The Charm School

house. They are supposed to keep the roads plowed, but they don’t. I sit in the house and drink too much. Sometimes I beat my wife and the children for no reason. I had another daughter, Katya, but she died one winter of a burst appendix. Someday they say they will move us to a
sovkhoz
. Maybe. But I don’t know if I want to leave this house. What do American farmers do in winter?”
    “Fix things. Clean their barns, hunt. Some take jobs. It’s not so cold in the winter in America.”
    “Yes, I know that.”
    “How long has Yablonya been here?”
    “Who can say? I came here as a child after the war with my mother. My father died in the war. The government sent my mother here from a bigger village that the Germans burned. A man once told me Yablonya was within the Romanov lands. Another man said it was on the estate of a rich count. Everyone says it was bigger once. There were barns and stables where people had their own horses, troikas, and plows. There were two more wells. But no pumps. Now we have a pump. Some say there was even a church between here and the next village. But that village is gone too. Typhoid. So they burned it. I think the church was burned too. The Germans or maybe the commissars. Who knows?” He asked Hollis, “Do you miss your home?”
    “I have no home.”
    “No home?”
    “I’ve lived in many places.” They spoke casually for a while, then Hollis said, “We must be going.” He added, “I’m afraid if someone here—the children, the babushkas—speak of our visit, it will not be good for Yablonya.”
    “I know that. We will discuss it after you leave.”
    Hollis took Pavel’s hand and pressed a ten-ruble note into it.
    Pavel looked at the note and shoved it into his pocket. “Bring your car around, and I’ll give you five kilos of butter. They’ll give you twenty rubles for it in Moscow.”
    “We’re going to Leningrad. Anyway, the money was for your hospitality.
Da svedahnya
.” Hollis turned and walked back to the house. Lisa was ready to go and had a burlap bag in her hand. She said, “Ida gave me some honey and a bag of pears.”
    Hollis retrieved his briefcase from under the table. “Thank you, Ida. Good-bye, Zina.” He took Lisa’s arm, and they left. As they walked down the road, they heard an old man singing:
    Govorila baba dedu
    Chto v Ameriku poyedu.
    Akh, ty staraya pizda
    Ne poedesh nikuda.
    —Grandma says to Grandpa:
    I’m going to America, you hear?
    Oh, you old pussy,
    You ain’t goin’ nowhere.
    They went behind the hayrick, and standing near the Zhiguli was the young girl named Lidiya. Lisa smiled at her and said in Russian, “Good morning, Lidiya. I wondered if I’d see you.”
    The girl did not return the smile, but said in Russian, “There is a boy here, Anatoly, who is a member of the Komsomol. You know what that is—the Young Communist League? I think this boy will tell the authorities of your visit.”
    Lisa took the girl’s arm. “Perhaps the other children can talk to Anatoly.”
    The girl shook her head. “Anatoly speaks to no one and listens to no one. No one in Yablonya.”
    Hollis said to Lidiya, “Is Pavel Fedorovich the head man here?”
    “They don’t let us have a head man. But yes, it is Pavel Fedorovich.”
    “Then tell him what you told us. And be certain Anatoly does not leave this village today.”
    She nodded.
    Lisa said, “Thank you. I’m sorry we couldn’t speak longer.”
    Lidiya said, “I want to know more about America.”
    Lisa hesitated, then took her card from her bag and gave it to Lidiya. “If you should ever get to Moscow, with your school or on holiday, call that number. From a phone booth only, and only give your first name. Ask for me. Lisa Rhodes.”
    Lidiya stared at the card with the Great Seal on it and pronounced, “Lee-za Rhodes.”
    Lisa gave the girl a kiss on the cheek.
    Lidiya stepped back, looked from Lisa to Hollis, then turned and ran off.
    Hollis said, “I shouldn’t have left that magazine here, and you shouldn’t have given her that card.”
    Lisa replied, “You told me not so long ago that you can’t let
them
dictate how you are going to live. They create fear and suspicion, and it comes between people.”
    Hollis nodded. “Let’s go.” They got into the car, and Hollis started the engine. He let it warm up while the defroster ran.
    Lisa said, “I left ten rubles in the bedroom.”
    “For me?”
    She laughed. “You get hard currency. Very hard.”
    Hollis