Page 235 - LEIBY

Chapter 31 235

Chapter 31

Life with Pavel was pure torture for Sandy. Pavel was quick
with his hands and hit anyone in his proximity at the slightest
provocation. It was clear that Stefanya had hit him often too,
until hitting had become his second nature, the language he
was most accustomed to using. Only the Russian soldier who
lived in the next building was able to stop his fits of anger.
When he saw the soldier standing at the door, Pavel would
calm down immediately, stop his fearsome roaring, and drop his
raised fists. He’d turn pale and just stand still, throwing terrified
glances at the soldier. Sandy was almost never in their room.
He’d get up at dawn and spend the whole day in the small room
where Andz’ei, the Jewish teacher, taught him Polish, Russian,
math, and history each morning. In the afternoons, Yanina, the
communist teacher, taught them about the Red revolution in
Soviet Russia.

Sandy loathed Yanina’s lessons. She always spoke about the
utopian life in the communist paradise. Sandy scoffed at the
lies he heard. Did Yanina really believe that they didn’t know
the truth about the kolkhoz? Grisha, his former roommate, had
told him about how he had starved in the kolkhoz, and about
the coveted prize he had received when he had done well in his
studies – to collect the breadcrumbs that fell while the bread