Rafael Gelantia
(The story is based on real events)
It was the evening of the end of the year of 2003, when ORT broadcasted the video information on the liquidation of a member of an organized criminal group – a heavily tattooed young woman of the Caucasian appearance. All her body, even the belly was covered in scars and tattoos.
Together with the information a photo of an incredibly beautiful woman went viral.
There were quite a number of us in the room, but nobody showed signs of any particular interest. It is difficult to impress someone by such facts nowadays and especially the internally displaced persons, as their only concern is how to put bread on the table for their families.
The women and children switched over to another channel. Brazilian and Argentine movies help them relax. Justice, honesty and decency, paupers getting rich, beating the abusers and a lot of other miraculous things making one forget the unbearable and miserable life even for an instant.
I was overwhelmed and shocked by the information.
I had a feeling as if I had somewhere met this unbelievingly beautiful, young lady and even talked with her. I couldn’t place this gorgeous fur, make up, blonde hair, white-pink complexion, round chin, slightly sulky childly lips, long neck line, delicate Georgian nose with the Slavic accent - All this was a shot, but anyway something very native, living, familiar and even the more the eye-shape, eye-brow lines and even those incredibly long lashes were strikingly dear.
I called my friend Nino and discussed with her the TV news.
She did not remember the information, probably she passed off it or it was her professional ethics.
Nino is an experienced and talented lawyer. As an expert she was a frequent participant of the investigation about the genocide and ethnic cleansing problems having place in Abkhazia. She was mostly called, when the law enforcement officials dealt with the issues concerning women and adolescents. Owing to her brilliant memory Nino remembered the looks of a number of victims, their constitution, state of mind; she could recollect all the small details and features. I knew about her ability and asked to refresh in her memory all those horrible, unexplainable for normal people events, having place in the Ochamchire district village Akhaldaba in October of 1993.
Nino had no desire of thinking about those events, but after giving her a precise description of the woman she started to show her interest and promised though a bit reluctantly to help me.
As for me, I was restless, as I could not help thinking about the young woman, practically a child. I sort of remembered - it was the second or third Fall from the collapse of Abkhazia, my wife and I were dragging enormous, bags made of coarse material to the underground station. We were shifting our lodging for the third time and carrying over all our possessions and children’s clothes to the opposite end of the town into the tiny, windowless room. My fingers were bleeding from the thin handles of the heavy bags and I put my luggage on the steps of the underground escalator and instinctively started to leek my fingers like a dog trying to sooth the bruised hands and palms.
I noticed the outlines of the adolescent girls on the escalator stairs emerging from the practically dark hall. The parallel line, two or three steps below me was occupied by the three girls. They were talking. They resembled Georgians from Abkhazia and it made me look at them. They were extremely beautiful, especially the one standing between the other two girls. Their school- bags left no doubt they were school - students. Their lily –white faces, blackberry eyes and coal black hair glittered in the light of a lonely lamp standing on the escalator railing. The girl in the middle was very special, perhaps due to her incredibly long legs and short skirt; probably that was the reason she was imprinted in my memory.
Not long before Christmas Nino phoned me and asked to meet her.
We met at the hotel “Iveria”. Nino was weeping.
- It was Eka, my Ekaterine, Eka being tortured in Abkhazia, Akhaldaba. Nino reminded me of one meeting with the Abkhazian orphans - adolescents being enrolled in one of the quires due to the aid of one of the rehabilitation centers of the USA. Eka, thanks to her physical abilities and talent soon became a leading dancer.
I proded my memory and managed to restore the frozen hall, Abkhazian children, a quire. Nino was also there. After a dance being brilliantly performed by the girls, she introduced me to them:”meet the flowers of Abkhazia and Georgia”, but she said nothing about their tragic fate.
I caressed them, praised their talent and mastership. Eka was also there, freezing, but a champion of a dance. Her beauty was radiant with a hidden charm of somewhat womanly maturity.
It was cold. Nino promised me to take an interest in Eka’s fate and clarify everything through her friends and acquaintances living in Russia.
We had no way out, but to walk, as nothing worked, not a metro, not even a tram. I was trying to obtain the materials on the tragedy of the children from Akhaldaba and harassed Nino. I wanted to draw from her at least a tiny bit piece of information about the captive women and children camp, about the fate of the girls.
Nino started to speak very unwillingly and then, all of sudden became irritated at my being a man, blamed me and blurted out:
- Dignified and worthy men never leave there women and children to the enemy. It was a common experience in Georgia. You have not realized yet, that the conqueror hurts the defeated most of all by taking possession of their women and children and this is the cruelest punishment for you men, your irresponsible wars are in the first place the misery and ill fortune for your women.
- Unfortunately, to the great embarrassment and discredit of the history of Abkhazia, it is our catastrophe, as the beasts forced the innocent children into the school building and with the monstrous cruelty tortured them, starting from the third graders they raped every captive girl with the unspeakable perversion, ruined them mentally and turned their life into the loath towards the mankind.
- The misfortune of the children and generally the victims is that the culprits don’t bear any responsibility for their deeds. Law is invalid in this case, as the women, girls, their parents, relatives will never tell anybody and especially the legislators the truth, they will never talk about the details and we will never know what happed in Abkhazia, what was done to the women and sometimes to men and what is happening there now? We can obtain the proof using other methods, but the witnesses will never tell us what happened and the international court (I doubt it will ever be listed!) Will lose the case without the evidence and lack of eye-witnesses. It is the case when the court is helpless. A woman is a target of men’s most ruthless violence, but an adequate punishment is rare, especially among the people of our mentality.
- Then where is the way out? - my question sounded naïve and Nino almost spelled the answer:
- There is no way out and will never be. Those angles throughout all their lives will be sentenced to live in a virtual world, in different dimension, with hostility and hatred towards the males.
- What if fortune will be merciful for some of them, what if they meet a nice man being in love with them and be forgiven, give birth to children, acquire profession? Who knows, time and situation have healing ability. The fact that a lot of international organizations work on these problems nowadays infuses me with the hope.
- It goes without saying, that most of them will never forgive neither themselves, nor the whole world the evil deeds being committed to them, some of them will take the path of vengeance, some of them will reach their aim, others will perish.
- They say, that scientists, psychologist, law theoreticians cannot explain the instinct of revenge and reckon it among the unidentified, uncharted category of human phenomenon. For the victim as my experience prompts me the greatest revenge is to get their own back…
- I want to believe, that the fate of our children will be different – I interrupted Nino.
Some facts about the Akhaldaba Women and Children colony is not a secret to the society and especially for those being interested in this horrible camp for captives form the very start.
On the 19- 20th of September before the Fall of Sokhumi, the village Akhaldaba was besieged by the gunmen. They locked approximately 300 people – teachers, women, children and adolescents in the school building. The rumor goes that one part, the chosen ones were moved to the neighboring village school building and others were shot.
One can never tell the nationality of a gunman: Among them were Abkhazians, Russians, Cossacks, Chechens, Circassians, the Adygeis, Armenians and many others. It was impossible to call them humans; they were then two-legged conquerors with a gun and weapon and totally lacking moral, customs and traditions, time, space and brain and wits.
Permanent, continuous orgies were held on the second floor of the school, contests in shooting the human target, drunken raids in the village to humiliate and ruin every living being.
The gunmen were full of lust towards the women and the innocent girls and their young teachers being locked in the building.
The chiefs of the group went downstairs to choose the girls. They selected ten girls for the first day, then another ten and so every day.
A terrible row was on the second floor. The order came: one man to be with one girl, then to exchange them, then to gang rape them and at last act according to their own dirty fantasy. Later the norms of behavior were also stated: They had to walk around naked and nude to import into the entertainment and pleasure more romanticism.
Adult women more easily adjusted to the inevitable reality , as for Eka and other 12-13 year old girls, they did not understand what was happening and were fighting with all their strength using nails, fists, teeth, they fought till they fainted. Many of the girls were punched, tied up, fastened to the columns, and roped in order to be tamed. The cherished by their parents kids were bathing in blood. The girls used to be swilled out to be brought to life again and be prepared for the next sexual intercourse, their bitten breasts, necks, lips were wetted and soaked with vodka, and the bottles were thrust into their bodies.
Someone guessed to bring hay wisps to make the hard wooden floor soft and intercourse more silent and at the same time warm the victims. The rustle of the hay killed the sounds of cries.
Girls and woman selected by their age, beauty, color of their hair and eyes and according to the gunmen taste and need ascended and descended the stairs. Teachers and students were gang raped side by side, replacing each other.
In the following days the gunmen’s attention was drawn by the small children, they seemed more interesting and their childish resistance unleashed their passion and gave rise to their lust even more. Someone became an initiator of a new game – contest for performing more sexual intercourse within the fixed time. The loser was to pay through setting the table!
Eka was considered the best among the bests. Thus Eka had to serve representatives of chiefs of the regimen and “Miss Eka” was decided by lots who to sleep with and the winners were allowed to mark her silky belly with their names tattooed with the thread dipped in ink and a needle. The ritual grew into tradition and that’s how Eka’s abdomen was covered with the trail of forty-two names being tattooed from her pubic bone to the very breast.
Fate of those being won in backgammon was no better.
One fine day the order for the second floor went forth – nobody was to be left a virgin. Among the hidden from the curious eyes poor children were three sisters: third grader, sixth grader and Eka’s class -mate, whose father was shot the previous day so that he would not worry.
The orders were kept to the pledge: every single man was to participate in the orgies with the women and girls, as they had to take an equal part in devotedness and fraternity, in order not to escape the punishment, in case, one day they would have to face consequences for their deeds.
Later their rituals were enriched by the various postures and poses being seen in erotic and porno movies.
All of a sudden, in the middle of October four respectable and grey-haired Abkhazian men and one lady came to the camp. Two of them were uniformed officials and other two allegedly teachers dressed in the civil clothes.
The rumor had, that the Abkhazian society being worried and confused with this brutality demanded liberating of the women and children, stopping their torture and closing of the women camp. They say, it caused a rammy and nearly resulted in flying the arms.
The story runs that those uniformed young Abkhazian warriors participating in violence were gradually disappearing.
By the end of October the camp was closed, the women and girls were separately taken away from the camp and scattered all over Abkhazia. Kind –hearted people helped many of them to leave Abkhazia.
But quite a lot of them are considered missing.
Nino found out a lot of facts. She admitted that they became friends with Eka and Nino knew about Eka practically everything.
Eka trusted her.
- Ekaterine turned into a fascinating girl. Her relatives could hardly make her take off the funereal garments for her parents being tortured and burnt alive – tells Nino… Eka’s younger brother Ruslan moved to Russia and earned a criminal kingpin.
- Eka was not only a capable student; she was also flawlessly beautiful, wonderful dancer, the jewel of the stage.
- But her friends noticed some strange features in her, from time to time she became outlandish, as her neighbor girls said, she refused to bathe together with a women group even then, when in Tbilisi being deprived of electricity and gas they managed and heat the water in the bathroom, instead of taking her chance she sought seclusion and kept herself to herself.
- In 1977 Eka went to one of the most prestigious colleges of Tbilisi. People knew her as an IDP from Abkhazia, kind-hearted, god fearing and quite distinctive. She palled through thick and thin with the girls and as well as with the boys. She was not only fair and beautiful, but courageous and tough.
When she was a second year student love came to her. She made her choice on the guy five years her senior, having fought in Abkhazia, Zurab from Tbilisi. Zurab belonged to a well-known family, he was educated, well-bred, polite, a devoted friend, follower of the Georgian traditions.
Zurab’s parents invited Eka and two of her close friends at their place.
In a week’s time Zurab’s parents yelled to his pressure and bidding and asked for Eka’s hand.
Eka seemed startled and rather worried. She asked to give her time to think it over. She offered Zurab to visit her in the refugee hostel to peep into their life.
Zurab very quickly made friends with Eka’s folk and dearest people.
But, Eka was still uncertain. One evening, when Zurab pushed her to make up her mind at last and marry him, Eka begged him to take her out of town for a talk.
In Mtskheta, they chose cozy café and stayed there for a long time. Eka told him everything about the Akhaldaba tragedy, but one thing - her tattoos. She was burning with shame and did not dare tell him about her body engravings.
Zurab did not seem shocked or surprised, as if he knew everything. He kissed Eka’s cheek and promised her to return to Abkhazia, Akhaldaba – may everybody understand who is who and who is worthy of the great love and what is happiness!
A lot of people attended their nuptials. After the church ceremony everybody went to the restaurant.
It was late evening when the last guest left.
In a gorgeous bedroom a bride and a groom were left alone. Zurab was drunk. An abused and molested child turned into a mature lady, a happy woman, with the right of having a decent family, giving birth to her children.
At the blue candle light Eka soared at Zurab’s touch and entwined in his arms. She left everything behind – being on top of the world Eka sank into the deep and undisturbed sleep.
It was already four o’clock of the daytime, when Zura’s mother knocked at the door of the newlyweds and asked them to dine with them.
Eka looked around and stared at Zurab’s empty and made up bed. She was stricken with an unpleasant and bad feeling; she did not know what fate had in store for her.
She entered the kitchen and hugged her mother-in-law. She inquired about Zurab, everyone looked at her in dismay - Zurab’s friends must have kidnapped him - joked Zurab’s mother easing the tension.
They picked at food. Zurab was nowhere. He did not come that evening and did not return afterdays either.
His mother spread the news about his departure on assignment to America. She used to say, that he had to stay there for two years and soon Eka would also join him.
The family kept the secret under the wraps. Meanwhile, the pledge of love, a child was growing in Eka’s womb.
Zurab disappeared. Eka had a suspicion, that Zurab was in Georgia and from time to time communicated with his mother; Zurab loved Eka as before, but internally he was not ready to return, he could not force himself to do it.
Eka was not able to kill her child, though thought a lot about it and even shared her feelings with her mother-in-law. She, the witness of so many deaths would never dare kill her own baby, the fruit of her first love. For her, great lovers of poetry the words from Nishnianidze’s poem “call” were voiced in a warning: “Dare not!”
A boy was born. He was called after his father. He inherited Zurab’s eyes and Eka’s charm.
Eka made a perfect mother though after Zurab’s disappearance her face reflected only a masked smile.
Little Zura’s one year birthday was lavishly celebrated and 15 or 20 close people and friends were invited. As if by accident Eka left Zura’s seat vacant.
That night Eka did not sleep a wink. She understood that Zura left her, as he could not bear one thing, a very peculiar detail of Eka’s tragedy – tattooed initials. Eka did not blame Zura; she felt she would do the same in his stead.
Eka developed a complex of fatality. She considered herself miserable; she had a feeling that her happiness was stolen from her in Akhaldaba.
Her child was now quite a grown-up boy and could do without his mother.
She made her choice. She had to punish, sentence and execute those, who would be tried neither by local nor by the international law and legislation.
It happened, that Eka called Nino and begged her not to lose track of her child.
Eka left for Moscow to live with her brother. According to her words Ruslan had business in Moscow and a lot of powerful people were among his friends.
Zurab’s family mourned for Eka’s disappearance. Zurab’s mother Mary had cried away the whole week.
Nobody could quiet Eka’s boy, he had been looking for his mother everywhere…
It was the middle of August of the following year and asked me to meet her, but strictly warned to keep everything she was going to tell in secret, at least the names and surnames. If I wrote something, it must be a different story, to protect little Zurab from knowing the truth and not to make problems for Eka’s brother and his friends.
No doubt, Nino was fully informed about Eka’s fate. I even suppose, she talked with her before her death.
- As far as I know – tells Nino- Eka told Ruslan every small detail about their parents’ death, how they were burnt alive, also told him about Akhaldaba and asked give a hand or she would commit a suicide. Nobody and nothing could alter Eka’s decision.
Ruslan called his Moscow friends, among his five pals were an Abkhazian an even a Russian guy. The tattooed initials helped them state the identity of the culprits and their deal in Abkhazian war.
The lot was cast and the choice was made.
It was not difficult to buy weapon in Moscow and South Russia. A box of vodka was enough to get the whole set of arms from the former warriors. One could even travel to Abkhazia and Sokhumi for a reasonable bribe.
In a few months after Eka’s disappearance her group first in Gudauta, and then in Sokhumi disarmed in their own houses two former warriors, at that time Abkhazian officials - The first denied his deeds, but after seeing his tattooed initials and reminding some of the details from his past died with hardly a struggle…
The second one, a young, manly looking Abkhazian begged Eka and her group allow him to commit a suicide, but later changed his mind, as he pitted his mother, a Christian woman. He then decided as if by mistake trip the mine – They will think it was an accident and nobody will investigate it – he said and did it.
Eka returned from Abkhazia and paid a visit to a doctor. She got some of her tattoos cut out. The scarves uglified her delicate waist and belly even the more.
Eka worried a lot, when she had sent a rapist from Adygea to the hell, without showing him her tattooed body. That man turned out a potroon and turned his back.
At the beginning the group of Chechens fiercely opposed Eka, but seeing and reading the tattoos being carved on her beautiful body made them put the guns down – Shamil was immediately handed to Eka.They only asked not to kill him before their eyes, as their tradition prohibits killing of a man by a woman’s hand. ..
Cossack businessman Ivane was found drunken in a seedy room, in the company of naked women…
In one of the Russian towns Eka’s hand trembled: - Aliosha had Zura’s age child in his arms, walking him in the garden. Eka decided not to kill him, but when Aliosha started to blub and screened the silenced gun with his son she could not forgive him his cowardice.
In the centre of the same town during one of the most severe operations on a military person with a non-stated position Eka suddenly got scared and avoided putting her group in danger. She was already exhausted and fed up with so many deaths, bloody business, antichristian deeds, but she had only one case left, the last temptation was Vitali and he had to die. Vitali was trying to pervert her for the first time when an Abkhazian guy came to her aid. Eka lost two teeth in that mess.
And yet Eka was hesitant. The previous night Ruslan and the guys gave a birthday bash for her at a restaurant.
Eka looked like an angel and won the hearts of the partying public with her delicate moves.
She danced Georgian and Russian dances, then sang Russian Romances and a Georgian song” Let us present each other with tulips” and ended with the famous song ‘ Tbiliso.”
Eka was matchless. The public asked her to perform again and again.
To a Spanish-Iberian tune Eka asked for a dance the guys of her group, but none of them withstood Eka’s tempo. A number of volunteers stepped forward from the public, but she danced them off their feet and continued to dance alone.
It was a miracle. She floated above the floor in a dance. Her Tango, Spanish folk, classical, “Georgian”, “Abkhazian” dances were fantastic. Eka had unique, flexible movements, incredible, beyond words and imagination.
The audience and band saw the young Georgian lady off with a standing ovation. She got visit card from the restaurant manager and was offered a job.
Eka was informed that Vitali’s office was on the second floor and he had tough personal guards. Eka was especially beautiful that night. In a borrowed gorgeous fur, glittering with precious jewels, with the help of the guard Eka managed to date woman-chaser Vitali.
Vitali could not resist the temptation and was snapped by the trap. He wanted to admire the beautiful Georgian woman in his own apartment.
Dressed in dazzling uniform Vitali was thinking about Abkhazia and the charm of the “brides of the war”, the taste of exceptionally shy and modest Georgian girls, and the pleasure of possessing the captive women. No wonder he decided to meet Eka that night.
Gently swinging her hips, in a coquettish gait she entered the room. Vitali called a luxurious restaurant, ordered a table and warned his guards to accompany him.
Vitali was amazed when she took out a gun and in one breath reminded him of Akhaldaba. Vitali denied even the fact of his presence in Abkhazia. Eka remembered a cross-shaped scar just under his left nipple and forced him to take off his shirt.
Vitali took off his shirt and Eka shot.
Her steps were not agreed with the other members of the group and did not coincide with their plans. Eka decided not to put in danger the guys. She did not want anybody to die in her stead; the boys were not guilty, only her hands were stained with blood.
Before the guard burst into the room, Eka crossed the corridor and descended the stairs. She removed the silencer from her gun and made several shots into the air.
Eka’s dead body appeared quite a puzzle for the forensic expertise and Russian law enforcement officials, as it gave rise to various questions. It was considered a cold case and was closed with the article of the revenge killing performed by a lonely, mentally ill and possessive prostitute.
The corpse was carried to a remote cemetery and buried there wrapped in a plastic bag.
Later Eka’s remains were sent to Ingushetia and afterwards under an assumed name and surname to Abkhazia to be buried there.
Her body was still covered with numerous unobliterated tattoos – finished Nino the story.
Once in a while, even the professional human rights lawyers weep…
Tbilisi, September, the year of 2005.
