Maria took me to an old building, not too far from the shop. The corridors were dark, the stairs creaked. It smelled of medicine and a silence that had learned not to ask.
On the third floor, he stopped in front of a door. We knocked.
A faint voice was heard from inside:
– Come in.
The room was small. On a bed by the window lay a woman. Her face was pale, but her eyes were sharp. There was that dignity in them that illness could not eat away.
Mila was standing next to the bed. When she saw me, she turned even paler and her eyes filled with tears.
“It’s him,” she whispered. “This is the man…”
Raya smiled with an effort.
“Nikola…” she said, as if my name were a piece of warmth. “Mila told me.”
I approached, awkwardly. I didn’t know whether to speak, whether to apologize, whether to smile. Finally I said:
– Did I bring you the candy?
Mila laughed through her tears and took a package out of the drawer.
“Keep them,” said Raya. “I didn’t have the strength to eat them. But just the fact that Mila brought them… brought me back to life for a little while.”
A lump stuck in my throat.
Maria stood to the side, watching. Then she said:
– Raya, we need to talk.
Raya nodded slowly.
– I know. My time is short. And my secrets are many.
Mila tensed.
– Mom…
Raya reached out to her daughter.
“There’s no point in keeping it any longer,” he whispered. “Some secrets don’t protect, they kill.”
He looked at me.
– Nikola, you did something that people rarely do. You saw a child, you didn’t see a thief.
I clasped my hands.
– I couldn’t do it any other way.
Raya smiled.
– That’s exactly what’s scary. That people already believe they should do otherwise.
Maria intervened:
– Vladimir wants to meet you.
When I heard the name, Mila was startled, as if someone had opened a window to a storm.
Raya closed her eyes for a moment.
“He…” he whispered. “He must not understand…”
“He already knows,” Maria replied. “Someone told him. Or he tied the strings. And when Vladimir decides to know something, there’s no wall that can stop him.”
Raya turned to Mila.
“Listen to me,” he told her. “Whatever happens, it’s not your fault. Not for my illness, not for our poverty, not for the decisions I’ve made.”
– I just… – Mila gasped. – I just wanted…
“I know,” Raya whispered.
Her gaze returned to me.
– Nikola… if Vladimir comes… will you be here?
I didn’t understand why this was being asked of me. I was just a cashier, fired, a man with a loan and fear.
“I will be,” I said.
Raya took a deep breath.
– Then, perhaps, Mila won’t have to pay for the sins of others.
The silence grew heavy.
And in that silence, I realized that the candy was just the beginning.
Chapter Five
