Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

4

“Yes..,” Vovochka said, regarding Rafa and Galya who had long since pushed away from the table. “You eat, eat the jam, poor bastards, I’ll keep to the tea – I miss the Indian stuff, we only get it before the November holidays. Yes, we drank to our hearts’ content, those were the days. Later, my Karelian got bored and headed home, somewhere around Petrozavodsk. He asked me to come with him, but I didn’t and went home to Arzamas instead. So we parted like that, and afterwards I never heard from him. He may be doing time again, or maybe got married, we both felt like settling down – you can only play that hard while you’re young and loaded with easy Taymyr money. Since then I don’t drink, only on holidays, and don’t miss it in the least and highly recommend you do the same. Now, Zoika won’t let me lie, I’m nuts about my chickens and don’t need anyone else. When I get my Orlovs bred back –that’s when we’ll have one last party, and after that I can die happy!”

Tea made Vovochka flushed and somehow less solid; he spilled over the armchair and was quiet for a moment, but could not sit still for long.

“All right, girls, off to bed!” he shooed Rafa’s twins. “Time, time, you’ve already stayed up way late.” He grabbed one under each arm and dragged them off to their room.

After he put them to bed, Vovochka began to pack. He re-tied his boxes, sent Galya to wash dishes in the kitchen and explained to Rafa what to do with the sick hen, which he put into a separate box.

“Listen, do me a small favor, would you please? Just handle it without sentimentality. Take this poor thing back to Moskalev in Podolsk. I would stay myself, but first, I gotta be back at the plant the day after tomorrow and, second, I’m afraid I’d just strangle him like a chick if I lay eyes on him now. That’s not right. Just give him the bird back and tell him he must’ve made a mistake in the dark. If he tries to give you 50 rubles back – don’t take it, money’s not the matter. Tell him it’s his problem, I’ll come back some other time. And don’t worry – I won’t touch him and certainly won’t poison his birds, you should see how beautiful they are… too bad they got fixed up with such a shitty guy. I’ll get the breed going, you can be sure of that, you’ll marvel at them yet – Moskalev will come to me trying to buy, only I won’t sell him any. Would you?”

And he looked at Rafa in such a way that he had to agree. What else was he going to do?

Then they went to bed and Vovochka disappeared into the bathroom – to wash up.

“He doesn’t have any children of his own, but did you see how good he was with ours?” Galya said.

Rafa nodded and for some reason stroked his wife’s hair.

“Go to sleep,” whispered Galya, already half asleep. “Some people do find just the right thing to do with their lives.”

They fell asleep with this thought.