Back to Chapter 4
Chapter 5 � Victor Dukov's house
Once
Kim and her group had returned to her office, she began finalizing the
details of Maria Elena�s immediate future. The prisoner needed a place
to sleep that night, she needed to begin Danubian language lessons as
quickly as possible, and she needed to find work within three days.
Cecilia dispatched the language problem first. There was a new group of
US exchange students at the National University who were enrolled in
intensive Danubian language training to prepare for attending classes
alongside local university students. Among Cecilia�s students there were
two language groups: slow and advanced. The easiest and cheapest
solution would be to have Maria Elena attend class along with in the
slow group.
The next problem was where Maria Elena would work. She had to take a job
that kept her body as exposed as possible, preferably something outside.
A quick question determined that she did not know how to ride a bicycle,
which eliminated the option of her being a document courier. Another
option, the record store where Kim used to work when she was a criminal
herself, was not available either. At any other time Kim could have
called the owner and started Maria Elena as a window washer, but the
previous week she had sent over two clients and the store definitely did
not need any more. Any other customer service job was out of the
question until she could speak Danubian.
Kim shrugged her shoulders: �We have another day to think about that
one. Let�s see what we�re gonna do about where she�s gonna sleep.�
It was getting late, so the only viable solution was for Cecilia to take
Maria Elena home with her. She explained to the prisoner that she was
living in the house of Victor Dukov, who was the brother of the
country�s Prime Minister, Vladim Dukov. Victor was a recent widower
whose sons were grown and had moved out, so he had made his house
available for Cecilia and her nephew. There also would be a spare room
for Maria Elena, at least for a few nights, until Kim could arrange
long-term housing. Cecilia called Victor explaining the situation and
getting permission to bring Maria Elena to the house. Then she turned to
the prisoner and wryly asked:
�Well, right now you get to make your first decision as a criminal.
Either you can come home with me, sleep in a comfortable bed, and have a
decent meal; or you can be locked up in a holding cell and sleep there
and wait until tomorrow morning to have something to eat. So what�s your
choice?�
�I� I�ll go with you��
�Good answer. Now, you understand that means you�re going back outside?�
Maria Elena nodded. Kim interjected:
�Tell her to stop nodding. You know that criminals are not allowed to
nod, they have to answer �yes� and �no� when spoken to by someone who�s
not a criminal. Tell her that.�
Cecilia translated, eliciting a very sad glance from the prisoner
towards her Spokeswoman. The Dominican felt enormously sorry for her and
was increasingly annoyed with Kim�s unsympathetic behavior towards her
client. However, she held her tongue, having learned never to challenge
protocol in Danubia, especially from a public official. She knew that it
didn�t matter that Kim was her friend, because the Spokeswoman was a
public official first; and a friend second.
At that moment a naked, very well-built young man showed up at the
office. Upon entering he fell to his knees and placed his forehead on
the floor.
�Good evening, Penitent Jason Schmidt. Please rise so you can fulfill
your commitment to the Creator.�
Jason immediately stood up and kissed Cecilia. Noting the shocked
expression on the prisoner�s face, Cecilia introduced him with the
following explanation:
�This is my fianc�, Jason. He�s performing Public Penance for the
Danubian Church, which is why he�s collared. Jason�s not a criminal, but
he has to follow a lot of the same protocol.�
Maria Elena looked over Jason�s attractive body. He was deeply tanned
from having spent the last four years of his life never touching any
clothing. He had a very lean and muscular figure from constantly running
and working out. By far he was the most attractive man she had ever seen
close up. She noticed his collar was different from hers; it was smooth
and rounded, had no ring, and had a key-hole that allowed it to be
unlocked.
Jason�s expression was shy, and right away Maria Elena could tell that
Cecilia was the one who controlled their relationship. A quick glance
sent an unspoken message to the prisoner: don�t even think about trying
anything with him; he�s mine. Maria Elena was unnerved by how quickly
her translator had picked up on her attraction to Jason, and how,
without saying anything, she had issued a warning.
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A few minutes later Cecilia, Jason, and Maria Elena exited the Central
Police Station. Kim had issued some final instructions to Cecilia,
telling her that she needed to have Maria Elena back in her office early
the next morning. There was one final detail to take care of; the
prisoner�s hair. As best she could, Kim quickly tied her hair in loose
braids, telling her that she would need to have her hair properly
braided before returning the next day. It was up to Cecilia to make sure
Maria Elena�s hair was decent before she went out again.
Cecilia
clearly was the one in the lead as her two naked companions followed her
onto a large plaza that was dominated on each side by an important
building. Directly in front of the police station was the city�s main
courthouse, where Maria Elena would go on trial later that month. To the
left was the Gothic cathedral she had passed earlier in the day.
Opposite the cathedral was the National Parliament Building. The
Courthouse and the National Parliament were attractive late 18th Century
buildings; the Cathedral clearly was much older than that. The plaza
itself was full of people walking to catch trolleys or sitting and
conversing.
Maria Elena still was horrified at having to be naked outside, but that
feeling was starting to diminish. For the first time since her arrest,
she was able to resist the temptation to cover herself. The fact that
she was not the only naked person in her group helped her to accept her
situation. The hot summer evening helped as well. She could tell that
Cecilia was uncomfortable in her clothing, while Jason seemed perfectly
relaxed and enjoying himself.
They walked behind the cathedral and returned to the trolley stop. The
first trolley that passed was an express returning to the airport. Maria
Elena looked longingly as a few travelers got on with suitcases,
presumably to fly out of the country. That trolley departed, only to be
followed by another trolley going directly north towards the National
University. Cecilia and Jason got on, followed my Maria Elena.
Cecilia handed a coin to the fare-taker, but Jason and Maria Elena,
because they were collared, did not have to pay anything. However, that
also meant that Cecilia could take a seat, while Jason had to remain
standing. Maria Elena, exhausted and still somewhat sick from her
earlier ordeal, was looking forward to sitting down. The moment she
approached an empty seat Cecilia admonished her:
�Stand up! You can�t sit!�
�What?�
�You�re collared! You�re not allowed to sit on public transportation.
You have to remain standing so people can see you. Don�t you see Jason?
He�s not sitting either.�
Maria Elena felt true despair as she took her place standing next to
Cecilia�s naked fianc�. The trolley was about half-full, and it seemed
everyone was staring at her. Part of the reason was that both she and
Jason had attractive bodies that were pleasant to look at, but also the
other passengers had overheard the two women conversing in Spanish, a
language completely unknown in that part of Europe.
The trolley passed through an opening in the Old City Wall and into a
neighborhood with elegant 19th Century architecture. A few stops later
it entered a residential district of solidly-built 2-story houses along
a pleasant tree-lined street. Cecilia put out her hand to allow Jason to
help her stand up. Once she was standing, she gave him a quick slap on
the bottom. Immediately he got out of the trolley and again offered his
hand to assist her as she exited. To Maria Elena that scene was totally
bizarre, because never had she seen a man appear to be so thoroughly
under the control of a woman.
The trio walked along a very narrow street before arriving at a 2-story
brick house. By Danubian standards the house was very nice, but it was
not any larger than a typical upper-middle class home in Colombia. There
were two large trees in front, several large windows, a solid wooden
door, and another door on the side that led directly into the kitchen.
The back yard had a wall around it, as was true for most houses in
Dan�bikt M�skt. Unlike most Colombian houses, however, the wall was not
topped with barbed wire and there were no bars on the windows. Maria
Elena noticed another significant difference. Not a single house on the
street had a garage, none of the houses even had a driveway, and not a
single car was parked anywhere in sight. The neighborhood, because of
the absence of vehicles, was incredibly quiet.
When Cecilia knocked, a middle-aged man with a unpleasant expression
opened the front door. Jason immediate went to his knees and touched his
forehead to the ground. Maria Elena correctly assumed that she needed to
follow Jason�s lead and sank to her knees as well. The man ordered Jason
to stand up in Danubian and shook his hand. The young man turned to
Ceclia and kissed her goodbye. It was clear that he wanted to take her
in his arms, but it was equally clear that under the staring eyes of her
host father he was not about to take such a risk. Instead he departed,
his uncovered body standing out among the green trees and the brick
houses as he walked away in the late summer dusk.
Cecilia explained that Jason lived with a different family, in the house
of a retired Spokesman called Alexi Havlakt, who was an advisor and
personal friend of the Prime Minister. It turned out the only reason
Cecilia�s fianc� had accompanied the two women was to escort her back to
her residence.
�You�ll see that we�re all connected here. I live with the Prime
Minister�s brother, Jason�s living with the Prime Minister�s best
friend, Criminal # 98946 is married to the Prime Minister�s son, and
Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna used to live with Prime Minister Dukov.�
Maria Elena thought that detail was very strange; why should these North
Americans be living with such important people? She wanted to press
Cecilia for an answer, but held her tongue, assuming she would find out
soon enough.
Cecilia told her companion to kneel upright so she could properly
introduce her to Victor Dukov. The man gave his kneeling guest a quick
nod of acknowledgement, listened to Cecilia�s explanation of her
situation, and gave her another quick nod. He spoke in Danubian, as
Cecilia translated.
�Victor is granting you permission to enter his house and sit at his
table. You need to thank him by saying �Spak�ebo d�k�.
�Spak�ebo d�k.�
Victor nodded yet again and let out a quick whistle. Cecilia explained
that was his signal that he had accepted her as a guest and that she was
to enter his house.
�People communicate a lot in this country, not just with words, but also
with whistles and hisses. A quick high-pitched whistle means �come along
with me�. A long low-pitched whistle means the person disapproves of you
or something you�ve done. A hiss is much stronger than that, almost an
insult. There�s a lot more, but those are what you�ll need to know to
get you started.�
Maria Elena got up and followed Victor and Cecilia into the house.
Cecilia offered her the use of a bathroom, which she desperately needed,
followed by a summons to have dinner. Seated at the table along with the
elder Dukov was a married son and his very pregnant wife, Cecilia, and a
seven-year-old boy she introduced as her nephew Pedro. Maria Elena
expected Pedro to speak Spanish, but unlike his aunt, the only languages
he knew were Danubian and English. Cecilia barely had time to eat
because she was translating questions and comments for four other
people, plus trying to listen to her nephew�s chatter about the day he
had spent with some friends.
By the time dinner was finished Maria Elena knew considerably more about
both her host and about Danubia in general. Victor Dukov was the owner
of a successful business communications company that offered services
ranging from bicycle couriers, overnight package delivery, fax machine
sales and servicing, and various Internet services. He employed 25
bicycle couriers, owned two stores, and operated an Internet caf�. His
couriers were criminals that always started out riding bicycles and
then, upon finishing their sentences, had the option of working in one
of the stores. He openly admitted that having his brother as Prime
Minister had helped his business tremendously because his employees
spent most of their time moving documents between the government�s
various ministries.
Victor talked about his earlier life when he had only five couriers and
that Kimberly Lee had worked for him. It was clear that he was very fond
of her, remembering her as one of his best employees. He reflected that
in a way she still continued to work for him, because all of his current
workers were clients that the Spokeswoman had recommended. �I don�t have
to advertise for employees at all. Kim�s the one who picks them out and
interviews them. Having her assistance is like having a hiring agent
working for me for free.�
Maria Elena clearly was worn out by the time dinner was finished. Now
that her stomach was full, she was nodding off, in spite of her efforts
to show courtesy by paying attention to her hosts� conversation and
Cecilia�s translations. The Dominican came to her aid by excusing
herself and requesting permission to take Maria Elena upstairs. Once
again she had to kneel and repeat �Spak�ebo d�k�, but then she
was released.
Cecilia ordered the prisoner to take a bath and brush her teeth before
she could sleep, emphasizing that Danubians were fastidious about
cleanliness. She also ordered Maria Elena to wash and thoroughly comb
her hair, because the next morning it would have to be braided. While
the Colombian was in the bathroom, Cecilia stripped off the covers from
the bed that she would be using, because even in her bed she would not
be permitted to cover her body. Fortunately the evening was warm, so
hopefully she would be able to adjust to sleeping naked with no covers.
Once Maria Elena was out of the bathroom, Cecilia approached her with a
thin dry dishcloth.
�Pass this under your collar after you�re cleaned up. The skin under
your collar will chafe if you leave your neck wet, and I can tell you
that�s not something you want.�
Once the prisoner dried her neck, Cecilia showed her the bed and
explained that she couldn�t cover herself, even while sleeping. Then she
looked hard at her companion.
�Maria Elena, I have a question. I need to know if I can trust you.�
�Trust me?�
�To
not try to escape once we�re all asleep. I want you to understand that
Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna has taken a personal risk in delaying your
trial and not locking you up. She�s placing trust in you. I�m placing
trust in you. Victor Dukov is placing trust in you. We all understand
that you�re scared. I�m not gonna try to convince you that everything
will be OK, because your life as a criminal is not gonna be easy. But
you have to understand that we�re doing what we can to make it
bearable.�
Maria Elena said nothing. She was accustomed to being told that
everything would be fine, that she had nothing to worry about. She was
accustomed to being constantly lied to, to listening to pleasant words
that had no meaning, mixed with threats that were very real indeed.
Cecilia�s blunt statement came as a surprise to her, because she had
been expecting to be told, once again, that everything would be fine and
not to worry. She didn�t know how to respond, because she was indeed
pondering if there was any way she could get out of the house, find some
clothes, get her collar off, and try to escape. She couldn�t bring
herself to deny that was what she was thinking.
Had Cecilia told her that everything was going to be fine and not to
worry; Maria Elena could have lied and attempted to escape with no
regrets. It was obvious, however, that Cecilia cared enough about her to
tell the truth about what the future held for her. There was no mystery,
no surprises� she knew what she faced as a criminal in Danubia. Almost
without realizing what she was doing, she confessed:
�I was thinking� about trying to escape. I� I�m sorry��
�That�s what I suspected. Of course, you do understand that there�s no
way you could get away? That collar has a transmitter on it. The moment
we noticed you were missing we�d call the police and they�d locate you.
Even if you got the collar off, where would you go? What would you do?
You wouldn�t exactly blend in. You don�t have any money. People would
notice your hair. You couldn�t talk to anyone. There�s no Colombian
embassy here. Your passport�s gone. You try to run, and the only thing
you�d do would be add to the number of switchings you�d get in your
sentence. More switchings� that�s the only thing running�s gonna get
you. More switchings.�
Before Maria Elena could think of a response, Cecilia changed the
subject:
�There�s something else that I want you to think about. For your plane
trip, you were supposed to get 1,000 Euros and a visa, correct?
�Yes.�
�For one kilo?�
�Yes.�
�From what I know, 1,000 Euros and an EU work visa seems an awful lot
for moving one kilo. Are you totally sure you would have gotten that? I
mean, did you� ever talk to anyone else who flew a kilo to Germany? Did
you even know those guys, I mean� before you went to Panama City?�
Maria Elena paused, realizing that no, she had never talked to anyone
who had worked for Alex.
�No. I didn�t know them��
�And you weren�t flying with anyone else? No partners?�
�No, I was alone.�
�That�s not normal, Maria Elena. Usually they fly couriers in groups, or
at least pairs.�
�People do it all the time. I�ve heard of plenty of people going by
themselves.�
�Yes, but in your case, to me it seems something wasn�t right. I don�t
know� maybe Alex is a really great guy and he was trying to do you a
favor, but I doubt it. If I had been you, I would have checked things
out a bit more carefully before getting mixed up with him.�
�There wasn�t any time. Everything was so rushed��
�What you mean was that he didn�t give you any time. Time to think� time
to have some doubts� you�re right about that� no time, but you need to
ask yourself why.�
Maria Elena was silent, not sure how to answer her companion�s
skepticism. Cecilia waved her hand to get the prisoner�s attention:
�So, can I trust you or not?�
�Yes, you can trust me. I promise I won�t try to run away.�
�In this country, people never promise. They simply say what they�re
gonna do.�
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A few minutes later Maria Elena was soundly asleep on her bed. She was
lying on her stomach and gripping her pillow, which was the only item
besides herself that was on the bed. Until she lay down, she had not
realized how tired she was after not having slept over the last 72
hours. The previous night, of course, had been spent awake in that
school. However, she had not slept the night before either, because she
lay awake restless in Panama City, both terrified of what she was about
to do and eager to start her new life in Europe. She was beyond
exhausted; too tired to even care that she was forced to lie naked on
top of a sheet.
Cecilia told Pedro to get in bed before going downstairs to briefly talk
to Victor. Then she went to her room and got on the Internet to deal
with correspondence and e-mails that had built up over the day. Unlike
Maria Elena, it would be several hours before she could go to sleep,
because after answering her e-mails she had to work on progress reports
for her students.
----------
Victor Dukov watched Cecilia as she climbed the stairs to return to her
room. He reflected that it had been four years since she and her nephew
had first come to his house. She had come to live with him and his wife
after having fled the United States with her boyfriend Jason. A very
strange couple indeed, but it was because of them that his brother was
still Prime Minister and Danubia still had an independent government.
The entire country owed them a tremendous debt, so to allow her to stay
in his house all that time, even if a rambunctious small boy was part of
the deal, was nothing to him.
Four
years� how much everything in his life had changed in just four years.
Four years ago his youngest son was still living at home and his wife
was still alive. They were both gone: the son working at a new customs
inspection station at the southern border, and his wife was in the Realm
of the Afterlife.
Victor took off his clothes and put on a black prayer robe. He then
returned to his living room, knelt in front of a black-framed portrait
of his wife, and began praying. He had lost her, and fully understood
that her death was due to his own negligence.
Victor�s wife had been the one person in his life who was patient enough
to withstand his ill temper. She understood that he was not good at
expressing himself, which frustrated him and made him seem much meaner
than he really was. She gave him a family and sense of purpose, wearing
herself out raising three sons as well as helping him with his business
venture. She always supported him, even when it seemed his courier
service was not going to succeed. For years she was indispensable,
spending long hours making sure his bookkeeping was in order so he could
attend to his employees and their assignments. Without her, his sons
would not have grown up to be responsible adults and the business would
not have survived. He fully understood that.
Yes, Victor�s business had expanded tremendously over the past several
years, but that expansion came at a huge personal cost. His wife started
having strange pains in her body, but she chose to ignore them. She had
felt nauseous and faint, but she pressed on. Towards the end Victor knew
that she didn�t look very good, but he dismissed the thought that
anything could be seriously wrong. He figured that he would take her on
vacation and with some rest she�d feel better.
The vacation was supposed to be during the summer, but in April she
finally went to see a doctor. At the appointment the Dukovs found out
what was really going on; that she had advanced cancer and that it had
spread throughout her body. There wasn�t anything that could be done,
because she was way beyond the point that treatment could have done her
any good. By June she was dead.
It was August now, and Victor still had not come to terms with what had
happened. If only he and his wife had taken better care of their bodies,
seen their doctors on a regular basis, it was for sure the cancer would
have been detected in time for something to be done about it. It really
had been up to him to watch out for her, because she was too busy with
his needs to think about her own.
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Victor finished his prayers and rose to his feet. For a very long time
he stared at his wife�s picture, unsure what to do next. He knew that
eventually he would have to go to bed and face another day. He now had a
total of 63 employees: couriers, clerks, salespersons, accountants, and
supervisors. Those people depended on him. Cecilia and her nephew
depended on him. Even his brother, the Prime Minister, depended on him.
He had a grandchild that would be born within a month, so dwelling too
much in guilt would do him no good. He felt responsible for what had
happened to his partner in life, but now he also was responsible for the
futures of so many others. How to balance all that� what should have
been with what would be in the future? Really� how?
Victor walked upstairs and passed the door to the room where the
Colombian girl was sleeping. The door had been left open, because as a
criminal she had to sleep uncovered in an open room. The light from the
hallway illuminated her attractive figure.
He stood in the doorway contemplating his new guest, wondering how long
she�d be at his house. He vaguely suspected it would be more than �just
the few days� that Kim had told him. The truth was that, until she could
learn some Danubian, she would have to stick close to Cecilia and living
with her was the only realistic option. He then realized that if the
Colombian stayed longer than a few days, he really didn�t mind. For some
reason he found her interesting and was not in any hurry to get rid of
her. Strange� he was completely unable to communicate with that girl,
and yet she fascinated him...
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A few hours later Maria Elena woke up. At first she was totally
confused. The room was unfamiliar, she was naked on an uncovered bed,
and she had a metal collar around her neck. Most disconcerting was the
total silence. She sat up and covered herself with her hands, trying to
figure out what had happened. Surly this must be some weird dream�
She touched the collar and looked around the room. Then she felt the
bruises in her bottom and the welts on her thighs. Those hurt for real�
no dream. At that point the memories of the previous day started coming
back and she realized where she was. No dream� she was in a stranger�s
house, in a totally foreign city, where it seemed there was only one
other person who spoke Spanish.
She touched the collar again and put her finger through the metal loop.
No escape� there was no escape. She could go downstairs and even step
out the front door if she wanted, but because that collar had a
transmitter on it, there was no escape.
No escape. It was not only because of her collar there was no escape, it
also was because she had nowhere to run. Really� no where to go. Without
money and a visa there was no point in trying to go to Spain. Most
certainly she did not want to be deported back to Colombia. Many of her
friends had wanted to go to the United States, but for some reason she
had no desire to go there, nor did she want to go anywhere else in Latin
America. Her earlier thoughts of running now seemed silly, because even
without her collar, she was trapped.
Maria Elena slipped downstairs and decided that she did indeed want to
step outside. However, she propped open the front door to make sure she
could get back in. The pre-dawn darkness was incredibly peaceful,
because there were no sounds of traffic to disturb the quiet. No one was
moving about; she was totally alone on the solitary street. There was a
slight rustling of leaves in the night breeze, but that was it. The cool
air seemed to caress her bare body. For the first time since her arrest,
she actually was enjoying the sensation of being naked outside.
She reflected that it only had been 18 hours since she had been
arrested, and yet so much had changed in that short time. She wondered
what happened in Frankfurt when Flight 2298 finally arrived, and El
Flaco stood by, waiting for a call from her cell phone that never came.
Maria Elena guessed that he probably called Alex to confirm that a
courier was indeed supposed to be on that flight. They would have spent
the rest of the morning figuring out that the flight had been diverted
to Danubia, that Maria Elena traveled as far as Dan�bikt M�skt, but that
she never made it back on the plane. The only question remaining would
have been to determine whether she had been arrested by the Danubians or
whether she had decided to not re-board the plane on her own, in hope of
stealing the cocaine she was carrying and trying to sell it herself. As
for the boyfriend who had been responsible for her getting into drug
trafficking in the first place, Maria Elena was realistic. Undoubtedly
already he was working on some other idiotic na�ve girl, using his fancy
car and expert Salsa dancing to seduce someone equally as stupid as
herself. It was likely that he already had totally forgotten about her.
There was one change that she could be happy about. She realized that
her Spokeswoman probably was right when she asserted that in Danubia,
Maria Elena was totally safe from Alex and El Flaco. She would not have
been so safe from them had she gone to Spain� and�
Suddenly Cecilia�s words of doubt entered her mind� 1,000 Euros� that
was indeed a lot of money. Was it possible that El Flaco really had no
intention of actually giving it to her? What if Cecilia was right? El
Flaco didn�t know her, so what would have prevented him from murdering
her and keeping the 1,000 Euros for himself? Now that she had some time
to reflect, that frightening possibility loomed in her imagination.
Another scenario forced itself into her thoughts. Germany� why did they
have her fly to Germany? Wouldn�t Spain have been more logical? Maria
Elena didn�t speak any German; so in that country she would have been
totally helpless� especially if they took her passport. Maybe that was
what they wanted? Yes� she had heard stories about women from all over
the world traveling illegally to various Western countries and ending
up�
Maria Elena tried to catch her breath. She thought about Cecilia�s
questions, and started remembering various details in Panama City, small
things that should have alerted her that she was placing herself in very
grave danger. She chose to ignore those warnings, because she was so
blinded by her dream of going to Spain. She realized, she now knew, that
there was no chance that El Flaco simply would have paid her off and
allowed her to leave Germany. No, he had something much more sinister in
mind for her. A terrifying thought: had she not been arrested, had she
continued on to Germany, would she even still be alive right now?
----------
Trembling with fear and badly shaken, she went back inside, closing the
door behind her. She went to the bathroom and managed to calm her
nerves. To distract her mind from her frightening situation, she stopped
in the hallway and studied herself in a full-length mirror. She realized
that her figure was attractive. That came as a surprise to her, because
she never really had looked at herself naked in a full length mirror
before. She still had tan-lines from the swimsuit that she normally wore
in Colombia, but she knew those would be gone within a few days; one
more detail from her previous life that was destined to disappear.
Maria Elena returned to her bed and fell back asleep. She had only been
up an hour, but during that short time she clearly understood that she
needed to accept what had happened. The only future for her would be a
future in Danubia, because for her there were no alternatives.
The Path of her Life� as the people around her kept saying�
