A visitor

Evgeny and I are talking when I see Yeva walk up to us from behind him.

“Tatyana.” She says, interrupting our conversation. She has a little smirk on her face.

“Yes, Yeva?”

“There is a visitor here for you.”

“A visitor? Who is it?” I ask. This is unexpected.

“A man in a uniform.”

“That could be anyone!” I say, standing up. Yeva starts leading me towards the door.

“Well he is extremely handsome.” Yeva tells me. “I hope Evgeny doesn’t mind that you have a boyfriend.”

“Whoever he is, he isn’t my boyfriend.” I tell Yeva. We walk through a door and turn a corner.

“He’s my…. brother.”

“Tatya!”

“Victor!”

I rush into my brother’s arms, and melt in his familiar embrace.

“I missed you!” I tell him, shaking him.

“We all missed you!” He pulls me into his chest again and pats my back. “I’m just happy that my little sister is going to be okay.”

“Brother, huh?” Yeva asks. Victor turns to face her.

“So that’s what you look like to Evgeny.” Yeva says to me, giving Victor a flirty side eye. “I understand now.” I catch her eyes dropping to his crotch. She bites her lip.

“Who is Evgeny?” Victor asks.

“Evgeny Vasilevsky.” I answer.

“Him? I read about him in Pravda! He’s here? What about him?”

“He’s actually my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend!”

“Do you want to meet him?”

“Yes, you might have finally found a man who mama would approve of!” Victor jokes.

I lead Victor inside, and Yeva chases after him. Evgeny stands by our beds.

“Evgeny!” I cry out with a wave. “I want you to meet someone!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evgeny.” My brother says, extending his hand. “I’m Victor.”

The two men shake hands.

“Victor.” Evgeny says. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”

“Why don’t we all sit down?” I suggest. Evgeny and I sit on the edge of Evgeny’s bed. Victor sits on the edge of mine, and Yeva quickly takes her place next to him, watching him intently.

“Hey.” Victor says to her. I catch him smiling. “What’s your name?” I can’t help but laugh.

“I’m Yeva, and a I’ve taken really good care of your sister.” She says, and leans in to whisper something into his ear. I see my brother’s eyes widen and eyebrows perk up.

“Maybe later.” He laughs. “But I need to talk to my sister now.”

“Okay. I need to see some of my patients now anyways.” Yeva says, turning to him and standing up to leave us alone. She brushes his arm. “Don’t forget about me.”

“So.” Victor says to Evgeny once Yeva wanders off. “I hear that you like my little sister.”

“I certainly do.”

“And what do you like about her?”

“Well, first, she’s very beautiful.”

“Obviously.”

“I think she’s funny.”

“Oh, she’s funny, alright. Different.”

I shoot Victor an angry look.

“Different can be good.” Evgeny says. “I like her attitude. She has the fighting spirit.”

“Oh, Tatya certainly has the fighting spirit.” Victor says, looking directly into my eyes.

“Don’t you dare.” I hiss at him.

“Like this one time, when she was almost expelled from…”

“That’s enough!” I yell at him.

“Expelled?” Evgeny asks.

“For getting in a fight with another girl!”

“I told you to stop!” I complain.

“Why?” Evgeny asks.

“Because of a boy. Our mother had to go down to the school and beg for them not to throw her out.”

“Did she win the fight?”

“Now you’re asking the important questions!” I comment.

“She won all the other ones, but not that one.” Victor teases.

“Shut up!” I argue. “I kicked Svetlana’s ass, and I could do it again!”

“Other ones?” Evgeny asks, intrigued. Both of them are smiling and laughing. I only get angrier.

“That’s right.” Victor says. “She might look really sweet, but she has a nastiness in her. Word of advice, don’t ever make her show it to you.”

“I’m about to show it to you, if you don’t stop.” I threaten Victor.

“Okay.” He backs down, laughing. “From now on we will only say good things about you. We’ll give you the communist treatment.”

The three of us laugh nervously and look over our shoulders.

“Don’t worry, Tatya.” Victor says to me. “I was only teasing you.” He turns to Evgeny. “And seriously, you have an amazing girl right here. I would tell you that if you don’t treat her right, that you would have me to answer to, but it doesn’t matter, because she would probably just stab you first.”

“Hey!”

“Sorry, last one.”

The three of us talk for a while, and we have a great conversation. It makes me happy.

“Evgeny, do you mind if I speak to Tatya alone?” Victor asks.

“Of course.” Evgeny says, and excuses himself. I get up and sit by Victor’s side on my bed.

“What did that nurse whisper to you?” I ask. “I have to know!”

“She told me that she wanted to take really good care of me.”

“So, are you going to do it?” I tease him.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on. I know you think she’s hot, I saw the look on your face!”

“Fine, maybe. It’s pretty tempting.”

An air of sadness crosses him.

“Do you realize that this is the first time any one of us has been with you since…papa… you know.”

“I know. It wasn’t easy news to take.”

“It makes me sick. I wasn’t ready to be the man of the family.”

“You can handle it.” I assure him. “I promise.”

“Thank you. It means a lot.”

“So, do you know what they’re going to do with you when you get out of here?” Victor asks me.

“I’m not positive, but Evgeny has been lobbying to get me into sniper school.”

“Sniper school? Wow!” He cheers. “That’s amazing, especially knowing that you can’t hit anything!”

“Oh shut up, I can shoot better than you!”

“Calm down. I was just teasing you.” Victor says. “If I become anything close to as badass as you, it would be something to be proud of.”

“So what are you doing here?” I ask my brother. “I wasn’t expecting you to visit!”

He becomes silent. A thick tension builds in the air.

“My unit is nearby, and I received permission to come and see you before… tomorrow.” He explains.

“What happens tomorrow?” I ask, suddenly worried for him.

“Tomorrow, they are sending me across the river.” He sighs.

“No! They can’t!”

“They are. We are being sent to attack Mamayev Kurgan.”

“I don’t want you to go over there!”

“I don’t want to go either, but if I don’t go, they’ll put me on a train out to far-eastern lands and make me swing a pickaxe until I die.”

“And you think anything other than **** awaits you in Stalingrad?”

“Hopefully, yes, but realistically, no. Maybe I’ll get lucky.”

“I pray that you do. Victor, I’m scared.”

He puts his arm around me and pats my shoulder. “Don’t worry about me.” He says.

“That’s impossible!” I cry. He rubs my shoulder. “Please, Victor. Please be careful!”