Nicolai's Daughters by Stella Leventoyannis Harvey Read Free Book Online Page A

wafted in the air. His stomach growled. He slung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up.
    He smoothed his hands over his pants and shirt. The wrinkles refused to give way so he changed and put his clothes into a heap in the corner of the room.
    Nicolai came into the kitchen and stood in the archway out of sight. His mother was chopping cucumbers, his sister Christina beside her. Both spoke quickly and raised their voices so they could be heard over the knock of the blade and the static of the radio.
    â€œHow is he?” Christina said.
    â€œHe’s not like he was.”
    â€œHe’ll come around.”
    She was so like their mother, Nicolai thought. Much taller, but with a similar frame: thin from the waist up, broader through her hips and legs. She wore a dark skirt, a plain white blouse and flat shoes. She was the one who helped their mother manage the house, the one who always thought about everyone else before she thought of herself. He remembered the time their father had beat him with a belt for not coming home right after school. He leaned over the kitchen table and received blow after blow while his sisters huddled in a corner. His mother had shouted, then tried to cajole his father to stop. He pushed her away and she fell. It was Christina who helped her mother up, then grabbed her father’s arm. She was sent to her room without supper and wasn’t allowed to eat with the family for three days.
    â€œDon’t worry so much,” he said, moving from the shadows into hissing fluorescent light.
    â€œNicky,” Christina yelled and folded him into her arms.
    They stood still like this for several minutes, her bony chest chafing his. He noticed a small man sitting at the table and said, “Hello.”
    Christina released him and turned around. “This is Solon. I told you about him when I was in Vancouver.” She touched Nicolai’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Nicky. How is Alexia? Why didn’t you bring her?”
    Nicolai moved forward and took Solon’s hand. “Good to meet you,” he said. Solon’s eyes were soft, kind. He didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who would demand a dowry to marry Christina.
    The back door opened and Katarina and Zak walked in. They went immediately to him and kissed him on the cheek. “It is good you came back to us, Nicky,” Katarina said. “We have prayed for you and Alexia. Christina told us what a smart daughter you have.”
    â€œAnd this is why I couldn’t take her out of school.” He swallowed hard and ran his tongue over his lips. If he bit at his lip or the inside of his mouth or if his fingers started tapping, they would know he was nervous and maybe not telling them the truth. They were his sisters. They could always read him.
    A singsong greeting came through the front door. Christina and Katarina looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
    Maria sashayed in, looking around the room to catch every eye. “The baby of the family is here.” She stood back from him when she hugged him as if any contact would wrinkle her dress. She tapped his back and released him, stepped away to get a better look at him, but he knew she wanted him to notice her. She hadn’t changed from the little girl he’d known. Whenever she got a new outfit, she’d stand in front of him, a giggle in her eyes, moving side to side and ask, “Do you notice anything different?”
    â€œYou look great, Maria,” he said.
    Maria’s high heels clicked against the floor as she sauntered from her mother to her sisters and Solon and Zak, air-kissing each cheek. Christina and Katarina watched her. Christina commented on Maria’s expensive tastes.
    â€œShe thinks she’s better than us,” Katarina added.
    â€œYounger,” Maria replied and flicked her hair off her shoulder. She laughed and Christina and Katarina shrugged as if this was what they’d come to expect.
    The sisters