At noontime Natalya escorted the Rabbi to his workplace in the Gallery. She had just said Hello to Mendelevitch, and then took a bus to the Welfare Pomdat building in the town center. There was a new manager woman there. Natalya showed her documents.
“Was it a real Re-Education Camp?” asked the woman.
Natalya nodded, and grimaced her face:
“You can call it like that: They provided us some conmmunistic indoctrination.” she said, “I have learned by heart the principles of Stalin’s Five years plan and so on. Also they taught us, for example, to learn by heart some of Lenin’s speeches in the Soviet house in the revolution time. How the Bolshevik policy should be elastic, and change from time to time. But the communistic core idea should remain and aspired to, and so on.”
“Lenin was a genius maneuvres’ operator,” said the manageress, to show that she had also studied about the subject. Then she told Natalya:
“Recently we have cut jobs in our office. Our Budget has decreased, due to the fewer number of homeless children in need of the Welfare system. So, comrade Besarobina - what news can I bring you?”
“I was an excellent worker,” said Natalya, “you can have a look at my personal file. I have received a Gold medal for my job - four years ago.”
“After you have entangled in political matters, comrade, it’s not so easy to receive you back. Even if we had retained some positions to be available.”
“In the re-education camp they said, that the establishment would not discriminate the past prisoners. That means: We’ll be able to get back to similar jobs that we had held.”
“Somebody told you that…Well, we have our own practice here. Somebody could say, that you can pick up the moon…”
By this ironical sentence the manager tried to finish the long and unfruitfull discussion.
“I’ll protest about that,” said Natalya, “It does not seem reasonable.”
“If you are healthy enough, and I see that you are strong- you can easily get some physical work. Try to apply for a fixed salary job in building, for example. Whitewashing is not quite difficult…”
“Thank you, comrade Smirnova,” said Natalya, “for your advice.”
After she had left the Wellfare department office, Natalya thought that if Elya would not help, maybe she will take teachers’ course. . .
Therefore she returned to the Welfare Office, and asked the woman manager to search in her old ‘personal details file’. The clerks found it, and promised Natalya to mail copies of some documents to Blooma’s address.
Elya was living now on the first floor of a semi-detached house, made of red bricks, in a new suburb of Minsk. Natalya came to his new flat, after looking at the address that Rabbi Aaron had provided her. She was wearing the dress with which she had come from Siberia: An old blue skirt with scattered flowers, a white blouse with embroidered collar, on it - a cheap stones’ necklace and a thick fur jacket. Her old black boots were on her feet, and she covered her head with a blue kerchief. She had left her little bag in Aaron’s hut.
It was eight in the evening, when Natalya knocked at the front door of Elya’s flat. Elya had already been there. He opened, gazed at her, and the dim light had prevented him to recognize her immediately. Then he said: ‘Ah!’- and Natalya approached him a little. She had not come very close to him, even to be lightly embraced. She avoided to shake his stretched hand. He surveyed her shape quite curiously, discerning that she had become meagre.
“I am happy to see you, Natalya.” he said, but his expression was severe. He could not avoid rebuking her:
“Why haven’t you sent me a message about your arrival?” he asked.
Natalya’s eyes were wet. She looked around. Elya indicated her to come into the flat. She took off her coat and remained standing with it in her hand.
“I had a long journey back to my hometown,” she said, “It’s my second day here. They released me a few days ago.”
“Maybe I had a hand in that,” said Elya, thinking he was cheating in that. But it was partly true, as we know.
“I have come- not to talk,” said Natalya, “but mainly to ...ask you do me a favor.”
“I know- as you should know: It isn’t easy to return to normal life.”
“I should revenge you,” she was irritated from his words, and burst in excitement, ”for what you have done to me! I cannot forget...”
“Your are mistaken, if you think that I had caused your suffer in prison. You know: It’s the system!”
“Don’t tell me: Your testimony in the fake trial- had brought me to Siberia”.
“You are wrong!” said Elya decisively, “The Gepau had tried to break me also, O’Key ? But is that important now? I suffered too, as a suspect. I had to restore my name, and succeeded.”
She knew to restrain herself at that moment, otherwise this powerfull man would not even try to help her in the future.
‘I thank God, she said as to herself, not looking at his face, “The Gepau bandits tortured me -untill that caused me to miscarry our baby! I wanted it to live. I had been a stupid youth, but at that time it pained and hurt my feelings.”
“it’s a jug that had been broken, Natalya.” he said considerately,
“So, please tell me now your purpose for arriving here. You need work, I presume.”
“Please help me to get my old job. I went to the Pomdat Department at noon. The new manager woman told me, that they have cut their manpower. Even if is it true. . .I have my right…”
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll make some phone calls. I’ll write a letter to the Ministry, and have enough contacts there.”
“Thank you, Elya. Please do it. I must be working, otherwise –I’ll go out of my mind.”
“D’you have.. . where to stay?” he cautiously asked.
She nodded and went out of his flat. She remembered that she had received his polite postcard, on the first month of her prison in Siberia. He thanked her ‘for the good years we had been together, that had enriched my life.’ That is what he wrote, just that, very shortly.
When Natalya was back on the street, she saw a pretty young girl of twenty or more walking fast to Elya’s house direction. She turned her head back, looking at her moves. The good looking maiden was jumping on the stairs leading to his door. He had always been a male loving his freedom. He had not hidden from her that ideal of his, but she thought it had come out of a general opinion in those days, and a kind of young males’ boast. She had not quite understood it then, and got her lesson.
‘Now Elya does not and should not know about me and Aaron,’ she thought. ‘Aaron himself is still confused. I should do the utmost to get closer and closer to God and to him’.
Then Natalya went again to sleep at Blooma’s house. She did not find a good rest there. Poor Blooma began talking to her about her fears regarding Mogid. “Maybe the Red Mogid had been sent to Siberia?” asked Natalya.
Blooma told Natalya that once Rabbi Aaron was allowed to visit Mogid in an asylum, to where he was sent. But since then she had not heard about him. Gepau refused to inform her anything, saying that he had been one of the biggest enemis of the regime, so…
Natalya thought what had Blooma to do with the Red Mogid, and was surprised to hear that he had become her husband.
Blooma spoke about her baby, who had been already more than one year old and about Raf’l. The invalid had developed well. The only difficulty Blooma had with him was his feeding, she said.
“He has a healthy appetite”, she said, “and it is a big effort to feed two kids.”
Natalya returned to see Rabbi Aaron’s in the morning. She told him that Elya had promised her to put pressure on the Welfare Department. Then Natalya remarked, that Elya had claimed to be responsible for her release. Could it be true?
Rabbi answered that he could not know. Surely God had caused it.
CHAPTER 30