Maragana Girl Ch. 27

Vladik stood at attention in front of the prayer stand. The two attendants quickly undressed him. One of the women handed Kim his wallet, watch, keys, and a religious medallion. The rest of Vladik's belongings went into the fire.

Vladik then knelt at the prayer stand, as the priest stood in front of him and an attendant stood to either side. There was a lengthy set of ancient prayers that Kim could not understand, some burning of incense, then more prayers. Vladik then began a series of confessions. The priest was much more interested in Vladik's habit of lying than in his physical acts of adultery. Merely confessing to a lie was not enough for the priest. As he confessed to each incident in his life, Vladik had to go into detail concerning what he actually said, why he told the lie, and its result. Kim could tell that Vladik was becoming increasingly scared, because his confessions were far more numerous and detailed than he had anticipated. It was obvious the priest was determined to dig deep into Vladik's soul, to find out what made his mind work and what motivated him. In the end, Kim found out much more about his secret thoughts than she cared to know.

The priest asked Vladik what he wanted for his future, but he only could answer by referring to his past. He wanted to live differently, but wasn't sure how. To Kim's surprise the priest did not have much advice, apart from telling him the obvious, that he needed to be more truthful. However, Dukov's disgraced son now faced a radical change in his daily life, which would last at least through the upcoming Day of the Dead ceremony.

The priest began Vladik's public penance by collaring him. The collar was a special Temple issue instead of a standard Ministry of Justice issue. It was smooth instead of grooved, lacked the metal loop, and had no transmitter. It could be unlocked by a priest, taken off, and reused. Its purpose was not to control Vladik's movements, but rather mark him as serving public penance. The rules Vladik would have to live under were very similar to the rules of a "willingly repentant" criminal such as Malka Chorno. Like a convicted criminal, he was prohibited from wearing any clothing at any time, the standards of criminal protocol applied, and he could not take a seat on public transportation. The only difference was the option of ending his penance whenever he chose. In Vladik's case, the priest assumed he would serve his penance up through the Day of the Dead ceremony and participate in the march, but then turn in his collar and start the second phase of his life once the march was completed.

It was getting dark by the time Vladik and Kim left the Temple. It felt extremely odd for Kim to be out on the street with Vladik, their roles reversed with her wearing normal clothes while he walked alongside collared and naked. Finally they boarded a trolley and headed back to Spokesman Dukov's house.

Dukov and Maritza both were waiting in the living room with plenty of questions. Upon seeing their son nude and wearing a penance collar, their questions about what happened multiplied. Vladik, now in his new role of performing public penance, had to kneel upon greeting his father, who still was a public official. Dukov did not give Vladik permission to stand up.

The news that day for Vladik's parents had gone from bad to worse. First came word of Vladik's resignation through his boss. The section chief called Dukov, wondering if the Spokesman had any clue that would explain his son's sudden resignation. Dukov was infuriated upon hearing the news, not so much over the resignation itself, but because Vladik had not talked to him about it. Then came a call from Maritza with information about their smashed front window and the engagement jewelry thrown in the back yard. Maritza had thought something must have gone wrong between Kim and Sergekt, but when her husband relayed the information about Vladik's resignation it became logical to assume the engagement jewelry must have been from Vladik's fiancée, not Kim. Dukov, extremely worried, made a series of phone calls but was unable to find out anything more.

Vladik, his head still pressed to the ground, filled in the missing information. He admitted to having an affair with his police partner and that afternoon his fiancée had walked in on them. That prompted a round of angry questions from Maritza, which brought out the detail that Vladik's fiancée had suspected the affair for more than a year and finally captured proof of it on film. The threat of exposure explained his sudden resignation from the National Police, because he and his partner had been conducting their affair during hours they were supposed to be working.

Maritza was livid. Her intense anger frightened Kim, given that she never had seen the woman lose her temper any time before. She tore into her son about disgracing the Dukov name and ruining his chances to marry into one of Upper Danubia's "best" families. And for what? Sex with a vulgar, skinny, ugly, uneducated peasant, and one who already was married on top of everything else. You gave up your future for that?

As Maritza continued to berate and insult her kneeling son, Kim realized something about the elder Dukovs. It turned out they never had fully recovered psychologically from their sentences and were determined to move the family as high as possible through "proper" marriages for their children. Kim realized Maritza had gone to great lengths to set up meetings between Vladik and several young women from the country's "old blood" and was enormously pleased to see him engaged to a fine young woman. Kim also realized Vladik had become engaged to placate his parents. Try as he might, he never actually loved the "proper" young woman to whom he was engaged. Now he was paying a terrible price for his misdirected efforts.

Maritza landed several vicious kicks at her son's upturned bottom and then stormed out of the room. For several minutes the room was full of tense silence, with Vladim Dukov wondering if he should ask Kim to leave and Kim wanting to tell him to let his son get off his knees.

In spite of the immediate crisis, Vladim's mind already was moving ahead. He broke the silence by asking Vladik how long he planned to perform public penance, and then what he wanted to do afterwards. Vladik, still kneeling, responded that he figured going to the country's military academy would be a good option. He didn't see why he couldn't be a good military officer and two years of academy training would be waved because of his police experience. As for the penance, he wasn't sure how long that would last.

"Very well, Vladik. I'll make some calls to assure you receive a slot in the January class. In the meantime you'd better get a job that keeps you busy in the evenings. I can tell you your mother isn't going to want to see you for a while."

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Kim took Vladik to the music store the following day to see what work might be available for him. The other employees gathered around, shocked at seeing Officer Vladik Dukov out of his uniform and performing public penance. The store's owner did have an appropriate job for Vladik, as a temporary contractor to recommend upgrades for the store's security system and run checks on the wiring and fire safety equipment. Another tasking would be to create an emergency evacuation plan for both the store and nearby studio complex. The work easily would last until Vladik's Academy date in January, but with the condition he had to remain naked during working hours, no matter what. Vladik agreed, and simply decided to extend his public penance until the end of the year.

As Vladik started walking around the store with a blueprint of the building's wiring in his hands, he noticed Tiffany Walker cleaning windows and dusting the windowsills. Of all the people in the store astounded to see the disgraced cop out of his uniform, she was by far the most surprised, given that he so recently had been her arresting officer and had switched her just three weeks before. Vladik realized he owed her an explanation.

Because he was a contractor being paid by the task instead of a regular employee, Vladik was free to take breaks when he wanted. When Tiffany had her lunch hour, he decided to try to talk to her, in spite of a language barrier that still was quite formidable. He spoke a small amount of English and she spoke a small amount of Danubian. Between them they had a dictionary, so with a lot of effort they were able to communicate. Tiffany accepted Vladik's invitation for lunch at a nearby café, partially flattered that he was paying attention to her, and partially curious to find out what had happened to him.

As they began trying to talk to each other, they stopped referring to each other as Criminal # 98946 and Officer Dukov. From now on it would be Tiffany, (or "Deevonay", as he pronounced it) and Vladik. They were equals and, at least for the time-being, co-workers. The relationship they had as police officer and criminal no longer had any relevance in their lives, because Vladik himself now was much closer to being a criminal than to being a police officer.

Tiffany listened to Vladik's story about his fiancée, his partner, and his forfeited police career. As first she couldn't understand why Vladik had to resign, but finally understood when he told her that he and his partner had been conducting their affair during working hours. She realized there was much more than just the detail about the misuse of work hours, some cultural stuff she couldn't yet understand. Tiffany's judgment was much less harsh than even Kim's had been. She mostly felt sorry for Vladik, because he seemed like a decent person, even if he was somewhat flawed.

Tiffany went home that night to Victor Dukov's house. She knelt and greeted him, then got up to join him and his family for dinner. As Victor conversed with his wife in Danubian, Tiffany heard Vladik's name mentioned. In spite of her very limited Danubian vocabulary, Tiffany could tell from Victor's expressions and gestures that he saw his nephew as a dishonored fool.

After dinner Criminal # 98946 thought about her own situation, her mind functioning more clearly now that she was clean. Tiffany marveled at her own recovery. She had not taken any mind-altering substance for more than eight weeks. She also had been celibate the entire time, but did not miss sex in the least. Her sexual desires had burned out, at least for the time being. Whether or not her sexual drive ever would come back was a question that still had to be answered. She presumed, over time, she might be able to enjoy sex again, assuming it was with the right guy. The right guy...

Tiffany's thoughts shifted to the disgraced young cop. She cringed at remembering the switching he had given her, but she did not hold that against Vladik. He simply had been doing his job, and she had returned to Upper Danubia knowing she faced physical punishment. The experience had been horrible, but Tiffany was quite glad to have endured it because it removed some of the self-hatred and guilt from her past. She then thought about the comment he made immediately before he began punishing her, that he wanted her to show him courage and honor. The comment made her aware of an important detail about Vladik; even though he had to punish her, he cared about her.

As Tiffany thought about Vladik, she pondered what the possibilities might be for a relationship with him, whether it be friendship or perhaps something more. She knew his life was in crisis and he could use a friend, someone not connected with his past and who would not judge him. She went to sleep promising herself she would try to get to know him better, and see what might come out of it.

The following morning, when he saw her at work, Vladik asked Tiffany to accompany him on the upcoming Day of the Dead march. Tiffany happily agreed, relieved not to have to endure that strange experience alone. Vladik's simple gesture of friendship signaled the end of Tiffany's isolation and the real beginning of her redemption.

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The night of the Equinox, the members of Socrates' Mistresses led hymns in the Plaza of the Ancients. This was the first year the band would sing instead of march, its 15 members performing dressed in black robes. Several cameramen were filming the concert for footage to later include in music videos. Eloisa and her singers outdid themselves presenting the most mournful music Upper Danubia had ever created as the marchers moved out and the religious ceremonies began. The music moved many members of the public to tears, but there was no applause. The morose atmosphere of the Day of the Dead demanded somber behavior from the audience. They were to listen respectfully, but not make any noise themselves.

Vladik and Tiffany marched out together, with torches in their hands and their bodies covered in white body paint with black highlights. They marched in a single-file column with 1,300 other criminals and Temple penitents. A second column of the same size headed off in the opposite direction with the plan to reunite the following morning at the rest camp at the other end of Danube City. Tiffany was quite happy to have Vladik marching in front of her during this bizarre and rather frightening experience.

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The Equinox prayers were very painful for Vladim and Maritza Dukov. In contrast with the previous year, the only member of the family present with them was Anyia. As she knelt praying, Maritza increasingly became burdened with guilt over her treatment of Vladik, and saw very clearly she had to apologize to him.

Spokesman Vladim Dukov's visions terrified him. He saw Upper Danubia as an impoverished, polluted, deforested wasteland, the historical buildings of Danube City torn down and the city's smoky streets jammed with cars. Gangs roamed freely, attacking at random, while desperate pensioners stood outside the dilapidated Parliament Building clamoring for what little the government could provide them in food relief. The plazas and parks were full of drug addicts and the hospitals full of AIDS patients. Billboards and advertising for foreign products cluttered the landscape, but from all the closed stores and factories it was obvious Upper Danubia no longer was producing anything, not even food. As Dukov's mind traveled through his nightmarish vision of his country, it seemed the only industries doing well were casinos and sex tourism.

An even more frightening scene filled the Spokesman's mind, as his imagination carried him east to the recently deforested mountains. Dukov watched as heavy rains washed vast amounts of mud from nearby hills into the Rika Chorna Reservoir. Suddenly several huge landslides plunged into the lake, breaking the dam and sending floodwaters downstream. The wall of water annihilated two provincial capitols and many villages before completely leveling Danube City. Dukov's last vision was of a Danubian flag floating in muddy water. He caught a very quick glimpse of King Vladik's empty throne, and then came back to the real world.

Maritza looked over at her husband's terrified, gasping face.

"Vladim! Vladim! What happened? What did you see!?"

"I...I watched our country die, Maritza, the entire country. I actually witnessed the last day of the Duchy."

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The following day Vladik stayed with Tiffany while she picked up her winter cape and boots. Like Kim two years before her, Tiffany was dismayed when she pulled it out and saw what a ghastly piece of clothing it was.

"This is shit! I can't wear this!"

"No Deevonay, what you say, true. Criminals no wear cape. Boot yes, cape no."

"Fuck!"

Tiffany went upstairs to get her criminal number from Kim. After kneeling and doing the protocol greeting, Tiffany jumped on the issue of the cape. Kim responded.

"Well, I got through two winters with wearing that thing maybe ten times altogether. The truth is they don't want you to use it, it's just for cold snaps and if you have to be outdoors for more than a few minutes." Kim then explained the survival strategy for wearing nothing but boots during the winter, ducking into buildings whenever possible and jogging if it was necessary to go more than a couple of blocks without having a building to warm up in.

Tiffany then went with Vladik to the Temple of the Ancients and watched as he knelt to address the priest. Vladik told the priest he wanted to continue his penance until the end of the year and asked for a pair of Temple shoes to protect his feet from the increasingly cold pavement of Danube City's streets. The priest gave him a pair of black boots with the Temple emblem. For Vladik there would be no cape. Persons performing penance stayed nude, no matter how cold it was outside.

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September became October as Danube City enjoyed the final sunny days leading up to the fall rains. During the weeks following the Day of the Dead ceremony Vladik never missed an opportunity to invite Tiffany out for lunch. He found her fascinating, with her tall thin body and strange hair that contrasted with anything a Danubian woman would wear. Her personality fascinated him as well, because she was so completely different from either his ex-fiancée or his ex-partner. Even Tiffany's past, which would have disqualified her as a partner for most Danubian men, fascinated Vladik. Tiffany was as "un-proper" as a woman could possibly be, but Vladik found himself wanting to spend more and more time with her.

During October Tiffany became increasingly acclimated to her life in Danube City, but not because of Kim. At the beginning Kim had expected to take time away from her studies and rehearsals to spend with her client, showing her around and teaching her what she needed to know to function as a criminal in Danube City. However, while Kim had lunch in the employee break-room with Eloisa and the other female vocalists, Tiffany was nowhere in sight, and neither was Vladik. When her shift ended, it always was Vladik, not Kim, who accompanied Tiffany back to Victor Dukov's house. Several times Kim and Eloisa watched dumbfounded as Vladik and Tiffany walked towards the river during their breaks, smiling and bantering with each other. Eloisa commented:

"If those two start going out, they are going to be the weirdest couple in Danube City."

Kim thought about Eloisa's comment, but did not agree. There was nothing odd about the coincidence that Vladik and Tiffany were rebuilding their lives at the same time and thus would be attracted to each other. They both were in disgrace, they both were burdened with guilt from their pasts, and they both were starting from nothing.

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The first Saturday in October Tiffany and Vladik went to the Socrates Club for the first time. Tiffany actually liked the club, but her companion was a bit nervous upon seeing several criminals he had punished while still a police officer. Finally he calmed down and focused on his own situation instead of worrying about what the others thought about him.

As he sat with Tiffany, the emotion of the past three weeks built up in Vladik Dukov's heart. A month before he never could have imagined he would be sitting at a table at the famous criminal's club, as naked as any criminal and struggling with his growing feelings towards a dishonored woman who was a recovering drug addict and former prostitute. Then the words of Kimberly Lee came back to him... "Maybe what you need is a woman with flaws and problems, someone you can love for who she is and how she feels about you, not for what she is."

With that thought on his mind, Vladik invited Tiffany to dance. Vladik had no real plans, other than to enjoy Tiffany's company. For the first time in his life he did not have to worry about protocol, furthering his career, acting "properly", or trying to impress anyone. He simply could enjoy Tiffany for what she was to him, a friend and a companion.