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    From Russia, with Love
    From Russia, with Love
    From Russia, with Love
    Ebook151 pages2 hours

    From Russia, with Love

    By Erin Lee

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    About this ebook

    Ahha (Anna) Antipova was four years old the day her strung-out mother left her and her brother alone on the side of the road. After a year spent in a Russian orphanage, the siblings were brought to America by English-speaking people who promised a safe, forever family. Learning a new language and culture was nothing to Anna, who grew into an overachiever in a home with strict rules. As the primary caretaker to her adoptive parents’ blood children, Anna spent most of her teen years doing anything she could to please her parents. In fact, she excelled in most everything she touched. Abram, her brother, went the other way, stirring up trouble and expecting his younger sister to clean up his messes. She didn’t mind, it was only another year or two, she reasoned. Besides, he’s all I have. Until one day… Two weeks before her high school graduation, Anna sat in an emergency room surrounded by strangers. With permanent scars earned at the hands of her adoptive mother, she needed to escape a home that was no longer safe. The problem was she was only sixteen. A minor with no legal rights to emancipate herself, Anna struggled to find a way out. Counting on the kindness of strangers and her boyfriend, Elliot, Anna found herself desperate to see her own life. But it was not easy. With the system working against her, for now she could see no escape. Until another day… Anna saw her chance the day a National Guard recruiter showed up at her high school. With graduation on the horizon and nothing stopping her from finally being with Elliot, she became courageous. Enlisting was the easy part. So was boot camp. The true battle began when she had to convince Elliot to wait for her while she completed her MOS training and pending deployment. Now, they face the challenges of a long-distance relationship, young love, and strains most couples would crumble beneath. But Anna is a soldier, fiercely set on her mission to keep Elliot’s love. He is, she reasons, all I have. Armed with a plan to overcome more obstacles, Anna and Elliot navigate their love through the years and a 1,000-mile military separation. They face hurdles at every stage. Together, they must decide: Is it possible to hold on to love when everything’s a battle? Is love worth the fight? Is it possible to find a Happy Ending? And how do you recognize when it’s time to retreat? Until the day she becomes fearless. ***Based on actual events, “From Russia, with Love” is the story of a real-life Russian-born soldier who risked it all to be free to marry her American true love, in the country she has come to love. ***

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCrazy Ink
    Release dateApr 1, 2018
    ISBN9781386818229
    From Russia, with Love
    Author

    Erin Lee

    Erin Lee lives in Queensland, Australia and has been working with children for over 25 years. She has worked in both long day care and primary school settings and has a passion for inclusive education and helping all children find joy in learning. Erin has three children of her own and says they have helped contribute ideas and themes towards her quirky writing style. Her experience working in the classroom has motivated her to write books that bring joy to little readers, but also resource educators to help teach fundamental skills to children, such as being safe, respectful learners.

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      Book preview

      From Russia, with Love - Erin Lee

      Dedication

      For the strongest person I know, who taught me to,

      be vast and brilliant.

      Stay FEARLESS.

      (We’ve got you).

      Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.

      Barbara Kingsolver

      Они́ лиши́лись ма́тери, когда́ бы́ли совсе́м ма́ленькими...

      Translation: They lost their (birth) mother when they were very small...

      Ahha (Russian for Anna) wasn’t going to let it stay that way...

      Chapter One

      Fifteen years earlier

      The little girl peered up at her older-by-a-year brother. Even at four, she knew there wasn’t much he’d be able to do to protect her. He didn’t even know how to pour cereal. That was her job. Everything was, and always had been, for as far back as she could remember – not that her memory went back all that far.

      She clutched the house key around her neck. Her mother had started tying it on a leather cord and putting it on her neck a few months ago, after the time she fell asleep and accidently locked Ahha and her brother out of the house on a chilly afternoon. Ahha was just big enough to unlock the door. She could do it on her tippy toes and having the key made her feel safe. Her brother, Abram, still couldn’t figure out how to work a lock. It made her laugh. Boys were supposed to be smarter. It’s what everyone said. Maybe it was why Momma always brought new boys home. Maybe Momma just wanted to learn.

      It was getting frigid fast. Of course, it was always cold in Russia, but this afternoon seemed particularly chilly to Ahha, who only wore a thin sweatshirt and a winter hat donated by the ladies at the church her mother got free bread from. She wished Abram would let her wear his jacket, which looked so fluffy and warm. She thought about asking him for it, but decided against it. She didn’t want her big brother to be cold. Besides, Momma would come back soon. She always came back. It will be okay, the little girl told herself.

      Only, it wasn’t. Momma never came back. This time it was different.

      Chapter Two

      Present day

      Anna told herself to rest in bed just a little longer. Fifteen more minutes. You can do this. Don’t rush it. Enjoy the moment. God, you sound like your shrink. Stop it. Just stay calm. There’s nothing to be afraid of. This is the day you’ve been waiting for your whole life. Jumping up to start the day would be a mistake, she reasoned. After all, the photographers weren’t scheduled to show up before 6 p.m. A midnight ceremony: It was what Elliot had wanted. It’s the only thing he’d asked for and she was going to see to it that their wedding day was perfect for them both. They deserved it. They’d come so far. She clutched the key around her neck and told herself to be fearless. With Elliot and the rest of her family behind her, there was nothing she couldn’t do. No, that was wrong, she decided, pulling the covers over her head. She didn’t need anyone, but it sure was nice to finally have people in her corner. She’d waited for that her whole life for it.

      Chapter Three

      Three years earlier

      Erika

      Are you kidding me? People just don’t crawl like that. Remember to tell Elliot she likes him. I can’t stop staring at the girl in the grass, looking around frantically for my son’s keys. Specifically, I can’t stop staring at her ass, which she has arched in the air as she completes the task.

      I nudge him and whisper, Who is she?

      He shrugs. Anna. Just a girl on the track team.

      "Just a girl? She’s pretty... and blonde. You like ..."

      "Ma! Be serious. I need to get this presentation done. We need to get in there. Besides, she has a boyfriend. She’s dating Chris Pratt – the high jump kid."

      "We need to find your keys."

      It’s okay, Mrs. Brown. I’ll find his keys.

      My face turns the color of Valentine’s Day as I wonder if she heard me. She smiles, reassuring me that, even if she did, she doesn’t mind. There’s no doubt in my mind, she likes my son. It makes me like her, too.

      She leaps up, extending her hand. I wonder if she’s a high jumper. Hi! I’m Anna. I run track with Elliot, she announces. I’ll find his keys, I promise. He’s stressing. Go with him and watch his senior project and I’ll have his car unlocked by the time you get back.

      I shake her hand, smiling. Okay, thank you, Anna. And it’s nice to meet you.

      You too! Don’t worry. I’ll find them.

      I have no idea who this girl is. She stands about five feet, five inches tall and can’t weigh much over one hundred pounds. Her blue eyes are a color so rich it reminds me of the sky on the brightest summer day. Her golden hair is a moving halo around her tan face. Freckles dance on her cheeks as she lunges back onto the ground, yelling good luck to my son for his presentation. I watch her for a moment and can’t figure out why it matters. She’s just another girl with a crush on my oblivious eighteen-year-old son. It’s not like this is anything new. Voted most athletic and the captain of the Reality County Secondary School (RCSS) track team, Elliot’s never had trouble getting attention from girls. But that doesn’t mean it’s mutual. Elliot has never been interested in them. There was that one girl in the eighth grade, but a two-month make-out partner doesn’t count. Something about this girl is different. I can feel it.

      Thanks, Anna. Ma! Come on! We’re late. Do you not understand that if I don’t pass this presentation, I don’t graduate? Hurry up!

      Fine! I’m coming. I look back one last time at Anna to thank her. She’s too busy pushing grass around to notice. I shrug and run to catch up to my son.

      Really? You’re actually going to take me through the boys’ locker room? Can’t I get in trouble for this?

      Ma. No one cares. You’re Miss Brown. The guys don’t care. They like you. You’re the cool mom. You’re good. It’s the fastest way, just don’t look around and it will be fine.

      Feeling like a child molester, I follow my son through the boys’ locker room at RCSS with my head down. In my peripheral vision, I see bare-chested lacrosse players who joke with Elliot about being a ‘momma’s boy.’ Others say hello to me but I’m too nervous to look up.

      Dude, give me your belt, Elliot says to the school quarterback, who has apparently just given his own senior presentation.

      Sure. You up next?

      Yeah. I’m late. Forgot a belt. Thanks, bud.

      For the life of me, I can’t understand how either Elliot or my younger son, Colby, have managed to hang out with the popular crowd. A former nerd, I would have been happy to have had ten percent of the friends they have. And talking to the school quarterback would never have been an option for me. Hurry up, kid. You have me standing here feeling like a pervert.

      Oh, hey Mrs. Brown. How goes it? Adam, a kid I would have been in love with in high school, flashes his dimples at me. He pushes hair out of his eyes and looks back at my son. Kill it.

      Will do. Thanks, man.

      Thank you, Adam. I appreciate you helping him. He really wasn’t very prepared.

      Adam laughs. No prob. He smiles and turns back to his locker.

      I follow Elliot down three hallways, trying my best to keep up without having an asthma attack. Five minutes later, we slide into seats into the back of the classroom where he’s been assigned to give his senior presentation on a marathon he ran, to raise money for multiple sclerosis. He hasn’t practiced. I know this because I had to give him the run down on what he needed to say. I’m more nervous about this than he is, that much, I am sure of.

      What I am unsure of is how he will pull this off. Sure, he ran the race himself, but he’s had a massive case of senioritis since Christmas and I don’t care what he says, the girl in the grass with her ass in the air must be on his mind. I can feel it. A mother just knows these things.

      I remind myself to breathe as Elliot begins his speech without a hitch. It reminds me of the time I told the Veterans Association he’d give a speech on Memorial Day for just a few people after he won an essay contest. Late as usual, Elliot and I had shown up to a crowd of hundreds and my then ten-year-old son had managed to pull it off. He’ll be fine. The kid must have been adopted or something, because he sure doesn’t get it from me.

      I half-listen to Elliot’s speech and wonder if Anna’s had any luck with his keys. Elliot has managed to lose his car keys at least once a month since his sixteenth birthday. No matter how many times I replace them, I can count on a call. I should have known better than to give him the spare without making a copy this time, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. Maybe I’ll get him a lanyard like the one Anna had around her neck with her key on it. That kid keeps track of her stuff; that much is obvious. It’s too bad she has a boyfriend. But still ... The way she looked at him. It would be so nice for him to finally have a girlfriend.

      ***

      Here ya go! Anna marches triumphantly up to me, flipping her hair in my son’s direction, smiling, and plopping his key ring into my hands. "I told you I’d find them, Mrs. Brown. She turns to my son, How did it go, Elliot?"

      Wow. Thanks! That’s awesome. Where were they?

      Oh, thank you, Anna, I say, truly amazed that she had found them.

      In the grass. I had a feeling they were there. You were swinging your bag around when you were looking for your tie. You need to put them on a lanyard or something. I’ll get you one if you want.

      Naw. I’ll be good. Those things are for chicks.

      Anna and I glare at him. I’m the first to speak: No, you won’t be good. You don’t have a spare. In fact, you are going to stop and get a spare right now before you come home.

      Anna smiles. I’ll go with you. I need a ride home. Would that be cool?

      I catch Elliot’s attention and raise my eyebrows at him, nodding. He shrugs. Sure. And fine. I’ll get a lanyard and another key. These things cost me $70 every time I lose them. It’s not worth it.

      "Well, maybe you shouldn’t

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