«Sure!» He went back to the table, and hastily continued eating. «I love kids.»
* * * * *
When Marina and Joe entered the park, they saw Vera drawing, and Nina Lapina talking with Megan VanStein, both sitting on a bench next to the playground.
The women had a very interesting talk, and again Megan was surprised how different a mentality the Russian woman had. They were discussing men’s affairs.
For a long time Megan had had a suspicion about her husband and Marina. She did not want to believe all the talk that had reached her, but she could not resist the wish to find out the truth.
Knowing the Russian women were good friends, Megan decided to talk with Nina, hoping that this naive and emotional person would blurt it out.
«Bah! I don’t understand why you Americans make a big deal if a man has more than one woman,» Nina giggled. «In Russia such a man has much more respect than a faithful hubby. The most famous example is Yeltsin. Do you know why the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, won the election so easily? Of course, there were a lot of other reasons, but the real reason, he showed himself as a romantic hero. Listen up. Once upon a time he went to his lover. He took a bottle of vodka for himself and a bottle of Champagne for her. The husband of his lover was a big cheese also, and when he found out about it he sent his men to beat up Yeltsin. They caught him in the forest on the bank of a river, but Yeltsin took the bottles out, and used them as weapons. He fended off those five professionals. The last one almost got Yeltsin, and they both fell into the river. His bodyguards helped Yeltsin out, but this story got into the newspapers, and for a long time the Russian media had a good subject for stories, reports, and jokes.»
«I don’t get it,» Megan replied, shocked. «It seems as if you like it when a man has an affair! But imagine how you would feel finding out that your husband was cheating on you?»
Nina became quiet.
«Honestly, I’ve never thought about that,» she confessed. «My husband… He’s so shy… If you read our family name in French, it means «Bunny’ and I think this word fits him perfectly. He loves me, and it’s enough for me. I know some women who have discovered their husband’s affairs. But only an ill bird fouls its own nest. A smart woman rather prefers to pretend to be blind than become a laughing stock. «My husband is a bastard, so I want my husband back!» Sounds stupid.» She shrugged her shoulders. «My point is if you don’t love your husband, and can’t forgive him, then divorce him rather than torment each other. If you love him and can’t live without him, then accept him as he is, let him have fun. But I don’t want to thrust my opinion onto anyone.»