Read Online Bitter Remedy by Conor Fitzgerald - Free Book Online

swung it half-shut again, just as Blume regained his bed. Her voice sounded a little shaky. ‘No, but Niki is.’
    ‘Niki is what?’
    ‘Coming up the corridor,’ said Silvana. ‘Play nice. Ignore him if he says things that offend you.’
    ‘I am not easily offended,’ said Blume.
    ‘Oh yes, you are,’ said Silvana. ‘It’s sort of your most noticeable characteristic.’
    ‘ Ma vaffanculo . You don’t even know me.’
    ‘See? Don’t let him provoke you about being a policeman.’
    ‘If he even tries . . .’
    ‘Or about not acting the policeman.’
    ‘Huh?’
    ‘If he says anything about you not knowing your job. Not caring. He might do that, too.’
    ‘Why are you with the bastard?’
    She sighed. ‘I wish I knew.’

Chapter 7
    On the ferry across the Black Sea to Istanbul, Olga kept poking her big dyed head into the cabin and checking if the girls were all right. She told them to go up on deck if they were feeling seasick. She even offered to buy sandwiches and Coca-Colas for anyone who wanted. The two youngest girls did, and went giggling out of the room together, and, like two ducklings, followed Olga’s large backside as it waddled its way down the corridor.
    ‘Istanbul,’ said Nadia. ‘You know what’s going to happen there, Alina, don’t you?’
    ‘We’re going to stay a few days, then we move on.’
    ‘That could happen. What about sex with a Turk, do you think you could do that? Turks are Muslims.’
    Alina shuddered, but did not reply. A few minutes later, Nadia returned to the attack. ‘You’re very pale. Apparently they like redhead pale girls. And blondes. Ukrainians in particular.’
    ‘How come you’re the expert? Have you made this trip before?’
    ‘No, but I’ve heard things. The police are in on it, too. And if we ever go home, they’ll just say we were asking for it.’
    Alina looked defiant. ‘Not everyone . . . I know some girls end up in dance clubs and bars and worse, but a lot end up in domestic service and doing ordinary stuff, too.’
    It was a relief to hear Alina hint at what might lie ahead. Nadia was beginning to fear her friend really had no idea, which made her feel guilty, as if she were the corrupting influence. Guilty and lonely. ‘Listen, I have been thinking about this, Alina. We’re going to stick together, right?’
    Alina slipped her arms around Nadia’s neck. ‘Oh, please, yes.’
    Nadia detached herself gently. ‘I don’t know how it works yet, but I am pretty sure that if they see we are close, they will separate us. Like in the factories? The bosses don’t want solidarity. So maybe sometimes we are going to have to pretend not to be together, not to care. I might be wrong, but be prepared to do that.’
    ‘What about Italy? Will we go to Italy together?’
    Nadia put her arm around Alina’s thin waist. ‘I don’t think that is up to us any more. From here on, for quite a long time, other people will be making the decisions.’
    ‘But they could send us to Italy?’
    ‘Of course they could. And someday we’ll be free to do what we want.’
    ‘What about the Vidal Sassoon Academy?’
    ‘I am sure it exists, Alina. And maybe you’ll be working in it someday soon. But between now and then, be prepared for some things you won’t like.’
    Alina turned her face into Nadia’s shoulder. ‘Just make sure you stay as near me as possible.’
    Nadia stroked Alina’s long straight hair, red in the sun, purple down here where the walls were painted green and the light came from a porthole looking out over a blue sea.
     
    They spent the rest of the journey up on deck. Nadia thought it might be good idea, or at least morally rewarding, to hide from Olga and make the fat bitch worry, but Olga never came looking for them. She did not need to. She had their passports.
    Nadia had had a vague idea of Istanbul being located on the southern rim of the Black Sea, and was confused as the ferry entered the Bosporus Straits, and they sat