Chapter twenty-one
Impromptu
Kalli went to visit the twins after class on Tuesday. They seemed to be in high spirits.
“There is a wonderful thing that is going to happen, Kalli. A wonderful thing,” Demitri was dancing around the dorm room and his brother followed him with his eyes, a slight grin playing on his face.
“Do I want to know?” Kalli asked Sasha.
“It’s a tad demented that he is so ecstatic. Take it down a notch will you?” Sasha shook his head. “We just got word that a family friend passed away suddenly and so Demitri is dancing because we get to go home. You are a sick man, Demitri Papov!”
Kalli released a nervous laugh. “I’m glad for his happiness. I’m sorry for your loss. When are you leaving? When are you coming back?” Kalli tried desperately to keep a straight face at Demitri’s behavior now.
“We aren’t sure yet. We still have to talk to Lupe and the head office to get ourselves excused, but as soon as possible I imagine.”
“Can I come too? You might need some support.” Kalli tilted her head slightly to the side.
“No,” three voices answered at once. They all turned to see Dragen standing in the doorway. “We wouldn’t want you to miss too much school in your first year,” Sasha clarified. Kalli frowned. “We’ll take you some other time, okay?”
“Alright,” Kalli stayed a while longer before saying her goodbyes for the afternoon and left. Leaving the boys to talk. She wondered absently why Dragen was at the twins’ dorm.
Kalli walked slowly back to her dorm. She looked behind her. Did Dragen not leave after her? “Bet he’s still plotting with Sasha and Demitri. Romanian traitor,” she muttered.
“What about my father?” A deep voice came from behind her.
“Woah! How’d you do that??”
“Pardon?” Dragen was absentmindedly fixing his jacket.
“I just looked behind me! You weren’t there!”
“Of course I was.”
“No you weren’t! I wouldn’t miss someone like you Dragen! It’s bright outside and you are tall, dark, and scary!” Dragen didn’t reply. “Whatever. I’m sorry. Wait...when you came up behind me you asked me why I was talking about your father, but I was talking about you. Why did you think I was talking about your father?”
“No reason,” his face was expressionless.
“That’s a lie. I can tell.”
“Who are you? Masashi?” Masashi was the only other one who ever called him out on anything. Everyone else just chose to believe the lies.
“No, but, like him, I am your friend. Don’t lie to me Dragen. I won’t buy into it. I'm not afraid to learn about you. I'm not afraid to stand up to you,” he tried to walk away but she stepped in front of him, putting her hand on his chest so he couldn’t pass without removing her. “Dragen. What happened to your father?”
“Absolutely nothing,” he grabbed her wrist softly but with a certain firmness that made Kalli freeze with fear. “Drop it.”
Kalli was shocked into silence. He dropped her hand and walked past her brushing her shoulder softly with his jacket sleeve. It took her a few moments to recover. What had she said? What reminded him of his family? Did she just discover the key to Dragen’s past? If she did, where was the lock?
Lupe was shocked. She didn’t think the twins wanted to ever go back to Russia with all the memories it held. Though she decided she shouldn’t really be because of their constant loyalty to their friends. “Will you come back?”
“As soon as we can. As soon as we make sure the family is settled in and safe,” Sasha assured her. “We won’t be gone too long. We’ll just get all the affairs in order and come right back.”
“Alright, I’ll call the attendance office and have you two excused..."
“Three.”
“Three?”
“Dragen’s coming with us.”
“So you bump me off the project just to join it yourself? Really?”
“Me being a part of this is different then you being a part of it,” Dragen said his hands up in surrender to a furious Kalli. She was hitting him repeatedly with every word.
“How so?”
“I have experience with this type of thing. You don’t.”
“What do you mean ‘experience’?” Kalli asked using air quotes.
“They said the friend died unexpectedly. I’ve had experience dealing with the grieving friends and family of murder victims. And I’ve done it with a much lower profile. In Russia, the twins are sure to have bad memories pop up. I am equipped to deal with that,” Dragen said plainly. “I doubt you have ever had a government watching you and wanting to take your freedom from you for something your parent did,” Dragen’s eyes got a faraway look. “Watching the woman who gave birth to you die in front of your eyes at such a young age creates a scar. It creates a scar so deep it haunts every living breath you take until you get vengeance on the monster that pulled the trigger. Guns, they allow cowards to kill without feeling the flesh breaking, without dirtying their hands. All that is left is a small hole and if you get lucky investigating you find a small piece of metal in the corpse. That’s it. People can leave no trace with a common hand gun. I,” Dragen paused blinking back to reality. “Sorry, I am a little out of it, if you will excuse me,” he bowed slightly at the waist and turned to leave.
Kalli grabbed his hand. “Dragen, wait,” He turned his face to her, it looked vulnerable. She threw her arms around his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I don’t know exactly what happened to you. But I’m sorry.”
Dragen said nothing but he allowed his eyes to close and for the first time in a while allowed himself to enjoy the touch of another human being.
"Come back safe, okay?"
He didn't answer.
“Kalli! I’m going to Japan!” Lupe screamed from across the lunch room, running to her, pushing people out of the way like they didn’t exist, “Did you hear me?”
Kalli looked up. “I think people in Canada heard you. Why are you going to Japan?”
“Masashi is taking me for Winter Break! He knew I didn’t want to go home so I was just going to stay in the dorms, but Masashi is going skiing in Haikkaido and he wants me to come with him so badly he got me a ticket in advance. Masashi just surprised me with it!” She screamed, showing Kalli the green plane ticket.
“That’s so exciting! So you and Masashi are getting pretty serious?” Lupe bit her lip meaning, she was so far in love that no one and no force could pull her out.
Saturday came too quickly. Data Venia rode to the airport with the twins and Dragen. The bus ride was quiet.
“Kalli?”
Kalli pried her eyes from the window to face Dragen sitting next to her. “Yes?”
“I am sorry,” His eyes weren’t disconnected like they normally were. He was sincere.
“Whatever for? I don’t understand,” Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember why he might be apologizing.
“I know you wanted to go, and don’t really understand why I get to go instead,”
“That isn’t your…" His hand covered her lips to cut her off.
“I’m not finished.”
“Sorry. Please continue.”
“Thank you. I was harsh when you asked about my father. It is a soft subject for me and I still can’t tell you now,” He paused. “And, finally, I have to apologize. I have never been truthful with you.”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“Do you remember when Sasha and Demitri drug you off and locked you in a closet with Percy?”
“Yeah, we were talking but you never really got to the point now that I think about it,” Kalli tried to concentrate but she couldn’t remember much of that day besides kissing Percy. Though it led to disaster, she thought of it fondly.
“That’s right. Well what I was planning on saying to you…”
“We’re here,” Lupe said with a touch of sadness in her chipper voice. “Let’s go.”
&
nbsp; Dragen slid out of the seat. “Come on,” He helped Kalli off the bus.
“So, you were saying?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dragen said without looking at her, avoiding her ever present gaze was especially difficult for him today because he knew he might never see her again and she might be the last kind face he sees.
“Dragen, you are about to leave. The might be the last words you say to me for weeks, possibly more. Now, please, say what’s on your mind,” They were walking towards security. The separation point.
“I...I…” Dragen stammered as Lupe told everyone to say their goodbyes, “I...I’m sorry.”
“Just…” Her sentence was cut off. Dragen was showing her exactly what he wanted to say to her. His kiss was different then Percy’s but it had the same sweet essence. His kiss was harder but reluctant to push her. It was careful--unsure--but Kalli didn’t pull away. She was shocked. Her brain wouldn’t interpret the language he was speaking.
Percy turned to say goodbye to Dragen. He saw Kalli next to him. He tried to walk over to them but he felt his throat close up as he saw Dragen lean towards Kalli and steal her lips. But the real pain was in his chest when she didn’t pull away from him. Every muscle in his body was tensed and aching but his eyes would not move from the heartbreaking scene, “Chto eto?” He heard the twins say behind him with a gasp and unreserved interest.
Dragen pulled away from Kalli. “Goodbye, Kalli. Please forgive me.”
Kalli stood frozen as Dragen led the twins towards security. She watched as his head disappeared behind the crowds and sensors.
Percy felt physically sick on the ride back to campus. Seeing Kalli in Dragen’s arms like that made him gag.
Lupe was trying to smooth over the tension in the air. Even Masashi had no idea Dragen would do something like that, especially to Kalli of all people. Everyone was shocked and frazzled
Kalli was thinking about the kiss. There was an edge to it that made her think that perhaps Dragen thought his chances of coming back alive were less than he was letting on. His goodbye sounded less of a ‘for now’ and more of a ‘forever’. Had he taken her ‘last words’ speech to heart, or was his trip far more dangerous than anyone knew?
“You didn’t really come just to see Russia, did you?” Sasha said to Dragen as soon as the plane reached altitude and Demitri was asleep. Dragen shook his head. “Why are you coming then?”
“I want to be allowed to go home without fear.”
“Aren’t you from Romania? Why can’t you go home? I don't understand.”
“I know,” Dragen’s eyes remained forward and cold but Sasha knew that his soul was burning with some kind of anger. Sasha had noticed it the day he met Dragen but he figured it wasn’t his business but now he was with Demitri and himself, so it was business. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, it’s a long plane ride. Demitri’s asleep so it’s just you and me. I know you hate to, but talk to me. Maybe I can help you.”
“I do believe that is the first time I have ever heard you, or your brother, refer to yourself as ‘I’ except when introducing yourselves,” Dragen nearly smiled at the thought.
“Well we have been together so long there was never really much need for us to be individuals.”
“Hum,” Dragen mused. “Well since you are going to find out anyway I might as well tell you,” Dragen paused. “Romania has a very large--and sometimes very profitable--black market. But working in it is illegal of course. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I know what a black market is,” Sasha said in a ‘duh’ kind of way.
“Well that’s the world I grew up in, and that world ruined my family. It seduced my father. He betrayed my mother and I when we needed him most,” The tears of a childhood Dragen began to well up in his eyes. “He dealt valuable substances and framed his wife, my mother, for the crimes. She knew about it of course, but when he started spending more time drinking and dealing than being home with the family she threatened to turn him in. He shot down my mother without mercy and I held her as she died. She told me to run and never return unless I knew for sure that it was safe. I came home too early and when I did my father was there, not a tear on his face. He told me to turn myself in, take the blame for the murder, and save his life. When I refused he tried to kill me. I ran. I lived by myself for a while. I was 11 years old. When I turned 13 I lied about my age to get a driver’s license. I drove for an underground band. We were always moving from place to place on tour and for auditions. That made a decent cover for someone who wanted to be underground. It was the guys who taught me how to play. Of course they figured out I wasn’t old enough to drive soon enough, but they still agreed to let me stay. I worked in exchange for food and an occasional lesson. When I was 18 I came to UA and it has been the highlight of my life,” Dragen finished with a tight, painful and forced smile on his face. "Especially this year."
“So let me get this straight,” Sasha mused, “Your father did some illegal stuff, got too far in so he killed your mom, wanted you to basically commit suicide by turning yourself in for his crime, then tried to kill you, and you have been living on the run since then? Have I got everything?” Dragen nodded. “So why are you coming with us to Russia?”
“After the funeral, I will send you and your brother back to campus--I really just needed a reason to be on this side of the world--I will go to Romania, kill my father, avenge my mother, and free myself. He has followed me for a while and I won’t be safe until his heart stops.”
“You and I both know that’s suicide! Do you want to die? You said yourself that you father killed her without mercy. Are you tired of living? Is that it? How long have you been planning this?” Sasha demanded loudly but hushed his voice to not hold attention. “What about us? Your friends? What are we supposed to do without you? What about Kalli? You promised her you would come back safe!”
“Actually…” Dragen started but Sasha cut him off.
“Not answering no when she tells you to isn’t the same thing as telling her you might not come back. You cannot deny you care for her. How can you do this to her? Can you imagine what will happen to her when she sees your body? She will blame herself. You know she will. She finds ways to blame herself for everything. Are you really willing to do that to her...?”
“Stop it, Sasha! Please, I beg you. Stop speaking these tragedies! Do you really think I want to die? No. I don't. But do you really call what I’m doing living? You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave her like that. But I know she will be fine, Percy will take care of her,” Dragen’s voice was sad. “I knew it would come eventually, so I am going to him before he can get to me. It is not for sure he will kill me on sight. He might want to talk to me.”
“Unlikely”
“I know. But I have to try. For everyone’s sake.”