The Language of Sisters

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Book: Read The Language of Sisters for Free Online
Authors: Cathy Lamb
Russian women do.”
    Their son, Boris, steals cars. He runs a chop shop. It’s an embarrassment to the family. Boris has served time twice. He will again. Uncle Vladan currently likes to pretend to believe that Boris is a full-time mechanic, his wily ways behind him.
    â€œAha! My son. He fix anything. He know everything. Has own mechanic business now. Obedient son. Soon he marry Russian woman, have the babies, like nice Russian men do.”
    Boris is a funny guy. He steals fancy cars, “only from the rich and spoiled,” but he also has season tickets to the Oregon Symphony and the Portland Opera. He’s addicted to it. He goes to every single concert. He begs me to come with him all the time, and I do, sometimes. He literally brushed my hair and got me dressed when I could hardly get out of bed two years ago. “Come on, honey. Get up, Toni. It’s Rachmaninoff’s Concerto Number 2 in C Minor. I know that was your uncle Leonid’s favorite. You can’t miss it, you simply can’t.”
    I have a real problem with him car stealing, and I have told him many times, often yelling. But I love him, he’s my cousin, so what to do? Relatives can cause difficult moral conundrums.
    My father’s second brother, my uncle Yuri, is married to my aunt Polina. Uncle Yuri is an electrician, and Aunt Polina owns a florist shop. Aunt Polina and Uncle Yuri left Moscow about a year before us. Their daughter is JJ, the cousin who harangues people about their hair.
    JJ and Jax have two teenage girls. Chelsea is seventeen, a rebel with dyed black hair, black eye shadow, black leather, and black nails. JJ says Chelsea needs a chastity belt and a leash to keep her from sneaking out at night. Hope is eighteen. She is a straight-A student and athlete and Pollyannaish, and very, very sweet. Hope has had the same boyfriend—Macky Talbot, a truly nice, intelligent kid—for two years.
    My father’s third brother, my uncle Sasho, who owns a trucking business. That’s what he did in Moscow, before he escaped with his wife, Yelena, and my twin cousins, also about a year before us.
    Uncle Sasho is divorced from his wife, Yelena. Yelena ran off with the plumber ten years ago. They don’t know where she is, but now and then they get a postcard. Yelena leaving was, in some ways, wrenching for her kids, but she was also a face-planting alcoholic and mean as a python, so there was relief mixed in with the cauldron of emotions.
    Tatiana (Tati) and Zoya are the twins. They are in their early thirties, and they are wild. Tati and Zoya own their own business selling stripper clothes. The business is called Tati and Zoya’s Light and Lacy Delights. They do the whole costume thing for the strippers—Scottish dancing lady, doctor, executive—down to the pasties and thongs.
    They are next-door neighbors in condos overlooking the city, and they have a sewing/office space downtown. Business is booming. Zoya handles the business end, marketing, sales, and the Web site. Tati is the designer and deals with the fabrics. They are curvy and daring and, shall I say, refuse to be monogamous.
    â€œI cannot limit myself to one man,” Tati told me years ago. “How boring.”
    â€œI feel the same,” Zoya said. “Three is a ... tantalizing number.”
    â€œYes, three,” Tati nodded. “Tantalizing.”
    â€œYou can rotate.” Zoya made a swirling motion with her finger.
    â€œYes,” Tati agreed, rotating her hands. “Rotate. Who wants to get bored or tied down?”
    â€œWell ...” Zoya mused.
    Tati clapped her hands. “Fantastic-o idea! We should make licorice straps. What do you think, Zoya? You could eat your way out of being tied down.”
    I couldn’t imagine handling three men.
    Uncle Sasho also has a son. It was a surprise when Yelena got pregnant. We are not sure if Sasho is Pavel’s father, as Yelena was running around a lot back

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