Upheaval: Day 19

Word Count: 114,018

Summary of Events:

Leon was visited by the Russians again and told he'd have a day to say his goodbyes before they left; he was also visited by the head of the school district, who told him he'd have to pay $20,000 in damages to the school and was suspended for the rest of the year — despite his insistence that it wasn't his fault. He was then released from hospital into custody of the Russians, whom he tried — but failed — to escape from. They spent the night guarding him after he made a second attempt at escape; the next morning the makeup artist came to cover up his bruises and scars so he looked more like his passport photo, which was a painful experience due to his bruises . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Finally Fanya dried his tears and Valeri let go of his face before brandishing a short knife and cutting the duct tape that held him to the chair, tearing it off swiftly.

"Good as new," Nikolai said.

Leon looked at him, feeling horrible. He wanted to lash out, but he knew nothing he could do would stop things. He would be going to Russia tonight, whether he liked it or not.

"Now go upstairs and pack," Nikolai said. "Кирилл! The window!"

Valeri pushed Leon toward the living room. Leon obediently went, following after Mikhail once they got to the living room.

As they got to the foot of the stairs Leon considered making a dash for the door, but they had cars, he'd be on foot. He needed to find somewhere else, some way else, to get away from them.

Obediently he mounted the stairs and stepped into his room, whose door Mikhail opened for him.

Standing in the doorway, Leon looked at everything.

The bed, neatly made, as Mama always expected it to be — yet he'd never seen hers made — the desk, sparsely covered with the chair by it. The dresser and bedside table both with nothing more than dust on their tops, aside from a few fragments of his latest alarm clock that Mama had left behind after she'd destroyed it, including some he'd pulled out of his bed when they'd jabbed him since then.

Tears blurred Leon's vision. He had the horrible feeling he was never, ever, going to see this room again. Once he'd packed all he was taking out of it and shut the door on it there was going to be no more hiding here, in his safe space.

"Don't worry about bringing bedding," Mikhail said. "There will be bedding enough in Россия."

"You can't do this to me!" Leon sobbed. "This is my home!"

"If anything you brought this on yourself," Valeri said. "You are the one who participated in the dance contest, after all."

A surge of anger swelled in Leon, but he couldn't come up with the words to say in response to Valeri's comment. It was true. If he would've listened to Mama and not danced then none of this would've happened. But he loved to dance too much, and he wanted to follow in бабушка's footsteps, as she was the one who'd given dance to him.

He seized the door and slammed it shut, closing Mikhail and Valeri out of the room. He sat down in front of the door, gathered his legs close to his chest, and stared at the desk and chair across from him through tear-blurred eyes.

Why were they in such a hurry? Why did he have to go to Russia practically yesterday? Why couldn't he stay here and get used to the idea of leaving before it happened?

Pronunciations:

Кирилл: Kirill

Россия: Russia