Dream/Vision (3 December 1963, Moscow)
By the time Jennifer had finished, Sergey was already by the kitchen sink. “Sonechka, ty budesh' pomogat' mne myt' posudu? Ty zhe ne dumayesh', chto ya dolzhen delat' vcyo sam, pravda?” (Sonya, are you going to help me clean up? You don't expect me to do all the work, do you?)
Hearing Sergey's voice again shifted Jennifer's attention out of her train of thought. Right, I guess that makes sense. Him cooking would have to do with how we could split household chores. Which, while I am familiar with this concept, is not common, especially further in the past. Jennifer picked up her dishes and took them to the sink.
While they were washing the dishes, Sergey began to speak again. “Chto s toboy? Ty prosnulas' rano i medlila eto vcyo utro.” (What is wrong? You woke up early and have been slow this entire morning.)
So much for him not noticing anything being off.
“Ty boish'sya suda segodnya?” (Are you scared about the trial today?)
Of course he would attribute the oddities in behavior to anxiety rather than, well, not being who I am supposed to be.
“Ty dumayesh' chto ty ne smozhesh' vystoyat' protiv svoyego brata?” (Do you not think you can stand up to your brother?)
She decided she would try to play along and attempt to pretend to be sick. Maybe he won't make me be this person. “U menya chto-to s zhivotom.” (My stomach feels off.) Jennifer held her hand around her abdomen and raised it up some as she spoke. Wait, what is this about my brother? Does this woman – Sofiya Ivanovna – have a brother as well? And what did he do?
“That is fear. It is understandable. But Nikolay is not who he was. And you can't save these people. These people from your past may remind you of who you used to be. But Sonya, Jennifer, you are not who you were. You have a society in which you belong. And you are not alone.”
I am not going to get out of doing this easily. … Nikolay? Does he mean Nicholas, my brother? Well, I guess that confirms this is supposed to be me. Although a lot has happened in between.
When they finished cleaning up, they turned off the kitchen light and went back to the main room.
