Nadezhda Seredina
LET ME IN FOR THE NIGHT
It was unusually chilly in our northern town. The evening streets were without people, only cars were running on the roads.
Around the corner where lane opened, the group of unkept boys made noise and fought. Erther they wanted to fight or the cold drew them into unmtenronel naught iness.
A young woman quickly passed through the noisy gang. The laughter and shouts died away. The crunch if the snow became more clear. She pircket up her ears because the frosty crunching sound was catching up to her. The electric lamp throwes cold light on the snow.
The shadow of her figure.
Shuddered and was paralyzed.
She stooped abruptly and quickly looked back.
The boy clumsily ran into her Shoulder.
He Jumped away out of Surprise.
- Hey Lady! Do you live far from here? - The boy who was taller then she, and was about years old asked.
- Why? - replied the astonizhed young woman examining her persiure? He had a lean narrow face. He was uncept. and the light poliaster yaket had only the bottom two buttons buttoned.
- Let me in for the night. - He said as he sniffled and touched his nose with his bare hand. He had no mittens.
- I am sorry. It`s so far from here? - Her feelings of sympathy and suspicion fought inside of her.
Looking around and shivering idiculiousty he put his hands into his frozen pockets.
- Button your buttons not notecebly, - she looked closely at him.
Disobedient frozen fingers started to work on the plastic icide but the button slipped out letting the cold air on to the child's unprotected body.
The trolleybus came.
- Hey Lady! May I go with you to your apartment?
Clouds of caustic gas, like bubbles, flew out and covered the cars with coaster warmness.
- O`K! Came with me! - She said looking over her shoulder, and quikly stopped through open doors of trolleybus.
The boy lightly gimped in following her without taking has hands out of his packets. He sat side ways on empty sit, taping by boots and warming his feet.
The lights of advertisement shone as brightly as new year's garland.
- So is it far to your home from here? - He breathed on his red fingers, squeezed them between his knees trying to lessen the frozen ache. He glanced up his brows again/
- We are getting off at the next stop.
At the brightly lit bus stop her husband was waiting for her. He took the bag from his wife's hands and pulled her in close. The women quickly explained the situation to him.
-What happened?
The boy heard the words .
- I don't understand it. Probably. He doesn't have a place to go in. So I invited him to our house.
The boy sow how her expression changed and started to worry that she couldn't decide by herself.
- We have decided that you will came to our place? - she came to the boy, who stood aside waiting. - We live neary. You will warm yourself at there. - She spoke decidedly touching his shoulder feeling the stiffness of his frozen jacket.
- No? - sad the boy quietly and pulled away. - I will find a place mysejf. I have somewhere to go.
- To go not knowing where? - laughed the men.
- I do not need your help, - the boy sad obstinately/ - I do not Want you do be angry with each other after. - Then the threw. - I am not cold.
- So what is your name? - The men asked. The leather glove off his hand.
- Sergi, - answered the boy untrustffully and unclasped his cold fingers from a fist
- You have the samename as my father. - Let's go. You must be could.
- I am not cold. I got used to it. - Boy did not like his playful tone.
... The an apartment was warm and comfortable. The room was small and full of furniture a wardrobe, a carbourd, two armchairs, a TV set, a desk is making a mess of papers and a shelving for books with is a partition at the same time.
If only her husband would not be in an apartment. It would seem to him, he is at home. It was so warm and nice inside of his soul, a comfort came. Such a comfort which he did not feel for a long time. Neither at school, at home or in the street. There was no tense no shiness, nor at the table in the kitchen neither in the armch infront of TV. This feeling was so unusual as it vizited him the fist time. He fell either this woman was his older sister or his aunt.
Natasha made a cot for the boy. She heard the cot creaked/ And then there was silence. Somewhere in other apartments were soft sounds. Midnight/ Someone's radio gave a signal and fell silent. Natasha was trying to sleep, trying not to think and not to remember. Memories of childhood came as a dream than they turned out into the thought about life. She was pleased that boy was asleep in her warm apartment.
In the morning she was late to work. She told people about the boy as if she was justying her self.
So and now I watched him take the tram which goes to the busstation. I gave him money for the trip. It seems that he has no money. He said that he used it to watch movies.
- Natasha are you sure that he will go to the station? - Alla Petrovna asked skeptically.
- How could you let an unknown boy into your home? Anything can happen? Here in our apartment building our nebour took pity warmed a girl from the street. Do you know what she got intern? The woman was robbed. She left the girl on the apartment while she went to the store. I guess, in the end there was no gratitude.
- How did it happen? - Natasha asked.
- How? - Alla took off successfully coping the intonation. - You do not know the live The girl from the street turn out to be a thief. What's the difference now? - she finished not using her own voice again.
- So my neibour came back from the store and saw the girl with something inside of her fist. So my friend comes to her and says: - Unclasp your fingers! - And what do you think it turned out to be on the hand? - She kept the pause as in defective film and with executive accusation made a conclusion. The girl was a fugitive. She grinned suddenly. She had 10 rubles in her hand. About the 10 rubles the neibour put them hot on the top, but right on the place where the girl could see them purposely, to try and catch the girl stilling.
- How old this girl? - asked Natasha quite pondering
- She went to school, fist grade. But she has already learned how to steal and there was the other story. The memories flew into Tatiana she became red do to excitement. So the absolutely same story. The one from the street a night in the apartment and in a week it was cleaned out by thief.
She stood from the chair heavily and walked over Natasha. She put her hands on the Natasha`s shoulder and advised her:
- Call police! God cares about those who care for themselves. Did you notice something odd about him? - asked Tatiana
- I do not know, - Natasha sad. - Everything was odd from the beginning. I was scared. The snow cruched like broken glass and steps were getting closer and closer to me. I would have given everything to him only not to be beaten up. When he saw my husband at the busstop suddenly the cleared his mind about going to my apartment. He touched and examined the lock as we were leaving the apartment today.
- No, I would never act this stupid way. What for to make all things more difficult? We have to ceccept things as they are. We can not change the world. There are speciali people in police, who in charge of such children. Let everyone care about his or her bissness. - Tatiana persuaded to dile the telephone number.
- How did he behave in the apartment at night? - Tatiana could not stop.
- I do not know, - Natasha sad. - I dreamed a dream.
- A dream is a dream. But what's going on in your apartment now? - Tatiana asked.
- He sad that he had never seen an apartment without a TV sat, - she continued.
- Well, it's not good - Alla laughed loudly. - Who is he? An insurance agent who goes from apartment to apartment .
- Yes, Natasha, I am advising you the same as to my doughtier . Remember everything, think, and call to the police. In my youth I also trusted people.
- What about your husband? Is he also at work?
- We don't have anything to steel. Only books, - said Natasha.
- My apartment was cleaned out in the afternoon, - said Tatiana. - 'Hello, police?
Tatiana gave the phone to Natasha, and said :
- OK speak.
Natasha spoke not recognizing her own voice. She was a answered and asked something.
Going back home Natasha walked a few bus stops. Warm wind and winter went away. Why did the mood changed so quickly? Where did this fear come from? Why did I stop trusting my self?
She thought : ''by calling to the police she betrayed he self not the boy''.
She remembered how unknown woman invited her ones befor. It was long ago in another town.
And in the morning there was a note on the table.
- Warm up the tea. Put the key under the rug by the door. Good luck!
She passed the test to get into the university.
She woke up and the key was on the white paper.
Translator Tatyana Golyahdrina
17. 01. 99