A safe neighborhood. There's a reason they're building apartment blocks nearby for the party's people.
Eva was still standing in the hallway, the phone in her hand. The other party had hung up long ago.
It's a good neighborhood.
Eva checked the safety latch.
Márk wouldn't call at this hour. She placed the receiver back next to the phone.
Before picking up her book again, she looked out the window. They could only have seen the lights go out from the apartment block across the street.
She spotted a light on the third floor. But someone could spy even from a dark room.
A teenager. A child.
Eva read three pages.
She won't give them the satisfaction. If they're watching from the building opposite, they'll see that she turned off the lights and lay back down to sleep.
Mark would do the same.
She'll tell Márk about this when he gets home.
Not a phone topic.
He's coming back early Tuesday morning.
Until then, she can handle a few punks.
It's past eleven. Kids don't stay up this late.
She curled up angrily under the blanket, in the dark.
Tomorrow she has to mail her letters, pay Olga for the fabric, go to the grocery store to buy canned food. She also needs to buy a book.
Which one did Valeria praise during the ten o'clock break?
By morning, the heating was back on. The apartment had almost warmed up by the time Eva woke.
The alarm clock hadn't rung. She hadn't set it for the morning.
Seven ten. She needs to hurry.
There was no time for breakfast. She packed two apples into her bag. She'll eat them when she gets the chance.
She wasn't late. She checked the register, prepared the materials and the small bottles.
During the ten o'clock break, she mailed the letters and postcards. Maybe the recipients would reply later this week.
"D. A." — that is, Dear Addressee
Comrade X
Comrade Y
The bookstore was on the way toward Olga's workplace. Her friend's birthday was coming up. She bought another copy. As long as no one recommends the book to Olga before then.
At the fabric counter, Lucas was standing there.
"What would the comrade like?"
Eva bought a few needles.
She lingered in the department for a while. Olga must have run off somewhere a few minutes ago. To mail a letter. To pay a bill.
She'll pay Olga for the fabric tomorrow.
At the bus stop, she ran into someone she knew. The man had traveled an hour by bus with his little daughter to buy toys.
The neighbor of her aunt. Eva's parents hadn't lived far from the man's family either.
"So, what's going on back home?" Eva asked politely.
The man would usually talk about his children's school results. The harvest.
András stared grimly at a distant point. He didn't look Eva in the eye.
"Trouble."
Eva knew. Her parents had asked András to wait at the bus stop. People were whispering about her aunt.
Not a phone topic.
Her parents couldn't come. It would have looked suspicious.
Her aunt is innocent.
Vera's hidden pregnancy. The spontaneous miscarriage. And the fact that her aunt had been the girl's confidante — that was enough for the whispering to begin.
Her aunt is an angel-maker.
House searches. Reports. Interrogations. Prison.
The whispering was enough for that.
Eva had lived away for almost a decade.
She didn't believe they would interrogate her too.