I looked to Cici.
“Bunu traded the Kents to have the radio repaired,” she said.
“Information is more valuable than medicine right now! Poland and Hungary. East Germany will be next!” argued Bunu. “We need the radio. We need Radio Free Europe. We need Munteanu’s reports. Tell her, Cristian.”
“Don’t you involve him in this. You had no right,” complained Mama. “Those cigarettes didn’t belong to you.”
“What belongs to us, truly, Mioara? Everything belongs to the Party, my dear,” said Bunu at full volume. “Isn’t that the truth?”
I had to agree with Bunu. I’d rather be Kentless but have the radio. Especially with what I saw at the library. We needed Radio Free Europe.
Radio Free Europe had been established by the American CIA decades prior to move information behind the Iron Curtain—the border between communist and noncommunist countries. The broadcasts were accessed only with an illegal antenna, and nearly every family had fashioned one. But no one spoke of it. It was too valuable.
Bunu had heard the news. He thought East Germany would be next?
“What about Romania?” I asked him.
“Exactly! We need the radio to find out!”
“Lower your voice!” pleaded Mama.
I turned to my sister. “Cici, did you know that Mrs. Drucan is sick?” I whispered. “Her daughter just arrived from the States.”
“Oh, I’m so happy she made it. Yes, I knew. I washed and mended her nightgown last week. Poor woman weighs nothing.”
“Her daughter lives in Boston?”
She nodded. “She’s a researcher at Harvard. Where have you been?” whispered Cici. “School ended hours ago.”
I shrugged. “Just hanging around.”
She looked at me, suspicious. “Hanging around. With anyone in particular?”
“Not really.”
“Liliana came by. Twice. She said to give you this.”
Cici retrieved a sealed envelope from her back pocket. “Loooove notes,” she teased, dancing the envelope.
“Jealous that Alex hasn’t sent you one?” I snapped the envelope from her and retreated to my closet.
I used the flashlight sparingly, but a letter from Liliana was definitely worth it. Maybe I’d put the Springsteen article in the envelope and drop it off at her apartment. I tore open the sealed flap of the envelope and removed a small sheet of paper that contained just a few sentences:
You are a liar.
You are everything I despise.
You are an informer.
32
TREIZECI ?I DOI
I switched off the flashlight.
Invisible hands appeared in the darkness. One hand gripped my hair. The other pressed down over my nose and mouth. And then it pressed again. Harder.
You are a liar.
I couldn’t breathe.
You are everything I despise.
I was suffocating.
You are an informer.
Shocks of blue flashed behind my eyes. My mouth pulled dry with panic.
I burst from the closet and bolted out of our apartment, still clutching the note.
I had no plan. No outline in my notebook. But something inside of me churned, driving me toward Liliana. Did she think I was spending time with her just to get information?
I banged on her apartment door.
Alex appeared. “Lili,” he said over his shoulder, “your boyfriend’s here.”
Whispering hissed behind the door.
“Oh, sorry.” Alex shrugged. “She’s not home.” He shut the door.
I knocked again. And again. And again and again until the door finally opened.
“Look, she doesn’t want to see you. Keep it up and I’ll take care of that hand. You won’t be able to knock anymore,” said Alex.
Adrenaline, molecular courage. Every nerve ending blazed within me. “Oh yeah, Alex? Step out in the hallway and we’ll see whose hands survive.”
“Are you threatening me, Cristi? I’d destroy you.”
“Try it, p?mp?l?ule.”
“La dracu!” He grabbed me by the collar.
Liliana appeared and grabbed her brother, pulling him back. “Stop!”
“Worried I’ll kill your lovebird?” he spat.
“Shut up, Alex.” Liliana rushed by me and headed down the stairs. I ran to follow.
We pushed through the door and walked around the side of her building.
“What, now you want to fight my brother?”
“If that’s what it takes to speak with you.” I pulled the note from my pocket.
“What is this? Did you write it?”