Panic in a Suitcase: A Novel by Yelena Akhtiorskaya

Author:Yelena Akhtiorskaya [Akhtiorskaya, Yelena]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

HER MOM HAD GOTTEN her the job, lest she have too leisurely a respite from medical school, but there was little in the way of actual work. She sat at the reception desk in a decrepit medical office with a car-wash vibe, recorded the names and Social Security numbers of the senior citizens who came in, processed their Medicare information, and distributed ten-dollar bills. The majority of patients never actually laid their impaired eyes on the physician. This sort of seedy operation would’ve been unacceptable from a regular doctor, but Dr. Gamsky was Yuri, a family friend. Many days of Frida’s childhood had been spent in his lively Manhattan Beach home, playing with his worldly-wise daughter, Diane, until that abruptly came to an end. Frida’s parents never had to try hard for plausibility with their stories. If Yuri’s beautiful wife, Larissa, went to Africa on safari and two weeks later Diane got accepted and immediately sent off to the best boarding school in the country, in neither Canarsie nor Bensonhurst, there could be no better explanation for why Frida would no longer be deposited in their Manhattan Beach home. Once or twice a follow-up question was raised, whether Diane’s mom had returned from safari or if Diane’s boarding school had an address to which a letter and a charm bracelet could be sent, but then Frida forgot to ask again. She paid no mind to the fact that Larissa’s name was mentioned in a whisper until it stopped being mentioned at all or that her friend was, from that point on, referred to as Poor Diane. Only several years ago, when Diane just as suddenly came back into the picture, seven months along on her dad’s doorstep, did Frida’s mom mention juvenile facilities, illegal powders, older men, but in passing, as if Frida had been in on the situation all along. Pressing for details now would mean admitting to the horrific extent of her gullibility, so she was resigned to remain in the dark as to what exactly went down, certain only that the closest thing to a real safari had been that Manhattan Beach home, and she’d never even known it.

The atmosphere in the office was particularly tense this Monday morning. Giant Dr. Gamsky sat in Frida’s chair at the front desk, clutching his forehead. He looked up, his cheek creased and marked by a cuff-link-size indentation that did little to assuage Frida’s fear that he slept in the office. After vigorously blinking away the fog, he said, Look who’s finally here.

I’m not late!

He waved her off as if she were being trifling about it and informed her that today he wanted to do things a bit differently. Would that be fine with her?

She nodded tentatively.

How are your hands? he asked.

She held them out. I’ve been told they’re small for my size.

He snatched a palm and squeezed. She squeezed back.

They’ll do, he said. Forget the old system. This is not a bank, you can tell them that. No more free money.

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