Disappearing Earth

Chapter 7 focuses Natalia Innokentevna, called Natasha, the eldest child of Alla Innokentevna and the sister of Denis and Lilia. Alla, Denis and Natasha’s two children gather inside Natasha’s Petropavlovsk apartment after celebrating the New Year. Natasha reminisces about her childhood in Esso before Lilia went missing and Denis became obsessed with UFOs.

Natasha drives her family to a local ice-skating rink. Her mother complains about the crowds in Even so that the children will not understand, alluding to the disappearance of native cultures. Everyone skates except Denis. Natasha looks for Lilia across the ice, as she does whenever she is in a crowded place. In contrast to Alla, who believes someone kidnapped Lilia, Natasha thinks her sister ran away. She recalls the half-hearted police search after the disappearance, when officers spent “a day or two chasing Lilia’s shadow […] showed her picture to the bus drivers in the area and knocked on a couple neighbors’ doors” (113). At the time, the Esso police captain did not believe foul play was involved, telling Alla that her daughter “decided to go off to see the world” (113). The memories of the first days after Lilia’s disappearance are etched in Natasha’s mind. She remembers pulling over to “dry-heave in the dirt” and being “sickened by fury” (114). She also recalls slapping Denis when he said aliens abducted Ilia, which she regrets to this day.

Natasha runs into Anfisa, an administrative assistant for the Kamchatsky police. Later in the week, she and her children visit Anfisa at her apartment, which is in the same complex. The women drink spiked tea while the children play. Natasha sees something of Lilia in Anfisa. The next morning, Natasha drops her mother and brother off at a ski track and returns to Anfisa’s house. The two bond over men, raising children on their own, and their jobs. Natasha presses Anfisa for information about the missing Golosovskaya sisters. Natasha returns to Anfisa’s apartment alone a few days later. She tells her about a phone call she received from Lilia years ago expressing concern about their brother’s mental state. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Natasha holds that Lilia ran away. She draws a distinction between her sister’s disappearance and the missing Golosovskaya sisters. Anfisa agrees, stating that “Whatever happened with those girls is so different” (128). Natasha pictures Lilia as a grown woman, married, and with a university degree. She sincerely believes her sister will come home one day.

In Chapter 8, Revmira and her husband Artyom prepare breakfast before she leaves for work. Revmira is out of sorts because it is the anniversary of Gleb’s death (her first husband). Artyom, who works as a rescuer, says the police plan to search the river for the Golosovskaya sisters come spring. Annoyed by the police’s racial biases, Revmira asks if they will also search for her second cousin, Lilia.

Revmira recalls a conversation she and Alla had over the holidays. Afterwards, Revmira told Artyom that Alla believes the kidnapper took Lilia because she was young and small of stature. Artyom tried to help by sending Lieutenant Ryakhovsky a graduation picture of Lilia, but the policeman did not reply. The lack of action did not surprise Revmira because “Lilia was three years missing, Even, [and] the child of a nobody” (136).

As Artyom clears the dishes in the kitchen, Remvira reminisces about falling in love with Gleb at university. She walks to the bus stop. At work, she assesses a patient, Valentina, who is there for radiation therapy after having a blister-like growth removed from her chest a few months earlier. Revmira recalls learning that Artyom could not have children, which she understands as a loss. Part of her is grateful because Kamchatka is not a safe place for children.

Inna calls to tell Revmira that Artyom died while rescuing a lost skier. She realizes how good Artyom has been to her over their 26-year marriage, despite her broken heart. Inna comes to the hospital and drives Revmira home. She once again thinks about Gleb. After calling Artyom’s sister, Revmira takes all of Artyom’s things and places them on the bed, realizing that his belongings are all that remain of the man she grew to love. She takes Gleb’s suitcase out of the closet, empties it of its contents, and crawls on bed, alone with the knowledge that she is alive, but the two men she loved are dead.

In Chapter 9, Nadezhda, called Nadia, and her five-year-old daughter Mila take a flight to Palana. Nadia recently walked out on Chegga, who remains in the run-down house they shared in Esso. Nadia instructs her daughter not to tell anyone about their personal problems, including her parents (Mila’s grandparents).

Nadia’s parents meet them at the airport and inquire after Chegga. Nadia lies and tells them he is busy with his work as a photographer. Her parents are fond of Chegga because he is familiar: “a good boy, native like them, and from a place that was not theirs but seemed enough like theirs, meaning not too white, not foreign” (150).

Nadia recalls going to a public thermal pool over the holidays with Mila, Chegga, Ksyusha, and Ruslan, where they saw Yegor, who Chegga characterized as “not normal” and “a freak” (151). When Ksyusha admonished him, Chegga revealed that Yegor tortured animals as a child: “A frog when we were watching. The cats, he did on his own. Lilia Solodikova told me Yegor left them in front of her house every week of sixth year” (152). Unlike Chegga, who thinks someone murdered Lilia, Nadia projects her own desire to escape Kamchatka onto Lilia, believing that the girl ran away.

Chegga repeatedly phones Nadia, but she rejects his calls. The phone rings again. This time it is Vyacheslav Bychkov (Slava), an ex-boyfriend who heard Nadia was back in town. The two agree to meet at a café the next day. Nadia can’t help comparing Slava to Chegga. Slava tells Nadia he is going through a separation. Nadia’s feelings are hurt. She lies to Slav about her relationship with Chegga and pretends she is happy. Nadia is relieved when they part ways, not wanting to “soak in the memory of who she used to be” (160). Nadia is desperate to move forward in life, but her family seems resigned to staying the same.

Nadia calls Chegga. The two argue. He tells her how worried he was before finding her note. Nadia recalls asking Ksyusha if Chegga was in love with Lilia. Ksyusha replied that Chegga simply liked drama and enjoyed “making up theories instead of admitting she ran away” (163). Nadia fears Chegga sought her out solely because she was a young, single mother. She ends the conversation when Slava calls. He asks if he is Mila’s father. Nadia tells him she was already pregnant when they got together. She gets angry when he expresses a desire to be part of Mila’s life.

The next morning, Nadia takes Mila to the cinema, but it is closed. She buys her daughter a treat to make it up to her. She rejects calls from Slav and Chegga. That night, Slava comes pounding on her parents’ door. He drunkenly asks Nadia and Mila to move in with him. Nadia responds that Mila isn’t his. She tries to hurt Slava by calling their relationship a fling and implying he was a bad lover. Slava leaves. Her parents express their disappointment. Mila tells Nadia she wants to go home to her father (Chegga). With no other options, Nadia agrees to take her back to Esso.