Red Star

Chapter 9

The school met me with excited babble of kids and 'solid' fraternization of high school students. The lessons, as always, were long and dreary. Teachers persistently and several times explained the new material, students who have not moved away from ten days of freedom, madly blinked, yawned and looked out the window.

After classes, I succumbed to the persuasions of Dimka and another of our classmates - Roma Olischuk, and went with them to air out in the area 'Harbor' Vasilievsky island, where Roma's grandfather worked as a watchman on the pier. There you could look at various boats and boats, and even climb on them, because in the winter they were all pulled out on land.

The boats were up to one place and I went with the guys just to take a walk. The holidays didn't spoil me. Of course, I successfully privatized the General's 'stash' and moved it to the city, but it was given to me with great moral and physical stress and I was just very tired. So I decided to just take a walk with my classmates. This time, really, with classmates, and just take a WALK!

Romka's grandfather turned out to be a talkative, friendly old man, languishing from boredom on an empty winter pier.

- Whether that's the case in the summer-Mitrich shared with me his experiences, so romkin's relative suggested calling him.

- In the summer it's like, people come every day, and on Friday and on weekends here and, in General, it is not crowded, there is a queue at the pier. And everyone is shouting: Mitrich help pull to the shore, Mitrich take the mooring lines, Mitrich keep an eye on the car for a couple of days...

"What car?" I asked listlessly, just to keep the conversation going.

Romka and Dima were already climbing into the open boats that Mitrich had uncovered, delighted by the arrival of his granddaughter and his friends. I cravenly refrained from such entertainment. Because I had no idea if I had enough acting skills to turn the steering wheel of the boat with burning eyes and make a howling sound with my lips: "Rrrrrrrrr!" The guys were over the moon and, each receiving a boat, immediately staged a "death race for survival". Naturally, only in his wild imagination.

I stayed with Mitrich and, sitting on a wooden bench, under the barely warm rays of the first spring sun," like an old man", conducted a simple dialogue with him about the joys of summer life as a watchman on the pier.

"Like what?" - the watchman was surprised at my incomprehensibility, - many people come here in their cars! Yes, read, here, almost everyone has a car, who has their own boat or boat. A person, he is like, if he has a craving for a witch, then he will be with them in life. First the car starts, then the carabel, and then it will strive for the air!

"Does anyone have a plane here?" I was genuinely surprised.

- I don't know what plane, where - Mitrich waved away, - but a couple of hang gliders are available, also immediately stored in hangars.

"What hangars?" I asked, since I didn't see anything in the vicinity that I thought would fit that concept.

It turns out that hangars were called numerous different-sized sheds, sheds and even one-and-a-half-story sheds, which in large numbers spread along the shore, on both sides of the pier. In them, private Soviet "yachtsmen" kept their "witches". Of course, a lot of boats and other floating devices were parked in the open air, covered up, like the pair of boats that a couple of my friends were currently "pirating" on. Above some of them were just mountains of snow, others were clear. But, all the same, most of the "ships" were under some kind of roof.

- Only they, these hang gliders, carry with them to the South to fly, on holidays-romkin's grandfather continued his unhurried story, - Here you don't fly much, the border is not far, you need to understand. In no time, the border guards will figure it out and take it by the gills! But in the summer, the kads go to the Bay, then many after all with an overnight stay, on weekends, what without an overnight stay? Here they will take a tent, a wife, and some of them not their own-at this point Mitrich laughed in a rattling old tenor voice, - but I, after all, do not care whose wife or girl, - he caught himself, remembering who he was talking to - and they will drive the car into the hangar, or leave it like that, they will ask me to look after it.

Grandfather rolled his eyes dreamily, his mind already on the approaching summer. It is obvious that "look after", "drag to the shore" or "take the mooring" was not carried out selflessly!

And then " a premonition of good fortune made Mueller's head ache."

- Why didn't everyone put up hangars for themselves? How hard is it to get permission? - with a sinking heart, I cast a fishing rod.

- What is the solution? "no one here has permission to do anything - everything is built by itself. Here it is planned to build houses here either in five years, or in two. In the meantime, do people hangars and put, who are they bothering? Who will get what, that's what they put. Some of them even have electricity here. The temporary shelter from my trailer was extended, so the light and phone were parallelized, you can even call. So some people here now do not have a hangar with a boathouse, but a whole apartment. the guard stopped to light a "Belomorye".

Afraid to scare off my luck, I mumbled expressionlessly: "my parents promised to buy a boat for me, too, but there's nowhere to keep it. Can we build a hangar here?

- And so build, who interferes, only give money to the General cash register for cleaning and security and build for your health, from scratch. Or there you want to buy ready-made, some sell. Mitrich replied calmly.

In the shower, a string orchestra began to play and drums began to thump! At this moment, Romka and Dima ran up to us and vied with each other to share their impressions of the boats.

- This is still what, - after listening to them for a while, Mitrich said authoritatively, - here a friend has a German boat, so he has a cabin in which there is even a bed, no tents are needed!

The guys even opened their mouths in amazement and in two voices began to persuade my grandfather to show this miracle boat, I also became interested. But Mitrich shook his head regretfully.

"I can't, it's under the key, over there," and Mitrich nodded at one of the hangars, which looked like a small house.

"Why are there two floors?" I asked.

-So on the first boat is stored, on the second they have two rooms, if something needs to be repaired or corrected on the boat, the owner of the masters brings, so they sometimes spend the night there, there is furniture there, I see the old one from the house brought, good, in which apartment to put it will not be a shame - grandfather explained in detail.

We spent some more time on the pier, drank tea with Mitrich with dried fruits, in His household trailer, and finally, saying goodbye to the hospitable old man, went home.

***

The next day, Sunday, my grandfather came to visit us. So, I talked to him almost every evening on the phone, my grandfather had a habit of calling 10 minutes before the "Time" program and I told him about the news according to the standard scheme: school, health, events. The only difference is that in "this childhood" I understood that my grandfather had nothing to do after work. After the death of his grandmother, he lived alone and it must have been boring to live like this. In the past life, the question was raised more than once to exchange our two-room and his one-room for a "three-room", but something did not work out, or maybe my grandfather was afraid to lose "independence", I do not know.

My grandfather worked for a long time, until the age of 73, and then retired. The head of the Moscow Central Board even tried to persuade me to stay for a couple of years, but my grandfather refused. He looked cheerful and looked 10 years younger, but I remember his explanation of why he retired for the rest of my life:

"You know," he said, " I go back to work after lunch and, well, I can't sleep at all, I sleep in a chair for about an hour, and people are waiting in the waiting room. The Secretary looks in - sees the Director asleep, goes out to people and says that I have an important conversation with Moscow on the phone, but does not bother! grandfather laughs, then sighs and finishes: - AWKWARD IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!

After retirement, he lived for less than a year.

And now he was sitting before me at the festive table, on the occasion of his arrival, lively, cheerful and cheerful, in his early sixties, and listening with pleasure to my mother's story about my recent successes.

-... and this Piglet managed to finish the quarter, for once, not only without a single three, but also 4 more fives than fours! - with enthusiasm, my mother finished, very pleased with the "pig"that had come to mind.

My grandfather narrowed his eyes and patted me on the head:

- Well, well done, what can I say! I'm also happy, but why did you lose so much weight, you eat, like, well? my grandfather watched me eat my mother's garlic - stuffed eggs.

- He eats normally, - my mother waved her hand - it's just that all the holidays, every single day, like a catechumenist, he went with the guys to the hills, then to hockey. I also started going to the wrestling section again. Right next to the house. "what is it?" she asked, as her grandfather looked at her questioningly.

- Sport is a good thing, - grandfather nodded - the main thing is not to the detriment of study! - he slyly smiled and asked - what do you want for a good study, Vitun?

My mother, also smiling, looked at me...

- Well... - I thoughtfully rolled my eyes at the ceiling - actually, I would like us to finally move in together and live together, and not meet sometimes on weekends - I finished my thought and began to eat fish salad.

My grandfather and mother looked at me in surprise, and then at each other.

"It's him! mom said hastily. Apparently, so that the grandfather would not think that she had encouraged her grandson to say such a thing.

"Oh, what's wrong with that?" - we meet, we go to visit each other.

"That's good, too," I mumbled with my mouth full. I think so...

We did not return to this topic again during the evening.

After dinner, everyone watched the first episode of the new TV program "Around laughter" together. Here I had to focus on the laughter of my mother and grandfather, because I did not find anything funny at all! Then the adults went to the kitchen to drink coffee and whisper about something. Judging by the fact that in the following days my mother began to actively communicate on the phone about the exchange of apartments, my visit reached the goal and my grandfather and mother made a fundamental decision.

***

On Monday, I traditionally went to school. Nothing noteworthy happened there, and I got "a" in algebra for "test flying" and in English for reading with translation. It was harder to get English, you had to make plausible mistakes in pronunciation and translation!

After school, I went to practice. In the hall Releev I was very alarmed by the fact that practically never left my side. Constantly corrected, suggested something and helped with ammunition. And then the first time released in the ring!

Against me, he paired Zhenya Kharitonov, who was Boxing for the second year, was in the eighth grade of a neighboring school and was stronger than me, taller and heavier. However, not critical...

I was not a particular fan of Boxing, in that life I sometimes did it for General development and to be able to punch in the face. True, I watched Boxing on TV regularly - I liked "rubki", and Klitschko, along with everyone else, condemned for "ballet". But I did not try on this sport for myself, I absolutely did not like getting hit in the face, and I never suffered from "crazy"!

So going into the ring against Eugene, under parting resheske: - Well, let's see... - I really messed up and "turned on Klitschko". Soon the guys who watched my "running with the left jab" from Kharitonov began to actively support him with shouts like: "Eugene, go!", "Harya, right him!". However, running around the ring, I have not heard a single word from Relieve.

When his assistant from the "adult" group, who played the referee, separated us from Kharitonov from the clinch, and Eugene still cornered me, and I "hugged" him, I glanced at Retluev. He stood quietly and watched, our eyes met and Retluev winked at me.

From a stern, laconic Caucasian, it was somewhat unexpected and... pleasant, or something. I didn't want to disappoint him and the referee's command: - "Boxing", I stepped forward and, swinging my body to the left, punched the right straight into the chin of Kharitonov. A savory "Bang" and Eugene collapsed on his back.

- "Break" - Relieve and the referee sounded the chorus.

The hall was silent...

...In the aftermath of the battle, Relieve interest to me, quickly found an explanation. When we finished messing with the recovered Eugene, he called me to his coaching room:

- Had a good fight, ran a lot, but well - started Releev, inviting me with a gesture to sit down in a chair near his Desk.

- Here's the thing, - he continued - our section should every year put teenagers on district competitions of the same sections, in the framework of the tournament "Golden glove", - some of the words because of his Caucasian accent sounded funny, but what he was talking about did not seem funny to me at all - at your age we have no one, you don't need to win, you just need to participate.

- Ilyas Mutalimovich, there is no one in the group where I first trained, how many of my peers there are, about ten people!

- There is no one there, - Retluev shook his head, - it's a shame to let them even into the ring, but you either have a natural talent or you are lying and used to box - the Dagestani again stared into my eyes.

- Not engage. - I went to the "deaf unconscious".

"Talent, then. summed up Releev - you move the wrong way, we do not teach dance like a Cuban. Seeing my amazed, his insight, look, and misinterpreting it, he explained - I saw them at the training camp, they also dance, you'll get a horseradish, but you got it. - he finished with satisfaction, apparently remembering something pleasant.

- I'm only in my third class today! - I absolutely did not want to participate in any competitions.

- And Kharitonov on one hundred and third and what? We won't count Leonid, he just didn't expect it... And with Kharitonov less than two minutes, and it is the second year goes. You have a very strong blow, not for age and not for weight, you will hit at least once and win. Yes, and you jumped over it, it did not get you even once, everything went to the defense. You won't have any rivals there. And it will be a big plus for the section if you take the city.

"f**k! I already have to win in the city?! Aren't you f*****g crazy? Do you want to earn points on my bruises?!I yelled to myself.

Apparently Retluev read the refusal in my eyes and began to explain again:

- Once again, you will not have any rivals there at all. If you don't want to continue, just say the word and we'll shoot. At any time.

I was silent.

- Maybe you want something... tell me?

Quite unexpectedly, I answered:

"I want to.".. I want to train in an "adult" group.

Retluev stared at me in silence. After staring at me for half a minute, while I stared at the wall calendar with grandpa Lenin behind him, he nodded.

- Good. But you will try to win.

There is already, I nodded.

After training and my stupid decision, I went to the Harbor to see Mitrich...

***