When Christina woke up early on Friday morning, none of her fear remained from the day before. Her last day with the Levchenkos hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped, but everything had worked out in the end. She was showered and dressed by the time the sun had come up. It didn't feel right to wear her jeans after last night, so she decided to wear the last skirt that Nina had picked out for her, and her plain white blouse.

        Christina opened her suitcase and loaded as many of her new clothes into it as she could. The rest of them went back into her shopping bags. Once everything was packed, she went to the bathroom mirror and fixed her hair and makeup. Looking back into Anastasia's bedroom, she sighed. The whole trip had been a mess, but she was going to miss sleeping in that room.

        Once she was ready for the day, Christina went downstairs, bumping into Andrei as he was leaving the kitchen. Looking at her cousin, she started to explain, "About what I said last night-"

        Before she could get another word out, Andrei pulled her close to him. He said, "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter."

        Christina allowed herself to lean against her cousin and she hugged him back. When Andrei released Christina, the two of them went to the kitchen, chatting as though none of the scary parts of last night had ever happened.

        When Misha emerged from the basement with a basket of clothes, she put it down and greeted both of the children. Nina joined them shortly, and she and Christina joked and laughed until it was time for Nina to leave for school.

        After Misha left with her daughter, it was just Andrei and Christina again. As she continued to talk with Andrei about nothing in particular, Christina knew she was stalling. It was as though she'd lived a whole year over the past week, and she wasn't quite ready to let go yet.

        Regardless of how she felt, she knew she had to get back to her old life, and her responsibilities, so she broke off the small talk, saying, "I guess we should pick up my car now."

        Andrei concurred and went upstairs with his cousin. He insisted on carrying her suitcase and the rest of her bags downstairs. Boris demanded one last pat on the head before Christina and Andrei went out to the old green pickup truck. He secured all of Christina's bags in the back, then slowly drove her into town. It seemed that he was stalling, too.

        After Andrei parked the truck on the side of Main Street, he went around to the passenger side and opened Christina's door. As he helped Christina out of the truck, he held out his arm with a flourish. "May I?" he asked with an exaggerated bow.

        "Yes sir, you may," Christina responded with a curtsey and a smile. Taking her by the arm, he escorted her to Mr. Conrad's service station.

        Mr. Conrad was a bald, wrinkled old man in filthy overalls, whose face seemed frozen in a permanent sneer. People in town often speculated that Mr. Conrad would have died years ago if his entire body had not been animated by pure spite.

        When Mr. Conrad saw that Andrei and a pretty young girl were approaching, he took an oil covered cloth from his back pocket and used it to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. "Andrei, have you reconsidered my offer?"

        "Yes, several times," Andrei replied sarcastically, "And it gets funnier each time."

        Mr. Conrad sneered at Andrei and barked, "Then what are you coming by for?"

        "This is my cousin Christina," Andrei said as he motioned to her. "We're here to get her car."

        "Come on back," Mr. Conrad said, "There's somthin' you two ought'n to see."

        Christina and Andrei saw that her car was still up on a lift. It looked as though the body had been banged back into a respectable shape, but the back axle was still broken.

        "Conrad!" Andrei yelled. "What is this? You said the car would be fixed today."

        Mr. Conrad growled, "The little girl's gonna have to walk 'till next week. I'm waiting for a new axle- there's no fixin' to be done without it."

        "Conrad," Andrei fumed, "You promised me it would be ready this morning! Friday, you said."

        The old man stuck his shriveled finger into Andrei's face with the ferocity of a pit bull and snarled, "That there was an es-tee-mit! You hear?"

        Christina could feel a knot forming in her stomach. She'd felt the knot so many times the last few days that she speculated it might move into her stomach permanently and build a nice cottage where it could raise a small family of tiny knots.

        "And," Mr. Conrad added, "I've been workin' on this lemon since Tuesday, and I haven't seen one red cent!"

        Andrei and Mr. Conrad descended into a shouting match; a fury of guttural noises, flaring teeth, and accusing fingers.

        Christina took a deep breath and said, "Hey." When neither man responded, she screamed, "Hey!"

        The men stopped their bickering and Christina asked, "When will the part get here?"

        Mr. Conrad clasped his chin with his grease covered thumb and forefinger and said, "I don't 'magin my supplier will be through here until Tuesday ... Wednesday at the latest. As soon as it gets here lil' lady, it'll be nothin' at all to fix." Mr. Conrad turned back to Andrei and shouted, "Until then, it's gonna stay put, isn't it!"

        Andrei squinted angrily at the old man.

        "And," Mr. Conrad demanded, "I've got a good mind to take that clunker off the lift and park it out back unless I see some money today."

        Christina remembered what Steph had said in the diner. Mr. Conrad was indeed a miserable old bastard. her shoulders sank. "Okay," she said, "I can pay you right now."

        Andrei started to speak, but Christina shushed him. The three of them went into Mr. Conrad's office, which was small and grimy, just like its owner.

        "How much is this going to cost?" Christina asked calmly.

        Mr. Conrad fingered the keys on an ancient adding machine and said, "Once the part gets here, and I put it in, and we add up the work already done ... round that off ... let's say, fifteen hundred."

        Christina's mouth opened wide. "Fifteen hundred dollars?"

        Andrei shouted, "That's outrageous!"

        Christina placed her hand on Andrei's arm to prevent the situation from deteriorating again. Christina took a deep breath and despondently said, "I can give you a thousand dollars now, and five hundred next week." She took her debit card out of her purse and handed it to Mr. Conrad.

        Mr. Conrad quickly ran Christina's card through an old card reader and presented her with a receipt.

        Christina took her card and the paper and put them into her purse. "Is it okay if I get you the rest of the money, maybe by next Friday?"

        Mr. Conrad leaned back in his chair and said, "Little lady, the day you bring me my money, is the day you can leave here with that car."

        Christina squeezed Andrei's arm to prevent him from making a scene. Standing up, she took Andrei by the hand, and left the service station.

        When they got to the street, Christina pulled out her receipt and stared at it. She frowned, "That was pretty much all the money I had left in the world. I'm going to have to find some way of paying him."

        Andrei took the receipt from Christina and looked at it. "Don't worry," he said, "You can stay with us. I'll drive you to your appointment today."

        Christina nodded and said, "Yeah, okay. I think that's a good idea. Let me make one call first."

        Christina put the receipt back into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She flipped through the address book until she found the number for work. She pressed dial on Mr. Patel's number and waited for him to pick up.

        "Hello?" Mr. Patel barked.

        Christina bit her lower lip. Mr. Patel was obviously in a bad mood already. "Mr. Patel, it's Chris," she said. "I'm still having car problems, but don't worry. I have a way to get to Unitech, and everything is going to work out. I'm leaving right now."

        "Don't even bother," Mr. Patel said.

        "Why not?" Christina asked, "I worked out a way to get there, I'll-"

        "While you were busy with car trouble, Jim snapped up the support contract."

        "Jim?" Christina repeated in disbelief. Mr. Patel had told her that Jim, the head programmer for the inventory system, had left the company, but she didn't realize he was going to poach their clients.

        "Yes Jim," Mr. Patel snapped. "He was at Unitech yesterday. It's all over. And Dilip has left with him. We are short handed, and I need you back right now."

        "But Mr. Patel," Christina pleaded, "My car won't be ready until Tuesday."

        "Dammit, Chris, I don't want to hear about your car again. You've already cost us the Unitech contract. You can either be here on time, Monday morning, or you can find somewhere else to work."

        "Yes sir," Christina said in resignation. "I understand."

        Mr. Patel hung up, and Christina closed her cell phone, dropping it back into her purse.

        Andrei looked at his cousin and said, "Let's go. We can be there in a few hours."

        Christina shook her head. She refused to let herself cry. After all the convolutions and half baked plans, it was all over. She was out of money and out of time. Not only was she going to lose her new family, but also her job. There was no way out of this one, and she didn't feel like explaining it all to Andrei. If she said any of it aloud, she would surely cry. Instead, she cleared her throat and held her chin up. "My meeting was cancelled," Christina said, fighting the lump in her throat, "You don't have to drive me anywhere."

        Andrei raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

        "Yeah," she lied, "Everything is fine. It looks like I might have to stay a little longer though."

        Andrei smiled and said, "Good," completely failing to notice his cousin's depression.

        Steph is a good judge of people, Christina thought. Mr. Conrad is a miserable old bastard, and Andrei is completely oblivious.

        "So," Andrei started, "What do you want to do? The entire town is yours."

        Christina continued to fight back her tears and said, "I'd appreciate it if you would walk me to the grocery store."

        Andrei took his cousin by the arm and led her down the street and around the corner to the family grocery. The two of them walked in and were noticed immediately by Misha. She came out from behind the counter to greet the children.

        "Christina!" she said with delight, "What are you still doing here, child?"

        "Her appointment was canceled," Andrei explained. "And her car isn't ready. She needs to stay until next week."

        "Of course she can stay," Misha beamed as she ushered Christina into the store.

        Andrei took out his keys and went to the door. Before he left, he said to his mother, "I'm going to take Christina's things back to her room." He rushed out.

        Noticing her niece's expression, Misha asked, "What is the matter Tina?"

        "Nothing Aunt Misha," Christina responded. "My stomach is just a little upset is all."

        "Go rest in the back, sweetheart," Misha said in a comforting tone.

        Christina shook her head and said, "If it's okay, I'd like to work for a while." She wandered off to find something to do.

        "Certainly," Misha said softly. She could tell something was wrong, but she would wait until her niece was ready to talk about it.

        Christina spent another day in the grocery with her aunt and uncle, using the constant work to keep her mind occupied. The day slipped into night, and Andrei returned to take them all home. It surprised Christina to see just how happy Andrei was that she was staying. When Christina got back, she found Nina and Boris waiting for her in the living room.

        Nina rushed to Christina and threw her arms around her. "Andrei said you were staying, but I didn't believe him," she sparkled.

        Christina held her back and said, "I was afraid I was going to miss you too much."

        The family sat down at the dinner table and Misha started dinner. Andrei explained the trouble they'd had with Mr. Conrad and Nina went on about her day at school.

        When the food was served, Christina stood up and said, "Aunt Misha, Uncle Alek, can I be excused?"

        "Of course, Tina." Misha answered.

        Christina shuffled out of the kitchen, and Nina asked, "Mom, what's wrong with Christina?"

        Misha told her daughter, "I do not know dear, but she will let us know in time."

        Andrei was broken out of his trance. He had been so pleased that Christina was staying that he hadn't noticed something was obviously wrong.

        Christina went upstairs to the bathroom, where she took off her makeup. She went back into Anastasia's room and closed the door behind her. After taking off her clothes and placing them neatly on the chest of drawers, she slipped into her satin boxer pajamas, crawled into bed, and just lay there. She couldn't sleep. How could her life have changed so much in just one week? Her job was over. Her life with Amy was over. Her time with the Levchenkos would be at an end soon, too. Rolling over, she began to cry into her pillow.

 

        Hours later, she heard a knock on her door. Christina peeled back the covers and got out of bed. Opening the door, she was surprised to find Andrei standing in the hallway. "Hey Andrei," Christina said in a tiny voice.

        Andrei said, "Come on, we're going for a walk."

        Christina sighed, "I don't feel like taking a walk."

        "Of course you don't," Andrei said as he barged into the room, "And that's exactly why we're going." He picked up Christina's flats and handed them to her.

        When she gave him a look that said "no," Andrei held his hands up and said, "Fine. You don't have to walk- I'm just as willing to carry you."

        Christina begrudgingly took her shoes from her cousin and put them on her feet. She gave Andrei her hand and allowed him to lead her downstairs. When they got to the front door, Christina complained, "I don't have my coat."

        Andrei took off his jacket and wrapped it around his cousin. "There we go."

        He took Christina out the front door and around back to the barn. She shivered as the wind blew against her bare legs. Andrei opened the barn door, but he didn't turn on the light. Instead, he took out a flashlight and led her through the darkness, stopping at an old wooden ladder that went up into the loft.

        Christina looked at her cousin, "And this is for?"

        Andrei laughed at Christina, "It's for climbing."

        Christina batted her eyes in disbelief. "Perhaps I neglected to tell you about my paralyzing fear of creepy ladders in dark old barns?"

        Andrei patted her on the bottom and said, "Yes I know all about it. Now get up. I'll be right behind you."

        Christina climbed the ladder and Andrei trailed a few rungs below her feet. She couldn't see where she was going, so she made sure to feel for each rung in the darkness. When she ran out of rungs, she called to Andrei, "I'm at the top- what do I do now?"

        Andrei called out, "Just keep going, and step forward."

        "It's really dark," she complained.

        Andrei answered, "Trust me, ok?"

        Christina groaned in capitulation. She pulled herself onto the floor of the loft and sat in the darkness until Andrei came up the ladder. She took his hand, and he helped her up. Andrei shone the flashlight at the other end of the loft where a large wooden bench faced the outer wall. he took his cousin across the loft to the bench.

        Christina looked at the bench. It was of simple design, and covered with tattered old cushions and pillows.

        Andrei motioned for her to sit down, and she did. She watched as Andrei fiddled with some sort of metal bolt on the wall, then sat down next to her.

        "I come here to think sometimes," Andrei said contentedly.

        "Yes," Christina observed sarcastically, "I stare at walls all the time when I relax."

        Andrei laughed as he kicked his booted foot forward.

        Christina gasped when she saw the large barn door swing open and found herself looking directly out into the night sky. The barn door provided an amazing view down the side of the mountain. She could see the lights in the valley below and in the glow on the horizon of cities in the distance. She was at eye level with a boundless sea of stars, seeming to float amongst a million holes in the sky. They were so many and so luminescent that she could clearly see her cousin's face.

        "It's amazing," Christina gasped.

        "Yes, well the chair is my work," Andrei joked. "But the rest was made by someone with much bigger hands."

        When Christina began to shiver in the cool night air, Andrei produced a scruffy quilt and draped It over himself and Christina. Christina snuggled up close against her cousin under the quilt and he put his arm around her.

        "There aren't any stars where I live," Christina said.

        "Yes there are," Andrei corrected, "You just can't see them."

        Christina pointed out into the distance and said. "That's where I live."

        "Over there?" Andrei asked as he looked at the glow on the horizon.

        "Start there, and keep going for like another six hundred miles," Christina said. "Picture a bunch of old, crumbling buildings, where everything is paved, and the sky is always filled with smog."

        "I can see it," Andrei joked. "I like what you've done with the place."

        Christina laughed, "Well, it was a real dump before I moved in." She paused then added, "That's where I belong."

        Andrei sat in silence for a moment and then spoke. "I have to apologize. I made everything hard for you when it didn't have to be. The way I acted, it was because ..."

        Christina finished his thought. "... because you thought I was taking Anastasia's place."

        Andrei tensed his jaw and nodded. "And because I was jealous of you."

        "How could you ever be jealous of me?"

        "My parents ... Nina ... even Boris. They loved you so much from the moment you got here. My Dad especially. He's so proud of you." Andrei cleared his throat and added, "No one sees me that way."

        "Sure they do," Christina insisted.

        "At first I thought it was because you looked so much like Nastya, but I realize now that wasn't it. You look like her, but you don't act like her at all."

        Christina leaned her head against her cousin's shoulder. "I'm the one who should be jealous of you. I'm not as successful as they think. And you have your whole family." Christina allowed a few tears to escape her eyes and said, "I don't have anybody."

        Andrei held his cousin and consoled, "That's not true. You still have your mother."

        "No I don't." Christina frowned. "After my Dad died, it was just Mom and me for a while. And that was pretty good, I guess. I mean, it was hard, but I liked it better when it was just the two of us. When she met Danny, everything changed."

        "Changed how?"

        "When we moved in with Danny, you know, he made it clear that I was living in HIS house. He would always tell me that I was gonna have to learn to be tough. 'The world is a mean place,' he always said, 'And you got to be hard to survive. The only person you can count on is yourself.' He said that I had it too easy, and he wasn't going to cut me any slack just 'cause my Dad died. He said I had to grow up. He'd make up these chores ... They weren't chores; they were tests. He wanted to see how far he could push me, is what it was."

        "What do you mean by tests?" Andrei asked.

         "You know. He'd have me clean out the garage. If I didn't put everything back on the right shelf, or hang the rake back exactly on the wall where he wanted it, he'd come in and throw everything on the floor. 'Not good enough,'" Christina imitated, "'Not nearly good enough.' So you know, I'd just do it again. One time, he took me out to the back yard and he actually made me chop fire wood. I mean, we didn't even have a fireplace. 'I had to do this every day Chris. It made me who I am today.' That's what he would always say. So I tried. I really did. And after hours, when my hands were blistered, he would just say, chop some more."

        "Your mother let this happen?" Andrei asked in astonishment.

        "Yeah," Christina shrugged.

        "She never stood up for you?"

        "Well, I stood up for myself sometimes."

        "What did you do?"

        "You know, sometimes I'd tell him that I wasn't going to take it any more. He'd say, 'You want to take a swing at me Chris? Go ahead.' And I REALLY wanted to. I really did. I hated him so much. But you know, I never had the guts. I always backed down." Christina shook a fist at the darkness and roared, "'Get in the closet, you little shit.' That's how it always ended."

        "He actually locked you in the closet?"

        Christina shrugged as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. "You know, just for an hour or two."

        Andrei stroked his cousin's hair. "I'm so sorry," he consoled.

        "I let it happen."

        "It's not your fault," Andrei insisted, "There was nothing you could do."

        "Oh there was," Christina corrected. "The day I graduated from high school, I confronted him. I told him to get out of my house. And I told him to leave me and my Mom alone. He just laughed at me, but I told him if he didn't leave, I would make him."

        "What did you do?"

        Christina recalled, "I punched him. I actually took that swing. I don't think he thought I would ever do it, but I punched him right in the nose. I think maybe I broke it."

        "You punched a grown man?"

        Christina nodded. "Oh God, he was furious." Christina made a tight fist with her hand. "He pounded me in the stomach. Threw me against the wall. He just kept punching. When I woke up," Christina said as she brought her finger to her left eye, "I had a black eye and two broken ribs." Christina pointed to the spots on her side where the ribs were broken.

        Andrei reached his large hand over and rested it at the base of her ribcage. Christina moved it to the appropriate places, and Andrei could feel a slight lump on the bones where they had healed.

        Andrei softly said, "I'm so sorry."

        "Well, I started the fight."

        "There is no excuse for a grown man beating a girl."

        "Anyway, when I was healed up, Danny told me I could either live by his rules or get out. So I left. I begged my mother to come with me. I said we could start over somewhere else- just the two of us again."

        Christina stopped for a few seconds, staring out into the starlight. "She said no. She chose my stepfather over me. I can't tell you how bad that hurt. It made the broken ribs feel like nothing at all." Christina frowned as tears filled her eyes. "In the end, he was right. The only person you can ever count on is yourself. I guess I can handle that, but it's just hard to be all alone sometimes."

        Andrei rocked his cousin back and forth. He said, "You're not alone anymore- you've got us."

        Christina closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to stem the flow of tears. "No I don't," she whispered.

        "Of course you do."

        "No I don't," Christina repeated. "Everything you heard me say in the store last night was true."

        "Then, you aren't my cousin?" Andrei asked in a confused voice.

        "I am your cousin," Christina said with certainty. "I am. It's just that ... I'm not who you think I am. The thing is, when I go home, everything is going to be different. The person you see right now is gonna go away."

        Andrei joked sadly, "So at midnight you're going to turn into a pumpkin?"

        Christina answered plainly, "Yeah."

        Andrei gave his cousin a squeeze and said, "I don't understand what you mean, but let me tell you this, you are part of this family." Andrei reflected for a moment then continued, "I don't know what you did to my father. He was so lost since Nastya died, but he's actually smiling again. Before last night, we never talked about her. But you came, and Dad put her pictures back on the shelf."

        Christina nodded and cleared her nose.

        "I don't know why you think you'll disappear, but you don't have to. We're not going to abandon you."

        "Thank you," Christina whispered.

        Andrei pressed, "Why did you skip dinner tonight?"

        "Things are just out of control," she replied. "I don't have the money to fix my car, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter. If I can't get back to work on Monday, I'm going to lose my job, and that's all I have left."

        "No problem," Andrei said, "I will take you home."

        Christina stopped crying and said, "That's very sweet, but how will everyone get by without the truck? I live nine hours away. It's not like dropping me off in town."

        "Then I will drive you to Dover. There's got to be a bus you can take."

        Christina shook her head. "It's not going to work. I need a car to get to the train station."

        "Can't one of your friends give you a lift?"

        "Andrei, I don't have any friends."

        Andrei didn't know what to say to that. He and Christina did not speak any further, they just floated silently together in the field of stars. Christina felt a little better after crying and talking things out, even if it hadn't changed anything. Closing her eyes, she rested on her cousin's shoulder. She was not sure how long they stayed there, but it was still dark when Andrei broke the silence.

        "Come on, it's late. Let's get you to bed." Andrei closed the barn door and led his cousin back down the ladder and into the house. He walked Christina to Anastasia's room and hugged her before sending her to bed.

---

Edited into coherence by Holly H. Hart.
Hope you enjoyed it. If you liked it or hated it, please leave a tasty comment.
Krunch Away!