A Year With You // Romitri ON HOLD

Chapter 2

Rose

I had been informed that Sporav was small, but I didn't realize just how small it was going to be. It was nearly dark by the time we pulled into town. It was less of a town and more of a cluster of homes around an intersection of two paved single-lane roads. We hadn't seen any other town for nearly an hour and a half, only a few farms here and there.

The houses were all single-storied and small with ugly colored siding. The sidewalk was cracked and patches of grass were growing through. The vehicles looked run-down and on their last whim. We came upon a town square where there was a huge firepit with about ten people surrounding it. They looked up as we approached.

Dimtri parked the car and cut the engine. We got out of the car and walked to the firepit. A woman stepped forward and greeted us, shaking both our hands. She communicated with Dimtri through their language and I stood idly by and looked around.

There was a very large garage to the north of the square, and the other sides were littered with houses. Other than the firepit, there was a single swing set with four swings and a single metal slide.

"Rose, this is Guardian Nikolaev. She is the guardian here, along with two others. Everyone here speaks little to no english, so if you need translation, do to one of the other students or me. She is going to show us to our houses," Dimitri explained.

"I would hardly call these houses," I muttered under my breath. 

I grabbed my backpack and suitcase, as did Dimitri, and we followed Guardian Nikolaev down the street on the sidewalk. We turned onto another street, which was more like an alleyway between the houses, and led us three houses down before stopping  in front of two.

She spoke to Dimitri, who then translated to me.

"This is where you are staying. We'll each be housing with a family. I'm in the other one. This family does have an english speaker, so you should be fine."

I nodded in understanding. He motioned for me to go in, and I waited for him to follow, but instead he walked to the other house.

Was he really going to leave me to meet these strange people by myself? I huffed and stepped inside. A man with a scruffy beard greeted me in the main room.

"You Rose?" He asked, his English obviously very limited. I nodded.

"Me Artur. Me boy, Andrei, and girl, Fisa. Me wife, Bruna," he spoke, motioning to each of his family members. I gave a small smile and waved. "Eh, come," Artur gestured for me to follow.

"You sleep with Fisa," He said, walking to a small room and standing in the doorway. It had enough space for maybe a full size bed, but there was a cot in one corner and a mattress even smaller than a twin in the other. I was guessing I would get the cot. Great.

"Thanks, uh, Artur." I stepped into the room and set my suitcase and backpack near the cot.

"You have bed soon," he reassured.

I nodded, showing that I understood his terms. "Um, can I go find Guardian Belikov?"

It took him a few seconds to understand my words before he said yes. I gave a small smile before I quickly walked back outside. It was so stuffy in that house, it was hard to imagine having to live there for the next seven or eight months.

I walked back to the square. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I didn't want to stay in that tiny house. I glanced around and tried to see if Dimitri was out here yet, and I saw him talking to a small group of about four men. I decided against going up to him, he looked busy.