Chapter 2: Meeting True Love

Whites are wrong if they think that every African man reacts like Othello.

Thirty-two-year-old Jeff Menard was under control when his wife… Well, it was his girlfriend to be accurate with titles. When his girlfriend informed him that she was leaving, Jeff created neither scandal nor scene. He felt offended but did not show this. He calmly helped his ex to pack her belongings, and even waved his hand while she drove away.

After she left, he returned to the house and thoughtfully removed everything that reminded him of her.

He took a shower, and that evening he went to bed a little earlier than usual. A police officer, he wanted to be in a good shape for tomorrow’s shift.

* * * * *

Vera Grach parked her car on the riverbank. She had discovered this rest area and wanted to show it to her friend, Nina Lapina, because they both loved nature.

«Look how beautiful the view is from here.» Vera smiled, seeing that Nina was impressed. The autumn forest displayed a whole range of hues and tints from a very light yellow to brownish red and dark purple.

The women got out of the car. Nina took the bag of snacks; Vera carried the box with her painting equipment and her easel. They chose a table and started their picnic.

«It looks like Russia,» Nina said sadly, observing the river. Vera sighed. They silently ate, thinking about their motherland.

«Why don’t you get together with Marina?» Nina asked suddenly. «We are the only Russians around. I think we should stay together.»

«I don’t like her,» Vera answered slowly. «I don’t like gloomy people.»

«She has gone through so many ordeals.» Nina was talking, keeping her eyes on the river. «Her father was an alcoholic, as was her mother. One day her parents got so drunk that when the fire started, they didn’t wake up. Both her brothers were gone, too. Her sister was sent to a different orphanage. They lost each other forever. Oh, she’s a real heroine. She was able to find strength and fight her fate. She graduated from the University. She worked and studied. No one supported or helped her; she did it all alone.»

«Gosh.» Vera shook her head. «I didn’t know that. But I don’t feel that she needs my friendship.»

«No, she does!» Nina exclaimed emotionally. «I visit her often. She feels so alone.» She stopped short. «Look, I’ve been watching that for a few minutes, but I can’t figure it out. Is it an animal or just a plastic jug or something?»

Vera turned her head. The women looked hard at a white spot moving in the water not far from the riverbank.

«It’s a cat!» Vera gasped. Forgetting about everything, they ran to the river.

When they got close they saw a white cat. The current carried it, and the animal uttered plaintive meows. Despite their disgust for water, cats can swim well, and the women were surprised that this animal could not get out of the river.

Struggling through bushes on the bank, they ran along the water’s edge.

Nina noticed a few rocks led almost to the middle of the river, and she started to walk upon them carefully.

But her foot slipped. She lost her balance and fell into the water. Now, she was not afraid to get wet, so she just waded through the waist deep water towards the cat and grabbed it.

When she pulled the cat out, she saw its back leg was tangled in a net. This was why the animal was so helpless.

Nina struggled out of the water, and Vera helped her. She gave Nina her jacket, and the women ran back to the car.

* * * * *

Jeff Menard parked his police cruiser near an apartment building and checked the address. He got out and knocked. The door was opened immediately, and he went in.

He saw two young women and recalled that they were Russian. Then he looked around the apartment with curiosity. One woman started to talk, but he only understood the word «cat». Another woman was painting, and she put down the brush with visible displeasure.

Jeff’s eyes involuntarily stopped at her braid. It impressed the young policeman. He had never seen a white woman with hair so thick. The long chestnut braid went all the way down to her waist. Like some fantastic snake, it stirred with any movement of her body, emphasizing every curve.

The woman turned toward him, and her braid fell onto her chest, between her breasts. Jeff was afraid she would misunderstand his gaze and lifted his eyes. Her paleness and strange, severe beauty struck him like a gangster’s bullet. Jeff just stared at her face, barely realizing that the first woman was trying to explain something to him.

«We catch a cat!» she said.

«Found,» the woman with the braid corrected her. «Nina, you should say, „We found a cat.“»

Her tender voice sounded very soft and a little tired. Jeff forced himself to look at the other woman.

«We found a cat,» Nina Lapina repeated obediently. She pointed to the couch, and the policeman saw the fluffy white cat.

«Are you sure it’s not one of your neighbors cats?» Jeff took out his notebook.

«I’m sure.» The woman nodded. «I already know all the cats around here.» She got worried that she had violated some law, and looked at her friend for support.

«Yes, officer.» Vera addressed Jeff. «We found this poor animal when it was struggling out of the river.» She smiled. «I’m almost finished this picture. Wanna look?»

Jeff stepped closer and gazed at her work. It was a sketch, showing two women rescuing a cat from the water, and an impressed Jeff only shook his head. He saw her signature on the paper. Vera Grach, and he was surprised; as he knew an African-American girl with the same name.

«My God!» Vera glanced at her watch. «Sorry, officer, I’ve gotta run. Nina will explain everything.» She took the picture, closed the box with her painting paraphernalia, and, waving her hand, she left.

Jeff stood still, trying to understand what he felt in his soul. But his sense of duty compelled him to go back to business, and he addressed Nina Lapina. «Okay, ma’am, could you tell me exactly where you found the cat?»

* * * * *

Vlad Lapin had driven home, and saw a police car in the parking lot. Thinking about his family, he hastily got out of the car, rushed into the apartment, and almost collided with the police officer.

«What happened?» Vlad saw his wife and calmed down a little. «Is Larisa okay?»

He spoke English so the policeman would understand.

«Don’t worry, honey.» Nina smiled. «I just found a cat.»

Vlad sighed with relief. Then he demonstratively frowned, «It’s very typical of you.»

His job was over here, so Jeff Menard picked up the box with the cat inside and left. Nina followed his car with her eyes, then hugged her husband, «I’m sorry. But the poor kitty almost drowned!»

Vlad laughed, grabbed Nina in his arms, and spun her around a few times.

«Thank God you are all right!» he exclaimed happily. «One day your jokes will give me a heart attack.»

«You already took my heart away,» whispered Nina, bringing her lips close to his.

«I love you, my wonderful little girl.» Vlad panted with adoration, kissing her, and Lapina smiled, recalling the first day she had seen her future husband.

It had happened eight years ago, when Nina was seventeen, and it was her first day in the University. Shyly, the girl had peeped into the classroom, then gone inside. The other students had looked at her, and Nina asked, «Is this group P-16?»

«Yes,» a girl replied. She took out a notebook, and Nina understood that this girl was the monitor of the group, so Nina came close to register her attendance.

«You’ve missed two days,» the monitor said. «The government gives us free education, so you must not be late or skip school.»

«I was sick,» murmured Nina. «I have a certificate from the doctor.»

«Okay.» The girl made a note. «Just remember in future.» She surveyed Nina and grinned. «You’re Jewish, aren’t you?»

«I’m Russian,» Nina retorted. «You can check my papers.»

«Give me a break.» The girl snorted. «You are too ugly to be a Russian.»

Oh! This hurt Nina more than anything, and she silently went deep into the room and sat down at a free place.

«Don’t mind her.» A plain girl sat next to Nina and sighed. «Just five guys for twenty of us. We have no chance, buddy. But we are here for study, not looking for a man, eh?»

Nina nodded. «Ugly,» she thought with bitterness. «I’m ugly…»

«Victor!» the girls screamed, and Nina looked at the young man just entering. Athletic and tall, he waved to the auditorium, casually sat at his place, and struck a pose.

Nina sighed, watching some of the girls move closer to Victor. But a new guy entered the room and her heart jumped like a frightened bunny. Very slender, this blue-eyed blonde was cute as a cherub. His slightly curly hair emphasized the affection in his tender face. Bashful and shy, he looked like the Little Prince of Saint-Exupery.

«It’s an angel.» Nina only could stare at him. ' How could this creature walk on Earth? He should fly…»

«The right man for an ugly girl,» a mocking voice sounded in her mind, and she thought with vexation: «Who cares about him? What kind of man could he be?»

But her heart did not want to hear her mind.

A technician came into the room. She pulled a wagon carrying a big gas cylinder. Nearing the central table, she tried to put the cylinder on it, and she could not, as it was too heavy. Then the thin «angel» hoisted the cylinder with one of his hands, and put it in its place on the table. A whisper of delight ran over the hall.

«Thank you, Vlad,» the technician said.

«Vlad!» Adoring the sound of his name, Nina exclaimed impulsively. «You are a real noble knight.»

His long gold-colored eyelashes flapped like wings of a butterfly as he glimpsed her.

«He looked at me.» Exited, Nina did not even notice gazes from the other girls.

«It’s her job, tubby, to take care of the equipment!» the monitor girl loudly addressed her, for the second time driving Nina into the puddle of painful shame, as she was always concerned about her weight.

«You deserved it,» Nina said to herself. «You’re stupid! If you are ugly, then sit silently.»

But she could not resist herself.

She tried to catch the attention of this guy, but she could not. A group of girls followed Vlad all day long, in the cafeteria, during the reception, at the next lecture. He did not see her behind those tall blondes, and Nina dared not push someone away, as the others did many times to her.

The only relief for Nina was that Vlad Lapin looked very concentrated on study and was so absorbed that he did not even notice the efforts of those girls.

They accompanied him until he returned after school to the apartment building for male students, where entry of females was prohibited.

«He’s dumb,» the monitor girl said with disappointment. «Third day. I bet he’s gay. Or just sick. I give up. There are other guys here.»

The girls went in different directions.

«Sick?» Nina thought about Vlad. «Gay? No matter, we can be just friends. Oh, God! Just to see him… Just to see.»

At home, Nina stared at her reflection in the mirror, and watched as her mother, Alla, came close. They lived together, alone. Alla divorced a long time ago, and Nina did not even remember her father.

The woman tenderly caressed her daughter’s black ringlets. «How was your first day, honey?»

«Mom, am I ugly?» Nina asked instead of giving an answer.

Alla sighed. «You are beautiful, it’s just that not everybody likes classic beauty. I’m afraid you’ll never find a man who can appreciate you enough.»

She left, but Nina still searched her own face; she was satisfied with her lips only.

«It’s considered that big eyes are beautiful. Lie! I look like a cow!» Nina took sunglasses and put them on, trying to hide her eyes, but now her long nose made her resemble an owl. She threw the glasses away and cried with despair.

«I am ugly,» she thought again. «Nothing can help.»

* * * * *

«God Bless America,» thought Nina, smiling with those memories. «So many women around are stout and black-headed. I’m not a social outcast anymore.»

* * * * *

Jeff Menard finished all the formalities in the local animal shelter and returned to his police cruiser. He got in and hesitated for a while. Deliberately, Jeff turned his computer on and typed: «Vera Grach.»

He gazed at the screen. Married. This word killed all his hope.

«Of course, she should be,» Jeff muttered inaudibly. A bitter pain pricked his heart. «I’m a fool. Such a woman…» And he turned the computer off.

* * * * *

A few days later, as Jeff Menard was driving his police cruiser along the small road behind an apartment building, he saw a vehicle moving in the opposite direction.

He recognized the car of Vera Grach, and he sighed. To his surprise, the car was moving very erratically, and he thought that Vera might be drunk.

However, when the vehicles neared each other, he saw Nina Lapina was driving and Vera was next to her. Jeff understood that Vera was teaching her friend how to drive. The car passed by the police cruiser, and Jeff continued to watch it in the mirror.

A few hundred yards farther down, the road turned. Nina lost control, and the vehicle, still heading straight, left the road and vanished from Jeff’s view into a ditch.

Jeff gasped and whirled his cruiser around.

He reached the place where the accident had happened, got out, and looked down.

He sighed with relief. The slope of the ditch was not steep. The car just stopped, and both the women, safe and sound, were standing near it looking at each other in confusion. They heard the police officer’s arrival and turned toward him.

Vera waved her hand, and Jeff neared.

«Officer,» she started to talk. «We have a problem.»

«Don’t you remember me?» asked Jeff, and both Russians gazed at him.

«What am I talking about?» He thought trying to take himself under control. «Who am I to her? Just a policeman.»

«I remember you.» Vera smiled. «You took away the cat that we found.»

Chuckling, Nina gently poked Vera and whispered something into her ear.

«Stop it, Nina.» Vera did not let on, but he understood.

«They noticed my feelings!» Jeff thought, averting his eyes. «I look stupid.»

«I read somewhere,» Vera was addressing Jeff. «A man put a bouquet of the flowers on the porch of his neighbor. The owner of the house reported it to the police, and the man was arrested.»

«Crazy lady,» Nina giggled. «I wish someone put flowers on my porch.»

«I think you’re right, Nina.» Vera fixed her glare on Jeff, and the embarrassed policeman wanted to change the subject. He looked at her car.

«Your car is much cheaper than your husband’s,» he said with surprise.

«We have separate accounts and budgets,» Vera calmly answered, reviving hope in his heart. «We spend money how we want. I need to pay for my study, and the paints are very expensive. Oleg has his own business in Russia. But my account is all the money that I have. I have to be practical.»

«I don’t understand,» Nina cut in. «Why Vera doesn’t kick her light-headed hubby out and find some good, serious man instead.»

«Oleg loves me,» explained Vera, moving her braid in front of her. Enchanted by the view, Jeff watched her long thin fingers mechanically playing with her chestnut hair. «Immigration is a very difficult process. It would be a dishonest act and a betrayal to divorce him.»

«And this is why…» Jeff felt irritation, and lost his careful manner. «you’re ready to sacrifice your life, and maybe the happiness of some other man?»

«Yes, because I appreciate and value such feelings.»

«Don’t you think another man can have the same or maybe even stronger feelings for you?» He saw Nina walk aside leaving him alone with Vera, and he fell silent.

«You don’t know me.» Squeezing her braid, Vera stared at Jeff. The small, refined features of her dizzyingly white face made her look like a mouse.

«I feel as if I’ve known you all my life,» Jeff replied very quietly, and Vera lowered her eyes thinking about her husband.

Vera had been dating Oleg about two months when she received the invitation from the University.

She was afraid that she had misunderstood. She went to her trusted professor, then to the Embassy of the United States.

Everybody confirmed these papers, and an excited Vera barely believed her luck.

She was sorting her belongings when Oleg entered her apartment, and she felt confused. He was a nice man, he helped her, but Vera had no strong feeling for him. She was happy to have a reason to break up with him in a friendly way, without, she hoped, a scandal.

«Oleg.» She tried to talk calmly. «I’m sorry, but we have to stop seeing each other.»

He gazed at her, and Vera finished quickly. «I’ve got a fellowship to study in the U.S.A. I’m moving there.»

Without a word, Oleg circled the room twice.

It seemed as if he could not decide what to do. Suddenly, he approached Vera, fell on his knees, grabbed her hands, and started erotically kissing them.

«How could you think I’d leave you because of that?» He was talking, with a catch in his voice. «I can’t live without you. You are my sunshine and air. Let’s get married! I’ll go with you to the ends of the world!»

Dazed, Vera could not reply; she just did not know what to say. Oleg caressed her and his skillful touching enchanted her, as usual mixing up her thoughts.

Panting and trembling, they helped each other undress, and, drunk with excitement, they hastily got into bed.

«I’m not a whore, am I?» Vera could barely think. «I probably do love Oleg, as I can feel such pleasure. Oh God.» She lost herself for a moment, but thoughts about moving came back. «It’s so difficult to live alone in a foreign country. Well, the Lapins will be in the same city, but they have their own family. Oleg loves me. God, how he loves me! He can always find an out to any situation. It’s great to have someone beside you. Someone whom you can trust.»

The deep vortex of enjoyment sucked her in, and she melted into it.

When she finally opened her eyes and saw Oleg’s face close to her, Vera had difficulty recalling what they had been talking about.

«Would you marry me?» She heard his tender voice, and she nodded. Worry lodged in her heart for a second, but he gasped with such sincere gladness that all her concern was gone at once.

«Everything will be fine,» she thought.

* * * * *

«My name is Jeff.»

The sentence dragged Vera back to the present, and she stared with amazement at the black police officer, discerning true and powerful passion glowing in his dark brown eyes.

«Jeff,» she repeated, dreamily. «Jeff.»