Nikolai had another argument with his wife. Although it wasn’t exactly an argument: his wife came home at five in the morning, thinking it was perfectly normal.
«Sveta, please explain,» he started, «what prevented you from at least answering my calls?»
«I’m terribly tired,» replied Svetlana.
«Tired? It’s the first time I hear that someone gets tired from resting,» Nikolai remarked.
Sveta turned to him sharply.
«Kolya, do you want me to sit at home all day? You’re at work, and I should guard four walls?»
«Why? You can do something else, but during the day.»
«Like what, go to work?» Svetlana laughed. «Me, work? Have you lost your mind? Then what do I need you for at all?»
«So, I’m just a source of income for you?» he asked reproachfully.
Sveta turned around and headed to the bedroom, making an indeterminate gesture of farewell. Nikolai watched the door and tried to remember when they last had intimacy. Definitely not this month: Sveta either had a headache, no time, or a thousand other reasons.
Nikolai sighed once again, wondering why he had even married this woman. And each time he answered himself: he was charmed by her youth and beauty. She’s not yet forty; he’s fifty. His fault—now he’s paying the price.
His mood was ruined in the morning. He left the house, stood by the car, and realized he didn’t want to go to work today. Fortunately, no one could make him, since at work he was not just a boss, but the owner. Leaving the yard, he paused for a second, then smirked. His legs led him to the market.
Long ago, when Nikolai was young and inexperienced, it was here that his business began. Today, it’s quite a decent enterprise, although if one digs deeper… But few would dare. How can one dig into the business of a man known by everyone in the town, and whom the city hall sometimes even consults for advice?
In their past, they and their team shook up this market as best they could. They not only extorted money from those who paid but also protected them. Those were fun times when the concentration of broken noses and people taken to the woods exceeded reasonable limits.
Kolya stopped at the gates of the market. Nothing had changed. Even though large supermarkets with better-quality goods had long appeared in the city, people still came here. He wandered between the rows, until he realized where his legs had led him.
His heart ached—it had been a long time since he was here. Before him stood the old stall that used to be bright and colorful. It was where a bold and beautiful girl named Marusya once sold flowers. She was the only one in the market who did not pay. No threats worked on her. Even when some guys tried to scare her one evening, it didn’t break her. He had to talk to her personally after she ended up in his territory.
Marusya was not just attractive—she was stunningly beautiful. When Nikolai approached her stall, he simply froze, silently staring at her. The girl, burning him with her gaze, finally couldn’t stand it:
«Oh, who would have thought that the main tough guy here is tongue-tied!»
Nikolai as if snapped out of a trance.
«My tongue is fine, it just speaks when it really needs to, and only what’s worth saying. Some people,» he smirked, «their tongues flap like sails.»
The girl blushed but quickly retorted:
«Speak up, why have you come? Otherwise, you’re overshadowing my flowers with your presence.»
Somehow, this made him cheerful. He sat down next to her flowers and started calling in customers. Who would defy him then? In half an hour, all the flowers were sold. Nikolai hopped off the counter, looking at the girl challengingly:
«Didn’t even earn enough for tea.»
«Come on, I’ll treat you, poor thing,» she laughed.
Kolya was called many things, but ‘poor thing’ was new to him. Marusya lived in a shack with her elderly grandmother. When he saw their garden, he realized—it would be a long battle, as it looked like a small, colorful field. The grandmother was blind and deaf, and after sitting with them for five minutes, he left.
Marusya sighed:
«Grandma’s really declining. I don’t know what I’ll do without her.»
«And your parents, where are they?»
«Honestly, I don’t know. They gave birth to me and forgot about me. I don’t even know if they’re alive.»
They sat for some time. Then Marusya looked at him and with a hint:
«Isn’t it time for you to leave? Your lackeys are probably looking for you.»
Kolya was embarrassed:
«Why like that? Everyone makes do as they can. I don’t want to sell flowers at the market.»
«Better to snatch them, right?» Marusya replied in the same tone.
Nikolai’s patience snapped:
«Has anyone snatched flowers from you?» he asked, slamming the door so hard on his way out that it came off its hinges. Cooling down, he realized he had overreacted. He went to the store, bought a new door, and headed to Marusya’s house. When he arrived, she was already hammering at the hinges. Seeing him, she laughed:
«I was sure you’d come back. Though I thought you’d bring tools, not a whole door. Decided to impress?»
Kolya seemed to blush but responded sharply, leaning the door against the frame:
«How have you survived with such a sharp tongue, and no one has put you in your place?»
«No brave ones found,» Marusya stuck her tongue out.
While he was busy with the door, she prepared dinner.
«So, shall we have dinner?» she offered.
«Seriously?»
«Do you think I poisoned it?» Marusya laughed.
He shook his head:
«No, I think you can’t cook. Usually, people like you don’t bother with it.»
«One might think, people like you do nothing but cook.»
She surprised him again: the dinner was excellent. Everything went smoothly. Grandma put on her hearing aid and entertained them, harmlessly scolding the youth. As it grew dark, Kolya stood up:
«I enjoyed our talk. It’s time. And you better go to bed. Will you be at the market again at dawn tomorrow?»
«Of course, I want to move to the city. The opportunities!» «Wow, you have plans! Do you know how many people like you are in the city?»
«I know, tens of thousands. And somehow, they make it work. Am I dumber than all of them? I’ll find a place for myself.»
A couple of weeks later, when the grandmother passed away, Marusya seemed to fade away instantly.
Kolya organized the funeral and paid for everything himself. Marusya simply didn’t have the strength to get up or just sat staring at one spot.
«I’m leaving tomorrow,» she said.
Kolya stood in front of her.
«I won’t let you go,» he said, taking her hands in his.
«You’re good, Kolya, very good. But I’m not right for you. You need a homemaker to take care of you. And I don’t need that. I’ll leave.» Marusya smiled sadly. Kolya jumped up.
«That’s funny. I decide who I need. Why do you need the city? I’ll arrange everything here for you, you’ll live like in paradise.»
Marusya smiled:
«Kolya, stay tonight.»
He almost choked from happiness, having waited so long for this moment. He had sent all his girlfriends away, and now he was flustered.
He remembered that night for the rest of his life—there were no more like it. But in the morning, when he woke up, he found Marusya gone. Only a note remained: «Forgive me, Kolya. I love you, but it won’t work out.» In anger, he punched the wardrobe. Why did she decide that? Because of her family or his parents?
When he calmed down a bit, he noticed a small photo on the floor where Marusya was smiling. Picking it up, he looked at it for a long time, then put it in his pocket and left.
Nearly thirty years have passed since then…
«Sir, sir, you dropped this!» he heard behind him.
Turning around, Kolya saw an eight-year-old girl holding out his wallet. He patted his pockets—the wallet had indeed disappeared.
«Thank you very much,» he said, opening the wallet and crouching before her. «Here, buy yourself some chocolate.»
He extended some bills to her, but she, looking at a photo in his wallet, asked an unexpected question:
«Why do you have a photo of my mom in your wallet?» Nikolay followed her gaze and saw the same picture. Now it was neatly restored and laminated.
«Your mom?» he was surprised. «Wait, what’s your mom’s name?»
«Nastya. We recently moved here, rented a room from my grandma. Then mom ended up in the hospital, and grandma scolds me, saying that I am some kind of trouble. But that’s not true! Mom will come back, and everything will be alright.»
«Which hospital is your mom in? Have you visited her yourself?»
«Yes, often. Want to see? I sneak in through the back entrance. Mom always cries, but then she feeds me porridge and tea. They’re cold, though.»
Their steps proceeded together, and Nikolay couldn’t grasp how this girl’s mother could look so much like Marusya that even her daughter mistook them.
«This way,» she pointed to the back entrance.
«No, let’s go the proper way.»
At the hospital entrance, they were immediately approached.
«Visits only in an hour!»
Nikolay, without hesitation, handed money to the nurse:
«Take us to her mom.»
She seemed to recognize him and helped them reach the right ward more quickly. Soon, a doctor appeared.
«Nikolay Afanasyevich, if you had informed us, I would have met you.»
He gestured for silence. The girl ran to a young woman on the bed. Nikolay felt a chill—it was Marusya.
«I’ll come to you soon.» Nikolay closed the door and was alone with her.
«Who are you?» he asked.
The woman, about twenty, looked at him and smiled:
«You should see your face.»
Nikolay remembered her words, then asked:
«You look a lot like Marusya. Who are you to her?»
«I am her daughter, and something tells me, yours too,» she said. «You’re Nikolay, right? Mom asked to find you before she died and tell you who I am. Here, I found you, but I was scared to approach right away—I wasn’t sure you’d believe me.»
«Not believing that you’re Marusya’s daughter is impossible. And even more so, that you’re my daughter,» Nikolay replied, puzzled. «Your mother and I…»
«I know, mom ran away because she got involved with a bad crowd,» the girl interrupted.
Nikolay sat down.
«Why didn’t she tell me? I could have fixed everything… Marusya is gone, right?» he asked, looking up.
«Yes, she died last year. We tried our best, but her husband kicked us out. That’s why we ended up in this city.»
Nikolay silently left and went to the doctor’s office.
«What’s wrong with her?»
«She has a complicated fracture. To fall like that, you have to try. She needs to be lying down all the time. We can install a special device, but it’s expensive,» the doctor explained.
Kolya laid a stack of money on the table.
«If you need more, call me. When can I take her?»
«Are you acquainted?» the doctor was surprised.
Nikolay raised his eyebrows.
«Does that matter to you?»
«No, of course not, sorry, I’ll take care of it,» the doctor stammered.
When Nikolay brought Nastya and her daughter home, his wife Svetlana was furious. She screamed and stamped her feet, but he calmly said:
«I filed for divorce. You probably understand, I was with you out of fear of being alone. I’m not afraid anymore. I have a daughter and a granddaughter.»
He could never have imagined that he would come to enjoy domestic comfort. Nastya told him about Marusya, granddaughter Valechka read to him or played, and Nikolay watched her. Now he realized that Marusya had given him what he had always dreamed of. Nastya called him dad, and Valechka—Nikolay, asserting that grandfathers aren’t so young.
«You understand, I never had a real father. It’s an indescribable feeling. Too bad mom can’t see this.»
«Don’t cry, silly,» Nikolay hugged her. «Now we’re together, and everything will be alright.»
When his girls were asleep, he went to his office. The results of Nastya’s DNA test were negative. She was Marusya’s daughter, but not his. Nikolay twirled the paper in his hands, then tore it into small pieces, placed them in an ashtray, and set them on fire. When it had burned to ashes, he smiled and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day: shopping and then choosing a school for his granddaughter.