The Soviet state cost us dearly. It needs to be guarded. Preserved! At night, we’d go back to the sea, and the barges would be empty. Dead silence. Everyone had the same thought: as soon as we set foot on the shore, they’ll…Shit…!!! For years, I kept a wooden suitcase ready under my bed: a change of underwear, a toothbrush, a razor. I slept with a gun under my pillow…always prepared to put a bullet through my forehead. Everyone lived like that in those days! Soldiers and marshals alike. In that, we were equals.
