Chapter 6
The men, obviously starving after their time on the road, couldn’t shovel the food into their mouths fast enough. Sonya wondered if they even had time to taste the food April had prepared. She marvelled at the amount of food they were able to wolf down.
A little shocked by the arrival of the unexpected visitors, she looked at them with growing curiosity.
Why would German soldiers be wandering the countryside of California?
Shooting a quick glance at April, she caught the discreet and quick flash of disgust on the young woman’s face as she eyed Boris.
“Good,” Boris said, his mouth full as he broke off a piece of bread and used it to soak up the juices of the roast. “Not as good as German food, but it will do.”
As Igor helped himself to a second serving, and broke the remaining chunk of bread in two, Sonya tried to catch April’s gaze. Did the young woman see the potential danger of these men?
“I have another loaf of bread warming in the oven,” April told Igor. “Would you like some more?”
Through a feral snarl, he chomped down on his food and shook his head.
Sonya bit down on a worried smile. April was playing the perfect little hostess, ensuring that her guests had everything they needed. She seemed completely oblivious to the growing tension in the room.
“April,” Sonya said with forced calm. “Could you pass me that last piece of bread, please?”
“Sure,” April said.
As the young woman handed the piece of bread to her, Sonya caught her gaze and made a slight gesture with her head, hoping April would understand the need for her to get out of the room.
“Why do you not eat?” Igor growled suddenly.
Sonya looked down at her untouched plate, then glanced at April’s plate. Despite playing the polite hostess, she had barely touched her food either.
Igor threw his fork on the table with a clatter. “What’s wrong with this food? Why you do not eat?”
“It’s good,” Boris said, his mouth full. “The food is good, Igor.”
“Shut up,” Igor said as he slapped Boris’s fork out of his hand. “They’ve poisoned the food.”
“What?” April said, clearly shocked and appalled at the notion.
“You eat nothing,” Igor shouted. “Why you don’t eat your food?”
“My good sir,” April said with the utmost calm and serenity.
“It would simply be impolite of me as your hostess to eat before you’ve had your fill.
Nay, it would be downright rude of me. You are my guests, unexpected as you were.
Clearly you’ve not eaten for days. Imagine the selfishness of my gesture were I to eat the food on my plate only to not have enough of this roast to fill your very empty bellies. ”
Boris chuckled through a grunt. “The girl is right, Igor. I’m ready to fill my plate again and there’s almost nothing left of that roast.”
“Shut up,” Igor snapped.
“Besides,” April added. “I’m a nibbler.”
Frowning, Igor glared at her. “Nibbler? What’s that?”
“I have the incorrigible habit of nibbling while cooking. Without exaggeration, I took at least five bites of that roast while checking to see if it was cooked to my liking. I also ate a large spoonful of those mashed potatoes. I have no doubt that my hunger is far less important then yours.”
Igor turned his angry eyes to Sonya. “What about you? Why don’t you eat?”
Sonya froze.
“Yeah,” Boris said, finally joining in on Igor’s suspicions. “Why aren’t you eating?”
Shaking off the surprise of the accusation, Sonya smiled and looked down at her plate. “I didn’t want to bring it up...” She glanced apologetically at April. “I didn’t want to make my hostess and new pupil uncomfortable, but...”
“Is there something wrong with your meal, Sonya?” April said, genuinely distraught.
“I should have mentioned it earlier,” Sonya said with a shake of her head. “Thing is, I don’t eat meat.”
“Oh, Sonya,” April gasped. “You should have told me sooner. I would have been happy to prepare something else for you.”
“I didn’t want to trouble you,” Sonya said.
April brought her open palms to her cheeks. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t even think to ask you what you wanted for dinner. I just assumed that my roast would do the trick.”
“Don’t fret over it, April,” Sonya said. She looked at her young hostess and was so impressed by her maturity and composure. “Your roast looks delicious, and this is all my fault.”
“Regardless,” April said as she stood. “I need to remedy the situation. I’ll find something to substitute the roast.”
“Please, don’t go to any trouble on my account, April. The mashed potatoes and string beans will do just fine.”
Sonya noticed how the two men were equally impressed with the young woman who held her head high, regal in her posture. She had a way about her that was far beyond her tender age.
“Well,” April said as she took a step away from the table. “Nonetheless, I’ll go see about preparing some tea.” She looked pointedly at the two men. “You do drink tea, don’t you?”
The men, seemingly gobsmacked by April’s confident control of the room, nodded. But as April made her way to the door, Boris stood up and reached out to stop her. Igor grunted and, with a simple jut of his chin, had Boris sitting back down again.
“Please, gentlemen, finish your meal,” April said. “I’ll be right back.”
The moment April left the room, all four eyes turned to Sonya, scrutinizing her in the most uncomfortable manner.
For a brief moment, she fought the urge to fidget in her seat.
But as her determintation to hold her own took over, she fought the urge to crack her neck and show them what she was really made of.
“You one of those Japanese?” Igor said with a hint of disgust. He resumed eating, concerns of poison behind him.
“Actually, I’m Chinese,” Sonya said with a sad undertone. “Unfortunately, the China that I once knew is no more.”
“That’s right,” Igor said, barely containing a contented grin. “The last great Emperor of China was put in prison, right?”
“Along with his lovely wife,” Boris added with a chuckle. He reached across the table to pick up April’s plate, set it over his empty plate and proceeded to eat April’s dinner. “Hang on. Didn’t the empress die in prison?”
Sonya nodded sadly.
“And now China is in ruins,” Igor said. He speared Sonya’s slice of the roast and set it on his plate. Cutting it in two, he quickly ate it.
“Well,” Sonya said. “It appears that the world was in ruins. But then it seems that’s to be expected in times of war. Nothing good ever comes of it, just destruction and death. Thank God, it is over, and now the world is rebuilding.”
“Wars are not always bad,” Igor said as he set his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “A lot of good can come from a war.”
“Good?” Sonya said, holding back from gagging on her disgust. “What ‘good’ do you speak of?”
“Victory,” Igor said. “Victory is sweet. But, I see your point when you look at China...” He let out a grunt.
“Gone are the dynasties and empires. Gone are the emperors. Ha. And Japan. Damn, did they get it good. Look at what that bomb did to them. But... it wasn’t enough.
No, they dropped another bomb on them and laid them flat. ”
He looked pointedly at Sonya, a crooked and condescending grin on his lips. She stared him down, unwilling to let him win this insignificant battle.
After a long moment, he grunted through a broad grin. “So, what do you think of your Asia now? Not so high and mighty, are you?”
“The Chinese are a very strong and determined people; hard-working and devoted. The culture is beautiful. One must not confuse the people with the ones who govern them. From my experience, one Emperor may be better or worse than the other.”
“So?” he said with a cock of his arrogant brow.
“So,” Sonya said, leaning forward to set her elbows on the table, her gaze hard and steady.
“The people, like all people on Earth, just want to have a safe and secured community, food in their bellies, a government governed by just and fairness. I left China shortly after the war. It was in ruins with Civil Wars. Now, I am in America, an American, where I have finally found freedom. When I came over and first saw the Statue of Liberty, I felt an immense weight lift, a sense of pride. I prefer living in a Republic. Here in America, people can elect their leaders, and if they work hard, they are all equal to be able to become wealthy, to make something of themselves. There is no limit to your creativity, no limit to success. The women here have more freedoms. Women can go to college, women can have a career, become actors, writers, leaders, mothers with careers, and even President. Before...I lived in a cage, like a songbird, in a beautiful golden cage. But now, I am free, able to be what I want to be, go where I want to go, speak what I want to say, read what I want to read, and live the way I want to live.”
“Ha!” Igor and Boris let out at the same time.
“Freedom?” Igor said. “What does common people, a mere woman like you know what you want to do? It is better for someone else to make those decisions for you. It is better for everyone to have everything the same. Let the State decide your profession, decide for you and your family how many children you can have, decide how much you can have, and whatever you make, have it distributed to everyone equally. No one gets more or less.”
Boris coughed, “Except a few of those more equal than the rest.”
“Sounds like a contradiction,” Sonya said. “You have a leader? You have a hierarchy? Is there order? If not, who decide who gets what and how much?” Sonya looked from Boris to Igor.
“We have one man, no woman, to tell the rest of the state what to do,” Boris said.
“You may be acting like Nazis from WW2 Germany, and your ideology is similar in that you have a dictator with no branches of government, no election from the people,” said Sonya. ”But you’re not really from Germany, aren’t you? Not really what you seem.”
The men’s expression of annoyance and dismay told Sonya she was right, but before anyone can act, April burst into the room.