“I work for myself, ma’am,” I replied.
Daniel stared at my phone.
“Well, that explains a lot,” Daniel muttered.
I ignored him and waited for the video call to connect.
“Whoever you’re calling, tell them to bring a lawyer,” Daniel added. “You’re going to need one.”
The phone rang three times. Then a man’s face appeared on the screen.
He was elderly, with silver hair, thick glasses, and a familiar pair of bushy eyebrows.
“It’s been a long time.”
For a moment, he simply stared at me. Then his eyes widened.
“Michael?! My God! Is that really you?”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Hello, Viktor. It’s been a long time.”
“Long time?! Where have you been hiding, you old rascal?”
We both laughed.
“Oh, you know me. Still fixing people’s electricity.”
Viktor burst out laughing.
“Forty years, and you haven’t changed!”
“Neither have you. Except you’ve got less hair.”
“At least I’ve still got more than you!”
Anna had gone quiet.
We both laughed.
Behind me, Daniel cleared his throat impatiently.
“Are you finished with your little reunion?”
But Anna had suddenly gone very quiet. She stepped closer, staring at my phone. Her mouth fell open.
“Dad?”
Viktor stopped laughing.
Daniel cleared his throat.
He leaned toward his camera.
“Anna? What are you doing with Michael?”
I glanced toward the old photograph on the bookshelf.
Anna looked from her father’s face to mine, as though she’d just discovered that the shabby old electrician standing in her living room was someone she should have recognized all along.
“How do I know him?”
“Dad, how do you know this man?” Anna asked.
Viktor laughed.
“How do I know him? Anna, Michael and I have been friends for nearly forty years!”
Anna stared at me.
“What are you doing?”
“We met shortly after I came to America from the Soviet Union,” Viktor continued. “My English was terrible. Michael was one of the first people who treated me like a human being.”
Viktor explained how we’d spent evenings teaching each other our languages. I’d helped him with English, and he’d taught me enough Russian to understand conversations.
“Michael, what are you doing at my daughter’s house?”
“What happened?”
“Fixing her electrical outlets, actually.”
“Wonderful! What a coincidence!”
Then Viktor studied my face.
“Wait. Something’s wrong. What happened?”
I sighed.
“You understood us?!”
“Well, Viktor, your daughter and her husband have been rather interesting customers.”
Then I spoke in my rusty Russian.
“Your daughter called me an idiot. But I fix outlets better than she chooses her words.”
Anna’s face turned bright red.
“Wait… You understood us?!”
“What should I think?”
Viktor’s smile disappeared.
“Because I taught him Russian, you fool!”
“Dad, it’s not what you think!”
“Then what should I think?”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Tell me he’s joking.”
“Sir, there’s been a misunderstanding. Your friend was tampering with our security system.”
“The alarm was undergoing a routine test,” I explained. “I repaired their outlets, but they refused to pay the hundred dollars we agreed on. Then they accused me of stealing.”
Viktor stared at his daughter.
“Anna, tell me he’s joking.”
“Happy now?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“Anna?”
She looked at the floor.
Viktor shook his head slowly.
“Unbelievable.”
“Is that how you apologize?”
Daniel stood frozen for a moment. Then he reluctantly reached into his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.
