wouldn’t have me. He immediately knew what I was up to. The Secu pressured me. They suggested you might have better luck getting information from the son.”
I stood on the sidewalk, staring at my sister.
“So you framed me. You put the American dollar in my stamp album so they could blackmail me.”
“No, I mean, not exactly. You didn’t let me finish. I felt so guilty, Pui.
The day you came home and I was crying, it wasn’t because of an exam at
the factory; it was because I knew that the Secu had gotten to you. Bunu was so sick. I knew how much he meant to you, and I—”
“Bunu’s DEAD! He’s gone, but we’re still enslaved to the Secu. And you know what? Bunu knew exactly what you were doing.”
Cici took a step back.
“Yes, Bunu tried to tell me. He knew, Cici, and you know what he said? That it was so painful. That we had a rat in our very own apartment.
You got us into this and now Bunu’s dead anyway. Did your agent boyfriend kill him? Or was it the agent who lives in our building? Are you
seeing him too?”
And then the realization hit me.
“You asked Alex out. You informed on his family, told them that his father brings bones home from work. It was you. Everything, it’s all been you. You killed Bunu. You killed my relationship with Liliana.”
“No. Please,” she whispered.
“You’ve killed all my plans. You’ve killed—me.”
I turned.
And left her on the sidewalk.
|| OFFICIAL REPORT ||
TOP SECRET [20 Dec. 1989]
Ministry of the Interior
Department of State Security Directorate III, Service 330
Meeting with source FRITZI was compromised this morning by the appearance of her brother, OSCAR. As previously reported, OSCAR is now a liability and must be dealt with. Circulate name and photo immediately.