The love of a bandit or an affair with a Gypsy

Chapter 1

The fact that now May was strongly reminded of two things: the approaching of long-awaited vacation on the calendar and summer collections in stores.

Valya walked to the subway hungry, cold and angry. The devil pulled her to sit on this protein diet. The result is zero, at least on the scales, but there is an abundance of irritation and negativity. Well, it is impossible, it is impossible to starve in this climatic zone, the body must "heat" itself nine out of twelve months a year. Mom called on Viber: "It's very cold here, have you put on a hat?"

"I put it on," said Valya, pressing her icy ears alternately to the collar of her icy coat.

It started snowing. Very nice, Valya thought. Of course, I didn't take a hat, but my boots are winter! Clever. Then she thought and added: "I should get a pair of sweaters from the mezzanine, it's good that knitted socks are always at hand. The month of May, after all.

The snow was melting on the wet asphalt and it was pleasing. At least there are no snowdrifts, Valya thought, watching the unfortunate man handing out leaflets at the subway.

– Give me two, said the compassionate Valya and thought that only kind people take a leaflet not because they are interested in a discount in an intimate store around the corner, but because they feel sorry for the giver. The advertising agent beamed. His eyes read: "Well, girl! Well done! It can be seen that she takes a discount for herself and her friend! Or maybe just a good person."

The leaflets flew into the nearest trash can, but before that, tactful Valya intuitively left the promoter's field of view. Why upset a person, let him think that he is doing something necessary and useful.

The descent to the subway necessarily passes through the caste of elite beggars, where grandmothers are as sharp-sighted as a hawk, and young people have more gold than you have at home. And not Chinese. Chinese gold is also good – Valya quickly reassured herself. And suddenly an accordion started playing nearby, Valya's feet carried her to the sounds of the charming "Murka". Where Valya had a craving for Chanson and dashing 90m is unclear, but the fact that she loved it was the most inexplicable fact in the world for her husband. Valya frantically rummaged in her pockets – empty. It's inconvenient to leave, Valya thought under the heavy and unpleasant gaze of the underground artist. Valya opened her purse, something tinkled sadly. Valya began to look for the cause of the sound. Damn, the inner metal lock, not that. Valya reached into her purse, the harmonica player openly mocked her with his eyes, saying, "walking around like beggars." So, 500 rubles in one piece of paper. Hey, man, I'm sorry, I'm going to sing "Murka" so much for 500 rubles that mom will cry. And already under the pejorative gaze of the artist, Valya turned around to shamefully retreat, like the French near Moscow, when she saw 10 rubles in her pocket. Hurrah, thought Valya. And with the face of a man who invented a cure for all diseases, Valya threw a trifle into the cap. The accordion player nodded condescendingly. And a phrase from Ilf and Petrov's "Twelve Chairs" flashed through Valya's head: "I'll give you more at the best of times." Better times will come soon, however, this does not apply to street children”.

Then, without incident, Valya got into a subway car, opened an e-book and went deep into reading. The cars were steadily accelerating and braking, people were coming in and out, passengers were reading, sleeping, sitting, standing, listening to music. How warm it is here, Valya thought and saw......

Chapter 2

Is he really? Valya was sitting in a subway car of a train that was rapidly taking her to the Strogino district, but looking at Ilya's serene face, Valya was transported back to 2004.

Ilya was not a handsome man, they would rather say charismatic, cute, pleasant, but not handsome. Height 165 cm, eyes protruding, short hair with a red tint. If you compare Ilya with someone from Hollywood movie heroes, it was a degraded copy of Peter Parker, spider-Man. Natasha met with him, Valya's sworn friend and neighbor on the landing. For his sake, Natasha left the guy she had been dating for two years. It was a terrible scandal and a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare's pen. Vadim (the abandoned guy) constantly pestered Valya with stories about his heartache, about the injustice of life, that all women are corrupt bitches and in some ways he was really right. But it became simply impossible to bear it. Valya's personal life was so meager and uninteresting that Vadim's sobs turned her (personal life) into a fly in the ointment in a barrel of tar. As Vysotsky sang: "I'll come home, you're sitting there." Valya began to avoid Vadim, taught everyone to lie on the phone, including the cat, that she was not at home. And if Vadim was guarding her at the entrance to the yard, Valya climbed the fence from the other side and flew into the entrance with an invisible sniper bullet. Vadim was not discouraged, because the reason to come to Valya was Natasha, love and a corrupt bitch. She greeted him politely and walked royally to the elevator. It was precisely such meetings that Vadim, a madman in love, was waiting for, who, with the persistence of a maniac, continued to hope that all this was a dream.

Soon Natasha moved in with Ilya and came to Marino district less and less often, only to visit her mother and younger sister Nina.

But Ilya. It really was a dark horse. Natasha stopped communicating with Valya, of course, Vadim, who was hanging on Valya with a suitcase without a handle, also contributed to this. And yet Natasha has changed. If she had a bad temper before, it was still fun, cozy, reliable with her. A lot of good and kind things were connected with her, so Valya was sorry to lose communication and friendship. But you can't order your heart, each of us chooses his own path and Natalie chose her man.

A few months passed, Natasha finally stopped appearing in her home. Valya learned from Nina that it was unpleasant for Natasha to face Vadim. Fortunately, Vadim did not know Ilya's address, so Natasha began to invite her mother and Nina to her new home.

And then a terrible thing happened…

Chapter 3

Valya was returning from her regular workout. Nothing foreshadowed trouble. The air was fresh and clean.

"It's my birthday very soon," Valya muttered to herself without much enthusiasm.

Twenty years… she was afraid and waited for this date. She really wanted to make sure that life would be different, that something would change for the better, that this was the threshold, the threshold of an adult and happy life, on which she was already standing with almost one foot. And I was afraid, because somewhere deep down she was sure everything would be the same. She lives with her parents in a one-room apartment in Marino district, interrupts casual earnings, studies philology (Karl, philology, well, who in the twenty-first century goes to study to be a teacher, this is a rhetorical question) and in her personal life she has a complete failure. Well, as a failure, it simply does not exist. She's a fool, waiting for at least someone normal to prove to everyone that she's not an old maid.

– In twenty years everything will change! Valya promised herself firmly and stepped out of the elevator into the dark stairwell of the floor.

– The light bulb burned out again – Valya only had time to think when she realized that there was someone on the steps near her apartment.

If she hadn't been breathless with fear, she would have screamed at the whole house. But terror seized her throat with sticky tentacles, all she could do was roll her eyes and freeze in place to get used to the darkness. The elevator left a long time ago, judging by the sound to the tenth floor and there far away, in a parallel universe, it took away the happy residents of the house with a serviceable light bulb on the floor. And here, on the fourth floor, a girl was dying of fear, having never met the man of her dreams.

– Valyusha, don't be afraid, it's Nina, – Valentina heard a familiar voice with notes of hysteria. It can be seen Nina has been crying for a long time, and now she just howls and stutters from crying tears and nerves.

Valya almost dropped the bags from Auchan, with which she was going to fight off the maniac. She had high hopes for a jar of peas and canned pineapples, because while she was carrying bags in her teeth, it seemed to her that she had twenty kilograms of weights in her hands.

– Nina, dear, why are you sitting here? Why don't you come in? You would have waited at our house, it's so dark here. And it's scary, Valya thought to herself, but she didn't say anything, and she also had a question stuck in her throat, why, in fact, Nina is sitting and waiting for Valya here, and not in her own apartment on the floor below.

– Valyusha, I didn't want your parents to see me in this state. I wanted to wait for you and talk. – Help me! Nina cried again and hung on Valya's shoulders.

– Nina, get ready, let's go in now, wipe your tears if you don't want to report to my mom why you're upset.

These words magically had an effect on the girl. She straightened up, straightened her hair, dusted off her clothes. She knew that Valya's mother was still that psychologist-psychiatrist. Maria Semyonovna loved to ask, clarify, so to speak, collect information. Maria Semyonovna used to work as a primary school teacher, but the second education of a psychologist did not give her peace of mind. Five years ago, she quit school and now with pleasure and knowledge of the case, she received lost souls in her private office. Valya and her father jokingly called Maria Semenovna a lie detector and a special agent. She frowned for the sake of appearances and made a serious face. But she was actually very pleased.

While Valya was ringing the doorbell, Nina with an effort pasted a smile on her face.

– Dad, why don't you ask who, they came in and started taking off their shoes.

– Hi, Valechka, how's your day? Oh, Nina, good evening, come on in, girls. Valyush, yes, I know that you're ringing the door like that, as if on fire, – joked Nikolai Fedorovich and stomped into the living room in worn-out slippers, that's how the Kotenko family proudly called their only room in the apartment. Since there was nowhere to go, they went to the kitchen. All Valya's friends used to arrange gatherings in the kitchen and knew that this was her room and parents would never unnecessarily disturb young people.

– We'll eat less – the parents joked. This was Valentina's kingdom, there was a locker with her favorite books, there was an aquarium with fish on the windowsill, and Valya always carried her small laptop with her. Once upon a time, the Kotenko family of three people: Maria Semenovna, Nikolai Fedorovich and ten-year-old Valya moved to noisy and huge Moscow from a small provincial town in southern Russia. It was a terrible 1994, there was no work, a series of economic cuts took place in the city, Valya's father and mother were fired and the family was left without means of livelihood. Maria Semyonovna tried to sell pies on a busy highway that connected neighboring larger cities. Valya helped mom while Dad was working in the garden, so as not to be left without supplies for the winter. So they lasted a year, money was sorely lacking for food, there was nothing to say about clothes and shoes. At a family meeting, it was decided to sell the house and move to Moscow in search of work and a better life. The Kotenko family was very lucky, the buyer turned out to be a Muscovite who had been looking for a good brick house in an ecologically clean area for a long time, but this was not the main reason for a quick purchase without bargaining. The Muscovite, as it turned out later, was a bandit and tried to take his beloved wife, mother and two sons away from criminal squabbles as soon as possible. At the same time, Egor, no matter how strange it may sound, turned out to be not only a decent person, but also a good friend in relation to Valya's family. He instructed his lawyers to help arrange an apartment in the Marino area, called the school principal and effortlessly got Valya's mother a job. It turned out to be more difficult with dad, since the engineering profession was absolutely not in demand in the 90s, so Egor arranged for dad to be an administrator at his restaurant. Dad didn't have it easy at first, but he quickly got used to it, controlled suppliers, monitored waiters for fraud, learned how to make menus for banquets with the head chef and helped throw drunks and rowdies out of the restaurant.

All the money earned over 10 years, mom and dad changed into hundred-dollar bills and put them in a stash. It was for Valya's apartment. Wise parents decided not to spend money on expanding housing conditions, but to give their daughter, albeit a small, but their own, personal apartment, especially since the daughter, according to her mother, was already marriageable.

That's how Valya lived in the kitchen for all ten years, waiting for a prince on a white horse who would take her to a one-room apartment given by her parents. Valya was afraid to dream about a prince with his own flat. Where can she, with her gray mouse-like appearance, compete with Moscow beauties. There are not enough princes with apartments, there will not be enough for everyone, Valya for sure.

The girls went into the kitchen and sat down on a comfortable Ikea sofa.

– Nina, coffee, tea? Valya asked out of politeness, and herds of wild mustangs were already jumping in her stomach.

– No, thanks.

– Well? – Valentina began to lose patience. – If it's difficult for you to start, start with the main thing!

– Valya, I am pregnant with Ilya's child, – said fourteen-year-old Nina and wept bitterly.

Chapter 4

If Nina, from shock and lack of intelligence, did not yet realize the full scale of the tragedy, then Valya, crushed by the news, like a bag of manure, was terrified of the upcoming consequences.

And while Valya was sitting in a silent stupor, Nina began her story, worthy of the Russian programs "Let them talk" and "Windows".

It all started from the very first day of Ilya and Nina's acquaintance. Natasha brought her new boyfriend home and enthusiastically described her, as it seemed to her, final and only choice to her mother and sister. Mom, Tatiana Sergeevna, reacted calmly to Ilya, she liked Vadim more, she got used to him and called him practically her son-in-law. But she did not hinder or condemn her daughter's decision to separate from him. Ilya on the first evening was cheerful, sparkling, polite and charming.

He was far from Ostap Bender, but it was clear to the naked eye that there was something of a crook in him.

While Natasha and Tatiana Sergeevna were setting a festive dinner in the kitchen in honor of their acquaintance, Ilya went into the small bedroom of the two-room apartment, which served the girls as a bedroom, a nursery, and an office. The room had a comfortable two-story white bed, a desk and a pink sofa. The desk, pathetically forged in walnut, served the girls as a dressing table and a night table at the same time. There was a small make-up mirror on it, several bottles of perfume from popular brands from the famous store, two cosmetic bags (bigger and smaller) and a box with jewelry. Ilya noted with an experienced look that the girls are not spoiled with jewelry, expensive cosmetics and perfumes. Nina was sitting at the table and writing something in a pink notebook.

– Nina, won't I disturb you? – Ilya quietly entered the room.

Nina visibly became nervous and blushed. By the bright blush that appeared on his cheeks, it was clear that the teenager was flattered by the attention of a twenty-five-year-old man. Nina looked up from her notebook and smiled:

– I'm preparing an essay on literature, I need to write my thoughts about Bunin and his "Dark Alleys", although for me it's complete bullshit.

Nina tried to look cool, modern and express herself accordingly.

Ilya came closer and sat down on the edge of the sofa. He looked with interest at the girl, who had already begun to turn into an adult woman. She had beautiful skin and bright blue eyes framed by black eyelashes, her hair was more dark brown than light, but still, in general, her face created the image of a young light girl. The figure, not yet collapsible, but having every chance to turn more than one guy's head, was still being formed, as was the feeling of self-confidence at the sight of a male representative. She and Natasha were very similar in their habits and manner of conversation, both calm, not too talkative, even secretive, they talk about such things on their own minds. And if Nina's appearance was bright, then Natasha, the eldest, turned out to be a faded copy. Although the girls had hair of the same color, Natasha often tinted them in lighter tones, and she got gray eyes from her father, less expressive, with the same gray and expressionless eyelashes. Tatiana Sergeevna's husband and the father of Natasha and Nina's sisters was a very good, gentle and kind person. Konstantin Vladimirovich Zotov worked all his life at an enterprise in the Kapotni district, Konstantin Vladimirovich died when Nina was a year old, and Natasha had just started first grade. Tatiana Sergeevna didn't tell the girls much about her father, tried to translate the topic, but she never got married a second time. She worked as a dentist in a public institution, and then moved to a private clinic because of a higher salary, where she remained on a permanent basis. She spoke little about her late husband, but positively. And if you ask the girls what they remember about dad, none of them will really say anything except the general phrases of their mother.

Ilya looked at Nina for a long time until she lowered her eyes to the notebook and blushed up to her neck.

– And I really like Bunin's work "Dark Alleys", there are many stories about love, disappointment and hatred in this collection, – Ilya said softly and put his hand on Nina's knee. The girl twitched as if from an electric current, but did not remove her hand, but on the contrary leaned towards Ilya with her whole body.

– In this collection there is a wonderful story about how a young man had to marry one sister, but secretly loved another. Nina, read at your leisure, it will be very interesting for you.

Apparently hearing Natasha's footsteps, Ilya took his hand away, straightened up and pretended to be looking at the Backstreet Boys poster, while Nina stared at her notebook with an unseeing gaze.

– How are you guys getting to know each other better? Nina, Ilya is so interesting, tell me?

Nina nodded and pretended to be busy with her lessons. Ilya smiled broadly and stood up:

– Natasha, well, is everything ready? You're such a hostess. I can't even imagine what you're going to surprise me with today, honey. Ilya took Natasha's hand, kissed her on the cheek and let her go ahead to go to the kitchen. But before leaving the room, he turned around and winked at Nina, who was staring at his back with all her eyes.

Tatiana Sergeevna was sitting at a set table and was putting salad on plates for the girls and the guest. There was a bottle of inexpensive red wine on the table, Ilya noted to himself.

– Nina, go eat! Tatiana Sergeevna called loudly. Nina went out and sat down at the only empty seat next to Ilya. The kitchen was small and everyone was sitting very closely at the table, sometimes touching elbows with each other. Ilya gallantly poured wine into glasses and made the first toast: "To your amazing daughters, Tatiana Sergeevna."

The poor woman had no idea that it was that evening at the table in her own apartment that the beginning of the end started.

Nina blew her nose loudly into a napkin and continued…

Chapter 5

After dinner and meeting Ilya, Tatiana Sergeevna could not fall asleep for a long time. She decided to talk to Natasha and quietly knocked on the girls' bedroom door.

– Mom, come in, Nina has been sleeping for a long time, and I'm still reading …

– Natasha, are you really sure about this man? It seemed to me somehow suspicious, slippery.

– Mom, well, Ilya is so good, reliable and he says such nice things.

– Natasha, who do his parents work for? I asked him, but he only mentioned his mother, he didn't say anything about his father at all.

– Mom, I don't know, to be honest, I didn't even ask, but I'm not interested. What difference does it make if I love this man and want to marry him. For example, you didn't tell Nina and me anything about our dad. We only know his first name and the last name we carry. And what was he like, what did he love, what did he do, what was his hobby? You've never told us anything. All you keep saying is that he was kind, good, sensitive and responsive, but that's not enough for my sister and me! We also want to know more about our father!

Tatiana Sergeevna jerked as if from an electric discharge.

– Daughter, you would not hurry to get married, your relationship is developing too fast.

Tatiana Sergeevna, hunched over, went to her room, and Natasha heard her mother's restrained sobs and sobs until morning.

Ilya began, allegedly by accident, to run into Nina near the school, in the store, in the yard, and a week later he became the best friend. Nina complained to him about teachers, about stupid classmates, about the hardships of the ninth grade. Ilya listened attentively to all the girl's complaints, nodded sympathetically and understandingly, smiled sweetly, always bought ice cream, and once even took her to the cinema for a matinee. Nina was over the moon with happiness. He seemed to her so grown-up, serious, romantic, beautiful, the best on earth. Compared to him, her classmates were not even gray mice, but something in between an infusoria-slipper and an amoeba. Nina began to make up her eyes, lips, trying her best to look more mature. One day she asked Natasha for high-heeled shoes. The older sister replied with an angry refusal, because the shoes were expensive and branded. But Nina did not give up and when Natasha ran away to work, Nina calmly took her shoes in her bag and changed her shoes before meeting Ilya. Today they have an important date, Ilya takes her to a cafe and she needs to be grown-up and beautiful. She didn't even think about what a ticking time bomb their secret meetings had become. Neither mom nor Natasha even suspected what was happening to the child, where she spent time after school and why her behavior and appearance had changed so much over the past few weeks.

As if nothing had happened, in the evenings Ilya walked with Natasha, whom he picked up from work near her house. He gave flowers to the girl and showered her with compliments. Natasha often went to visit Ilya, where she stayed overnight.

Such evenings Nina just went crazy with jealousy, hatred and anger. Poor Tatiana Sergeevna tried to talk to her daughter, shouted, persuaded, cried, but Nina was as if under hypnosis. The mother begged her to go to the doctor and take all the tests, which only confirmed that the child was absolutely healthy physically. And then Tatiana Sergeevna took Nina to a psychologist, where it turned out that her daughter was in love, and mood swings were just hormonal background of puberty, that there was absolutely nothing to worry about and that all teenagers were like that. Everyone calmed down, but in vain. In fact, it was worth worrying.

At nights, when Natasha stayed with Ilya, Nina dreamed of death, no, not her own, Natasha's. She imagined poisoning her older sister at breakfast in the morning by pouring poison into her coffee or pushing her off the fourth floor when her sister was washing windows. These thoughts calmed Nina, she stopped whining soundlessly and thinking that right now he was hugging her waist and drawing her to him, kissing vile lips, skinny neck and chest, stroking her lifeless hair, they were making love together in bed all evening, night and morning. And at parting, he makes her breakfast and sends her home by taxi so that she has time to take a shower and change before work.

Yes, Nina hated Natasha from the first evening of acquaintance, from the very moment when Ilya put his hand on her knee in the room with the Backstreet Boys poster.