Many other facets of life in the Soviet Union would’ve shocked Natasha. She would’ve been less happy there than she thought. She yearned for old Russians folksongs. But Natasha would’ve been surprised to learn that the Russia that she dreamed of no longer existed. She had forgotten the friends she left in prisons or in graves, when she left behind the purges and the trials of Stalin and married an Englishman.
On Sunday, June 22, 1941, the Germans attacked Russia, and Timur and His Gang sprung to life. From the pages of a little book universally read by Soviet children, for the sake of all those fighting at the front, they learned to “live honestly, modestly, to study well, and work stubbornly” and, even during the fiercest battle, to stay “happy, proud, and calm.” Therefore, due to the effort of her children, Russia rose from the ashes. The boys and girls described in the book arrived with their tools and rushed off to do some tasks. They cheerfully did garden-work, minded babies, and gathered scrap. Not that Crockett would ever know about the industriousness of his forgotten cousins; but the connection was obviously there. He inherited many of those traits from his mother.
The birth of a son gave Natasha an instance of hope. It began at the moment of conception. Natives believed her pregnancy came from the discharge of hot blood by the father during orgasm. When Crockett was born, Natasha almost died. The hard delivery seemed in some ways connected with her husband’s lack of participation. His lack of sympathy added to her pain, as the Kelabit’s celebration filled the long house.
Everyone except the mother drank rice wine and celebrated the obvious fact that the womb had been right and the blessed couple’s blood had properly mixed. Adam Flint felt very proud. And, while drinking as much wine as he could drink, as all men do, he expressed his happiness. The Kelabit followed him down that path. It involved a lot of teasing about sex, about unsticking the womb, which distinguished it from being stuck to the backbone. They chanted “the bloods getting hotter and hotter until it all boils and turns to steam.”
Natasha didn’t know what all the laughing was about. If she had, she wouldn’t have found any of it funny. She felt exhausted. Now thanks to her baby, she could stay busy. It would be her son that would bring them a good harvest. Everyone would have abundant food and drink because of him.
As a sign of future prosperity, Adam bought a buffalo, which they slaughtered and ate. But the blowout didn’t involve Natasha. In Russia, she wouldn’t have been ignored. Her family would’ve fussed over her. They would’ve waited on her and would’ve brought her caviar, an omelet, black Russian bread, and tea. If she had tried to get up and take a step, they’ve would’ve stopped her. But now the simplest greeting would’ve meant so much.
The first sounds Crockett heard were the soft songs chanted by the midwife. This sacred ritual also involved isolating the child out of fear that he could catch a fever and die. Without this protection, the baby would’ve been exposed to harmful spirits. This seemed so utterly pagan to Natasha. She didn’t believe in the hocus-pocus of the natives while her Christianity never boasted of a remedy.
Indeed the songs accustomed the baby to his new home. The midwife took dried leaves, which had dropped from the great jungle trees and applied them to Crockett’s forehead. She threatened the evil spirits. When they didn’t withdraw from the house, the child was subjected to another ritual, and so on. The midwife introduced the infant to adult values. “ He will be tempered as is this iron in my hand! Strong! The posts of his body will be like iron!”
Meanwhile, while celebrating, Adam kept his distance. To Natasha, he seemed more concerned about his position as a representative of the Crown than with either her or their son. Something else…the couple felt that most of the time they lived in what they described as a fish bowl.
From the beginning, Crockett was treated as a little Rajah. The whole tribe adopted the small boy. To those people, there were many signs of the baby’s special lineage. The midwife predicted that he would be a powerful man and cited the length of his cord as a reason for her prediction. She cut it long to make sure that he wouldn’t be ill tempered. Crockett would always be healthier and stronger than most other children. He not only would grow strong but also would always be treated differently because of his extreme height. Publicly honored, privately scorned, and always spoiled, he rarely could claim anonymity. The slightest sneeze brought a tidal wave of attention.
As Natasha’s resentment grew, she became more introspective and paid less attention to her son.
As the war continued, the Aussies came; one day out of the blue they dropped out of the sky. They demonstrated that good faith and continuing activity could win the interior. Accordingly, as a British official, Adam helped out as much as he could, but in spite of that the Australians often snubbed him. Still he acted as their translator. Natasha, then however, succeeded with them when he couldn’t.
Her very existence shocked and disturbed the more orthodox boys. This was the entertainment she sought. She didn’t care if she upset her husband. Why were British civil servants so ridiculously stuffy? Why not be scandalous? What do you expect during a war, when extraverted men and women met? The best that could be said for these affairs was that the parties involved tended to lean towards decadence. Need we say more?
The Aussies were much more forward than the British. In what ways were the British restrained? Was it simply in their manner and appearance? Adam had to keep his eyes open. And accordingly, Natasha took great risks and laughed and sang with the men from Down Under. She was just no good. Her tastes were the opposite of Adam’s. His morals sapped her energy. All buttoned up, he gained his authority by being trim and proper, while his rivals boasted and ran around with their shirts off. The tuffs of hair on their chests delighted Natasha. She’d say up until she died “Those Australians were a wild bunch. They were certainly appreciative of me and, when I needed salvation the most, they certainly saved my life.” Such was the situation as Natasha felt the yoke of her family the most.
His mother neglected Crockett. Without thinking about it, she gave his care over to her neighbors. Carried in a sling, he was cared for by three-to-six-year-old nurses, who lived and played in a three-to-six-year-old world.
While carrying him in a sling, his nurses bounced up and down to the time of rice sifting, or threw stones by pushing them forward with a shot put like motion. Play kept the nurses occupied, while they watched over the white infant with red hair.
Randy Ford
