Chapter 32

The day dawned in darkness. Or was it dawn and not night when Vika opened her eyes? She marveled: eight o’clock in the morning and still dark! For a few moments she was disorientated. Something was wrong. Where was she? She had taken a sleeping aid the night before and it added to her confusion.

She looked out the window at blackness. Across the courtyard she saw a bare light bulb dimly illuminating someone sitting at a table sipping on a morning cup of something. Coffee? Slowly events started coming back. She was experiencing winter in Latvia where night came early and dawn came late. She was in an apartment which was her third relocation—her most recent relocation forced on her as she fled from danger.

She had arrived in Riga on a simple mission: to pick up a package which in turn she was to take back to Bernie in New York. She had always stuck to her tenet—the less she knew about her role in Bernie’s business the better. That had worked for years. Now it no longer did.

She looked at herself in the mirror, hardly recognizing herself. Her eyelash extensions were starting to fall out and her nails were a mess. Glamor had always been her métier. Until now. She had chopped off her hair and dressed up in men’s clothing to avoid being recognized. She tried to smile at the face in the mirror, then gave up on it and simply brushed her teeth. There was absolutely nothing to eat in the apartment. Not even coffee. She felt like opening her window and screaming at the guy having breakfast to at least throw her a bagel. Not funny! She would have to get dressed and go out. But before that she had to reach her mother.

There had been no response to her previous texts. Vika tried again. Nothing. She ordered herself not to panic. She’d try again but now she needed coffee coffee coffee.

* * *

It was still dark as Vika made her way along Valdemara Street. She was freezing. Her lightweight wardrobe was meant for a quick visit in late autumn. Luckily she had the heavy jacket and the sensible walking shoes  which she had “purchased” from one of Eggy’s male friends. She certainly wasn’t wearing her diamonds, which made her think of Frankie. Would she ever see him again? Then she thought of Bernie and his mob friends. Would anyone ever see Frankie again? She shuddered and checked her phone again. Nothing from her mother.

She was starving. Like never before. Sure she had tried fasting for one whole day but that was in the comfort of her New York apartment where she had sipped mineral water while watching spellbinding movies. How she longed for New York where there was always food all over the place!

Vika hurried by darkened houses, people lining up for buses, pedestrians rushing off to work but there was no little coffee shop, no fruit stand, no street vendor. God had to be kidding, right! She could pass out from hunger. Just fall to the ground. Would anyone help her?

Eggy! Yes! She had a good friend, within walking distance. Where did he say he lived? She took out her cell and punched in his number. She wanted to scream FEED ME! Then she gave a strangled laugh  remembering the carnivorous plant from one of her favorite  movie—Little Shop of Horrors.

* * *

“Poor you!” Eggy laughed—until he choked on his smokers’ early morning cough. “Here we have a starving rich American! What irony!”

“Shut up, Eggy for fuck’s sake! This is nothing to laugh at. I don’t even speak the language. I couldn’t ask anyone around for anything. Just bring me food! Now!”

“Sure, princess.” Vika could hear the sighs of smoke exhalation. “All you have to do is find Lacplesa Street and head on over to Osiris. I’ll be there in a half hour. Anyone on your street can tell you how to get there.”

“But I — ”

“Cioa”

“Bastard!”

As if on cue, freezing rain began to fall and the wind drove it in deep as Vika looked around. What street did he say? And how to pronounce it? Osiris she remembered. She’d start with that.

She approached a couple waiting to cross Valdemara street. “Please Osiris,” she said with one of her best smiles. But just then her cell pinged. It could be her mother. Vika dropped her smile, the couple crossed the street and Vika opened her phone. A text from Bernie. Your mother has had a heart attack. She’s asking for you. Come home.

She ran. As fast as she could. She just ran not knowing where she was going. She saw nothing but darkness all around her. She stopped to catch her breath. Where was she? Right beside a beautiful building. A church? Yes, it must be a church. She needed God right now. Maybe God could wait but would Eggy?  She thought of him sitting in a cozy café with food—and sympathy. Surely he would know what to do.

Vika had stopped a woman exiting the church. The woman waved her away. Oh for God’s sake! No, she wasn’t begging for money.

“Osiris please. Please!” She had started to cry. Pathetic!

Osiris had become some magical destination she must reach in order to survive. It was much like a mirage, an illusion—always farther away no matter how fast she ran.

She heard a voice behind her. A male voice.

“Come, lady.”

“Yes, yes, please Osiris,” she babbled as she turned towards the male voice.

The young man threw down his cigarette and pointed. “You go straight. Not far.” With that he turned away and crossed the street. She was on Lacplesa street. Eggy had said that’s where the café was.

“Thank you, thank you!” Vika called into the wind as she started to run again. She ran with the dedication of a kamikaze pilot. Right now she’d swim through a river of crocodiles just to get to this blasted Osiris.

Ahead she saw Eggy, standing at the entrance of the café, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He was sucking in smoke as if his life depended on it, knowing it would have to sustain him for a  rendez-vous in a non-smoking venue.

Arms outstretched, Vika rushed towards him, embraced him and almost knocking him over as he was about to throw his butt out into the street.

“You made it,” Eggy laughed—his laugh not a laugh at all—stopped  abruptly as he saw her expression.

Vika wondered about the false memory she had of him. Had she really been so mesmerized by those green eyes of his? Wasn’t that a lifetime ago?

“I need to talk,” she gasped.

Eggy ushered her to a corner table. “You need food and a stiff drink. We’ll talk later.”

“No. I’m not hungry. I need help. Look at this text. Bernie has my mother. What am I going to do?”