Someone must go to Uzhgorod to resolve the situation. Should I send pregnant women to Iru? Or Ivan Afanasevich, who is there, stuck for a year? And you personally know the customers. So, Igor, you understand ... "- said the boss, and I realized that from a business trip I can not get away. Okay, since the situation can not be changed, therefore, we need to at least make the most of it. I'll look at Transcarpathia, but at the same time I look like a local shop and will buy Ole a gift for the New Year. I solved the problem with the customers in two days. Another day spent on shopping trips - and not for nothing: he bought a stunning ring for Olenka. Not cheap - gave him almost two thousand hryvnia (almost all the money that was with him). I deliberately took a large part of the stash out of the house, because it was necessary to buy a present not just for the girl I loved, but for the bride. True, she did not know about it yet. I was going to make her an offer on New Year's Eve, and for such purposes a better gift than a ringlet just can not be imagined. Coming out of the jewelry store, I counted the cash left in the wallet. Yes-ah ... Let's just say, not densely. Enough is enough to get to the station in Uzhgorod, buy some pies on the road, take a couple of glasses from the conductor of tea ... Well, on the subway to get from the station to the house in Kharkov. There was still an unaccounted dozen ... I solemnly called her "NZ" and set aside separately from the rest of the money in the inner pocket of the jacket. My train from Uzhgorod went at 1:25, and came to Kharkov at 4:23. This meant that I had to spend more than a day in a compartment with strangers (it's nice that I even took a return ticket in advance).
My fellow travelers turned out to be the classic Adams family: a married couple with two young children and a bitchy elderly lady (as it soon became clear - the woman's mother). One child was two years old, the second was a baby. Children did not let their mother and grandmother get bored, and their father either sullenly set beer from innumerable jars, or deafeningly snored on the top shelf. In general, most of the day I spent in the vestibule. And what is there to do? Or in a window to stare, or smoke, or combine pleasant with useful. I combined. In the end, instead of his usual daily rate he smoked almost twice as much. After we drove through Kiev, the "Adams family" entered a new phase: everyone was shouting now. Even the head of the family of tears from his perch and gambling cursed with his mother-in-law. I felt like a stranger to this holiday of life and again retired to the vestibule. That's when I discovered that there was only one cigarette left in the pack. I went to the conductor: "The girl, tell me, when is the next station?" The conductor, reluctantly looking up from the glossy magazine, looked at her watch: "In twenty-two minutes."
- And how much will we stand?
"Sixteen minutes ..." Okay, "I thought," it's a lot of time. I'll have time to jump out onto the platform, buy a pack of cigarettes and, without hurrying, come back. "
I saw a brightly lit kiosk from the window of the vestibule - it was some distance from the station building. Near the stall there was a small queue - five people. Running up, I got attached to the tail for some little girl, who, by and large, had long ago been lying in her bed and seeing the thirtieth dream ... Actually, to serve five people not by weight is a matter of several minutes. But the saleswoman in the kiosk, apparently, was deaf and deaf. The reaction was not just slow, but completely absent as such. In addition, she did not know at all where she had this or that commodity, and she also did not know how to count. To the peasant in the musket cap, who took a bottle of beer, she counted the change for at least two minutes. Then the same time poking around in a box with small change and looking for bottles of the right beer. Before me stood two more, and the clock showed already 22:28. After 6 minutes, the train must move, and I still have to run to my car.
"Girl," I said politely to the youngster with the earring in my nostril, "could you miss me?" And then I'll miss the train ... The girl, silently, stepped aside, letting me go ahead.
I was already moving away from the kiosk with a coveted pack of cigarettes in my hand, when suddenly an indignant girlish voice heard from behind: "Why are you queuing without a queue ?!"
"And we are disabled," the drunken peasant laughed, and the second, also in a drunken voice, added: "Tsyts, shmakodyavka!"
"Pass it, freak," the girl insisted, "I'll have an electric train soon."
"Do not rush ... Now we'll get better with the brothers, and you'll go to dessert for us ..."
"Take your paws, goat!" People! Help! "Just do not interfere, it's none of your business," the voice said sternly, even severely. "Of course, not mine. I'm not going to interfere, "I fully agreed with the voice, but for some reason, sharply turning, shouted:" Hey, guys! Well, leave the girl alone! "
I'm not dead, and in a fair duel with any of the trinity would have coped without difficulty. Maybe he would resist against two. But three thirsty fighters drunken individuals were too much for me. A couple of minutes kept, but then get a blow to the head and "drove off." And when he came to himself, he did not even understand where I was.
- Well, that came to me - the girl was bending over me.
"Mmm," I said softly, touching my head and then, in horror, jerked my hand away. "Look, they struck my head, did not they?"
- Nope. Only the cone is healthy.
"Why is it wet there?" - was surprised.
- And I put snow there.
"And where did you just find him?" I muttered, trying to sit up.
"The saleswoman allowed me to scrape together in the freezer," the girl explained. "How can I help you?"
"Drink very ho ... And what time is it?"
"It's twenty to eleven." More precisely, already without seventeen ...
"Without seventeen ..." I repeated thoughtlessly, rubbing my bump. "How is it without seventeen?" And my train? ..
"That's your train." And where are you going?
- To Kharkov ...
- Here passing trains go to fig. On something, yes you will leave. Staggering, went to the cash registers and then I broke a cold sweat. Turned to the girl:
"Look, lend the money for the ticket ..."
- I have only two grivnas with me.
"My God, where did you just start on my head?" I said angrily.
"By the way, I did not ask you to save me," she insisted.
"Why did not you ask ?!" - I was indignant. - Who shouted: "People, help!"?
"Sorry," she said peacefully. - To be honest, I did not expect you to get into a fight.
Transit passengers in such cases never interfere - they are afraid of the train to miss. All my pre-New Year (it is not excluded that New Year's) plans flew into the tartaras, so I did not let the girl go angry.
- I was almost beaten off because of you, and you did not even say thank you. Or are you here all such ignoramuses?
"Thank you," the girl said obediently, "but I'm not local." Near here I live, on the train there is nothing to go. And here she came to work.
- So how, at work? - I was sincerely surprised. - How old are you?
"Nineteen is fulfilled."
"You look like thirteen," I confessed. - I would have known that you are already of age, never for anything ...
"Why did you stop talking?" The girl asked mockingly. "Or do you want me to continue for you?" You are welcome. If you knew that I was of age, I would not have bothered to protect me. Correctly?
"Wrong," I muttered. - No offense. But still you look awfully young.
"It's just that I have a children's hat." The girl twitched a funny knitted cap for the long ears and added with a challenge: "But I like it."
"Me too," I hastened to reassure her. - Cool hat ...
I frantically tried to find a way out of the situation, but, to be honest, there were not even any options. Hopeless full! Suddenly a thought occurred.
"Listen," I said to the girl, "do you have money at home?"
"Fifty hryvnia ..." she answered after a very long pause.
"Lend it, huh?" I swear, as soon as I get home, I'll send you a transfer right away. With interest. You see, I'm bound to tomorrow
be in Kharkov. For me it's a matter of life and death.
"You're waiting for a girl, right?"
I nodded and just in case strengthened:
- Not just a girl - a bride. The girl thought, wrinkling her forehead - long, three minutes, no less. These minutes seemed to me an eternity. But then her forehead was smoothed out - evidently, she made a decision:
- Okay. I will give fifty kopecks. You will return as much. Come quickly, now my train should come.
The car was almost empty. We sat next to each other and silently looked out the window. I do not know what my companion was thinking about, but I was thinking that tomorrow is the New Year, but there is no snow. The one that fell in early December, has long melted during the thaw, but now it has hit the frost again, but there is no snow at all. It's cold, dirty and sad. Then I thought that we had known the girl for almost an hour, but I still do not know her name. And she - mine.
- By the way, my name is Igor. And you?
- And you will not laugh?
- Honest, I will not!
"My name is ... Evdokia."
- What a charm! - I admired.
"You're kidding ..." she drawled.
"Not a bit." You have a wonderful name.
- And I'm embarrassed about him. Most of all, I'm introducing myself as Dasha.
"So you're a liar, are not you?"
"Sometimes," Dunya laughed in reply, but then, extinguished by the smile, heaved a sigh: "Right now, my grandmother will have to lie to not scold me for coming back so late."
"And really, why did you stay so long?" Is it possible that the interview was delayed until ten in the evening?
- No, just then sat at a friend. And the interview ended very quickly. I tried to get a job as a cashier at the exchange office, but they did not really talk to me - I was immediately told that I did not fit, because I do not know the computer.
- What do your parents do? - I asked just like that.
- They are not here. I never knew my father, and my mother died four years ago.
"Sorry ..."
- For what to apologize? You did not know ...
"So you live together with your grandmother?"
- Yes. I have a good one. Only he sees very badly. The old one already.
- Wait, - I was suddenly struck by an electric current, - and this fifty dollars, what did you promise me to lend?
Is this the last money? Only, chur, do not lie! "Yes," sighed Dounia, "the last." But Grandma's third pension, we'll hold out somehow. We have our own potatoes, pickles ... Let's ...
- So, tomorrow is the New Year!
"Aha," she said innocently, "the New Year." I therefore thought it over for a long time, to give you money or not. I was going to buy this piece of champagne fifty dollars, sausages a little, sweets.
"I will not take it," I said firmly, and without waiting for an objection, I asked: "Do you have a post to translate?"
- There is. There my girlfriend works.
- I would only charge the mobile, I'll call right away, I'll ask for money to be sent. But it will not be until tomorrow. Stay at least for a while, will not you?
Dunya smiled and nodded.
We went out on a tiny station.
"We go there," Dunia said, and turned to the unlit village street. They walked fifty meters and buried themselves in a small house, in which the only window shone.
"Granny, I'm not alone," Dunia said loudly as we entered the house.
"Is this your young man?" Asked the old woman of about eighty.
"It's a passenger, it's behind the train." He's staying with us, okay?
"Resident, that means ... I see." You, Evdokia, can not be changed!
- Are you often bringing guests? - I whispered to the girl, feeling an incomprehensible prick of jealousy. Dunin's grandmother did not see well, but her rumor turned out to be excellent.
"Often ..." she laughed. "Only not as beautiful as you." Then the puppy of the sick man will lead, then the galchonka with the broken wing ...
"Do not be afraid of me," I muttered embarrassedly.
- And I'm not afraid. Duska dashing person into the house will not let go - she has a special nose for them. And since you brought, it means good. Okay, since everyone is alive and well, I'll go to bed, and you, granddaughter, feed your guest. And you sing it yourself. I made potatoes, take sauerkraut ...
Dunya laid me in a small little room on a high bed with a feather duvet: this I slept only in my childhood, in the village of my grandmother. Only went to bed - he immediately fell asleep like a dead man. And I had surprisingly good dreams that night. In the morning I saw that the battery in the mobile phone was already charged (the pipe was old, the process lasted a long time) and dialed Olin number. She answered immediately and angrily screamed: "Where are you? I've been calling you since seven in the morning. We were going shopping and the Christmas tree was not bought yet. And I have a hair salon at half past two ... "
"Ol, there's such a thing ..." interrupted her. - I left the train yesterday and got stuck on the god-forgotten station. Things in the compartment remained, money - not a penny.
Can you send me two hundred hryvnia?
- So are you going to meet New Year there ?!
- I have no other way out.
- And where did you sleep? Asked Olya suspiciously. "At the station?"
- No, the girl has given one local shelter, - I answered honestly. I understood,
that you do not need to tell the truth, but still said. Dunya obviously got infected with sincerity ... "As I understand, you are a big fan of Ryazanov's creativity," said Olya maliciously. - Here you and "Station for Two", and "The Irony of Fate". Only Ryazanov's heroines themselves gave money to the peasants for a ticket. Here at your passion and ask ...
A short beeping sounded in the receiver.
Sighing heavily, I called my friend and briefly described the situation.
- Now I'll send the money, - Denis promised. - Ask someone, you can send the translation there by e-mail?
"No, only by telegraph."
- So tomorrow is the day off. Money at the best of the second you will receive. Listen, maybe, for you to come? Before the New Year we will have time to return ... "That's the solution of all problems," the inner voice rejoiced.
At that moment, Dunia came into the room. I smiled at her and said to the receiver:
"Thank you, old man, do not ..."
"Ladushki," Denis sighed with relief. - Dictate the address and post office number ...
"Order," I informed Dunyasha. "The second one must get the money." Will you get another day?
The girl's cheeks flushed red:
- Where can I go, the homeless, to ... I could not understand why I have such a wonderful mood. He quarreled with Olga, he was stuck at the station for a long time (at least two days), but still it was so good in his heart that he wanted to sing. Miracles, and only!
At ten in the evening we sat down at the festive table. It really turned out to be festive: a dish with crumbly potatoes, a big pie with cabbage, pickled honey agarics, canned tomatoes, triangular slices of a salted watermelon, soaked apples, sprats on a silver platter and transparent circles cut dry sausage. Dunyasha changed into a smart white blouse, tied a shiny tinsel over her head and * looked like the Snow Maiden. When the hands of the clock began to approach the twelve, Dunya suddenly jumped up from the table and fled into another room. She returned with pencils and a notebook. I tore out three clean sheets, put it in front of everyone: "I need to write a wish ..." Grandmother Klava, putting on her glasses, began to write something, diligently, like a first-grader. Dunyasha also bent over her little leaf. "I want to make peace with Olya," I wrote, but ... some force forced me to tear the leaf with desire. "I want to get promoted." But this option for some reason did not suit me.
Putting the paper scraps into his pocket , he pulled another sheet from the notebook: "I want it to snow." "Well, it's ready," I said, folding the sheet four times. "And what should I do with him now?" Eating?
"Hide it," Dunia replied, "somewhere closer to heart." And to wear until the desire is fulfilled. And then you can throw it away.
- Will it be fulfilled? I smiled.
"It must be fulfilled, because today is the New Year," Dunyasha said very seriously. The President finished the congratulatory speech, the clock began to beat the blows. I opened the champagne.
"Happy New Year," said Dunya. "Happy New Year," I answered, looking straight into her eyes.
"Happy New Year, kids," said Klava's grandmother, sipped the champagne and went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, the inhabitants of the house did not sleep any more. Grandmother watched (more precisely, listened to) the TV, Dunyasha placed glasses in the sideboard. I ate my pie and sat down next to the old woman. He pretended that I was looking at the screen, and he was looking at the girl. "What beautiful hands she has," I suddenly thought, "and what kind of flowing movements ... And why did she seem to me at the first meeting an angry, clumsy girl? It turns out that the ugly duckling has already managed to turn ... "" Did you just leave the roof? An angry inner voice punctured. -Also to me, the princess has found. The most ordinary provincial girl. And in general, you will leave tomorrow and never see it again. " "Tomorrow I'll leave," I agreed with the voice. "I'll get to Olya, I'll give her a ring (it's good that it was left in the jacket, and did not leave with my portfolio to Kharkov), I'll make an offer, and we'll live with her and make money well.
And this glorious girl at best will remain a sweet memory. "
"Let's go to the post office," Dunia suddenly suggested, when the clock was about four. "Maybe your translation has already arrived."
- So today is the day off!
"I told you Lyuba was my girlfriend," Dunya was surprised at this lack of clarity. - She specifically promised to come to see ... Thanking the sympathetic Lyuba and thrusting three hundred hryvnia into his wallet, he wandered to the station building. Dunya walked in silence. I bought a ticket to Kharkov for a passing fast. I put it in my pocket and looked at the girl. I understood that I had to say something, but, as luck would have it, only dry protocol words would go into my head, and the necessary ones, on the contrary, evaporated somewhere. Dunyasha timidly touched her sleeve:
"Two hours before the train ... Will you go in with your grandmother to say goodbye?"
I nodded. On the way, I jumped into the store and bought the best food I had there. Two hundred hryvnia. Suspecting something was wrong, Dunya asked:
- It's you yourself or ...
"Or ..." I had to answer me.
"Grandma and I are not beggars!"
- My mother says: you can not take it when you give it out of pity or out of self-interest. And when from a pure heart ... And in general, it's not for you, but for Grandma Klava. Dunyasha went to escort me to the station. We sat on a bench, both did not know what to talk about, how to say goodbye. In the distance the train appeared. And suddenly the girl said: "Kiss me, please ..." Embracing Dunya, found her warm lips. "Run," she said, pushing me away from me, "otherwise you'll be late again."
And I ran along the platform . And Dunya follows me. Pulling out the conductor of his car ticket and jumping on the step, turned around and saw ... Dunya-tire eyes. What was in those eyes, I can not tell, only that I saw there that ... I bent down, picked up the girl under my armpits and jerked it onto the bandwagon.
- Where? The conductor shouted menacingly. "Have you got a ticket?"
"I'm only up to the next station,
- begged Dunyasha imploringly.
"I'll pay," I promised.
"We'll stand in the vestibule," we said with Dunya in chorus.
"It's not a flight, it's a crazy house," the conductor muttered, and went into the car, closing the door behind her with a knock. And we stayed in the vestibule. Were standing, holding hands, and looked at each other. Just looked.
"How will you get back?" I finally broke off the silence.
- By train. Only these fast trains ... do not stop everywhere. - Dunya opened the door and shouted to the conductor: - Tell me, please, what is the next station?
She muttered something inaudibly.
- What? Dunyasha asked from me. "I did not hear."
"The next station is love," I answered, and to both of us this phrase seemed neither trite nor banal. And then I put a ring on the finger of a girl, bought in Uzhgorod, and kissed her again.
"I did not think it was that way," Dunyasha sighed happily, laying her head on my shoulder, and then took out a folded piece of paper from behind her bosom and tore it.
- What are you? - I was surprised. "Now your wish will not come true."
"It's already been fulfilled ..."
And behind the window large soft flakes poured and fell snow.