Memoir of a Russian Punk

Epilogue

And so it was… In 1962 the Kharkov District Court sentenced Eddie-baby's friends Kostya Bondarenko, Yurka Bembel, and Slavka, nicknamed the "Suvorovian," to the ultimate punishment – execution. After several months, during which Kostya turned gray and, strangely enough, suddenly grew, his and Slavka's sentences were commuted to lengthy prison terms. The oldest of the three, Yurka, was executed. It was only by accident that Eddie wasn't with his friends that fateful night. Lucky Eddie…

Upon learning about Kostya's arrest, Grishka Primak's deaf and dumb mother managed to utter the garbled sentence, "They put Kostya in jail and Edink skipped away abroad." She could speak a little, Grishka's mother, and obviously she could also predict the future… Then – in 1962 – her words didn't make any sense to Eddie. It was only in 1974, when unexpectedly even for him he really did "skip away abroad" and Kostya was exiled in Kolyma after serving twelve years in prison there, that Eddie finally understood what Grishka's mother meant.

What happened to the others? Vitka Golovashov and Lyonka Korovin graduated from a school for tank commanders, and now both hold the rank of major. Rumor has it they're stationed in central Asia.

The insane, valiant Antonina Sergeevna passed away – may she rest in peace. Obviously she was in no way responsible for the erotic fantasies of the young Eddie-baby.

Eddie ran into Borka Churilov in Paris in 1980. A Soviet citizen well known in his own country as a skilled craftsman, Churilov came to Paris for an exhibition of his birch bark prints at UNESCO. Borka's churches and images of saints had finally proved profitable to the Soviet state. Borka and Eddie drank. The two Saltovkans met once more in Paris in 1982 and drank vodka again. Borka has a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter. Borka's life-loving mother died recently, and as her last will and testament she enjoined her son always to work and to be happy and independent…

Svetka, they say, married a shop superintendent and has two children.

Grishka, having dreamed about murder, became an engineer, although his true passion is solitaire. He's a professional gambler.

Sashka Tishchenko works as a foreman in a factory.

Of the rest nothing is known. A quarter of a century has passed since that time.