Валентина Басан - Vera the Mistress

– Good day, Vera! Nice to meet you! – Arina’s so sincere and radiant smile dashed Vera a bit. In other situation, she would have admired the woman and tried to win her trust. But it wasn’t the case.

Suddenly Vera felt acute pain in her lower belly it hurt so much that she thought about her period. Ah, no, it was a week ago, there were no problems after the abortion, and the tests were excellent. But a twinge of pain cuffed Vera.

"Is there something wrong?" Arina raised an eyebrow, feigning sympathy.

– No… Vera, barely breathing, got up from the table and hobbled to the toilet with her legs half-bent.

Down below there was dark and cool air. The concept of light on the walls made the lighting near the toilet mysterious, even mystical. Vera vomited the tomato juice and vodka and took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding. After flushing the water, she went to wash basin and turned on the tap. The water running down the wash basin turned red. For a split second her face, hands and body were covered with blood

– Ahhh! Vera yelled, stepped back and leaned against the wall. Empty bathroom answered with an echo. There was nobody to help around.

The girl went back to the basin, the pain in the lower abdomen did not subside, there was a fire as if someone had impaled the uterus and fried all its sides.

She rubbed her eyes and made sure that the water was not crimson tide color. The girl had been washing her face with cold water for a long time, and then raised her head towards the mirror. Instead of her face, a three-month-old fetus with no visible organs or body parts stared back at her, as if a medicine atlas image had been placed in her head. The embryo nodded at her and seemed to shake something that had a relative semblance of ahead.

Vera woke up in a familiar clinic. The drawing of the white walls would not be confused with any drawing in the world. The doctor opened the familiar door and said Hello.

– Well, Vera, how are you feeling?

– Good day, doctor! What happened?

"Should I ask you why you've been brought unconscious for the second time?"

"I, I don't know.

– Fortunately, Arina called me and we saved you in time.

When mentioned the name of Oleg's wife, Vera had had a painful spasm in the lower abdomen and fainted again. Her mind played games with her showing a delirium movie about a tall and devilishly beautiful brunette with a bob caressing the doctor, passionately hugging, kissing him and hurrying to take off his medical robe.

Arina was the only and favorite daughter to the head (King) of the largest Gypsy clan.

Perst, that was his real gypsy name, but people other than gypsies called him Peter. He accepted and acknowledged the only child as his. The most beautiful and beloved wife Dana gave a birth to that girl.

Perst was afraid of Dana's mother, a hereditary witch, so in front of the entire tribe he announced that Dana was his only wife, and the daughter that Dana gave birth to in the first year, Ara was the only heir.

Perst was a real gypsy of the hottest blood. Already at ten, he slaughtered a young man (in the Soviet and post-Soviet criminal world criminals like Perst called such people “friars”) in the market place.

When he was sixteen went to collect his tribe, in other words, organized a criminal group in the South of Moscow City. Perst was about fifty (although no one knew how old he really was) when he took the eighteen-year-old Dana, who was his last and favorite wife.

As soon as Ara was born, Perst proclaimed her to be the only recognized and legitimate daughter to receive all movable and immovable property after his death.

The times were dashing, and there were many young and zealous candidates for his throne. Traitors were punished by the King, who himself sentenced them to death, and the sentence was immediately carried out. But in their place came new leaders who demanded a greater share in the drugs selling and decentralizing the influence over the Moscow beggars who, in their turn, brought a lot of cash in the common fund. The new heads of his armies tried to create their own brothels for the clients who came from all over the world.

The King feared every day that he would die, leaving little Ara alone to be devoured and torn to pieces by the hungry wolves of the pack. He could trust to only one person, his Deputy, Sul Kaisarov, the leader of the Gypsy mafia who instructed him to take her abroad to the United States.

"Sul, you are responsible for Ara with your head, and if something happens to her, none of your family is going to stay alive. You know me.

– Yes, my King, I understand – Sul was always stingy with words, so he only adjusted his holster with a gun.

"The documents are ready. According to them, you are the father of Ara, she is only five, but she knows everything and understands why I am sending her overseas.

– Yes, Master.

"I'll let you know when things quiet down here." But for the next ten years you are not going to come back here. It will be rather hot here.

Sul sniffed. He left his sworn father and boss at such a difficult time to babysit a girl in a distant country, which he saw only in pictures. Everything was ready Ara’s coming to the US: citizenship, house, medical insurance and a place in a private school. Sul was supposed to control the American branch of the King's people.

At parting Perst embraced Sul, whom he loved as his own son. For a long time he looked into Arina's night-black eyes, stroked the raven hair, and called her Dana.

"Daddy, I'm Ara.

"I know, my flower, I know, I know, my soul. Your mother always looks at you from heaven. She died when giving birth to you. She is your angel-guardian who always keeps you safe. I will always keep you safe.

A terrible and cruel bandit who punished by killing and gave orders to take young girls as prostitutes, collected tribute from young children beggars, cried bitterly for the second time in his life. The first, when his beloved Dana died in childbirth.

And all the guards, even the heartless Sul had tears in their eyes.

Arina returned to Moscow exactly twenty years later.

On the threshold of his death, Perst was saying goodbye to his beautiful daughter, who was sitting at the head of the bed in one of the most expensive clinics in Moscow. Next to him stood strict and untouched by the years Sul.

"Daddy, maybe try Switzerland medicine services?" Ara uttered the words with emphasis and with a trembling voice.

"My flower, I am going to my beloved. Don't stop me. Before I die, look through all the property documents at the place of Sul’s wife. I have money in my Swiss account that will be inherited by you, lawyer Jorik Rosenberg manages all my finances, you heard of him. He settled all the problems without telling you when you lived in America. The documents for the Restaurants here and abroad have already been drawn to your name. But you know that. Come closer to me. Sul, wait outside the door.

When they were alone in the room, Perst took his daughter's hand and finally said:

"Your grandmother Vada was a witch. The entire tribe knew and feared the power of her curses. It could destroy the fruit, send a pestilence, or kill a whole herd of horses from a neighboring tribe. I also turned to her for help more than once, she gave me a long life, but with the condition that I had to give something in return. But I didn't know then that the dark forces would take my Dana, my heart and soul. Vada, having lost her daughter in childbirth, cursed all her gods and asked them to take away all the dark forces from her. But our gods were merciful and returned dark strengths to you… I kept the secret of Vada for a long time, but when you turned eighteen, Sul mentioned that he felt strange aura around you, that you could read minds and get into heads. He also said that the Professor who taught you history jumped out of the window…

"Daddy, it wasn’t me he did it himself… he just pestered me after lectures.... – Arina was on her knees near her dying father and wept…

– Light of my eyes, I don't blame you, you are my soul. Forgive me.

"For what, daddy?"

"Before she died, Vada said that in exchange for your gift, which the gods returned to you, they would take the most precious from you. You will always be barren.

"What?" Dad? Daddy?! Ohhh!!! Nooo!!!

Sul ran into the room to the screams, disheveled, tearful, and barefooted Ara tried to shout to the helpless old man.

Only for a moment did the Perst open eyes that had once been black, now transparent with age.

– Dad!

– Dana, my Life, I have been coming to you for so long…

After a lavish funeral of the criminal business legend, Ara received an inheritance and lived the life of a rich, fashionable lady. She wasn't interested in drugs, prostitution or begging business.

Having appointed Sul their right-hand man, they hired a staff of the best lawyers to open new, absolutely legal businesses in the field of IT. Arina graduated from the US University with a degree in modern computer programs and websites, so after the research of Russian market, she invested part of her inheritance in IT development.

"Dad would be laughing at me right now if he knew that robots bring me money.

Sul silently smiled in the next seat and adjusted his holster out of habit.

– Mila, who's next? Arina asked her Secretary over the phone.

– Oleg Bryantsev, a post-graduate student from Moscow State University with the project "the Future of computer technologies".

Vera regained her consciousness in the clinic room. The aching head was heavy and splitting. Her eyelids didn't open. She fumbled for the nurse's call button.

A few minutes later, the doctor entered the room.

– Doc, what's wrong with me? Why I'm here. Can I have some water?

"Yes, sure Vera. The nurse will bring you some water and dinner.

"Dinner?" Is it evening?

"You've been here more than a day. Another surgical intervention was necessary.

"What? What happened? Doctor, I felt very well. I had excellent tests. It's been so many months, what's the problem?

– Dear Vera, I am very sorry to inform you that you can no longer have children. Inflammatory processes in the uterus caused fever and dizziness. You passed out in the restaurant bathroom. You were discovered by Oleg's wife Arina. She was the one who brought you in her car. You should be grateful to her now and then. I don't know how it would have ended if she didn’t take you here…

Vera couldn't believe her ears. The tears were streaming down her cheeks. Nightmare. Nightmare. She pinched herself painfully, and her vision went dark.

"I don't understand, I don't remember…"

"That's a normal state at a high temperature. It happens so that to save energy, the body shuts down for a more important, in simple terms, fight. Now everything is fine, have a good rest. The discharge papers will be ready tomorrow, and today you will take another blood test, and the nurse will measure your blood pressure and temperature. If everything is all right, you'll be home by tomorrow night.

Oleg's phone was disconnected or out of network coverage. Vera dialed the number she knew by heart over and over again with a stubborn, stupid persistence until she was exhausted.

– Hello, Vika, hi. It's alright. Can you come tomorrow before two I'll send the address? No, nothing is serious. I'm being discharged from the clinic. Thank you, see you tomorrow – last word was said hysterically, the voice wavered and she instantly hung up.

Vera didn't want to feel sorry for herself, she was afraid to start and then not stop. She texted the address of the clinic to a friend, plugged the empty battery phone to the charger, answered to her worried mother twenty messages "mom, a lot of work, I can't call for a few more days, we rent objects, love, and kiss, hello to dad", turned to the wall with unusual patterns and silently howled.