Part One – There
(Eastern Hemisphere)
CHAPTER SEVENTY SEVEN – THE LAST YEAR AT HOME: INITIAL SETUP
The very first adventure awaited us on the city station platform. Despite the fact that the hospitable beer advertisement was still shining on the station square, something elusive in the spirit of the city had changed. The police, noticing that we were carrying out endless boxes from the train, decided to besiege the “Moscow speculators” and tried to arrest us. I think that we would have gotten stuck in a bunch of inspections and explanations of Lilya’s uncle, my father-in-law’s brother, had not come to our aid. As usual, he met his loved ones in his work car, but in this case, his help came in handy, because the uncle worked as the head of the construction of border facilities, that is, in the KGB. In those years, the KGB ID carried enormous power, and no policeman would dare to resist it. We were safely left in peace, and we went home, loading the minivan with boxes.
Surprises awaited us at home.
First of all, our apartment was finally ready. The entire balcony was glazed: new wood, varnish, modern frames, glass and curtains delighted the owner’s eye. All the amenities were our own, heating too. The last drop to finish still remained the parquet floor, which had to be laid, but this was not a primary need.
Secondly, they gave us a telephone line and a number. The queue for it crawled for about twenty years, but it crawled without any bribes. They installed it themselves. I was joking:
“See, what they come up with to keep people from emigrating!”
But all around people were talking about leaving. People left “en masse” from the entire country and its republics. And the situation itself was unusual. Some bearded people walked around the city and asked, “Which party are you from?”
I didn’t even understand what that meant. And I didn’t really want to go into that. My task was to register back to my apartment and decide the question: to stay or leave. Gorbachov’s perestroika gained momentum, it was possible to earn money in one’s own organization, that is, to work privately. Therefore, I still had a chance: for the first and last time in my life, try to get a job as a doctor in my city. It was a test – if it doesn’t work out, we’ll apply for departure!
But first – registration and I went to the police.
“Hello! I finished my studies in Moscow and returned home.”
“Home? You are now Russian, which means you are an enemy! Do you have a sapper shovel?”
Wow, what the times! Russians from Russia have always been slightly disliked in Georgia, but so hard?
“Guys,” I said in Georgian, “Are you crazy? Okay – I’m Russian, but since when is a Russian from Tbilisi is an alien?”
They did not hesitate to name the date of the constitution and the massacre carried out by the Special Forces. It was necessary to look for workarounds. And thank God, such a way has been found.
At my school, three or four years older, there was one guy, Pyatibulkin, who, being a mathematician and programmer, got a job in the police and became the director of the police computer center. He was a tall, handsome guy with curly hair. At school, an elderly, mustachioed literature teacher always laughed at his small curls. One day, when he was late for class, she asked sarcastically,
“Perhaps you curled your hair? I wonder at what hairdresser you done your permanent?”
“In the same place where they shave your mustache,” Pyatibulkin snapped.
And I went to this old friend.
“What bastards they are!” he said, “Out of spite I will force them to register you! Without a penny of money! Don’t you dare give anything to anyone, this is a matter of principle.”
What can I say? Good friends are the most important thing. He kept his promise, and soon we received registration stamps in our passports.
Ana went to school where my dad studied, then me, my sister and a bunch of cousins and second cousins. The Neiman surname was in good standing there. And, I must say, she immediately liked it there. New friends appeared, as if she had never abandon her home.
And all I had to do was get a job. And I went to my old friend – the Chief Surgeon of Georgia.
For two years, nothing changed for him; he still held this position. He greeted me warmly and asked me about my studies in Moscow and my plans for life. And I told him my idea. I really enjoyed hand and foot surgeries. I knew the surgical technique and I could order the necessary devices, prostheses, materials – I had connections in Moscow. But the most profitable thing would be to organize operations on the feet. Many people wanted to remove “bumps” (exostoses) on their big toes, straighten the other toes and get rid of flat feet. I knew well the technique of reconstructive foot surgery and knew how to perform operations painlessly. There was little left – to take the Chief Surgeon into the share. And I offered to set up foot operations in his clinic. Of course, paid operations. A third of the income will go to the reconstruction of the clinic, the rest will be divided in half between us. What to say? He was delighted. The enterprise seemed wonderful, like a cloudless sky. But there was a small cloud hanging in the sky.
“I must obtain the consent of the Chief Orthopedist of the Republic,” said the Chief Surgeon, “Do you understand, Nick? We are all important to each other, friendship is higher than money!” he summarized and went to the council with Academician A.
I knew well a friendly academic, with his penchant for espionage and the support of his old friend, Chichiko, the current orderly of the Tbilisi prison.
“Listen,” said the Chief Orthopedist to the Chief Surgeon during their meeting, “I don’t touch your appendixes, and you don’t touch my bones. If you cut off even one “bump” – there will be the war between us! I myself will prepare the necessary personnel for this operations. Now Moscow has not indicating anything to us!”
The chief surgeon sadly told me this news. I wanted to believe that he was sincerely upset by the turn of affairs, but who knows court intriguers? There was no money to open my own private clinic, there was no point in fighting with Academician A, and I began to recruit students in physics and prepare documents to submit for departure.
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