57
GIVE CHILDREN A HOMELAND
“I didn’t lie. But now my heart is pounding, Mama. Here, feel how it’s
pounding.” He took his mother’s hand and pressed it to his chest. “Listen,
it’s going to burst if you don’t convince this young beauty to marry me this
instant.”
“What a joker,” Zinaida laughed. “You nearly frightened your mother to
death.”
“I’m not joking, Mama,” Edik replied seriously.
“Well, if you’re not joking,” Zinaida continued gaily, “then know that half
the settlement has already sent their matchmakers to see Sonya for their
sons. But all without result. She doesn’t want to marry. Go ask her why she
doesn’t, and stop misleading your mother.”
Edik walked up to Sonya and asked her quietly, “Sonya, why don’t you
want to marry anyone?”
“Because,” Sonya answered quietly, “because I was waiting for you, Edik.”
“You jokers, why are you making fun of a mother?”
“Bless us, Mama, immediately. I’m not joking,” Edik said firmly, and he
took Sonya’s hand.
“I’m not joking either, Auntie Zina,” Sonya said seriously.
“You’re not joking. . . . You mean, you, too, Sonya . . . You’re not joking. . .
. So, if you’re not joking, why are you calling me auntie instead of mama?”
“Fine. I will call you mama,” Sonya answered in a trembling voice, and
taking a step toward Zinaida, she stopped in hesitation.
Zinaida could not make sense right away of what had happened. Was it a
trick? A joke? She gravely shifted her gaze from Sonya’s face to her son’s
and back again. At some point she understood the seriousness of the young
people’s intentions, and when she did, she rushed to Sonya, embraced her,
and began to weep.
“Sonya, dear Sonya, dear daughter. I realize you’re serious.”
Sonya’s shoulders began to tremble as she pressed close to Zinaida, and
she repeated, “Yes, Mama, I’m serious. Yes, very serious.”
Then the young people took each other’s hand, and slowly, not noticing
anyone around them, started down the streets of the settlement to the
homestead of Edik’s family. Ahead of them walked Zinaida. She was laugh-
