Locket full of Secrets (13 page)

              “By the time my dad came back the next day he was even sicker than before. He went right to the doctor in Kiev.” Olena’s voice was now just above a whisper. “But they could do nothing for him. It was too late. He died two days later, the radiation too much for his body to handle. My mother did not tell me then, but later explained that my father and Maksym went to the power plant. They found Uri’s car and the film he had left there. Maksym took the photos and hid them where they would be safe in Pripyat, while my dad searched for Uri’s body. He found only his smashed camera in the debris. It was proof that there was more going on than most people knew.

              “Once my father died, Maksym was afraid that we were in too much danger in Ukraine and told my mother we all needed to leave,” Olena pushed on, all emotion gone from her voice. “He said if they were storing those weapons in Pripyat, then it meant there might be something bigger happening that was even more dangerous for us all. He believed we were going to start a war, using the nuclear weapons to take over the world. My mother feared he was right, so we left immediately. We did not even have a real funeral for my father. On the way to the airport, all my mother told me was that we had to go somewhere safe from the sickness that my father had died from. I was too young to understand just what that sickness was. We all left except Svetlana. She said she was going to move back to Pripyat as soon as she could so she would still feel close to Uri. I do not know where is she is now, only that she can never go back.

              “We moved to England then, my aunt and uncle and cousin in a house with my mother and me. My cousin was a few years older so he thought something more was going on than just what we had been told. We started trying to listen when the adults were talking so we could learn something, but never heard much. As the months and years passed the adults stopped talking about Ukraine and Chernobyl. Then one night we heard them yelling about the photos. Maksym was shouting after coming home drunk. My mother and aunt fought with him through the night, then finally our house was quiet again. The next day my uncle did not come home from work. We waited all night for him, but when he did not call by morning my mom said we needed to leave. We were on a plane to Canada a few hours later.

              “I now know that Maksym showed Uri’s photos to someone. He thought he could trust this man he worked with, but clearly he could not. Maksym was chased down after work one night and was shot five times. The photos he had with him was gone, and we had no way to know if he told anyone that we had more. So, we stayed in Canada and waited. When the Soviet Union fell we rejoiced. It was clear my mom and aunt thought we were safe now. They did not tell me anything still, but I could tell that they were no longer living in constant fear of the men who killed Maksym.

“Living in Canada, we really were safe for a long time,” Olena paused to again refill her glass. “They found us one day, when my mother was the only one home. They shot through the windows and lit the house on fire. She barely made it out, but came to the school to get my cousin and me. We picked up my aunt at work and went right to the airport. We did not know how they found us, but we knew all of us staying together was too dangerous. My aunt decided to move to Texas, and my mom chose Ohio. When we said goodbye, my aunt gave me the locket. I did not know what it was yet, but it was the only link to my aunt, so I took special care of it.

              “You know the next part Claire,” Olena said with an attempt at a smile.

              “On the way to Ohio my mother told me a little bit about what was really going on,” Olena explained. “I knew about Chernobyl from the news, but she told me about Uri and the photos and the truth about how my father died. It all scared me so much. I decided right then that I was not going to talk to anyone at school. I figured it was not worth it to get close to anyone, when I would probably just have to leave soon anyways.”

“I sure ruined that one for you, didn’t I?” I frowned.

“Claire, you ruined nothing,” she insisted. “I needed a friend more than anything, and sitting next to you in homeroom my first day was like fate stepping in to help. Without you Ohio would have been nothing but another scary place I had to run from. Instead I got to be a kid for once. I got to be happy, and have a friend, and not worry about who might be looking for me. For a while I forgot we were in trouble, so when my mom told me we had to leave I did not understand. I told her it was a lie, we were still safe. But somehow we had been found once again. I begged her to at least let me say goodbye to you. It was so hard to do, but I hoped that by giving you the locket you would know just how much your friendship meant to me.”

I wanted to move to Olena then and hug her, but I found my body frozen. Hearing her story was breaking my heart. Tears were running down my cheeks freely now, her story too much to take in all at once.

“When we left Ohio we went to Washington State to live with my Aunt and cousin,” Olena continued. “They moved there as well, deciding that being together might not be safe, but was a comfort all the same. It was more important than ever to stay secret, so my cousin and I went to school while my aunt and mother went to work, and then we all stayed at home each night praying no one would find us. We did not make friends or even talk to people. Sharing the photos we still had was not worth the risk of getting caught, so we just hid.”

Olena paused then, taking a long drink of her champagne. She opened her mouth as if to continue, then took another drink. Clearly she was in more pain that she was outwardly showing, as was usual for her.

“Then one day it happened. I was watching the news and saw my aunt’s car. There had been an accident. The car had slid off the road and into a ditch where it blew up. My aunt and mother were killed, and my cousin-”

Olena stopped suddenly, looking between Steven and I.

“I was the only one left,” she mumbled, before downing the rest of her drink.

I reached out to the table and grabbed my drink as well now. I tried wiping my tears with the back of my hand but they were quickly replaced. Steven pulled me closer to his body for comfort, his arms locked tightly around me. Without him I felt like I would crumble with the sudden rush of emotions.

              “My only plan then was to get safe, get ready, and head to Pripyat. But first I needed to get the necklace from you.” Olena held the necklace away from her body now, staring at it while she continued speaking. “If my aunt had not given it to me it would have been destroyed in the crash. And by giving it to you it was never in danger when we had to leave in a hurry. I knew you would have it still, so I headed to Ohio immediately. But I did not know that I had been followed. I did not know that they had been watching me since my mother died, hoping I would lead them to any other photos we may have been hiding. Since I went back to Ohio, they must have assumed I was going to get the other photos and would then expose the truth. If I did not kill Alexi in the bathroom that day, we both would have been dead. But, as you know, I was able to take him out and get away before that could happen. It was perfect that the police next door started keeping an eye on you more after everything. If there was anyone following you they likely got scared away or figured you were not a threat at all at that point.”

              “I should have helped you,” I said, my voice strained through the tears.

“No, you gave me time. The necklace was still safe with you while I got things in order,” she corrected me. “I knew I would need to be completely ready to leave for Pripyat once I had the necklace so I set my plans in place until I could get it from you finally. That was how I found someone in New York to get help making me a passport, and also to get money ready for the trip. I am just sorry I had to bring you through all of this these last few days.”

              “Could you really have made it this far alone?” Steven asked. I noticed his voice was a little husky with emotion. Clearly Olena’s story had gotten to him as well.

              “I do not know,” Olena admitted. “At first I was afraid to get help in case it put more people in danger. But, I think it might come to our advantage tomorrow.”

              “What exactly is the plan for tomorrow?” I was still struggling to control my emotions, and doing a rather poor job of it.

              “We are going on a tour of Chernobyl, just like all the other college kids do when they are in Kiev,” Olena smiled, the gesture actually reaching her eyes. “I told the woman at the office today that my mother was from Kiev but we lived in the US since I was little. I told them I want to see some of the country where my mom grew up. Once we are in Pripyat, we are going to sneak away from the tour group and find the film Uri has been hiding all these years.”

              So that was it? We were going to be tourists that wander off and stumble upon photos that would prove that Chernobyl was caused by a delay while hiding nuclear weapons? Wrapping my head around everything was tough to say the least. Combine that with my jet lag from two days of traveling from Michigan all the way to the Ukraine and it was a bit too much to take in.

              “How can we be sure we won’t meet up with those guys when we are on the tour?” Steven asked. Great, another thing to worry about that had not crossed my mind yet.

              “We will be safe,” Olena assured us. “They will not attack us around a whole bus full of tourists. When we go to leave from the tour, if anyone looks questionable we will wait and try another option.”

              I could feel all control beginning to melt away now. The last few days had been a lot for me to process, and I knew it was nothing compared to what Olena had been through. Every member of Olena’s family had either died or was killed thanks to the very film we were now in search of. Olena told us all about it without crying, no doubt from years of being forced to hide her emotions and simply survive. That fact just made it worse. Here she was, hurting inside over so much loss in her life, and I had the nerve to be mad at her for leaving for a few years?

              Standing up quickly I stumbled to Olena and plopped into the chair next to her. Leaning closer to fill the gap, I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug. She tensed for a minute before wrapping her arms around me in return, allowing me to cry on her shoulder. It felt good to comfort her, although she was comforting me more than anything. I wished I could blame some of my crying on the alcohol, but I knew it was likely a lack of sleep mixed with being way too stressed.

              “I’m sorry for everything,” I said into her ear, the words coming out as sobs. “I wish I could have been there for you more with all of this.”

              “You did more than you can know,” she replied, leaning back to look me in the eyes. “You held onto this necklace when it could have been destroyed so many times by the people after me. Between that and being such a good friend for me when I was in Ohio, I could not image you doing any more. Being my best friend was more important than anything else in the world.”

              Her words opened the floodgates in me once again. After another hug Steven was at my side as well. With both of them so close I realized that this experience was truly bittersweet. I was seeing the world with two people that were so important to me, enjoying delicious food and an amazing hotel. If I could just get the plans for tomorrow out of my head, it might be almost perfect.