FILTH
Vera Fyodorovna was 9a’s form teacher. She can’t come to terms with this fact: I would have preferred you. Always moaning. Each history lesson begins with her complaints. We – corrupt arbiters – are always on her side. Vera Fyodorovna has a stunning surname – Sheremetyeva, like the palace. Her daughter is two years our elder. Now she works as secretary to Maman and walks through the school with a huge belly. But it was Vera Fyodorovna who married, and what’s more, changed her surname to Bykova.29 Her “little a’s” were a red rag for her. “So how did the form meeting go?” Slavik asks touchingly. Vera Fyodorovna immediately takes the bait: “Half didn’t show up. They have a physics test tomorrow, you see. They couldn’t care less that poor little Verochka waited two whole lessons for the
