Page 47

[Alexandr Korol]

– What do you need the money for?
– For a cake.
– And that’s it?
– That’s it.
– OK, fine. Tomorrow at 6, near the Vladimirovskaya subway station.

My friends brought me there and stayed in the car. As I approached the church, the bells were ringing. And then I see her stumbling towards me with her bags:

– I see you from afar, Alex.
– You do? I see you, too.
– Yes, there are not so many of our kind.
– What kind?
– We are here to help people, to lead them in the right direction.
– I am one of you, right?
– Yes. People don’t know how to have fun, but we do.

She dances the same way Nadezhda dances. She tells me that she lives in a small single apartment on the 12th floor and that she can’t invite anybody in. But there will be another house soon and then everyone will be invited. And she tells me in such a way, that I sense that it has something to do with me.

– There will be a cool ride, too.
– Why?
– To show off. You’re Alexander Nevsky. What is your mother’s name?
– Olga.
– Duchess Olga – Duchess Olga and you are Alexander Nevsky.

And she dances as if she is addressing royalty. Then she says that I need to know some things about the church. I tell her:

– Maybe you don’t know, but in the last month, I have acquainted myself with all the churches
– You don’t understand, Alex! You need to know the church.