Anna had long noticed oddities about Alexey. He started smiling more and stood taller. «There must be a reason,» thought Anna, and prepared herself for the evening service.
At the icon of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, she fervently prayed for wisdom and to reveal if any ill intentions were being plotted against her.
She and her husband had raised two children, and it seemed it was time to enjoy life for themselves. But something wasn’t working out.
After the service, an acquaintance approached Anna, pulled her aside, and whispered:
«I didn’t want to upset you, Anya, but it seems you need to keep a closer eye on your Alexey!»
«What are you talking about? Vera, please, if you know something, don’t be silent!» Anna implored.
«Well, it’s not that I know, and I didn’t see it with my own eyes. Just take it as advice,» Vera chewed her lip.
«Vera! Speak!» Anna felt pain—she was clenching her fist too tightly.
«My, you know, as a guard at the third checkpoint… since his fingers got chopped off…» began Vera.
«What do your Viktor’s fingers have to do with this? Don’t torment me, I beg!» Anna was shifting from foot to foot like a stallion cooped up in a stall.
«Well, they put him at the first checkpoint instead of… what’s his name… well, never mind. And so, he saw your Alexey with Lyudka Filatova! They were walking hand in hand, just like doves!»
«Your Viktor saw them?» Anna’s voice fell. «And what about Lyudka?»
«Lyudmila Alekseyevna, the librarian. In glasses, she looks like a decent person, but in reality, she’s a leech! She’s broken up more than one marriage.»
«So maybe Viktor got it wrong? He often goes to work with a headache,» said Anna, immediately regretting it. Vera took offense.
«He lost his fingers, but his sight is fine. Whether his head hurts or not!» Vera said dryly and walked away from Anna, snorting in contempt.
Anna began to watch Alexey more closely. He was suspiciously amiable, joked, and even embraced her saying something like, «you still have a lot of spark!» But, for the last three years, he had been calling her «my old lady.» She avoided sex and was glad that her husband didn’t demand much from her, and lately, he left her alone altogether.
Now, however, Vera’s words came to mind more often than the «Our Father,» imprinting in her consciousness, and she decided to ambush her husband after work. Anna went to the closet, put on her old mother’s fur coat, pulled a scarf over her eyes, put on her valenki, and went to the checkpoint where her husband was spotted with the lascivious librarian, Lyudka.
People soon began streaming through the turnstiles of the plant. Anna was disoriented, standing against the flow like a log in a river during salmon migration. People bumped into her; some cursed, others apologized.
«Why are you sprawled in the middle of the road, old galosh?» yelled a red-faced man at her.
«Let me help you, momma,» she heard Alexey’s voice in horror, and immediately hiding the remaining half of her face in her collar, she darted away, pushing through the working crowd.
Later, she wondered how she could sneak back to the closet unnoticed to change clothes. Her husband returned first and lingered by the window, looking for her in the cold twilight. «Look, he’s worried—warmly she thought, —and there was no Lyudka, Vera made it up.» Waiting until her husband moved away from the window, she, having removed the fur coat, ran off. Thank God, he didn’t notice.
Alexey’s birthday, a jubilee, was approaching. Anna cut salads in the evening, marinated the meat. In the morning, she ran to the hairdresser, got a hairstyle, and took out a dressy suit that she had bought for her son Arkashka’s wedding, which had been canceled, and the suit had remained lying on the shelf.
She laid a new tablecloth on the table, placed candles in the candlesticks, and beautifully arranged the dishes. Friends from Alexey’s work were supposed to come. His sister, Pasha, had already arrived specially for the jubilee from Bykovo and was now helping Anna around the house.
«You’re lucky, Anya,» she said, wiping forks and spoons, «Alyoshka doesn’t drink, doesn’t gamble, doesn’t wander into other yards! Not like my Mishka! Here recently he disappeared for a week, I thought he had frozen somewhere, forgave him in advance, mourned him already…»
«And where was he?» Anna suddenly became interested, having half listened before.
«In the neighboring hut!» Pasha reported, and laughed, but her laugh was joyless.
«And what was he doing there? Who did he stay with?» Anna persisted, imagining some lonely teacher or librarian keeping Pasha’s husband, «probably with some young woman?»
«He stuck to a bottle!» Pasha sighed, «this interest has displaced all others from his life. He hasn’t needed women for a long time, I don’t know what’s worse!»
And then Anna realized that she envied Pasha! But she immediately strangled this foolish envy within herself, even thinking, «Poor Pasha! There’s nothing worse than living with an alcoholic!»
Meanwhile, the house began to come to life, guests were pulling up. The first was Igor, an old friend of Alexey’s, from their school days. He had lived in another country for several years and brought back a foreign wife. May was small, thin, like an underfed teenager. At all the parties where he took her, she sat like a hunted animal, somewhere in a corner, and if someone tried to talk to her, May only smiled and nodded like a Chinese bobblehead.
After Igor and May, came comrades about whom Anna had heard but had never seen, as they had worked with her husband relatively recently. Among them was a woman, and Anna felt that it was her. The homewrecker. Anna knew her name even before the woman, sizing her up and smiling brazenly, introduced herself:
«Lyudmila! And you must be Anna, the hostess? How cozy you have it here!»
«Please, come into the living room,» Anna answered with a stony face.
The holiday was ruined. She tried at the table to pretend that nothing was happening, but a solid construction, a triangle, immediately arose between Alexey, Lyudmila, and her. People didn’t see it with their eyes, but, as she thought, felt it with their hearts. Too many compliments were said to the wife of the jubilee. Anna took this as pity, which, as she was convinced, the guests felt for her, who of course, were in the know.
Lyudmila came with her husband’s new comrades, there were three of them: Boris, Nikita, and Alexey-the-second, as he was called, to avoid confusion with the jubilee. She predominantly talked with them, Anna never took her eyes off her, and saw that from time to time the librarian threw languid glances at her husband. When it was her turn to speak a toast, she became embarrassed, said that she didn’t know how to make speeches, but then, encouraged by other guests, stood up and said, looking at the jubilee with a moist and frank gaze.
«Alexey! We’ve known each other recently, but this time was enough to appreciate your kindness and sensitivity! I want to wish you strong health, happiness, and that all your wishes come true! Happy birthday!»
The clink of glasses rang out, and Anna, unable to cope with the lump approaching her throat, ran upstairs to a small room where only a bed and a dressing table with a pouf fit. Seeing May reflected thrice in the mirror, Anna recoiled in surprise.
«Excuse me,» she bowed, «I accidentally wandered here. Large companies tire me quickly. I like to be alone.»
«It’s okay,» Anna said, thumping her chest to push through the lump that was bothering her breath, «you speak Russian well, May! You always leave… there was never a chance.. to check…»
«I studied in Moscow,» she replied, «lie down on the bed, I’ll help you!»
Anna obeyed and lay down. May cautiously started to massage her neck and shoulders, and Anna felt relief with amazement.
«How? It’s gone!» she breathed out and inhaled deeply again, «thank you, May!»
«Nothing special, just I removed… I don’t know how it sounds in Russian. Glad you’re feeling better.»
«He hurt me so much!» Anna suddenly complained to herself, «he brought his mistress into our house! Do you understand?»
«Yes,» May nodded and lowered her eyes, «it’s very sad, but…»
«But? Please, continue! Tell me how to avoid humiliation? In every gaze, I see pity, but before there was envy!»
«It’s very sad, but not fatal… believe me,» May smiled.
«How would you know?» Anna was about to flare up, but May flinched, and she had to speak much quieter: «how would you know? Or… did Igor cheat on you?»
«No, I give my husband everything so that he doesn’t go to other beds,» May expressed herself not quite in Russian, «it’s important for a man to feel like a man, and if he has another, it means he’s not getting something from you.»
«What is he not getting, the pig!» Anna got angry, «he’s always fed, shod, dressed, ironed!»
«Do you love him?» May suddenly asked, and her narrow, shining eyes looked directly into Anna’s soul.
«I… uh… well, of course, I..»
The word «love» eluded her. She just couldn’t utter it.
«Your husband is not your property,» May said gently, «and the sooner you realize this, the more chance you have of saving your family.»
«Well, this is just… beyond any…,» getting up, Anna said, «I’m not angry with you because I understand that we were raised in different cultures!»
Leaving May, she went downstairs. Her husband came to meet her:
«Anya, where have you been for so long? I was starting to worry!»
«You would think!» she snorted, «well, is it time to serve the hot dish?»
The snake Lyudmila laughed with a nasty voice—Alexey-the-second was whispering something in her ear, no doubt, some vulgar joke. Anna went to the kitchen and, pulling out the baking sheet, began to fill large dishes with meat and vegetables. Pasha’s good-natured face appeared.
«Anya, why didn’t you call me?» she exclaimed, «I’ll help!»
Together they changed plates, replenished food stocks, refreshed pitchers with juice and fruit drink. The voices of the guests merged into some kind of general buzz, dishes flickered before her eyes, the librarian’s irritating laughter was continuously heard.
Anna couldn’t stand it and removing her apron, stepped towards the stairs.
«Anya, where are you going?» the jubilee yelled after her.
«I’ll go lie down for a bit. Sorry, I’m tired.»
She went back upstairs, where she had left May. The woman was no longer there, but on the dressing table, reflecting in the mirrors, stood a bottle of dark glass. Twirling it in her hands, Anna put it in her pocket and lay down, stretching out on the bed.
After lying down for half an hour, she decided to go down to the guests. Igor and May, already dressed, were standing at the door and saying goodbye to Alexey.
Pulling May aside, Anna handed her the bottle.
«You forgot, this is yours,» she said.
«It’s a gift for you. These drops calm the nerves. I remembered.. if your suspicions about the mistress are confirmed, come, I’ll give you a remedy that will make you the only woman for him again.»
They left, and Anna still stood with the bottle in her hand. «The only woman for him»… May’s words echoed in her consciousness.
Who is she, this wife from the East? She never talked about herself, always hid in the corners. But she helped her breathe… maybe she’ll help get rid of her husband’s mistress?
Her husband himself found May’s phone number for Anna. Anna said that she had promised her a headache remedy. May worked as an administrator at one of the Asian restaurants, and arranged to meet Anna there. Handing her the bottle with the drops, May whispered:
«He will be only yours, believe me. But that doesn’t necessarily make you happy. Think carefully before… using the remedy.»
«How much do I owe?» Anna reached for her wallet, but hearing the sum May named, she couldn’t help herself: «wow!»
«It’s a working remedy, that’s why it’s so expensive!» May squinted to the side, «believe me, I don’t set the prices. Mr. Chen said that he made it to order, but the customer didn’t come and didn’t pay.»
«Who is Mr. Chen?» who is he? A doctor? Shaman?»
«He’s a very famous healer. Tibetan monk.»
«Alright, you convinced me,» Anna said, hiding the bottle. Out of excitement, she switched to informal speech: «I’ll send you the money by transfer, okay? Write down the details.»
«Okay,» May nodded.
«And… can we split the sum in two, or better in three parts… well, so it’s not so painful?»
After hesitating a bit, May agreed and disappeared into the depths of her restaurant, leaving Anna alone.
A month after the New Year’s holidays, Alexey fell ill. First, he stopped laughing, then smiling. Anna did everything she could to please her husband: cooked his favorite dishes, called him by diminutive nicknames, as in their youth. But he just sadly twisted his lips. He hardly ate, and finally, he took to his bed. Learning about this, their daughter, Katya, who lived nearby, immediately rushed to them.
Alexey was asleep, and Anna was frying pancakes—it was Maslenitsa week.
«Mom! What happened? Why did dad suddenly get so sick?» the daughter embraced Anna.
«The doctor says all his tests are normal. Maybe it’s depression or delayed… what’s it called?» Anna flipped a pancake, frowning.
«Menopause?» Katya suggested.
«Crisis! Middle! Age! Men don’t have menopause!» fearing to wake her husband, she said this in a whisper and waved a kitchen towel at her daughter.
«Well, they do! Some men, becoming, you know… impotent, lose the meaning of life, and even… die,» the daughter sobbed.
«May it not be so, what impotent! He even has… a librarian!» Anna whispered angrily, removing the skillet from the fire, «even had the audacity to show up for the jubilee!»
«What librarian? Lyudka? Oh, come on, nonsense!» the daughter crossed her arms over her chest, «Lyudka is crazy about her Alyosha! They’ve been inseparable everywhere for two years now! Sherochka with Masherocka!»
«Really?» Anna sat on a stool. Her head spun. So, she bought the expensive remedy for nothing, for which she hadn’t even fully paid yet.
«Really-really! They have a wedding in the spring!» the daughter grabbed a pancake from the stack and nodded her head, «Lyudka already boasted about the dress!»
That same evening, Anna, leaving her husband to her daughter, rushed to the Asian restaurant, to May. Unaware of anything, she came out to her, wearing a traditional Eastern smile on her face.
«Anna? Glad to see you,» she said, «is something wrong? Are you satisfied with Mr. Chen’s elixir?»
«Your Chen is a swindler and a cheat!» Anna shook the bottle clamped in her fist above her head, «where is he? I’ll make him drink his own drops right now, he’ll probably lose the urge to fool people!»
«Please calm down, Anna, I beg you to be quieter!» May, pleadingly clasping her hands, groaned, «any misunderstanding can be resolved, explain properly, what’s the matter. Didn’t the medicine work?»
«It worked! But how! Alexey lies all day, feels neither taste nor smell… he’s not interested in a damn thing! What did I pay a bunch of money for? Is this the effect you promised me?»
«Wait a minute,» May asked, «I’ll be right back. Meanwhile, sit at a table. We’re lucky there are no visitors.»
She seated Anna and disappeared into the service area. Five minutes later, she led a man out of there, dressed in a beautiful silk pajama and a strange headgear with bells. The man looked no more than forty. May spoke to him in her language, he nodded and smiled.
«Who is this? Mr. Chen?» Anna involuntarily, like the man, clasped her hands in the shape of a lotus and began to smile at him.
«No, Mr. Chen does not leave the borders of Tibet,» May quietly said, «this is Mr. Lin, he drives out evil spirits and can heal most diseases.»
«Gao san chung u yao, sun k hui pende kensao!» the man said, pointing a finger at Anna’s forehead, however, not touching it.
«What?» Anna recoiled.
«He says there’s a demon sitting in your head,» May, blushing a bit, replied.
«What?» Anna repeated, «he himself is a demon!»
Without ceasing to smile, Mr. Lin uttered an even longer tirade and waved his hand for May to translate.
«Mr. Lin is ready to heal you for free,» she said.
«No!» Anna shouted, jumped up, and went to the exit. However, at the exit, she turned around and bowing her head, walked back. Sighing, she placed the bottle on the table.
Mr. Lin, with his thin yellow fingers, took it, and bowed to it as if it were his teacher Chen. After which he turned the lid and bringing it to his nose, immediately removed and closed it.
«What is he doing?» Anna asked, but Mr. Lin quickly muttered something and May ran off, returning with a wet towel. Carefully wiping his nose, Mr. Lin addressed Anna.
«He’s asking if you’re happy?»
«He’s mocking, isn’t he? My husband can’t get out of bed!» Anna protested, «full of happiness!»
«But he’s not looking at other women, right?» after whispering with Lin, May asked, «you wanted to be the only one for him. Now he’s yours, you can feed him with a spoon, soon you’ll have to bathe him… sorry, what Mr. Lin says is untranslatable… sorry.»
«What does ‘sorry’ mean, how ‘sorry’? And that’s all you’re capable of? I’ll… I’ll… I’ll sue you!»
And she sat down on a chair and for the first time during all this time burst into tears. Mr. Lin, meanwhile, made passes around her head, as if collecting invisible threads, and threw them aside. Some he put in his pocket.
«What is he doing?» Anna sobbed.
«Cleansing your aura,» May whispered.
«Please bring back my husband!» Anna suddenly pleaded, «I beg you!»
Strangely, Mr. Lin understood everything without translation and nodded.
In the evening, Anna opened the door and let in Mr. Lin, May, and Igor, who had tagged along. He didn’t even know that his friend was sick, and quietly stood by the wall, ready to help at any moment. Probably, he had seen too many movies about «Exorcists» and expected to see something similar.
«I’m with you, Alyosha!» he encouraged his friend, raising his fist.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lin lit some bundles of herbs, and the room filled with such a stench that it became hard for people to breathe. Taking off his wondrous hat, the Asian approached Alexey, took out a golden box, and opened it. Inside were needles, thin and long. As soon as Lin was about to insert the first one, Anna rushed to him:
«Is this safe?»
Lin nodded and only again raised his hand when she again screamed:
«And how do you sterilize them?»
Mr. Lin was distinguished by angelic patience, and he murmured something affectionately to May. She approached Anna and whispered in her ear:
«Everything is safe, sterile, you can completely trust Mr. Lin. The result of his work depends on concentration. Please don’t distract him!»
Anna went out the door and looked at the icon of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker hanging in the corner.
«Forgive me, father!» she approached it and began to pray, «forgive me! Save Alexey! Let him, if he wants, leave me for another, but let him feel the joy of life again! I miss him, the old him, forgive me, help, Miracle-Worker!»
Behind her, her daughter Katya approached and began to pray with her. They wouldn’t have noticed that Mr. Lin had left the room if it weren’t for the bells on his hat.
«In short, he’s now asleep,» Igor whispered, «the master said not to wake him.»
«Can we at least air the room?» Anna asked. May translated and Mr. Lin nodded.
«He doesn’t object,» May confirmed.
«Here’s a gift from me,» Anna said, opening a drawer.
There lay a real rattle, made by Tula craftsmen. Anna took it and spun it well. The characteristic crack sounded, and to everyone’s astonishment, Mr. Lin got scared and ran out.
«He doesn’t like it!» Anna laughed, handing the rattle to May, «awkward. I meant well! But you can’t scare demons with bells. A Russian rattle—that’s the thing!»
The next morning, Alexey asked for coffee with milk, ate several pancakes with sour cream. After, he approached his wife and hugged her tightly:
«My dear, thank you for not giving up! I really don’t know what crap clung to me!»
She blushed. She was scared that someday, he would learn about her foolishness, that she believed a strange man who had long been confusing faces and names. How do they even let such people be guards!
«Forgive me,» she said, burying herself in his shoulder, and he kissed her.
And she realized that all her feelings for him had returned in full measure.
«Well, what about you, Alyosha! Katka went to the store, she’ll catch us!»
«We won’t tell anyone!» he laughed.
