The Charm School

jumped back and shouted, “
Pizda!
”
    The Ford cut right and proceeded up the street. Mrs. Eschman asked, “What does
pizda
mean?”
    Lisa replied, “Cunt.”
    “Why, that son of a bitch!”
    Jane Ellis added, “I’m going to make a formal complaint. I’m tired of their harassment.”
    Patty White laughed. “I never saw a Soviet citizen move so fast.”
    Hollis asked, “Anyone behind us?”
    The two women in the front looked in their side-view mirrors, and both reported that they didn’t see any cars.
    Betty Eschman cut onto the embankment drive and accelerated up the nearly deserted road that hugged the north bank of the Moskva. It was not the most direct route to the British embassy, which was on the Maurice Thorez embankment opposite the Kremlin, but Hollis knew it was a fast road, an easy road on which to spot tails. Also it passed directly beside Novodevichy Convent. Hollis settled back against the door and looked at Lisa. She stretched out her legs and put her shoeless foot in his groin. “Am I crowding you?”
    The two young women in the back chuckled.
    Jane Ellis said, “What’s going on back there? Behave, Sam.” The women all laughed. Hollis thought his original idea of riding in the trunk might have been better. The Moskva and the road turned south in the river’s great loop below the Lenin Hills. Hollis said, “You’re all going to catch some harassment when you return. Sorry.”
    “Screw them,” Jane Ellis said, who added quickly, “Oh! We’re going to church.”
    Everyone laughed.
    Betty Eschman announced, “There’s the convent straight ahead.”
    Lisa said, “Pull off into that little park in front of the convent, and we’ll tumble out.”
    Hollis said, “Thanks for the lift, ladies.”
    Jane Ellis responded, “It was an honor to have the holders of the Joel Barlow award in the car.”
    Betty Eschman cut off the embankment road into the park and stopped on a paved lane. Hollis and Lisa opened their doors and got out quickly. The car pulled away, and Hollis watched it disappear around the curving river road, then he looked around and said, “I think we’re alone.”
    Lisa brushed off her black trench coat. “Hell of a way to get to church.”
    “Let’s move away from the road.”
    They began walking through the park toward the high crenellated walls of limestone and brick that surrounded the twenty-acre convent grounds.
    Lisa asked, “Are we still fighting?”
    “No.”
    “Good. Are you sorry?”
    “For what?” Hollis asked impatiently.
    “For being difficult. For sleeping on the couch. For—”
    “Yes, yes. I’m sorry.” He looked at his watch. “What time is the service?”
    “At ten. The Soviet government has designated two times for Christian services in all of Russia: ten A . M . and six P . M .”
    “Keeps it simple.” Hollis regarded the ornate battletowers of the convent walls. “Incredible place. Nicer walls than the Kremlin. Which way in?”
    “Follow me.”
    They made their way around to the north wall, which held the Church of the Transfiguration. A stream of people, mostly elderly, came from the nearby metro station and passed through the massive church portals. Hollis looked up at the spires and gold onion domes rising over the wall, set against a sky of Moscow grey, and he became aware of a fine mist settling on his cheeks. “I won’t miss the weather.”
    “No.” Lisa took his arm, and they joined the people going through the arched gates. Lisa asked, “What were you talking to Seth about until four A . M .?”
    “Sex, sports, and religion.”
    “He doesn’t know beans about any of those things, and neither do you.”
    “We figured that out about four, and I left.”
    “You know, every human life needs a spiritual dimension, or it isn’t a complete life. Do you feel there’s something missing from your life?”
    “Yes. Sex, sports, and religion.”
    “I thought I was part of the team. You two are not being fair. You can’t use me and keep me in the dark.”
    “Take it up with Seth.”
    “I don’t think you want me talking to him.”
    “You can talk to whomever you please.”
    “Remember you said that.”
    They passed through the tunnellike entrance of the gate church and came out into the convent grounds. The people around them glanced curiously at Lisa’s well-cut trench coat and examined her footwear. Hollis wore his baggy blue overcoat, narrow-brimmed hat, and shoes that squeaked. Hollis recalled that Captain