Well, mo-o-om…
«Get out, I said, snake. It was you who slandered Yurka, because of you they took him away in handcuffs. You deprived your own mother of a personal life. I can’t stand to see you anymore,» Yulka’s drunken mother screamed under the approving looks of her drinking buddies.
«Where will I go,» the girl sobbed in despair, «Mom, maybe you’ll change your mind?»
«That’s already your problem, where to go. And what were you lacking? Yurka, he always brought an extra piece home. And now…
It’s been ten years since her father passed away, Yulka’s mother had been slowly but surely drinking herself into oblivion. Initially, she would visit friends, returning home cheerful and smelling of cheap wine and strong cigarettes.
«Why are you looking at me like that?» she tried to justify herself to her six-year-old daughter, «How do you think I feel alone? How am I supposed to get through all this? If I were alone, but with you… Eh…»
Later, the friends began to visit her at home, and with them, friends of friends. First one stepfather, then another, and then Yurka.
Yurka started to overstep boundaries. He should be thankful that Yulka was able to defend herself, no longer a little girl. And she didn’t report it to the police. They arrested him for theft. Yulka later withdrew the complaint because, in reality, there was nothing to steal. But she sternly warned him never to appear in their apartment again.
And now her mother couldn’t forgive her for that.
The woman stood up from the table, staggered over to her daughter, and swung at her. But this time, the daughter managed to catch her hand.
«I hate you,» Yulka shouted, pushed her mother away, dressed up, and ran out into the street. Bitter tears ran down her cheeks.
She wandered around the city until evening; she had nowhere to go. She didn’t want to go to her mother’s cousin, Aunt Valya. That woman already had seven kids of her own, and Uncle Vasya was drinking, always short on money.
Her own father’s uncle lived well, in a big house outside the city. But he wouldn’t even let her on the doorstep, a fat cat. He stopped communicating with his nephew’s relatives as soon as he passed away.
With love to you,
Yulka knew no other relatives nearby. She had one true friend, Masha, to whom the girl turned for shelter.
«You have relatives in Moscow, right, Yul?» Masha suggested.
«I don’t know them at all; I was very little when they last visited us…»
«Do you have their address?»
«I do… If it hasn’t changed. But what’s the use? They don’t need me.»
«Yulia, I’ve saved up a little money,» Masha offered, «enough for a round trip to Moscow and back, just in case.»
«No, I won’t take it,» she objected, «that’s for your dream.»
«Well, if you settle down in Moscow, and I visit you—my dream will come true,» Masha took out her savings from the drawer.
So Yulka ended up in Moscow. When she rang the doorbell of an unfamiliar apartment, a pleasant, pretty woman opened the door.
«Are you Alexandra Valerievna?» the girl asked.
«That’s right, and who are you?» she was surprised.
«I’m your relative… on the tenth degree,» Yulka smiled sadly.
«Well, come in… Let’s figure this out…»
Aunt Sasha turned out to be a genuinely pleasant woman. She lived with her disabled husband in an old two-room apartment. It was evident they were poor.
«Uncle Petya doesn’t work, he receives a disability pension, but it’s small,» she explained to Yulka, seemingly apologizing, «I sweep the yard in the mornings and evenings, and during the day I sew robes in a small atelier. Well, if you stay—we’ll be happy to share what little we have.»
«I’ll be very grateful to you,» Yulka was happy, «I’ll help you, I’ll get a job.»
«You’re still too young to work. You need to study,» Aunt Sasha objected.
But there was nothing to be done; she had to survive somehow. And Yulka, instead of a relative, began to sweep the yard. Collecting trash in the stairwell and dumping it in the dumpster, the girl began to notice that people sometimes threw away amazing things. These were slightly worn clothes and brand-name shoes. USSR-era dishes, figurines, and other cute little items. Without much thought, Yulka began to collect them and store them in the janitor’s storage.
One day, she brought rags home, washed them, and asked her aunt for permission to use her sewing machine. She took apart the items and sewed new ones: a masquerade dress, a bag, a tablecloth, and beautiful retro curtains.
On a day off, she went to a pawnshop, sold the dishes and souvenirs. With the money, she bought a spot in the market and laid out what she had sewn with her own hands. All day long, no one bought anything from her; they admired, touched, marveled, but walked past, although her prices were very democratic. But half an hour before closing, a woman approached her and bought everything wholesale. She even gave her business card, offering the girl a partnership.
Happy Yulka went into the store, bought groceries and sweets. She laid the table, and the remaining money she put in front of Aunt Sasha.
«I always dreamed of giving my first, independent, paycheck to my parents. Now you are my parents, Aunt Sasha, Uncle Petya. Spend the money as you see fit.»
Uncle Petya tried to refuse, Aunt Sasha teared up. That’s how they lived, Yulka collected items from the trash, sold part, and repurposed the rest. The money she earned she gave to her relatives, and they saved for her education.
But Yulka earned her education herself. She had completely forgotten about the woman who made her first purchase. But she appeared again and invited Yulka to sew clothes for her store. Now the girl didn’t have to stand in the market; she sewed to order and earned well. She enrolled to study as a fashion designer. And after a few years, she already had her own sewing workshop and store.
And a young man, who offered her his hand and heart.
«Let’s go to your mother’s, I want to meet her,» her future husband insisted.
«I’m not sure about this,» Yulka hesitated.
But one day they went anyway. It was a hot day outside, the door to her mother’s apartment was ajar, a stench was already noticeable in the hallway. Her mother was sleeping on a dirty bed, surrounded by a whole battery of empty bottles.
«Mo-o-om,» like that time, leaving home, Yulka called.
She opened her eyes and murmured something indistinct in response.
Yulka called a narcologist, who gave her mother an IV. With her fiancé, they cleared all the trash from the apartment, Yulka wiped down the old, broken furniture, washed the floor, and cooked chicken noodle soup.
«What are you doing here?» her mother finally spoke.
«Mom, I’m doing well. I’m getting married. And I want to help you.»
«Give me something for a hangover cure,» she asked.
No matter how hard Yulka tried, she couldn’t save her mother. She didn’t want to be treated, resisted, cursed her daughter for meddling in her life as if it were the end of the world. And soon she was gone.
When Yulka had babies, they called Aunt Sveta and Uncle Petya their grandparents, who never had their own, blood, children and grandchildren.
It was a warm summer day, Yulka stood over the graves of her father and mother, laying a bouquet of white roses on each mound.
«Did you really forgive your mother?» asked her friend, Masha, «she literally threw you out like trash.»
Masha also lived in Moscow now and worked at Yulia Andreevna’s firm.
«I’m even grateful to her for that,» Yulia replied, «I don’t know how my life would have turned out if I had stayed at home then…
