Before they found the burial site, on that rainy day in 1999, there was next to no hope of finding the grave in this open field. In reply to Natela Machavariani’s silent question, the strange-faced man said loudly:
“This is the place, I remember for sure.”
“It’s been fifteen years now,” someone remarked.
“Gega’s grave is here, I remember for sure.”
The men continued to dig in silence. The sound of their quickened breathing seemed deafening to the parents standing around the hole. One of their spades hit a coffin and everyone froze at the sound, but only for a second. Then they dug the coffin out and lifted it onto the surface.
When the men opened the coffin lid, Gega’s mother turned away, waiting for their reaction. The men, deeply stunned, looked at the corpse, which was difficult to identify due to the passing of time. But it was Natia Megrelishvili who said with conviction.
“This isn’t Gega. This is Soso. It’s his jeans, there’s the sun drawn on them.”
The others looked at the open coffin again and only now discovered the deceased was wearing the jeans, unaffected after all those years. They still looked new, and there was a shining sun drawn above the right knee.
Eka Chikhladze couldn’t have imagined she’d ever see Soso Tsereteli again. He was still in the same pair of jeans she last seen him wearing fifteen years ago, several days before the hijack…
Tina
Fifteen years earlier, on November 18th 1983, a young woman with a hand grenade stood in the open door of an unsuccessfully hijacked airplane. Her face was streaked with raindrops in expectation of the end.
She stood with a grenade in her hand to bring an end to everything, to make the authorities do whatever they had planned. The end was anxiously awaited after the unbearably lengthy siege of the plane. By then, everyone watching the events from the outside, and those sitting on the inside, could only dream for the end to come quickly. Some passengers and crew members were dead in the bullet-ridden plane, their corpses left lying in the aisle. Others were wounded—their moans interrupting the silence in the plane. One of them begged Tina to not explode the grenade. For a long time, Tina gave no answer. But eventually, as if to herself, she said, with a touch of regret:
“Calm down lady, it isn’t even real.”
But the lady still looked bewildered with horror, just like the other passengers. Among their faces Tina searched for the one that was the dearest to her. Finally, but only briefly, she found it and looked into Gega’s eyes.
Their eyes met for only a second. At that exact moment, special forces stormed in from on the top of the plane and filled the cabin with white smoke.
Ever since her childhood, Tina was stunningly beautiful. Boys made eyes at her and chased her wherever she went; school, art class, English lessons, anywhere.
But when she grew up, it simply began to irritate her. It seemed that boys were mostly interested in her beauty, but Tina always believed she was more interesting. For that reason, it is likely that Tina had never been in love before she met Gega.
Tina was a student of the Fine Arts Academy when Gega saw her painting somewhere, by chance, and made sure to get her number. As an experienced actor, Gega had such a voice that Tina would have believed anything he told her when he reached her on the phone to inquire about her work. He said he really liked her painting, and wanted to meet her. But, he also wanted to be sure to tell Tina, right away, that he was physically handicapped. For a long time afterwards, Gega couldn’t explain why he joked about being handicapped, but at the time, Tina’s kind reply simply stupefied him.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are handicapped or not, personality is the main thing for me.”
When he first heard Tina’s response, with an angelic voice that was so unlike the rather wild students of Tblisi’s Fine Arts Academy, he hung up immediately. He really hadn’t expected such an answer, and didn’t think a modern girl living in Tbilisi could be like that. He immediately regretted his crass joke but tried to justify it by the fact that he wanted to hide his true identity. Gega was a young actor, good-looking and extremely talented. Only twenty-two, he had already played successful parts in several films. At the time, he was well known in Georgia and extremely popular in Tbilisi, especially among teenage girls. Gega didn’t want to rely on his popularity. It was why he made up the story about being handicapped and stricken to a wheelchair. After he thought it over for a bit longer, he dialed Tina’s number again, though he didn’t giving up on his phony story.
“Hello?” said Tina in that adorable voice he had already missed. Upon hearing her again, Gega became lost and awkward for a second time. Although Gega was considered a talented young actor, this role was difficult to pull off. He quickly grew embarrassed at his lack of professionalism. He coughed to clear his throat.
“It’s me again,” he finally managed to say, clearing his throat again.
“Where did you go?” Tina asked with genuine surprise.
“Nowhere. The connection simply cut off.”
“What were you saying?”
“When?”
“Before the connection died.”
“I was saying that I was handicapped and that I can’t move without a wheelchair.”
“That’s ok, if you don’t mind, I can come to your place and bring my paintings.”
“Oh, no, I don’t want to bother you and also…”
“Also what?”
“Also I am always at home as it is, and I’d prefer to meet somewhere.”
“I see. I didn’t want to trouble you, but now I am.”
“Let’s meet wherever you want.”
“I’ll come to wherever you prefer.”
“I’d prefer the Arts Academy after lectures have finished.”
“How will you recognize me?”
“Well, you’ll easily recognize me. I doubt someone else looking like me is going to have a date in front of the Academy.”
“I’ve already said I understand your situation…”
“But I still think it isn’t particularly pleasant that some guy in a wheelchair is waiting for a beautiful girl like you after lectures…”
“A beautiful girl like me? How do you know what I look like?”
“I don’t, but whatever you look like, your friends will still be surprised to see your handicapped admirer in front of the Academy.”
“My life is my business.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow what?”
“Can I come tomorrow?”
“Our lectures finish at three tomorrow.”
“I’ll come by at three. I’ll be standing at the monument… I mean sitting.”
“I’ll come as soon as lectures are over.”
“Until tomorrow then.”
“I’ve probably tired you out already.”
“Oh, no, how can you say that…”
Gega really wasn’t tired but he didn’t want to continue the conversation, or rather couldn’t continue it, so he said goodbye and hung up. Then he smiled with a strange sense of pleasure. Apparently completely different girls did live in this city, though maybe there are very few of them, maybe only Tina, but still…
Gega also realized that Tina couldn’t be lied to anymore, as it really was a bad joke. Tina was the last person he wanted to hurt. He spent the night thinking it over while listening to his favourite records. He decided he would explain everything to Tina when they met at the Academy the next day and would apologize. Though he had already made up his mind, he still couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about Tina’s angelic voice?—the girl who wasn’t like the others.
At noon the following day, he came by his friend Dato’s place. Dato Mikaberidze had a genuine Wrangler denim jacket that Gega prized very much, though he never mentioned this to him. Dato was very generous and would have immediately taken the jacket off and gifted it to Gega. Dato’s generosity was not because his father worked at the Ministry (foreigner tourism). He was simply very generous, period.