Heads You Win

Elena woke early, still not used to sleeping alone. Once she’d given Alexander his breakfast and packed him off to school, she tidied the flat, put on her coat, and left for work. Like Konstantin, she preferred to walk to the docks, and not have to repeat a thousand times, How kind of you.

She thought about the death of the only man she’d ever loved. What were they hiding from her? Why wouldn’t anyone tell her the truth? She would have to pick the right moment and ask her brother, who she was sure knew far more than he was willing to admit. And then she thought about her son, whose exam results were due any day now.

She finally thought about her job, which she couldn’t afford to lose while Alexander was still at school. Was the state pension a hint that they no longer wanted her around? Did her presence continually remind everyone how her husband had died? But she was good at her job, which was why she worked in the officers’ club, and not in the docks’ canteen.

“Welcome back, Mrs. Karpenko,” said the guard on the gate when she clocked in.

“Thank you,” said Elena.

As she walked through the docks several workers doffed their caps and greeted her with a “Good morning,” reminding her just how popular Konstantin had been.

Once she had entered the back door of the officers’ club, Elena hung up her coat, put on an apron, and went through to the kitchen. She checked the lunch menu, the first thing she did every morning. Vegetable soup and veal pie. It must be Friday. She began to inspect the meat and then there were vegetables to be sliced and potatoes to be peeled.

A gentle hand rested on her shoulder. Elena turned to see Comrade Akimov, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“It was a wonderful service,” her supervisor said. “But no more than Konstantin deserved.” Someone else who obviously knew the truth, but wasn’t willing to voice it. Elena thanked him, but didn’t stop working until the siren sounded to announce the mid-morning break. She hung up her apron and joined Olga in the yard. Her friend was enjoying the other half of yesterday’s cigarette, and passed the stub to Elena.

“It’s been one hell of a week,” said Olga, “but we all played our part in making sure you didn’t lose your job. I was personally responsible for yesterday’s lunch being a disaster,” she added after inhaling deeply. “The soup was cold, the meat was overcooked, the vegetables were soggy, and guess who forgot to make any gravy. The officers were all asking when you’d be back.”

“Thank you,” said Elena, wanting to hug her friend, but the siren sounded again.

* * *

Alexander hadn’t cried at his father’s funeral. So when Elena arrived home after work that night and found him sitting in the kitchen sobbing, she realized it could only be one thing.

She sat down on the bench beside him and put an arm around his shoulder.

“Winning the scholarship was never that important,” she said. “Just being offered a place at the foreign language school is a great honor in itself.”

“But I haven’t been offered a place anywhere,” said Alexander.

“Not even to study mathematics at the state university?”

Alexander shook his head. “I’ve been ordered to report to the docks on Monday morning, when I’ll be allocated to a gang.”

“Never!” said Elena. “I’ll protest.”

“It will fall on deaf ears, Mama. They’ve made it clear that I don’t have any choice.”

“What about your friend Vladimir? Will he also be joining you on the docks?”

“No. He’s been offered a place at the state university. He starts in September.”

“But you beat him in every subject.”

“Except treachery,” said Alexander.

* * *

When Major Polyakov strolled into the kitchen just before lunch the following Monday, he leered at Elena as if she were on the menu. The major was no taller than she, but must have been twice her weight, which was, Olga joked, a tribute to her cooking. Polyakov held the title of Head of Security, but everyone knew he was KGB and reported directly to the dock commandant, so even his fellow officers were wary of him.

It wasn’t long before the leer turned into a close inspection of Elena’s latest dish. While other officers would occasionally come into the kitchen to sample a tidbit, Polyakov’s hands ran down her back, coming to rest on her bottom. He pressed himself up against her. “See you after lunch,” he whispered before leaving to join his fellow officers in the dining room. Elena was relieved to see him rushing out of the building an hour later. He didn’t return before she clocked off, but she feared it could only be a matter of time.

* * *

Kolya dropped into the kitchen to see his sister at the end of the day. Elena turned on the water in the sink before she gave him a blow-by-blow account of what she’d had to endure that afternoon.

“There’s nothing any of us can do about Polyakov,” said Kolya. “Not if we want to keep our jobs. While Konstantin was alive he wouldn’t have dared lay a hand on you, but now … there’s nothing to stop him adding you to a long list of conquests who’ll never complain. You only have to ask your friend Olga.”