Concrete Jungle

Chapter 25

With no sound coming from Sasha's end, Vasily nodded to the woman sitting next to him to begin.

"Hello Miss Morozova, my name is Violetova, Ekaterina Gregorievna. The Vasya in your story was my first husband and I have been trying to figure out how to get in touch with you for a long time. Thankfully, through many friends who offered to help out and by sheer luck, someone actually knew Vasily, he and I were able to connect."

The silence continued though the shock was palpable even through the airwaves; finally, Vasily said:

"Sasha, are you still there?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I-"
"Don't apologize, Miss Morozova, I especially understand how much of a surprise this must be for you."

         By the crackling on the line, Sasha deduced that they were on speaker together. As she blinked rapidly, a thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She had to get out of her stupor and talk to the widow who had suffered such a loss yet still wanted to connect with the woman or little girl of long ago. They were the women in Vasya's life, connected by a sheer thread of over 30 years. Finally, clearing her throat, Sasha entered the conversation as a participant not just a bystander.

"Mrs. Violetova, thank you so much for reaching out to me. It is a real honor to meet you. You mentioned earlier, that it was by sheer luck that you were able to connect with Vasily; I don't believe that. One thing this entire journey has taught me is that we are being guided to our rightful destinations. In our case, Vasya is our guide."

       She smiled as did the people she was speaking with. Mrs. Violetova nodded at Vasily who had told her earlier how easy going and down to earth Sasha was as well as incredibly enlightened and intelligent, which went without saying.

"Yes, I think so, too." Mrs. Violetova replied as Sasha decided to wade into deeper waters, knowing this was something this woman needed to hear and it wasn't elaborated in 'Witness'.

"He spoke about you a lot, how much he missed you, loved you, and wanted very badly to return home. He wanted so much to have children, especially a little girl that I'm honored to say he wanted to name Alexandra."

       There was a brief silence on the other end followed by sniffling and quiet crying. Sasha wiped her own tears. She waited for the other woman to regain her composure and speak.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for telling me all of this. Words cannot explain how much that means. I wish, I could show you his photos as I know you don't have anything but memories. But I'm not very computer savvy. It would be a blessing to also show you where they buried him."

A beat of shock.

"Wait, they showed you his grave location?"
"Yes, they buried all four liquidators just outside of the city limits, in the middle of nowhere. Not even in any cemetery as if they were ashamed of them." That last portion came out with a burst of anger which Sasha shared by clenching her jaw.
"They just dumped them? I can't believe this; that's not right! We've got to fix this!" Sasha was adamant but the woman on the other end just shook her head sadly.
"That's impossible. There's nothing the government will do about it. I don't have those kinds of resources anyways."
"No, but I do! Perhaps we can't have them moved, but we can let the world know their resting place so people could honor them properly like the fallen heroes they were, not some criminals in unmarked graves!" Sasha said fiercely as the other two exchanged looks in utter disbelief and yet this was not completely a shock to Vasily, who had learned that Sasha would move heaven and earth for those she cared about.

      As they were talking, Sasha was already making notes in one of her notebooks. She had just won a Pulitzer, she knew she had some pull somewhere. She was going to give Vasya and the other 3 liquidators a proper honorable funeral and grave stones that heroes deserved. She would return to Belarus for the completion of 'Witness' and would bring both Ben and Rahel with her. As she explained the rough draft of what she wanted to do to Mrs. Violetova and Vasily, both were amazed by the bravery and foresight of this young woman and wiped their own tears.