“Goriainov!” Artiom suggested, doing his gurgling business.
“Look, he’s already pissed himself,” said the prison warden, impatiently rustling his keychain.
Sideways across the floor, fearing no one, a rat ran by and climbed into a crack in the wall, not very effectively — her tail stuck out so long that it seemed she was teasing someone.
Artiom was already coming out, and with difficult he was tucking his shirt in his cotton-wool pants. But the tail still hadn’t disappeared.
It was daytime outside. Only it wasn’t clear whether it was the same day or the next one.
The inmates vigorously swept the yard. No one smoked or yelled in the yard.
Marie walked out of the IID, saw Artiom and was inexpressibly happy, then finally realized he was under guard and was just as inexpressibly surprise
