Fetka instinctively covered his face with his hand and curled up into a ball out of habit. But a moment later — snap! — he dashed out of the house. Nothing special had happened: Dad had «overdone it» again. And when he overdid it, he became… how to put it mildly — completely unpredictable.
Mom often argued with him. Not because she wanted to, but because there was no other way. Though that only happened when she was sober herself. And that was rare.
Fetka stopped in the middle of the yard and thought — he had to go somewhere! His stomach rumbled with hunger. It was payday for his father today — maybe he’d bought something to eat. But right now, there was no chance of that. Dad’s situation was worse than ever.
The boy looked at the sun — it was still early. The neighborhood boys wouldn’t come out to play for at least a couple of hours. He could go to the restaurant! It had an open veranda, and rich people often stopped by. Sure, most of them were stingy, but some were decent. Someone might throw some money his way, or even feed him.
Fetka never refused. These people would forget about him a minute after leaving, so he wasn’t ashamed. At home, they rarely ate, and the food was definitely not tasty. So even if he was full, he accepted help. Just in case.
Actually, Fetka wasn’t bitter about life. Almost all the boys’ parents drank too. Mom said it was out of hopelessness. She worked as a cleaner; dad was a guard. The wages were laughable, but they themselves came from similar families. None had education, so they got the kind of jobs that matched.
Fetka saw that almost the entire street lived like this. Of course, there were exceptions — families where no one drank. But those were considered outsiders, white crows. Nobody talked to them. Their children were clean and read books — imagine that, just for fun, without being forced! But such families didn’t stay long on the street — they tried to leave immediately. Well, good riddance! That place wasn’t for such strange people.
Almost reaching the restaurant, Fetka noticed a familiar car. He even smiled — today would be a lucky day! He remembered this car with a green pattern on the hood for a long time.
It belonged to a man who often had lunch at this restaurant. Fetka hadn’t paid attention to him before, until one day the man himself spoke to him.
«Hey, brother, problems?» he asked.
Fetka had a big bruise under his eye, and overall didn’t look too cheerful. Sometimes a fight with other kids, sometimes he got it from his dad at home. And when mom saw the black eye, she added to it too. He wanted to cry and eat at the same time — and he couldn’t tell which feeling was stronger.
«Here, brother. Buy yourself something tasty. Trust me, it will get easier!»
Fetka looked up and almost lost his balance — there was a big bill lying in front of him. That was a fortune!
«Just don’t spend it all at once. Spend a little, and save the rest — for later,» the man added with a smile.
Fetka smiled — how hadn’t he thought of that himself?! This money would buy him food for a week, maybe more. The man got into his car and left. After that incident, Fetka saw him a couple more times but didn’t approach — it felt awkward. What if he gave him the same amount again? That would be too strange.
While Fetka was hanging around the veranda for half an hour, he immediately recognized the man — he was sitting at a table with other people in suits. Nobody else here wore suits. So they were together. But the closer Fetka looked, the colder his heart became — he recognized one of them.
Ivan Alekseevich was in a bad mood. He had argued with Alisa again, and, as he thought, completely unjustly. His daughter was going for a walk with friends, and he simply said:
«Don’t stay out long. And always answer my calls.»
Alisa immediately flared up:
«Dad, I’m not ten years old!»
«Yes, I remember — sixteen! That’s why I ask you to answer all calls. Even every ten minutes if needed.»
«Don’t exaggerate! You don’t call every ten!»
«True,» the girl replied sharply. «Every fifteen! That’s not the same as every ten!»
«Alisa, are you serious? I’m just worried about you!»
«Everyone has fathers, and no one calls every quarter of an hour! I’m already disgusted to leave the house because I know you’ll check again!»
Ivan raised his voice:
«Listen! You’re still too young to teach me life! If I decide to call you every two minutes — I can do that! Remember that once and for all!»
Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes:
«This isn’t fair! You decide everything yourself, without listening to anyone! You want me to feel like a thing that decides nothing! You say you love me, but you don’t! You want me to be your shadow!»
Ivan couldn’t stand that. He did everything for her! Worked tirelessly to provide her a good future! And she — it’s never right, can’t even answer a call… He lost control and said too much.
Of course, he thought he was right. But seeing the big tears rolling down his daughter’s cheeks, he immediately regretted his words. How could he think that? He knew perfectly well that Alisa was a smart, independent girl. He just worried too much about her. Worried and feared losing her.
His wife died when Alisa was ten. Ivan did everything possible to save her — all kinds of doctors, clinics… It was useless.
Since then, he had literally treasured his daughter like the apple of his eye. If she said she had a headache — doctors were called immediately. Over time, Alisa learned to stay silent. Then she grew up, and now Ivan didn’t know how to behave.
And when he thought that one day she would marry and leave — it knocked the ground out from under him.
He even consulted a psychologist:
«Tell me, am I doing the right thing or is something wrong with my head?»
The woman smiled gently:
«You want to protect your daughter, and that’s right. But you’ve overdone it. Somewhere inside, you blame yourself. Blame yourself for not noticing your wife’s illness in time. You need to forgive yourself. You can never foresee everything.»
Ivan lowered his head. How did she know? He really thought: if he had spent more time at home, if he had been more attentive — maybe he could have changed something…
He never went to the psychologist again. It was too hard. Everything inside resisted. After all, many years had passed, but the pain remained fresh. And anyway — he’d figure it out himself.
Ivan slammed the car door and headed toward the restaurant. Today he was meeting future partners, and the coffee here was simply unmatched — that’s why he chose this place. Nobody else brewed it like this.
These people found him themselves, offering a profitable cooperation. Too profitable — which immediately raised suspicion. Ivan conducted a check so no one would guess. What he found was shocking.
At the very first meeting he said plainly:
«I don’t like working with those who try to deceive me. But the direction itself is interesting. I agree to cooperate — only on my terms. You have no choice. If you refuse — your company will collapse.»
The company was managed by two brothers, and most likely their problems were related to this. Each wanted to be first, and as a result, they lost everything. Now they sought salvation at others’ expense.
They were supposed to sign a contract today, drafted by Ivan Alekseevich’s lawyers.
He greeted them and sat down.
«Ivan Alekseevich! We already ordered everything!» smiled one of the brothers. «Sorry for the boldness, but they say fed people are kind!»
Ivan smiled:
«Then let’s eat a little. We have time.»
He took a fork but suddenly heard:
«Don’t eat! They put something in your food!»
Standing before him was that very boy — Fetka, whom he once fed after a fight.
«Why do you think so, brother?» Ivan smiled.
«Because I saw them put something in your food!»
The brothers immediately started yelling at Fetka:
«What?! You’ll get it now!»
«Ivan Alekseevich! That’s nonsense! Complete rubbish!»
«Sure,» Ivan nodded and calmly swapped his plate with one of theirs. «Do you mind?»
«No…»
He looked at them carefully:
«Why aren’t you eating? Or do you have no appetite?»
«Well… if you don’t eat, they’ll call the police. They’ll send the food for examination.»
Then one of the brothers grabbed a fork, poked his plate, and a few seconds later threw it down saying:
«You said everything would be fine! That after the first bite, he would sign everything for us!»
Moments later they were already fighting each other.
Ivan watched them calmly. Then he called the owner, whispered something in his ear, pointed at the plate. The owner nodded, took the dish meant for Ivan, and called the police.
«Well, brother, looks like you saved me!» Ivan said to Fetka.
The boy smiled modestly:
«A debt is a debt.»
«Wow! What expressions you know! Want to come to my place? I’ll introduce you to my daughter!»
«Won’t she scold me?»
«No one — they’ve been asleep for a long time. Drunk…»
Ivan wanted to say something but changed his mind. Such words sounded too strange in the house where he lived.
Alisa was at home. It seemed she calmed down after their quarrel because she met her father at the door.
«Dad, who is this?» she looked surprised at Fetka — small, dirty, but somehow immediately trustworthy.
«This is Fyodor. He saved me today!»
«Really?!» Alisa’s eyes widened in surprise.
«Exactly! Let’s quickly make something tasty — we’re both hungry!»
Alisa smiled:
«Fyodor, wash your hands quickly! I’ll start on the food!»
Fetka was about to rub his hands together as usual but felt shy. Everything was different in this house — the floors shone so much even the dishes at home never shined like this.
They had a fun dinner. Ivan told his daughter about what had happened, Fetka added details. Alisa kept exclaiming, hugging the boy.
«Wow, you’re something! Didn’t scare at anyone!»
Since then, Fetka often visited them. If he didn’t show up for more than three days, Ivan himself would go to him. Sometimes parents wouldn’t let him go; sometimes other problems arose. The boy didn’t tell much, but much could be understood anyway.
Alisa decided she should make Fyodor a «real person.» He resisted but soon realized books could be interesting! Especially when reading them with Alisa, who could explain every difficult phrase.
Gradually, Fedya stayed longer and longer. Ivan arranged — and a room appeared for the boy.
«Fetka, if you want to stay — you always can.»
«Thank you! Can I keep my school uniform here?»
«Of course! But why?»
«At home, it all smells like tobacco. And here it smells nice.»
After two years, it became clear that Fedya had huge potential. Teachers couldn’t believe their eyes — there had never been such capable students at school!
Alisa was proud and told Andrey, who recently started appearing at the house:
«This is a miracle!»
Ivan treated him calmly — then he was working on guardianship paperwork for Fedya and depriving his parents of parental rights. He didn’t want such a boy to grow up in such conditions.
Later, he realized Andrey was a good, serious guy. He would look after Alisa, and Ivan — after Fyodor.
He even chuckled to himself: turns out, he was made to care. Only now he needed to care for another person.
Fedya finally moved in with them. Andrey did sports, and soon Fedya also started attending a sports section. He could visit his home whenever he wanted. But he didn’t bring money — only food.
At Alisa’s wedding, Fedya read his poems. It turned out he had been writing for a long time but never showed anyone. The whole hall cried. Alisa hugged him, and Ivan watched with a satisfied, slightly embarrassed smile.
In the poems, Fedya called him father and Alisa sister.
And for some reason, Ivan was sure: Fedya would never complain about the frequent calls. On the contrary — he would be glad to receive every call.
