Concrete Jungle

Chapter 8

On October 1st, Sasha took a Lyft with her suitcases and travel bag to John F. Kennedy International Airport and checked into Luftansa's terminal. The night before, she had a going away dinner at her parent's apartment. Her entire family was there including aunt Nadya and uncle Vlad; both were sworn to secrecy about her trip. They weren't allowed to tell their closest friends nor their neighbors where Sasha was going nor what she was going there for. This trip was not just another article, but a mission to return to the past and tell the story from the perspective of a survivor and citizen. Mark and George were told that their sister was just going overseas again; they really didn't need to know the details of all of that. Both brothers were extremely sad especially since Sasha had spent the better portion of that summer in Brooklyn visiting with them and watching them play when they weren't in their special summer camp.

It was like old times when they were all growing up. Sasha, being the older and more mature sister, would watch over her brothers and other kids as they played on the playgrounds and in the grass surrounding their co-op. Because of the size of this project, she didn't have to come into the actual office every day but could do all of her reading and research wherever she pretty much wanted. Which on most days meant the boardwalk on Brighton Beach while her brothers played in the sand in front of her. Most days, her father would join her while her mother would be at work, though Sasha could handle both boys on her own, her father still enjoyed spending time with his kids especially now that he was retired. That summer, there were more beautiful days than rainy ones, and the family took full advantage of it. As Sasha plucked away at her laptop, her brothers would be jumping around in the sand or building sand castles. Every time they would catch her staring off into the distance as she thought of everything that was coming up ahead of her, they would jostle each other for her attention.

"Look, Sasha! Look what I can do!" Mark would holler in English first. He'd wait until she was looking directly at him and then would do a backflip. Sasha would laugh and start clapping.

"Great job, Mark! Are you planning for the Olympics?" He'd just throw his head back and laugh.

"Now it's my turn!" George would yell and do a spin only on his crutches without letting his heels touch the sand.  Sasha would give him a standing ovation each time. One such afternoon, the boys both came and sat next to her on a bench as their father moved over. Mark spoke first:

"Why are you going away again, Sashenka?"

"Because it's my job, you know that; my dear boy." She put her arm around him and kissed his forehead.

"I wish I could go with you. I bet you'd have more fun than." George said softly, and she reached around to hug him tightly to her as well. She and her father exchanged glances. This trip was going to be anything but fun.

"Someday, George. I promise we will go somewhere again as a whole family."

"Really? Where?" He asked, enchanted.

"Well, where do you want to go?" He really had to think about that one.

"I want to go to Alaska!" George announced to the surprise of his loved ones.

"Alaska? Why there?" Their father asked.

"Because that's where all of the fat penguins are!" His family started laughing.

"But we can go to the Bronx Zoo for penguins," Sasha said, still giggling at the image of her brother going to Alaska to find fat penguins.

"Nooooo, there are only skinny penguins at the zoo!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon outside before their mom got home debating the diets of penguins and what makes them fat. George made his sister promise to find out where the fat penguins lived since she was, as both brothers always told everyone proudly, friends with Mother Nature and worked at NatGeo. That was the best way they could with their minds explain to people what their older sister did for a living. When Sasha spent time with her family, after dinner, the boys would often go play in their rooms, and she would sit around the dinner table with her parents talking more about her trip, the history of Chernobyl, and what her own parents experienced and knew about during that time. Much of this was never previously spoken of, but for this project, both Ekaterina and Feodor were willing to remember the pain, fear, uncertainty, and unhappiness that was that time period and Sasha was eternally grateful.

Sasha was gathering all of the data she could get her hands on including the science and stats of nuclear meltdowns and how life if at all thrived afterward in locations like this. One place she couldn't stop reading about was Hiroshima after the atomic bomb. Sasha had seen many things before on the topic but she never really delved deep into that history before, and now she was finding it all so fascinating. She was always talking on the phone or emailing with Ben about everything she had picked up herself and comparing notes with him. He would send her the biological information about the location, and for his part, Ben was reading books that Sasha was offhandedly recommending. He didn't really need to know her part of it as only his own was necessary for him to get the job done, but Sasha was his friend, and this interested him a lot too; Ben was hoping by the beginning of the trip, that he would know and understand even half of what Sasha already knew.

The only bone of contention for Sasha was that Rahel wasn't doing anything to prepare for the trip or the project. Whenever Sasha would shoot off an email to Rahel with a question regarding the trip, the response would always be "sure" or "yeah, I know what I'm doing." Sasha was starting to get worried that Rahel had too much self-confidence and arrogance and not enough real foresight in any situation. After several more of such back and forths, Sasha brought her concerns up to Ben, who himself noticed this but tried to placate Sasha:

"I completely understand what you're saying, Sasha. But we should wait until the trip to see what Rahel will do. NatGeo wouldn't give us a random photographer for a piece like this unless that person was amazing at what they do." Sasha sighed on her end of the phone and switched it to another ear.

"I get that, but why does she have to sound so blasé about it? It appears honestly that she just doesn't care. I understand she's good, but what if she thinks she's too good? Because that's what it's beginning to sound like. She just can't be bothered by anything we send her; like seriously?"

"Listen, I know you're anxious. You always are before a big story, and this is even bigger for you because it hits so close to home. But let's wait to pass judgment. Maybe she is working on other projects right now and can't dedicate all of her time until we all join up next month in Ukraine." Ben was trying to calm Sasha's fears, but he also knew that Sasha had a 6th sense about people in these situations, so he hoped his giving Rahel the benefit of the doubt wouldn't backfire on all of them.

"Yes, I suppose you're right about this project hitting so close to home and all. I honestly nearly didn't take it. If it wasn't for my parents, I would have turned this down. But then I realized that this story needs to be told and in the best way possible. But as for Rahel, I just don't want to waste my time or yours on some half-assed group member that doesn't care." Sasha muttered begrudgingly also knowing that just how close to home, no one besides herself knew. The other party in the situation had been dead for nearly 29 years. The journal with his name her only talisman left.

"I'm right there with you," Ben said smiling on his end.

Sasha was polite to a fault, but she was also an exceptional journalist who wasn't going to let anyone walk all over her because of their own self-importance. Also, they were such good friends that they could complain to each other without the fear of it getting away from them. In their line of work, some people whined all the time, and others only did it when things were abysmal. He and Sasha belonged to the latter category. After they hung up, both realized they had a month before the trip.

That was one of the many things Sasha was thinking about as she boarded the plane for the 11-hour nonstop flight to Kiev. She really hoped nothing would go wrong there; her baggage was checked, and her only carry-on was her travel bag which made her look very rugged and not at all in sync with the business class seat or section of the plane she was on. For Sasha, such creature comforts were a foreign thing, but because of the sheer magnitude of this project, the magazine was shelling out the big bucks for all three of them which also included a 5-star hotel in downtown Kiev and any and all of the transportation they would ever need during.

As the plane got ready for takeoff, Sasha sent the last text to her parents before turning off her iPhone and stowing the thing. Her eyes landed on Vasya's journal in her lap briefly before taking a deep breath as the plane gunned it down the runway and lifted into the sky. She closed her eyes with a prayer as land faded underneath and behind her.