Black Snow

Chapter 4: Connection

After Vladlena and Heinz's visit to the museum, they eventually made their way back home.
Vladlena opened up the door and began to remove her outer clothing while Heinz did the same. Kaspar was laying across the couch and waving around a glass bong while blowing out puffs.
"That was quick." Kaspar said with a slurred chuckle.
"I just went out to show him something. That's all." Vladlena said as she hung her scarf on the coat rack.
"You should of picked me up some shit..I'm hungry."
"Kaspar, I'm cooking dinner." Boris called out from the kitchen.
Heinz turned his attention towards his twin and furrowed his brows together at the bong. "Why do you have that?"
"Wha'?"
"That." He said with a gesture to the bong.
"Oh this?" Kaspar looked at it then laughed. "Why not? It don't hurt me if that's what ya thinkin'." He said with a toothy grin. Heinz rolled his eyes and walked towards him to look at him closely—already, the whites of Kaspar's eyes were a pinkish color. Evidently, he was high. Vladlena was all too used to this, so she said nothing and just walked into the kitchen to help Boris with dinner. "So where did you two go, eh?" Kaspar asked as he pulled himself up to sit upright.
"Well, she took me to a museum. We talked, then left. We didn't stay long only because dinner was going to be ready." Heinz adjusted his sweater collar before sitting down beside him.
"Oh really? What did you two talk about? You look like you're getting along."
"Slowly. It's a process. We just talked about the war and our memories. That reminds me, I have to call Erhardt."
Kaspar rolled his eyes when he said his name. "Don't waste your breath 'n time on him, Heinz. He's a fucktard who's just a lil' stuck up brat. Singin' 'n shit..he makes my ears bleed. And by god, he brags all the time about his wealth. How do you even deal with that shit?" Kaspar whined about him, making Heinz sigh and shake his head.
"He doesn't brag to me." Kaspar gave him a look. "..Well, sometimes."
"I'm just saying that he's all about himself. I met the guy, and he's sick. Not sick like you." He set the bong aside and crossed his arms while leaning back. He threw his legs over the table, and crossed them over. "He's still a Fascist son of a bitch. And I don't want his Nazi idealism to get to your head. You're already unstable. I don't want him to make it any worse than it is. Got that?"
Heinz clicked his tongue and leaned back against the cushioned couch while his head arched up to turn his attention up towards the ceiling. "He's not going to, Kaspar. You can trust him."
"After the shit he pulled? Heinz. You're friends with someone who needs to see anger management. It's gonna rub off on you. Watch."
Heinz rolled his eyes in reply and gazed down at his shaking fingers. "Whatever." He kept his silence after that as his brother kept his eyes on the kitchen door. He listened in, hearing the Shevardnadze siblings communicating with each other in Russian.

'So you took him out to check out a museum?'
'Yes.'
'Why?' Boris asked while he was ripping off lettuce leaves off and threw them on a clean cutting board.
'It was just something to do.' She shrugged, her eyes turning towards the wall phone that started to ring. Boris set the knife down, pulled the phone off, and set it to his ear to listen.
"Hello?" Boris said, switching back to English. He listened to the person on the other end, smiled, and leaned his back against the wall. "You're coming over? That's good to hear. How is everything?" There was another pause. "Ah..good, good. And you said you'd be arriving tonight?...Good to hear, I'll tell her that. See you then." Boris hung up and went right to ripping the leaves off.
'Who was that?'
'William. He's on his way over.'
'Oh, good.' Vladlena smiled a bit as she stirred the stew, and set the wooden spoon aside. 'I doubt he'll be in time for dinner, but we can put a bowl out.'
'We'll do that.' Boris replied, moving on to cut a few tomatoes, then mixed it together. Once done, he threw it all in a bowl and took it out to the dining room table. "I made salad. If you want any, come inside." He called to the twins. Heinz got up and left to sit at the table while Kaspar stayed and grabbed his bong to head back down the steps. Heinz began to pour a reasonable amount of salad dressing after giving himself a plateful, then sat and began to eat. Boris turned to Vladlena, who was staring at him from the kitchen, and made a gesture to Heinz. She shook her head, so he gestured again. With a groan, she lazily moved herself over to sit across from him. A pout grew across her face, so Heinz peered up and raised his brow in silence as he chewed.
He swallowed. "Yes?"
"How is it?"
"Good." He turned down to stab his knife into the greens and tomatoes while Vladlena stared.