Part 5
9 October 1991 Wednesday
Despite the successful meeting with the Colonel our group did not let their guard down. Every time one of us went to use the outhouse we had an armed guard to accompany us. Mom wasn’t too pleased but realized she had no choice.
We spent the next morning regrouping. Dad, Zori, and Professor Melikian sat outside drinking coffee under a grape vine looking at a map of the area to try and plot our next step. Mom and I wandered, with armed guards of course, to a neighbor’s home where there was a tonir, an underground oven lined with ceramic tiles to bake bread. The smell of the fresh baked bread was so enticing that the three men under the grape vine found their way over to see if they could snag a little “taste.”
Professor Melikian proceeded to give a mini lecture on how the tonir was a symbol of the sun and ancient Armenians used to worship them as a symbol of the setting sun, eventually using these ovens to bake bread.
By now it was well after 1:00 pm. In the distance we noticed a cloud of dust and a car was rapidly approaching our group. The car screeched to a halt and an associate of Zori’s jumped out and took Zori aside. Excitedly speaking in Russian waiving his hands and pointing down the road. Zori looked astonished and proceeded to get into the car.
“Zori, what happened?” dad asked.
Zori shook his head and said “I don’t know. I can’t believe it. I’ll let you know.” The car raced off from where it came.
By now our group had swelled to probably over 50 people. People were huddled around the tonir, smoking cigarettes and eating bread. Dad sat down and began to review his legal pad. The pages were torn and dirty, he made notes on the margins and circled items of importance.
The second batch of bread in the tonir was nearly done baking when Zori returned an hour later.
Zori stepped out of the car with the biggest smile I had ever seen on a person.
Dad stood up and walked towards Zori and said “ինչ?” (What?)
Zori asked dad, “What did you say to the Colonel?”
Dad replied, “I don’t understand. You were there, what do you mean.?”
Zori gave my dad a huge bear hug and said “They are gone.”
“What? Who is gone?” dad asked.
“The Colonel, the Russians, they left this morning.”
Mom walked over and stood next to dad and asked Zori “What does this mean?” Worried their absence may lead to something bad happening to our group.
Zori smiled “Vartkes, the Russians are gone, but they left their guns and ammunition behind for our defenders to use against the Turks! Vartkes, you did get us guns after all!”
Our group excitedly talked amongst one another as the significance of what had just happened began to sink in. These weapons the Colonel left behind was the “shot in the arm” the defenders needed to push back the Azeri invaders.
As everyone celebrated the moment, I noticed mom had a look on her face. “Vartkes, you don’t drink. You NEVER drink. How did you have 5 shots of vodka yesterday?”
Dad smiled for the first time in weeks and said, “I didn’t drink any vodka yesterday.”
I said “What? No, we ALL saw you drink 5 shots of vodka.”
Dad sat down and demonstrated the trick he used to fool the Russian Colonel. Holding an Armenian coffee demi-tasse cup dad showed how he used his hand to completely envelop the cup. While standing up he placed his hand under the table and poured the liquid on the ground. Then extending his arm skyward, still covering the glass with his hands, dad made his toast and pretending to drink the nonexistent vodka, then slamming the empty cup on the table as he sat down.
Professor Melikian, as astonished as the rest of us somehow produced a 20-year-old bottle of Nairi Armenian Cognac. He gave it to dad who took the bottle, raised it to the sky and said “to Karabagh and the heroes defending her!” This time actually taking a drink.
Within minutes the bottle was empty, and we feasted on the freshly baked bread from the tonir.
At this point our group had swelled to probably over 75 people. As we slowly walked back to our house. Mom and dad walked in front, hand in hand, flanked by armed men, guarding the new Hero of Armenia and Karabagh.
Zori and mom with members of our group.
End of Part 5