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Chapter nine

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  Chapter nine in which Uncle Stan’s defection leads to unlooked-for popularity ... Uncle Stan called. Had a bit of luck and was all keyed up to tell us about it so Mother got everyone together to hear the news. As usual, Mother was in charge of the phone, standing by to interpret Uncle Stan’s words to us by means of grimacing, gesturing and eloquently lifting her eyebrows. She had sound effects too, so it was with a great deal of pleasure that we anticipated Uncle Stan’s fortnightly call.      The show started with a lot of grinning when Uncle Stan announced that he was out of the refugee camp  and that he found a cleaning job. Mother, mindful of who might be listening, acknowledged the news by  grunting noncommittally into the receiver. (To us she gave the thumbs up gesture and mouthed the word job.)  Encouraged by this show of support, Uncle Stan revealed that he’d managed to rent a room somewhere  reasonable and that his German language...
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Chapter two

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        In the morning Mother broke the news to Pavel who had slept the night through and  was just now waking up, drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. He took it  philosophically.      ‘Hmmm,’ Pavel hmmed without enthusiasm, looking bored. I was not surprised.  Having no interest in politics or defecting uncles, this quiet teenage boy could hardly  be expected to react otherwise. Still, Mother might have taken exception, but luckily  she wasn’t paying attention. She was thinking of her parents, babka Zlatka and  deda Anton, who had to be told of this disaster,  this dreadful turn of events, this  lamentable state of affairs which will prove to be our undoing , Mother orated to herself,  staring gloomily into the fridge. Eventually, she took out a chicken and decided to make  the announcement over lunch.      After the nocturnal kerfuffle, telling our grandparents wa...
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