Chapter 6 -- The Day of the Dead
In the middle of September there was another indication that Kim was becoming more settled in her new life in Danube City. She sat at the table of Sergekt's mother for the first time. Danubian social protocol mandated that any social contact between a young man and a young woman had to be preceded by the young man sitting at the table of the woman's father, or in the case of Kimberly Lee, her guardian, Spokesman Vladim Dukov. Sergekt had complied with that custom and now came over to the Dukovs' house once a week for dinner.
The second phase of the social protocol, that the young woman sit at the table of the young man's parents, only took place if the young man decided that he wanted to become romantically involved with her. By the middle of September Sergekt had decided that he wanted Kim to become his girlfriend. He asked Kim to eat at home with his mother and aunt. She accepted, not fully understanding the seriousness of what he was proposing.
The afternoon before Sergekt arrived to escort Kim to his house, Dukov sat in his library, wondering about the consequences of what was about to happen. He liked Sergekt tremendously. He had all the makings of an excellent Danubian citizen. He was brave, determined, and had "proper values". He clearly understood the importance of friendship and protocol. The fact that he was a convicted criminal did not bother Dukov at all. If Anyia were just a couple of years older, the Spokesman would have been very pleased if Sergekt had shown an interest in her, collar or no collar.
Dukov was somewhat puzzled by Sergekt's interest in Kim. Kim was very different from a typical girl from Upper Danubia and obviously would make a fascinating friend for anyone. However, to become romantically involved with her was quite another issue. At the end of two years Kim would be going home to the US. Did he hope to go to the US with her? Did he expect that Kim would stay in Upper Danubia past the end of her sentence?
Dukov's instincts told him he needed to dissuade his client from any romantic involvement with a Danubian. However, he also remembered what he had told Kim the first night she was at his house, that she had to live from day to day and enjoy the small daily pleasures of life. A romantic relationship certainly would help her get through the difficult times that lay ahead.
Dukov glanced over at the picture of himself and his future wife on the wall, the one in which they were naked and wearing collars. The Spokesman took his own collar off the wall and studied it, running his fingers over its groves and touching the broken latch. This piece of metal had been on his neck for five years. Like Sergekt, Dukov had worn this collar not so much because of anything he had done wrong himself, but because he had refused to betray his friends. The circumstances had been different, of course, but the Danubian definition of honor had remained intact over time...a definition shared by the Spokesman and by his client's young suitor.
Kim's suitor reminded Dukov so much of himself when he was young. He remembered the countless nights he had danced with Maritza at the Socrates club, just like Sergekt was doing with Kim...and the nights they sat at the tables of each other's families. There were the good times and the hard times...hard times, yes...very hard times. The relationship between Vladim and Maritza had survived through it all. They had been together 28 years.
Dukov's thoughts turned back to his client. Kim hardly fit the image of a proper Danubian woman, but she seemed to be moving in that direction. Two years...what would two years in Upper Danubia do to her? Maybe she was not destined to leave the country after all...
In the end Dukov decided not to say anything. Kim would sit at the table of Sergekt's mother, just as Sergekt would sit at the Dukovs' table.
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When Kim went to Sergekt's house, Sergekt's mother and aunt were dressed in old-style Danubian dresses and the same elaborate dishes the Dukovs had prepared for Sergekt were on the dining room table waiting for Kim. However, Sergekt's mother greeted his new girlfriend with skepticism. An American who was not even of European descent, a convicted drug user, someone who could not express herself properly in Danubian...what on earth was he thinking? Kim faced a much more difficult task of sitting at Sergekt's table than he faced sitting at hers.
Kim sat uncomfortably while Sergekt's mother probed her with questions that she struggled to understand and answer. She resented being placed in this awkward position, but at the same time realized that Sergekt had to do the exact same thing for her. If she wanted to live in Upper Danubia and have friends, something she had no choice over for the next two years, she had to play by the rules of the country.
In the end Sergekt's mother warmed up just enough to allow Kim to continue coming over. It was not exactly an approval, but instead a withholding of judgment. In spite of all her deficiencies, "Geemberglek" seemed like a decent-enough girl, so Sergekt's mother did not feel justified telling her son she disapproved of her. To do so would be unfair and possibly cause problems for Sergekt and this strange foreign girlfriend of his. To condemn Criminal # 98945 also would have violated the Danubian idea that a person should never form a negative opinion about another person without a very specific reason.
That night Sergekt took Kim back to Dukov's house. Once again in the trolley they held onto each other. Once again she thrilled at the feel of his body next to hers. When he left her at the front door, he took her hands in his and looked at her with a question in his eyes. For some odd reason Kim decided to answer in English.
"You can kiss me, Sergekt."
Perhaps he did not understand her words, but he did understand her meaning. They kissed, slowly at first, then passionately. Eventually they forced themselves to stop. Kim squeezed Sergekt's hand and he was on his way home. In the US it would have been different; he would have come in and spent the night. Not in this country, and certainly not in Dukov's house. In Upper Danubia the pace of relationships, just like everything else in life, was much slower.
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