in her arms as she read from an open textbook. At nine years old, he could read English better than he could speak it, and that was just fine with him – he preferred reading to speaking anyway. At eleven o’ clock every day, Ilka Dornik would without fail appear at their doorstep for lunch, with her daughter Grushenka. Romul didn’t like her all that much. Well, he did – but he didn’t. At twelve years old, she was three years his senior, and already in school as she spoke English very well. She was always the center of attention at any family gathering; everyone always raved about how beautiful she was. Romul thought she was a little skinny. She never did anything with her hair; it was always hanging down in front of her eyes, forcing her to sweep it away with her hands every few minut...

Please subscribe to keep reading.