the young man had grown considerably based on both the fact that he’d come back to the office after Nikolai’s lesson with the gun and that he kept coming back day after day despite my less than kind treatment of him.
It took a little while for Nikolai and me to get to his parents’ bakery, but when we walked in, it was like all hell had broken loose. There was a line of customers almost out the door and we could hear Maks screaming from the back of the building. I followed Nikolai to the back room where the ovens were and saw Elena desperately trying to get her son's attention. When little Maks saw Nikolai, he screamed louder and held out his arms.
My heart broke for the little boy because I knew he wasn't throwing a tantrum. From everything Nikolai had told me, he only behaved this way when he truly wasn't feeling well. Nikolai went to the little boy and picked him up and then pressed his hand against the child’s forehead. Maks settled a little but he was still crying as he pressed his head to his uncle's chest.
"No fever," Nikolai murmured with a sigh of relief. Poor Elena looked near to tears. She stroked her son’s back and then allowed Nikolai to pull her into a hug. He said something to her in Russian that had her nodding. When the conversation ended, he told Maks to say goodbye to his mother. The little boy waved to his mom and then held out his arms.
Elena took him and gave him a big hug before handing him back to Nikolai. Maks had settled considerably, but he looked miserable and worn out.
I followed Nikolai out the back door that led directly into the family’s apartment. Nikolai asked Maks if he wanted to try eating something and began offering suggestions. When he landed on something the child seemed interested in, Nikolai turned to me and said, "Can you watch him for a few minutes while I get something ready for him?"
“Of course,” I said.
"Maks, can you go with Jude and watch TV while I make you some lunch?” Nikolai asked.
To my surprise, the little boy held out his arms to me without hesitation. Nikolai handed the child to me and made his way toward the kitchen. I didn't have much experience with kids, but I'd always liked them. I took Maks to the living room and sat down on the couch with him and turned on the television. Maks didn't seem interested in watching it, though. He just lay against my chest and sucked his thumb. I saw some of his marbles sitting on the coffee table. I glanced around the room to see what else I could find and then asked Maks, "You want to see a trick?"
Maks nodded.
With him still in my arms, I stood up and got what I would need from his toys and then went to the coffee table. I sat him on my lap and kept one arm around him as I used the other to create what amounted to nothing more than a seesaw. I put one of his marbles on one side and then found a little toy dump truck that I put on the end of the table. I pointed to the opposite end of the seesaw and said, “Why don't you give that a little tap?”
Maks did as I said and the marble went flying. It landed short of the dump truck, but it didn't matter because the little boy was immediately intrigued and reached for another marble. I got it set up for him again and this time when he made the shot, the marble landed in the bed of the dump truck.
"Okay, you're way too good at this," I said with a smile. "How about we make it a little harder?"
Maks's eyes had brightened a little bit. He nodded.
I kept the child with me as I began to move around the room looking for items that would help me do what I wanted. By the time Nikolai entered the living room, the simple little seesaw launcher had turned into an elaborate obstacle course similar to what I’d set up the day I'd had lunch at the Falkov house.
"Okay, Maks, let her fly," I said. The toddler put the marble at the beginning of the track and let it go. He leaned back against me as we watched the marble make its way around the room on the track