Dog Star by Megan Shepherd

Author:Megan Shepherd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

16

NINA

“GO WASH UP, BOTH OF you,” Mama instructed as soon as they got home. “We have guests for supper. Your father’s colleagues.” She pinched the skin at her throat anxiously. Ivan ran upstairs, but as Nina passed by, Mama stopped her.

“The scratch on your cheek,” she said quietly. “Did this happen at school?”

Nina flinched as she thought of the snowballs assaulting her, even Ivan’s. But how could she tell Mama that they had called her a traitor, when Mama had hammered into her how important it was to distance herself from Ludmilla?

“An icicle fell from the school roof,” Nina muttered without looking up and went upstairs. The lie sat uneasy with her. Lies and secrets were everywhere—not even she could escape telling them.

By the time the doorbell rang, Nina had brushed her hair and pinned it with a barrette, and she was wearing her red dress with the puffy sleeves, even though she hated it. There were three men with Papa. Director Sonin from the lab, and two men in suits and large black hats that, when removed, revealed similar oiled hairstyles.

“Welcome, administrators.” Mama came out of the kitchen, in red lipstick and wearing a new dress under her apron. She took their coats and hats. “I’m Lidia, and these are our children, Ivan and Nina. I’m sorry, Konstantin hasn’t told me your names.”

The administrators exchanged a glance.

Papa cleared his throat. “These administrators run top secret programs, Lidia. Like the Chief Designer, they must remain nameless.”

Mama blushed. “Of course. How foolish of me.”

“Not at all!” one of the administrators bellowed. “Protocol can be onerous at times. Call me Comrade Bolshoi, and my companion Comrade Grom.”

Mama hesitated at the odd nicknames. Comrade Big and Comrade Thunder. She smiled uneasily and shook their hands.

After small talk, everyone moved to the table. When Mama lifted the silver lid off the main dish, Nina grimaced. Shuba. Sometimes it was called Herring Under a Fur Coat. Mama’s cooking was never particularly memorable, and this ambitious purple-colored dish—fish, potato, and beets smothered in mayonnaise and chopped egg—wasn’t one of her better meals.

Papa suddenly looked very pale. “Ah, sit, please.”

The administrators complimented Mama on the presentation, but after a few bites, quietly set their forks down and tried not to look green.

Comrade Grom reached for the bread basket.

Comrade Bolshoi turned to Nina and Ivan and cleared his throat. “Comrade Lidia, your children attend the grade school near Lenin Park, yes? Excellent school director there, Comrade Stepko. Highly respected in the Communist Party.”

Nina must have made a face, because her mother gave her a quick kick under the table. But above the table, her mother was all smiles.

“Indeed,” Mama said. “I believe Director Stepko organized a game of War today for the Young Pioneers. An excellent way to teach our Soviet youth the lessons of bravery and sacrifice. Did you enjoy the game, children?”

Nina kept her jaw clenched tightly, pushing around small mountains of shuba on her plate.

“I did,” Ivan said, and after a pause added, “Nina wouldn’t play.

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