«Lebedeva, it’s you again!»
Valya looked up and sighed heavily. Of course, who else could it be but Vasily Nikiforovich, their valiant local police officer.
Homeless people, as a rule, do not befriend police officers. However, this was a completely different situation. Nikiforovich occasionally chased them through the alleyways, but always for a reason.
He supervised a large area and often found them odd jobs, helped them however he could.
Their group consisted of seven people, like Valya, homeless. It was impossible to survive alone, and it was more fun when there were more people. But as soon as they got even a small amount of money, they were immediately tempted to seek adventures. Nikiforovich seemed to sense it every time and would appear out of nowhere.
«You’re here again, Vasily Nikiforovich?» Valya meekly lowered her head and looked at his feet.
«What are you doing?»
«Nothing, just sitting,» she replied. «I didn’t bother the passersby, Vasily Nikiforovich. Just asked for a hundred rubles, I didn’t demand anything. It was Vanya’s birthday yesterday, we sat a bit, and as usual, overdid it. Everyone feels unwell today. We need to get our health back. I just asked them.»
«Vanyusha has drunk away all his brains, he even remembers when his birthday is. Every day is a celebration for you. Where did you get the money for the party?» the officer asked with a smirk, and Valya even stamped her foot.
«It’s all honest, Vasily Nikiforovich. Minya and Vanya spent all day yesterday moving firewood in the private sector. They were paid and even got a bonus for speed. Cross my heart, we had nothing to drink.»
«Well, it’s something, a man had a birthday, and you did it on the dry,» said the officer. «You’ll end up, I’ll send everyone where they belong.»
Valya breathed a sigh of relief because Nikiforovich usually left after these words, but today he was somehow different, and it puzzled her.
«Listen, Valentina,» he suddenly said. «Did you notice anything strange? You see everything, maybe someone from your group said something?»
Valya strained what was left of her brains.
«No, I haven’t noticed anything and haven’t heard anything. Everyone’s bustling, running around. What happened?»
«Nothing special,» sighed Vasily Nikiforovich and waved his hand. «But if you see something suspicious — come straight to me.»
«What, straight to your home?» Valya clarified with a smirk.
«Night or day, doesn’t matter! Dash to me,» snapped the officer.
«And you say nothing happened,» Valya continued doubtfully, but the officer, annoyed, waved his hand and moved on.
Valya pondered. She had seen him this agitated only once before — five years ago. Back then, someone posing as social service workers would visit lonely old women and rob them. If anyone dared to resist or scream, they would be hit on the head and locked in a storage room or toilet. They couldn’t catch him, although it was obvious that it was someone local, because he knew when the old ladies were home alone without relatives.
During those cases with the old women and thefts, Nikiforovich, just like now, was as tense as a tightrope. Eventually, the robber was caught, and it turned out to be a grandson of one of the old women. The scoundrel was watching, sitting in plain sight right at the entrance, even next to his own grandmother. His grandmother was completely innocent.
That time, a group of homeless people helped the officer, particularly Sergei.
One day, Sergei noticed a suspicious person who was leaving the entrance in the evening, dragging something heavy. He decided to follow him and immediately reported it to the officer. That’s how they caught him red-handed. Sergei was thanked for his assistance and offered a course of treatment for alcoholism. He agreed without hesitation. Now they say he’s completely sober and has returned to his family. It was difficult, but the family held together. Now Sergei is an exemplary husband and father.
Valya thought. Could she start a different life? That was unlikely. She had no family to return to. She did have a daughter, but she hadn’t known anything about her for 15 years. Her daughter had disowned such a mother.
Valya, unable to withstand constant reproaches, left home. Yes, she drank, but not too heavily. And when she had a bit too much, whether from her husband’s beatings or from resentment towards the whole world, her daughter would lock herself in the room, cursing at the same time. Alcohol clouded her brain and confused her thoughts, so Valya decided that she couldn’t live with such a daughter. So she wandered, needed by no one.
That day, Vasily Nikiforovich seemed like a different person. He was jittery and angry, which was rare for him. It was all because of the migrants who had recently arrived, who, in Vasily’s opinion, had stirred up all this trouble.
Three months ago, a new family settled on his land — a whole clan came with them. Among them was a young woman. People said she was someone’s wife. She looked a bit strange, as if she was out of it. She was pregnant and gave birth a couple of months later. Vasily had seen her with a stroller several times. But yesterday, it became known that she had disappeared along with the baby.
The day before, he had visited these migrants at their home for the first time. He was very surprised. So many people per square meter, yet their place was clean, orderly, and all was well. Stereotypes often lead to false conclusions — you think that migrants steal and cause disorder, but it turned out to be quite the opposite here.
The head of the family read Vasily’s thoughts and remarked with a smile:
«You think we are all bad, but not all of us are like that. Many of us strive for a good life. I too want my children to study and live well. We moved here because of business. Amina’s father was against it, he is a bad man. We tried to talk to him nicely, offered him money, like a dowry in the old days, but he found a groom for her and declared that she would marry him. Amina is an adult, she decided to leave with us. But that groom… I think it was him. Before we left, he ambushed and beat her. Amina ended up in the hospital for a long time, never fully recovered. Her fears tormented her, she was on medication for a long time. When she found out she was pregnant, she was very worried about the child. And now she’s gone. She went out for a walk, and half an hour later, she was gone. We now know neither where she is nor where my grandson is. Help us, Vasily Nikiforovich.»
The police turned everything upside down, but no trace of the woman or child was found. Requests were sent to the city where they used to live. Vasily understood that nothing had been charged against that groom, although it was clear that he was involved.
Meanwhile, Valya decided to relax a bit and look after her health — she went searching the neighborhood to see if anyone had thrown out anything valuable. Everyone is sure there’s nothing at the dump, but sometimes you can find items that can be resold for a good profit.
Valya headed towards the new neighbors. As often happens, people moving to a new place try to get rid of everything that belonged to the previous owners.
From afar, she noticed that a real pile of junk had grown at the location of the garbage can, and the bright bins were almost completely buried under debris. The new tenants quickly turned this place into a storage of who knows what. There were old cabinets, chairs, bags, and even children’s toys.
Valya looked behind one of the cabinets and saw a stroller there. She couldn’t believe her eyes:
«Look at that! This stroller could have been sold for a lot. It’s a valuable item!»
When she pulled it towards her, she noticed that there was a bundle inside. Perhaps the children had dragged it around, played with it, and forgot their dolls.
«I just hope no one thinks I stole this,» Valya muttered.
The bundle suddenly shifted slightly and made a barely audible squeak. Valya stepped back, but then leaned over the stroller again.
«Oh, God, he’s alive, a real baby!» she exclaimed.
The baby didn’t squeak anymore; she shook him, but he was silent. Valya realized something was wrong.
«How could this be, poor thing? Who could do such a thing?»
Suddenly sobered up, Valya rummaged around and found a bottle in the same stroller.
«Here, hold this, it’s some water,» she whispered. «Yes, it’s cold, but at least it’s something…»
The baby sucked a little water and closed his eyes. Vasily Nikiforovich’s words echoed in her head again: «If you notice anything, come to me, anytime!»
It was getting dark outside. Valya tried to pull the stroller out, but it got stuck. Then she carefully picked up the child, found a tattered blanket in one of the bags, wrapped the little one up, and ran as fast as she could.
Running was hard. The load was uncomfortable, and yesterday’s party was shaking her whole body. After about a hundred meters, she was sweating but didn’t stop.
There was Nikiforovich’s house. The lights were off, but that didn’t stop her. Valya banged on the window, on the frame.
A large dog barked and rushed towards her, pulling on its chain, but Valya didn’t pay attention. A local officer ran out onto the porch in his robe:
«What happened?»
«Nikiforovich, found a baby in the dump,» Valya gasped for breath.
Seeing the child in her arms, the officer immediately commanded:
«Into the house, quick! Zina!» he yelled as Valya entered the hallway.
The woman, whom Valya had not seen before, turned out to be young and attractive.
Zina carefully took the baby, placed him on the couch, and began to wipe him with a towel. The baby squeaked quietly. The girl rushed to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water and formula.
Valya was just surprised that they had everything on hand when the cry of another baby came from another room. Zina rushed there again, then came back with a phone and began explaining something to the medics.
Vasily Nikiforovich first called his colleagues and then those same migrant neighbors he had recently visited. Within minutes, they arrived almost in a crowd. A young dark-haired man entered the house, followed by the head of the family, supporting an old woman.
«Grandma, he’s very bad,» said the young man. «He won’t open his eyes.»
The old woman waved him away from the child, sat next to him, placed her hands on the baby, and began to whisper something. Zina, Valya, and Vasily watched, afraid to say a word or make a sound. Eventually, the old woman took her hands away and smiled:
«He will live, everything will be alright.»
The baby was taken to the hospital. The young father was against it, but the grandmother looked at him sternly:
«Let them take care of him. And you go too.»
Later, the police questioned Valya and told her she could go. By that time, everyone had dispersed, and she sat down with a cup of tea that Zina had offered her.
The elderly migrant woman addressed Zina:
«Why are you worried? Don’t worry, you did a good deed, and good always returns good. Stop thinking about foolishness. Your husband may be in public, but he only has eyes for you.»
Zina was slightly embarrassed but then smiled gratefully at the old woman. Valya stood up:
«Thank you, and you too,» said the grandma.
Valya had a strange and unpleasant sensation, as if someone was rummaging in her head, but she approached closer involuntarily.
«You found our boy. Thank you. You think everything is fine with you, but you don’t know. Your relatives are suffering without you. They don’t even know if you are still in this world or not, and that’s not right.»
Valya stubbornly pursed her lips.
«It’s because of the drinking; it has turned your soul inside out and emptied everything out of you. It’s empty in there. You need to fill it,» the woman continued. «Here, take a candy.»
She handed Valya a small caramel.
Valentina, without thinking, ate the candy but still asked:
«Should I fill up on sweets or something more substantial? Maybe you’ll give me something to drink?»
Vasily Nikiforovich showed her his fist, and the old woman laughed:
«Arbi, give her some money. She returned a child, give generously.»
When Valya saw the stack of bills that the elderly migrant handed her, she instantly ran out to the street and rushed to the store for her «medicine» before it closed. She stopped at the display window and saw her reflection. All dirty, swollen, shaggy.
Valya stared at her reflection for a long time, then turned away and walked away from the store. She spent the entire night by the river, reflecting, remembering, crying. At dawn, when the streets were still empty, she washed thoroughly in the river and went to the market. She bought slippers, a skirt, a shirt, and thought long about a comb, eventually taking it. With money no longer a problem, she headed to the candy stands and filled a whole bag.
The closer she got to the house where she used to live, the more her knees shook. She stood at the entrance, looked around, but did not dare to enter. Hunched over, as if something pressed her to the ground, she was about to leave.
«Mom!»
Valya stopped, recognizing the familiar voice, and slowly turned around. Her daughter was running towards her, followed by her granddaughter, who was at least ten years old.
«Mom, it’s you!»
Her daughter embraced Valya, and she, unable to hold back tears, clung to the girl’s neck, candies slipping from her hands. The granddaughter rushed to them and also joined the hug.
Half a year later, while walking in the park, Valya bumped into Vasily Nikiforovich, who initially did not recognize her.
«Nikiforovich!» she called him quietly.
He stopped, turned around, and after looking closely, exclaimed:
«Valya Lebedeva? Is that really you?»
She proudly told him about the changes in her life. For six months, Valya had been working honestly, earning money as a cleaner, not touching a bottle. She managed to mend her relationship with her daughter, and her son-in-law became her friend. And her granddaughter was simply her treasure. After a brief conversation, Nikiforovich admitted he was happy for her, and Valya saw that he was sincere.
«Tell me, Nikiforovich, what about that woman, you know, whose daughter I found?»
He smiled:
«She’s been looking for you, wanting to thank you.»
The same day the baby was found, everything came to light. It turned out that that groom had hidden Amina. Her father owed the guy a lot of money, so he decided to settle his debt in that way. Now, the life of both the kidnapper and his father has changed significantly. They both now work for the benefit of the state, although they’ll be wearing prison boots for about another ten years.
«Live happily, Valentina. I hope all your recklessness is behind you.»
«Yes, it’s like a weight has been lifted. That old lady’s candy must have been some kind of cure.»
