Nadia Goes Looking for Answers

The Russian waits patiently as the clock ticks down, counting the minutes until her class’s dismissal. She pretends to doodle in her notes, ignoring Mr. Doe’s imprecations to study the evening’s assigned chapter. Ancient history she could care less about. Current events, though, is another matter.

The bell chimes at the appointed hour. As the rest of the students stream out to go home and play video games or watch TV—anything but study—she stays behind, furrowing her brow and looking anything but confident about her assignment.

“Something wrong, Ms. Penkovskiy?” Mr. Doe walks over to her seat.

“Matter of fact, yes.”

“I see you got your textbook out.” He points at the sixth edition Brinkley text.

“Anything in particular you need help with?”

“What is this…what do you Americans call it? Bubble?”

“Bubble?”

“Right here.” She points at the passage on the page. “…Reducing interest rates to stimulate economic growth threatened to inflate an already over full stock market bubble…”

“Crazy decade, wasn’t it?”

Nadia looks him squarely in the eye.

“Who said anything about past tense?”

“It’s history, not politics.” Mr. Doe cradles the book in his hands. “You’ve heard of the Roaring Twenties, right?”

The Russian nods her head.

“Your Congress and Fed sound feckless. All this talk, talk, talk…the President would’ve already seized the Duma by now.”

“President.”

“Ours.” She beats her chest. “I remember my father telling me about that time Yeltsin had the tanks roll in towards Duma. He threatened to fire if they didn’t comply with his demands. Guess what? They did.”

“He also started two wars and nearly bankrupted the country with his economic policies. What does any of this have to do with the Roaring Twenties?”

“Human nature is human nature, Mr. Doe.” Nadia dismisses him with a wave of the hand. “But there’s another reason why I stayed behind today.”
She tosses her reddish hair, acting every bit interested in him.

“There’s this boy I like.” She strings him along. “He’s real cute and all, but I don’t know if I should ask him out. If he found out I was an exchange student, I’m afraid he’d only see my as an exotic conquest. You know how guys are.”

“Uh-huh.”

“There’s another thing, though. Very people know this about me. You can’t say this to anyone, okay?”

“I’m a teacher, for chrissakes. Have a little faith, will ya?”

“Do you want to hear my secret or don’t you?”

“Okay.” Mr. Doe checks his watch. “But I only got five minutes.”

“Alright, here goes. I’m…I’m an orphan.”

Not exactly true, but whatever.

Nadia’s teacher leans in, not quite believing his ears.

“What did you say?”

“I have no parents. Father died a long time ago, and mother…she just passed away. Cancer. I understand from relatives that it was quick.”

“Shit.”

“I know.” Nadia wipes away a tear.

And here comes the pitch.

“Do you have any family, Mr. Doe?”

He pauses. The last time he spoke to his brother was a few months ago, and things didn’t look up for him. A fifteen year sentence for selling Oxy to a terminally ill client left him just as wrecked physically as his patients were. The teacher’s father had just passed away from one of the worst diseases mankind has ever grappled with, and on top of that his wife just left him.

But the more he thought about it, there was more he had in common with his charge than Mr. Doe initially thought. Dead parents, for starters, a volatile relationship. He wondered what else they had to share. Except the whole gun thing.

“My dad died of cancer.” He glances at her.

“Really? What are the odds?”

“Run around the world and you’re bound to find people with similar backgrounds.”
“You should meet my host family. I swear they’d think we were cousins or something.”

Mr. Doe bellows with laughter.

“Yeah, a single man in his mid twenties and an eighteen year-old exchange student. Some family there.”

Nadia chuckles.

“Well, I guess I better go.” She grabs her book bag. “I’ll try to have my homework ready by tomorrow.”

“Take your time.”

As she walks toward the bus stop, she can hardly believe her luck.

Of all the classrooms in all the world… she shakes her head. And I walked into his.