Meeting at the hour of the wolf (collection)

Detective event

All characters and events in the novel are fictional.

Coincidences with real events are random.

- Do you know that Bach lost his young daughter, and then three sons, and then his wife, Maria-Barbara? Nathan says. - You know?

“Then he and his second wife, Anna-Magdalena, lost four more daughters and three sons. Eleven beloved children ... Many researchers wondered: how did Bach manage to survive these losses? Why didn't you stop breathing? Why didn't his heart stop? And most importantly, how was he able to continue writing music? Cantatas, cello suites, masses, concerts ... The most beautiful music that the world has ever heard. Do you know how he could? I'll tell you.

- So how?

- Note by note ...

D. Donnelly "Revolution"

Meeting at the hour of the wolf

Foreword

A wonderful genre is a short story. The size of just one episode, one day, one year ... And the opportunity to tell and mourn a lifetime. My characters have prototypes, but in general, everything is, of course, fiction. A fiction that becomes you between the first letter and the last point. And this alien fate is so dear to you - short or long, happy or unhappy, imperceptible or fatal - that you must watch it to the end. And to understand in the finale that death is not the end of life, it is its continuation. There are no people who do not leave footprints on the ground. Death is someone's eternal sorrow and someone's freedom. But it is given to any person to correct the future of others. Such a great mission.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

Call girl

The smell of a cheap air freshener drove all other odors out of Lily's life. She forgot how morning smells, hay, grass warmed by the sun. She ate food with that nasty sweet smell, put on clothes that he had never washed off, and choked on them in her sleep.

Lilya is an intelligent girl from a respectable family who came from the beautiful city of Samara. She spent most of the day next to three stalls of mobile private public toilets in southwestern Moscow. Lilya was sitting on a folding chair and reading some good, serious book. In Moscow you can find any book, this is all that Lilya has learned about the capital so far.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

Meeting at the hour of the wolf

All characters and events in the novel are fictional.

Coincidences with real events are random.

- Do you know that Bach lost his young daughter, and then three sons, and then his wife, Maria-Barbara? Nathan says. - You know?

- Then he and his second wife, Anna-Magdalena, lost four more daughters and three sons. Eleven beloved children ... Many researchers wondered: how did Bach manage to survive these losses? Why didn't you stop breathing? Why didn't his heart stop? And most importantly, how was he able to continue writing music? Cantatas, cello suites, masses, concerts ... The most beautiful music that the world has ever heard. Do you know how he could? I'll tell you.

- So how?

- Note by note ...

D. Donnelly "Revolution"

© Mikhailova E., 2017

© Design. LLC "Publishing house" E ", 2017

Meeting at the hour of the wolf

Foreword

A wonderful genre is a short story. The size of just one episode, one day, one year ... And the opportunity to tell and mourn a lifetime. My characters have prototypes, but in general, everything is, of course, fiction. A fiction that becomes you between the first letter and the last point. And this alien fate - short or long, happy or unhappy, imperceptible or fatal - is so dear to you that you must watch it to the end. And to understand in the finale that death is not the end of life, it is its continuation. There are no people who leave no footprints on the ground. Death is someone's eternal sorrow and someone's freedom. But it is given to any person to correct the future of others. Such a great mission.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

Call girl

The smell of a cheap air freshener drove all other odors out of Lily's life. She forgot how morning smells, hay, grass warmed by the sun. She ate food with that nasty sweet smell, put on clothes that he had never washed off, and choked on them in her sleep.

Lilya is an intelligent girl from a respectable family who came from the beautiful city of Samara. She spent most of the day next to three booths of mobile private public toilets in southwestern Moscow. Lilya was sitting on a folding chair and reading some good, serious book. You can find any book in Moscow, this is all that Lilya has learned about the capital so far.

Lilya always dreamed of Moscow like Chekhov's three sisters, like any ambitious and capable provincial girl. But Lily knew that she would have to not easy: she has no no money, no connections, no rich and powerful relatives. Lilya, from elementary school, lived with her grandmother in her one-room apartment. Parents sold their apartment and went abroad to settle in new, more welcoming places. They basically succeeded after several years of ordeal. But it turned out only apart. Dad married a French woman, mother married a wealthy American. Lilya and her grandmother looked at the beautiful photographs of their new children with affection. Mom promised that she would take them with her grandmother to her place. But over time, the promises became less frequent, the topic appeared: "the husband is not ready for this yet." Daddy just melted into the fog of another life. The money that my mother sent from time to time was enough, taking into account my grandmother's pension, only for the most necessary. People who have left Russia forget very quickly what and how much it costs. Grandmother started to get sick. Their life was reduced to the search, the acquisition of drugs, temporary relief and return to the circle. Lilya, every time before talking to her mother, mustered up the spirit to ask for some things. Her peers were keen on outfits and boys. But the conversation began and ended with my mother’s stories about where and how she rested with her already three American children. Then the traditional: "How are you?" Lilya also answered cheerfully: “Everything is the same with us. Grandma is feeling better. I am an excellent student". Mom said goodbye easily. When she nevertheless said that she was drawing up an invitation for Lilya and her grandmother, the grandmother said: “She was late. I can't go that far. Get together alone, baby. " In fact, my grandmother could no longer be far or close. She practically did not get up. And Lilya replied to her mother that she was now planning to try to get a job in Moscow. Go to study or go to work. Maybe it will be possible to exchange their grandmother's apartment for a Moscow one. There are no prospects in Samara.

Mom made a convenient conclusion for herself: her daughter became independent. “Call when you get to me,” she said. Lilya realized that she needed to close the topic. No offense: it so happened that she has no relatives, except for her grandmother, who dedicated her life to her, and now she is going to die quietly in poverty, abandonment and longing.

Lilya graduated from school with a medal, chose the most decent, kind and responsible neighbor Nadya, who was just sitting without work, and they signed an agreement, according to which Nadia became a permanent nurse with her grandmother. They determined the real amount, Lilya just didn't say how unrealistic this real amount is for her now. After all, everyone thought that they were supported by rich parents from abroad. But the girl was confident in her stable future in Moscow. So many have succeeded, and she will.

She did not go to an empty place. She was invited to her place by the neighbors' daughter Zina, who left a few years ago with two small children. In Moscow, she had another baby. Zina did not say anything about her husband, she spoke briefly and importantly about herself: “I have a business”. She walked around Samara on short visits proud, brightly, albeit tastelessly dressed. And there was no doubt that she was a businesswoman.

Lilya raised her head above the thick and beautifully published Crimson Petal and White by Michel Fiber, which she wrapped in a plastic bag to keep dust and odor as her greatest asset. She looked at two blankets and a stroller in the grass of the lawn by the public toilet cubicles. Here is Zina's business. Entrance to one booth - thirty rubles. Here are her happy heirs, who, like Leela, were lucky to get to the capital. While they flounder on their bedding, like puppies, play, laugh. Zina needs to save money for their school. An ancient and evil old woman registered them in her three-room apartment. We entered into an annuity agreement. In addition to the monthly rent for the apartment - full support of the hostess, care, cleaning, treatment. For any reason, the old woman threatens to expel. Therefore, children here, on the grass and in the sun, are certainly better off than in an apartment, where they are told to speak only in whispers and are forbidden to play noisy funny games. And the baby is always plugged with a dummy.

Lilya pays for housing separately. The hostess is looking closely at her: maybe she will also benefit her. But she named in advance a very large amount that she would like to receive for this. Greed, apparently, never part with a person - neither on earth, nor beyond.

Zina, of course, also invited Lilya as a partner, not in order to get her to the Moscow Olympus. She needs an assistant both with the children and with this round-the-clock, dirty and fraught with all sorts of troubles work. They earned, however, nothing. It worked out to eat, buy cheap rags and save something for the children.

Lilya could not look for another job, and not only because she quickly became attached to all of Zina's problems. Where can you go in Moscow without registration? So she pleased a strange and spiteful old woman with a stick, and at night she cried from longing for her grandmother. Their common, cozy life seemed so warm and bright to her.

She was constantly looking for a part-time job on Zina's computer. She needed to send money to her grandmother and Nadya. Lilya washed windows, washed and cleaned from strangers. Walked with children and dogs. She gave part of the money to Zina, believing that they had the same working time, which meant that they had the same income.

“It’s gone well for you,” Zina once remarked. - It's also because you are so white, pretty. Nobody has pestered you yet in these apartments, where do you go?

- No. There are no men there, where I come. I mean, hostesses invite me when the family is at work.

- I want you not to be stupid. Everything needs to be calculated very well in Moscow. Think with your head. To marry only a very rich man, even if he is at least one hundred and fifty years old, even better if that is. Don't be fooled by the paycheck to paycheck option. You know, I do not regret that I did not marry the men with whom I have children. One did not want to marry, two offered. But I myself want to be the mistress of myself and the children. You, of course, think that the toilets are worse than your husband, but I think differently. Save up some money - we'll stir up something better. I can only tell you: when I arrived, I fell into such a vice, with no options. At night I left the children with the janitor's house, where I rented an apartment, and went on duty on the street.

- Where to watch?

- On the highway with prostitutes. With the cheapest prostitutes. And now - a Muscovite, our Polina is not eternal. There is no business, registered as an individual entrepreneur. Do you feel progress?

All characters and events in the novel are fictional.

Coincidences with real events are random.

- Do you know that Bach lost his young daughter, and then three sons, and then his wife, Maria-Barbara? Nathan says. - You know?

- Then he and his second wife, Anna-Magdalena, lost four more daughters and three sons. Eleven beloved children ... Many researchers wondered: how did Bach manage to survive these losses? Why didn't you stop breathing? Why didn't his heart stop? And most importantly, how was he able to continue writing music? Cantatas, cello suites, masses, concerts ... The most beautiful music that the world has ever heard. Do you know how he could? I'll tell you.

- So how?

- Note by note ...

D. Donnelly "Revolution"

© Mikhailova E., 2017

© Design. LLC "Publishing house" E ", 2017

Meeting at the hour of the wolf

Foreword

A wonderful genre is a short story. The size of just one episode, one day, one year ... And the opportunity to tell and mourn a lifetime. My characters have prototypes, but in general, everything is, of course, fiction. A fiction that becomes you between the first letter and the last point. And this alien fate - short or long, happy or unhappy, imperceptible or fatal - is so dear to you that you must watch it to the end. And to understand in the finale that death is not the end of life, it is its continuation. There are no people who leave no footprints on the ground. Death is someone's eternal sorrow and someone's freedom. But it is given to any person to correct the future of others. Such a great mission.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

Call girl

The smell of a cheap air freshener drove all other odors out of Lily's life. She forgot how morning smells, hay, grass warmed by the sun. She ate food with that nasty sweet smell, put on clothes that he had never washed off, and choked on them in her sleep.

Lilya is an intelligent girl from a respectable family who came from the beautiful city of Samara. She spent most of the day next to three booths of mobile private public toilets in southwestern Moscow. Lilya was sitting on a folding chair and reading some good, serious book. You can find any book in Moscow, this is all that Lilya has learned about the capital so far.

Lilya always dreamed of Moscow like Chekhov's three sisters, like any ambitious and capable provincial girl. But Lily knew that she would have to not easy: she has no no money, no connections, no rich and powerful relatives. Lilya, from elementary school, lived with her grandmother in her one-room apartment. Parents sold their apartment and went abroad to settle in new, more welcoming places. They basically succeeded after several years of ordeal. But it turned out only apart. Dad married a French woman, mother married a wealthy American. Lilya and her grandmother looked at the beautiful photographs of their new children with affection. Mom promised that she would take them with her grandmother to her place. But over time, the promises became less frequent, the topic appeared: "the husband is not ready for this yet." Daddy just melted into the fog of another life. The money that my mother sent from time to time was enough, taking into account my grandmother's pension, only for the most necessary. People who have left Russia forget very quickly what and how much it costs. Grandmother started to get sick. Their life was reduced to the search, the acquisition of drugs, temporary relief and return to the circle. Lilya, every time before talking to her mother, mustered up the spirit to ask for some things. Her peers were keen on outfits and boys. But the conversation began and ended with my mother’s stories about where and how she rested with her already three American children. Then the traditional: "How are you?" Lilya also answered cheerfully: “Everything is the same with us. Grandma is feeling better. I am an excellent student". Mom said goodbye easily. When she nevertheless said that she was drawing up an invitation for Lilya and her grandmother, the grandmother said: “She was late. I can't go that far. Get together alone, baby. " In fact, my grandmother could no longer be far or close. She practically did not get up. And Lilya replied to her mother that she was now planning to try to get a job in Moscow. Go to study or go to work. Maybe it will be possible to exchange their grandmother's apartment for a Moscow one. There are no prospects in Samara.

Mom made a convenient conclusion for herself: her daughter became independent. “Call when you get to me,” she said. Lilya realized that she needed to close the topic. No offense: it so happened that she has no relatives, except for her grandmother, who dedicated her life to her, and now she is going to die quietly in poverty, abandonment and longing.

Lilya graduated from school with a medal, chose the most decent, kind and responsible neighbor Nadya, who was just sitting without work, and they signed an agreement, according to which Nadia became a permanent nurse with her grandmother. They determined the real amount, Lilya just didn't say how unrealistic this real amount is for her now. After all, everyone thought that they were supported by rich parents from abroad. But the girl was confident in her stable future in Moscow. So many have succeeded, and she will.

She did not go to an empty place. She was invited to her place by the neighbors' daughter Zina, who left a few years ago with two small children. In Moscow, she had another baby. Zina did not say anything about her husband, she spoke briefly and importantly about herself: “I have a business”. She walked around Samara on short visits proud, brightly, albeit tastelessly dressed. And there was no doubt that she was a businesswoman.

Lilya raised her head above the thick and beautifully published Crimson Petal and White by Michel Fiber, which she wrapped in a plastic bag to keep dust and odor as her greatest asset. She looked at two blankets and a stroller in the grass of the lawn by the public toilet cubicles. Here is Zina's business. Entrance to one booth - thirty rubles. Here are her happy heirs, who, like Leela, were lucky to get to the capital. While they flounder on their bedding, like puppies, play, laugh. Zina needs to save money for their school. An ancient and evil old woman registered them in her three-room apartment. We entered into an annuity agreement. In addition to the monthly rent for the apartment - full support of the hostess, care, cleaning, treatment. For any reason, the old woman threatens to expel. Therefore, children here, on the grass and in the sun, are certainly better off than in an apartment, where they are told to speak only in whispers and are forbidden to play noisy funny games. And the baby is always plugged with a dummy.

Lilya pays for housing separately. The hostess is looking closely at her: maybe she will also benefit her. But she named in advance a very large amount that she would like to receive for this. Greed, apparently, never part with a person - neither on earth, nor beyond.

Zina, of course, also invited Lilya as a partner, not in order to get her to the Moscow Olympus. She needs an assistant both with the children and with this round-the-clock, dirty and fraught with all sorts of troubles work. They earned, however, nothing. It worked out to eat, buy cheap rags and save something for the children.

Lilya could not look for another job, and not only because she quickly became attached to all of Zina's problems. Where can you go in Moscow without registration? So she pleased a strange and spiteful old woman with a stick, and at night she cried from longing for her grandmother. Their common, cozy life seemed so warm and bright to her.

She was constantly looking for a part-time job on Zina's computer. She needed to send money to her grandmother and Nadya. Lilya washed windows, washed and cleaned from strangers. Walked with children and dogs. She gave part of the money to Zina, believing that they had the same working time, which meant that they had the same income.

“It’s gone well for you,” Zina once remarked. - It's also because you are so white, pretty. Nobody has pestered you yet in these apartments, where do you go?

- No. There are no men there, where I come. I mean, hostesses invite me when the family is at work.

- I want you not to be stupid. Everything needs to be calculated very well in Moscow. Think with your head. To marry only a very rich man, even if he is at least one hundred and fifty years old, even better if that is. Don't be fooled by the paycheck to paycheck option. You know, I do not regret that I did not marry the men with whom I have children. One did not want to marry, two offered. But I myself want to be the mistress of myself and the children. You, of course, think that the toilets are worse than your husband, but I think differently. Save up some money - we'll stir up something better. I can only tell you: when I arrived, I fell into such a vice, with no options. At night I left the children with the janitor's house, where I rented an apartment, and went on duty on the street.

- Where to watch?

- On the highway with prostitutes. With the cheapest prostitutes. And now - a Muscovite, our Polina is not eternal. There is no business, registered as an individual entrepreneur. Do you feel progress?

- Yes, - Lilya answered thoughtfully. Her heart ached, flowing with tears: God, where did you take me?

And then a disaster struck. The eldest boy of Zina, six-year-old Kolya, got hit by a car, running out from the lawn. Operations, bribes to doctors, a regular visiting nurse after the hospital by private agreement for procedures, medicines, good food, fruits ... The hostess did not even think to get into the situation, tore from them for everything to the maximum. I endlessly invented new diseases for myself.

And one day Zina said to Leela:

- Only you can save us now.

Lilya understood what she was talking about right away. Zina more than once, driving away the tipsy and sober men from her, repeated like a mantra that she wanted to drive into Leela's head:

- You don't know the prices. Another with your appearance would have been rowing money with a shovel.

In short, Zina, who went through the first circle of hell called prostitution, chose a different path for Lily, which Zina herself no longer suited: not very beautiful by nature, she turned from her labor and childbirth into a mother, a rude aunt. And I kept the channels I learned about then. This is the work of a call girl, work under the supervision and guidance of experienced pimps who know how to look for clients of a certain type for a girl - amateurs of this particular type. Clients are willing to pay handsomely for their aesthetic preferences. So Lilya met Cyril. He also deprived her of her virginity as an element interfering with work. Before this act, Zina gave Lily a drink of tranquilizers to kill fear, shame, pain and protest.

“Mind you, there won't be any further pills,” she said. - You can get hooked, but no one needs drug addicts. Then Kirill will tell you how to relax and have fun, or at least imitate it well. He is an experienced person and not evil. Promises to pay decently. And there, who knows ... What if you get lucky on a big scale. I know girls who started their real life with this. Now the ladies are super duper.

Lilya was prepared for her debut, as a rookie for the first fight. Cyril took her to the clinic to see a doctor, who organized a complete medical examination and started a medical history. They put a spiral on her, taught her various ways to prevent infections, and set days for regular check-ups. Cyril picked up a moderately erotic wardrobe for her, chose the role of a home girl with undisclosed vicious potential. I started to study the market.

On the appointed day, Lilya, dressed in a very short black dress with a white school collar and cuffs, got into the car of her driver and security guard Yegor. She was brought to an old brick house in the center of Moscow. On the threshold of a large apartment with antique furniture, a fat man with shortness of breath and a pale diabetic face greeted her. Yegor showed him his watch. Lilya arrived at exactly one hour. This was Kirill's condition for a novice worker.

The man let her in, closed the door in front of Yegor and hastily began to pull off Lily's dress, right in the hallway, puffing, covered in sweat, panting with lust. They did not manage to get anywhere beyond the hallway in an hour. Lilya was saved from realizing what was being done to her by a fog of disgust. What she understood: this unhealthy person in all respects wants some girl inaccessible to him since childhood. This is his main diagnosis, he called Lilya - Agnieszka, muttered: "Come to me, otherwise dad will punish you." Rolling his eyes, drooling at her. The hour, fortunately for Lily, ended quickly, and Yegor first rang the doorbell, then lightly knocked on it with his foot. Then he struck loudly and demandingly. Lilya was released, the man returned her dress with wet hands, banknotes, which Yegor took imperiously, trembled in his thick fingers. Call girls are not allowed to take clients' money, said Cyril, the employer.

He met them at Zina's house, looked at the amount, nodded approvingly:

- Twice more than agreed. Well done. And you were afraid.

Zina was also pleased with the amount that Cyril counted out to Leela. Lilya went to her corner behind the screen, fell on the bed and for an hour and a half listened only to her silent commands to her brain: "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep." When her brain took pity, she swam along some channels and labyrinths in search of herself, her life, and she was caught up, laughing hysterically, naked, shameless and insolent Agnieszka. “You are not Lilya,” she shouted. - I'll tell everyone about you. Grandma too. "

Such a strange woman appeared in the market window of affordable priestesses of love. With the soul of a strict virgin, with a gentle and seductive body, which was the setting for a hidden furious protest against the violent intrusion into his secret. Ultimately, it was a protest against the very essence of men whom Lilya recognized from this side: they are carriers of a soulless, mechanical, cruel mechanism of torturing femininity.

She was, as in forced labor, the life of her grandmother, the health of Zina's little son, the future of all Zina's children depended on her diligence and the quality of the work. Lilya no longer thought about her future. Everything became easier: to survive. Until the night, until tomorrow, until the day when he can send money to grandmother. Lilya watched her appearance, as Cyril ordered. She was always impeccably dressed, with a beautiful hairstyle of shiny blonde hair. Light green eyes remained clear, she learned to close them forcibly and sleep. Sleep in every free period of time, so as not to remember or know anything. Zina freed her from work at the toilets and most of the childcare. There was enough money for a babysitter. Mistress Polina, like all greedy people, quickly felt the change in Lily's status, who became the main breadwinner, and registered her in the apartment as a distant relative.

Only in one area did Lilya stubbornly ignore Cyril's instructions. She refused to imitate what she didn't feel: passion. Cyril lagged behind her when he realized that perhaps this is what makes her so attractive to clients. They were aroused by their own role as rapists. It is easy for a prostitute by vocation to portray passion. But it is impossible to portray bashfulness and chastity for a prostitute.

“Yes, any nun is more depraved than this girl in her thoughts,” Kirill thought sometimes, feeling something like tenderness and sympathy for his new project. But the business demanded a transition from one level to a higher one. Soon Lilya was sent to a client not for an hour, but for three and five, then for the night, then not to one client, but to a group of men. Kirill's income grew, Lily's percentage increased. She finally ceased to be afraid of complete lack of money and tomorrow. Zina opened a fruit shop and even hired a worker, whom she set up a camper for permanent residence at the shop. The children went to a good kindergarten. Kolya was preparing for the first grade with a teacher next door.

Lilya endured everything except pain. This was her first serious demand. Kirill not only designated this as the main condition for clients, he once gave a demonstration lesson and made sure that all consumers of the secret empire became aware of his anger. When Yegor brought Lilya in bloody scars from lashes, with hands and feet worn out by handcuffs, Cyril urgently called not only a traumatologist, but also a psychiatrist to the girl. She was released for a week, treated in a small private clinic, mainly for severe depression. Scars on the body healed faster than on the soul. Lilya did not want to talk to anyone, eat, sleep, live.

All characters and events in the novel are fictional.

Coincidences with real events are random.

- Do you know that Bach lost his young daughter, and then three sons, and then his wife, Maria-Barbara? Nathan says. - You know?

- Then he and his second wife, Anna-Magdalena, lost four more daughters and three sons. Eleven beloved children ... Many researchers wondered: how did Bach manage to survive these losses? Why didn't you stop breathing? Why didn't his heart stop? And most importantly, how was he able to continue writing music? Cantatas, cello suites, masses, concerts ... The most beautiful music that the world has ever heard. Do you know how he could? I'll tell you.

- So how?

- Note by note ...

D. Donnelly "Revolution"

© Mikhailova E., 2017

© Design. LLC "Publishing house" E ", 2017

A wonderful genre is a short story. The size of just one episode, one day, one year ... And the opportunity to tell and mourn a lifetime. My characters have prototypes, but in general, everything is, of course, fiction. A fiction that becomes you between the first letter and the last point. And this alien fate - short or long, happy or unhappy, imperceptible or fatal - is so dear to you that you must watch it to the end. And to understand in the finale that death is not the end of life, it is its continuation. There are no people who leave no footprints on the ground. Death is someone's eternal sorrow and someone's freedom. But it is given to any person to correct the future of others. Such a great mission.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

The smell of a cheap air freshener drove all other odors out of Lily's life. She forgot how morning smells, hay, grass warmed by the sun. She ate food with that nasty sweet smell, put on clothes that he had never washed off, and choked on them in her sleep.

Lilya is an intelligent girl from a respectable family who came from the beautiful city of Samara. She spent most of the day next to three booths of mobile private public toilets in southwestern Moscow. Lilya was sitting on a folding chair and reading some good, serious book. You can find any book in Moscow, this is all that Lilya has learned about the capital so far.

Lilya always dreamed of Moscow like Chekhov's three sisters, like any ambitious and capable provincial girl. But Lily knew that she would have to not easy: she has no no money, no connections, no rich and powerful relatives. Lilya, from elementary school, lived with her grandmother in her one-room apartment. Parents sold their apartment and went abroad to settle in new, more welcoming places. They basically succeeded after several years of ordeal. But it turned out only apart. Dad married a French woman, mother married a wealthy American. Lilya and her grandmother looked at the beautiful photographs of their new children with affection. Mom promised that she would take them with her grandmother to her place. But over time, the promises became less frequent, the topic appeared: "the husband is not ready for this yet." Daddy just melted into the fog of another life. The money that my mother sent from time to time was enough, taking into account my grandmother's pension, only for the most necessary. People who have left Russia forget very quickly what and how much it costs. Grandmother started to get sick. Their life was reduced to the search, the acquisition of drugs, temporary relief and return to the circle. Lilya, every time before talking to her mother, mustered up the spirit to ask for some things. Her peers were keen on outfits and boys. But the conversation began and ended with my mother’s stories about where and how she rested with her already three American children. Then the traditional: "How are you?" Lilya also answered cheerfully: “Everything is the same with us. Grandma is feeling better. I am an excellent student". Mom said goodbye easily. When she nevertheless said that she was drawing up an invitation for Lilya and her grandmother, the grandmother said: “She was late. I can't go that far. Get together alone, baby. " In fact, my grandmother could no longer be far or close. She practically did not get up. And Lilya replied to her mother that she was now planning to try to get a job in Moscow. Go to study or go to work. Maybe it will be possible to exchange their grandmother's apartment for a Moscow one. There are no prospects in Samara.

Mom made a convenient conclusion for herself: her daughter became independent. “Call when you get to me,” she said. Lilya realized that she needed to close the topic. No offense: it so happened that she has no relatives, except for her grandmother, who dedicated her life to her, and now she is going to die quietly in poverty, abandonment and longing.

Lilya graduated from school with a medal, chose the most decent, kind and responsible neighbor Nadya, who was just sitting without work, and they signed an agreement, according to which Nadia became a permanent nurse with her grandmother. They determined the real amount, Lilya just didn't say how unrealistic this real amount is for her now. After all, everyone thought that they were supported by rich parents from abroad. But the girl was confident in her stable future in Moscow. So many have succeeded, and she will.

She did not go to an empty place. She was invited to her place by the neighbors' daughter Zina, who left a few years ago with two small children. In Moscow, she had another baby. Zina did not say anything about her husband, she spoke briefly and importantly about herself: “I have a business”. She walked around Samara on short visits proud, brightly, albeit tastelessly dressed. And there was no doubt that she was a businesswoman.

Lilya raised her head above the thick and beautifully published Crimson Petal and White by Michel Fiber, which she wrapped in a plastic bag to keep dust and odor as her greatest asset. She looked at two blankets and a stroller in the grass of the lawn by the public toilet cubicles. Here is Zina's business. Entrance to one booth - thirty rubles. Here are her happy heirs, who, like Leela, were lucky to get to the capital. While they flounder on their bedding, like puppies, play, laugh. Zina needs to save money for their school. An ancient and evil old woman registered them in her three-room apartment. We entered into an annuity agreement. In addition to the monthly rent for the apartment - full support of the hostess, care, cleaning, treatment. For any reason, the old woman threatens to expel. Therefore, children here, on the grass and in the sun, are certainly better off than in an apartment, where they are told to speak only in whispers and are forbidden to play noisy funny games. And the baby is always plugged with a dummy.

Lilya pays for housing separately. The hostess is looking closely at her: maybe she will also benefit her. But she named in advance a very large amount that she would like to receive for this. Greed, apparently, never part with a person - neither on earth, nor beyond.

Zina, of course, also invited Lilya as a partner, not in order to get her to the Moscow Olympus. She needs an assistant both with the children and with this round-the-clock, dirty and fraught with all sorts of troubles work. They earned, however, nothing. It worked out to eat, buy cheap rags and save something for the children.

Lilya could not look for another job, and not only because she quickly became attached to all of Zina's problems. Where can you go in Moscow without registration? So she pleased a strange and spiteful old woman with a stick, and at night she cried from longing for her grandmother. Their common, cozy life seemed so warm and bright to her.

She was constantly looking for a part-time job on Zina's computer. She needed to send money to her grandmother and Nadya. Lilya washed windows, washed and cleaned from strangers. Walked with children and dogs. She gave part of the money to Zina, believing that they had the same working time, which meant that they had the same income.

“It’s gone well for you,” Zina once remarked. - It's also because you are so white, pretty. Nobody has pestered you yet in these apartments, where do you go?

All characters and events in the novel are fictional.

Coincidences with real events are random.

- Do you know that Bach lost his young daughter, and then three sons, and then his wife, Maria-Barbara? Nathan says. - You know?

- Then he and his second wife, Anna-Magdalena, lost four more daughters and three sons. Eleven beloved children ... Many researchers wondered: how did Bach manage to survive these losses? Why didn't you stop breathing? Why didn't his heart stop? And most importantly, how was he able to continue writing music? Cantatas, cello suites, masses, concerts ... The most beautiful music that the world has ever heard. Do you know how he could? I'll tell you.

- So how?

- Note by note ...

D. Donnelly "Revolution"

© Mikhailova E., 2017

© Design. LLC "Publishing house" E ", 2017

Meeting at the hour of the wolf

Foreword

A wonderful genre is a short story. The size of just one episode, one day, one year ... And the opportunity to tell and mourn a lifetime. My characters have prototypes, but in general, everything is, of course, fiction. A fiction that becomes you between the first letter and the last point. And this alien fate - short or long, happy or unhappy, imperceptible or fatal - is so dear to you that you must watch it to the end. And to understand in the finale that death is not the end of life, it is its continuation. There are no people who leave no footprints on the ground. Death is someone's eternal sorrow and someone's freedom. But it is given to any person to correct the future of others. Such a great mission.

Evgeniya Mikhailova

Call girl

The smell of a cheap air freshener drove all other odors out of Lily's life. She forgot how morning smells, hay, grass warmed by the sun. She ate food with that nasty sweet smell, put on clothes that he had never washed off, and choked on them in her sleep.

Lilya is an intelligent girl from a respectable family who came from the beautiful city of Samara. She spent most of the day next to three booths of mobile private public toilets in southwestern Moscow. Lilya was sitting on a folding chair and reading some good, serious book. You can find any book in Moscow, this is all that Lilya has learned about the capital so far.

Lilya always dreamed of Moscow like Chekhov's three sisters, like any ambitious and capable provincial girl. But Lily knew that she would have to not easy: she has no no money, no connections, no rich and powerful relatives. Lilya lived with her grandmother in her one-room apartment from elementary school. Parents sold their apartment and went abroad to settle in new, more welcoming places. They basically succeeded after several years of ordeal. But it turned out only apart.

Dad married a French woman, mother married a wealthy American. Lilya and her grandmother looked at the beautiful photographs of their new children with affection. Mom promised that she would take them with their grandmother to her place. But over time, promises became less frequent, a topic appeared: "the husband is not ready for this yet." Dad just melted into the fog of another life. The money that my mother sent from time to time was enough, taking into account my grandmother's pension, only for the most necessary. People who have left Russia forget very quickly what and how much it costs. Grandma started to get sick. Their life was reduced to the search, the acquisition of drugs, temporary relief and return to the circle. Lilya, every time before talking to her mother, mustered up the spirit to ask for some things. Her peers were keen on outfits and boys. But the conversation began and ended with my mother’s stories about where and how she rested with her already three American children. Then the traditional: "How are you?" Lilya just as cheerfully answered: “Everything is the same with us. Grandma is feeling better. I am an excellent student". Mom said goodbye easily. When she nevertheless said that she was drawing up an invitation for Lilya and her grandmother, the grandmother said: “She was late. I can't go that far. Get together alone, baby. " In fact, my grandmother could no longer be far or close. She practically did not get up. And Lilya replied to her mother that she was now planning to try to get a job in Moscow. Go to study or go to work. Maybe it will be possible to exchange their grandmother's apartment for a Moscow one. There are no prospects in Samara.

Mom made a convenient conclusion for herself: her daughter became independent. “Call when you get to me,” she said. Lilya realized that she needed to close the topic. No offense: it so happened that she has no relatives, except for her grandmother, who dedicated her life to her, and now she is going to die quietly in poverty, abandonment and longing.

Lilya graduated from school with a medal, chose the most decent, kind and responsible neighbor Nadya, who was just sitting without work, and they signed an agreement, according to which Nadia became a permanent nurse with her grandmother. They determined the real amount, Lilya just didn't say how unrealistic this real amount is for her now. After all, everyone thought that they were supported by rich parents from abroad. But the girl was confident in her stable future in Moscow. So many have succeeded, and she will.

She did not go to an empty place. She was invited to her place by the neighbors' daughter Zina, who left a few years ago with two small children. In Moscow, she had another baby. Zina did not say anything about her husband, she spoke briefly and importantly about herself: “I have a business”. She walked around Samara on short visits proud, brightly, albeit tastelessly dressed. And there was no doubt that she was a businesswoman.

Lilya raised her head above the thick and beautifully published Crimson Petal and White by Michel Fiber, which she wrapped in a plastic bag to keep dust and odor as her greatest asset. She looked at two blankets and a stroller in the grass of the lawn by the public toilet cubicles. Here is Zina's business. Entrance to one booth - thirty rubles. Here are her happy heirs, who, like Leela, were lucky to get to the capital. While they flounder on their bedding, like puppies, play, laugh. Zina needs to save money for their school. An ancient and evil old woman registered them in her three-room apartment. We entered into an annuity agreement. In addition to the monthly rent for the apartment - full support of the hostess, care, cleaning, treatment. For any reason, the old woman threatens to expel. Therefore, children here, on the grass and in the sun, are certainly better off than in an apartment, where they are told to speak only in whispers and are forbidden to play noisy funny games. And the baby is always plugged with a dummy.

Lilya pays for housing separately. The hostess is looking closely at her: maybe she will also benefit her. But she named in advance a very large amount that she would like to receive for this. Greed, apparently, never part with a person - neither on earth, nor beyond.

Zina, of course, also invited Lilya as a partner, not in order to get her to the Moscow Olympus. She needs an assistant both with the children and with this round-the-clock, dirty and fraught with all sorts of troubles work. They earned, however, nothing. It worked out to eat, buy cheap rags and save something for the children.

Lilya could not look for another job, and not only because she quickly became attached to all of Zina's problems. Where can you go in Moscow without registration? So she pleased a strange and spiteful old woman with a stick, and at night she cried from longing for her grandmother. Their common, cozy life seemed so warm and bright to her.

She was constantly looking for a part-time job on Zina's computer. She needed to send money to her grandmother and Nadya. Lilya washed windows, washed and cleaned from strangers. Walked with children and dogs. She gave part of the money to Zina, believing that they had the same working time, which meant that they had the same income.

“It’s gone well for you,” Zina once remarked. - It's also because you are so white, pretty. Nobody has pestered you yet in these apartments, where do you go?

- No. There are no men there, where I come. I mean, hostesses invite me when the family is at work.

- I want you not to be stupid. Everything needs to be calculated very well in Moscow. Think with your head. To marry only a very rich man, even if he is at least one hundred and fifty years old, even better if that is. Don't be fooled by the paycheck to paycheck option. You know, I do not regret that I did not marry the men with whom I have children. One did not want to marry, two offered. But I myself want to be the mistress of myself and the children. You, of course, think that the toilets are worse than your husband, but I think differently. Save up some money - we'll stir up something better. I can only tell you: when I arrived, I fell into such a vice, with no options. At night I left the children with the janitor's house, where I rented an apartment, and went on duty on the street.

- Where to watch?

- On the highway with prostitutes. With the cheapest prostitutes. And now - a Muscovite, our Polina is not eternal. There is no business, registered as an individual entrepreneur. Do you feel progress?

- Yes, - Lilya answered thoughtfully. Her heart ached, flowing with tears: God, where did you take me?

And then a disaster struck. The eldest boy of Zina, six-year-old Kolya, got hit by a car, running out from the lawn. Operations, bribes to doctors, a regular visiting nurse after the hospital by private agreement for procedures, medicines, good food, fruits ... The hostess did not even think to get into the situation, tore from them for everything to the maximum. I endlessly invented new diseases for myself.

And one day Zina said to Leela:

- Only you can save us now.

Lilya understood what she was talking about right away. Zina more than once, driving away the tipsy and sober men from her, repeated like a mantra that she wanted to drive into Leela's head:

- You don't know the prices. Another with your appearance would have been rowing money with a shovel.

In short, Zina, who went through the first circle of hell called prostitution, chose a different path for Lily, which Zina herself no longer suited: not very beautiful by nature, she turned from her labor and childbirth into a mother, a rude aunt. And I kept the channels I learned about then. This is the work of a call girl, work under the supervision and guidance of experienced pimps who know how to look for clients of a certain type for a girl - amateurs of this particular type. Clients are willing to pay handsomely for their aesthetic preferences. So Lilya met Cyril. He also deprived her of her virginity as an element interfering with work. Before this act, Zina gave Lily a drink of tranquilizers to kill fear, shame, pain and protest.

“Mind you, there won't be any further pills,” she said. - You can get hooked, but no one needs drug addicts. Then Kirill will tell you how to relax and have fun, or at least imitate it well. He is an experienced person and not evil. Promises to pay decently. And there, who knows ... What if you get lucky on a big scale. I know girls who started their real life with this. Now the ladies are super duper.

Lilya was prepared for her debut, as a rookie for the first fight. Cyril took her to the clinic to see a doctor, who organized a complete medical examination and started a medical history. They put a spiral on her, taught her various ways to prevent infections, and set days for regular check-ups. Cyril picked up a moderately erotic wardrobe for her, chose the role of a home girl with undisclosed vicious potential. I started to study the market.

On the appointed day, Lilya, dressed in a very short black dress with a white school collar and cuffs, got into the car of her driver and security guard Yegor. She was brought to an old brick house in the center of Moscow. On the threshold of a large apartment with antique furniture, a fat man with shortness of breath and a pale diabetic face greeted her. Yegor showed him his watch. Lilya arrived at exactly one hour. This was Kirill's condition for a novice worker.

The man let her in, closed the door in front of Yegor and hastily began to pull off Lily's dress, right in the hallway, puffing, covered in sweat, panting with lust. They did not manage to get anywhere beyond the hallway in an hour. Lilya was saved from realizing what was being done to her by a fog of disgust. What she understood: this unhealthy person in all respects wants some girl inaccessible to him since childhood. This is his main diagnosis, he called Lilya - Agnieszka, muttered: "Come to me, otherwise dad will punish you." Rolling his eyes, drooling at her. The hour, fortunately for Lily, ended quickly, and Yegor first rang the doorbell, then lightly knocked on it with his foot. Then he struck loudly and demandingly. Lilya was released, the man returned her dress with wet hands, banknotes, which Yegor took imperiously, trembled in his thick fingers. Call girls are not allowed to take clients' money, said Cyril, the employer.

He met them at Zina's house, looked at the amount, nodded approvingly:

- Twice more than agreed. Well done. And you were afraid.

Zina was also pleased with the amount that Cyril counted out to Leela. Lilya went to her corner behind the screen, fell on the bed and for an hour and a half listened only to her silent commands to her brain: "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep." When her brain took pity, she swam along some channels and labyrinths in search of herself, her life, and she was caught up, laughing hysterically, naked, shameless and insolent Agnieszka. “You are not Lilya,” she shouted. - I'll tell everyone about you. Grandma too. "

Such a strange woman appeared in the market window of affordable priestesses of love. With the soul of a strict virgin, with a gentle and seductive body, which was the setting for a hidden furious protest against the violent intrusion into his secret. Ultimately, it was a protest against the very essence of men whom Lilya recognized from this side: they are carriers of a soulless, mechanical, cruel mechanism of torturing femininity.

She was, as in forced labor, the life of her grandmother, the health of Zina's little son, the future of all Zina's children depended on her diligence and the quality of the work. Lilya no longer thought about her future. Everything became easier: to survive. Until the night, until tomorrow, until the day when he can send money to grandmother. Lilya watched her appearance, as Cyril ordered. She was always impeccably dressed, with a beautiful hairstyle of shiny blonde hair. Light green eyes remained clear, she learned to close them forcibly and sleep. Sleep in every free period of time, so as not to remember or know anything. Zina freed her from work at the toilets and most of the childcare. There was enough money for a babysitter. Mistress Polina, like all greedy people, quickly felt the change in Lily's status, who became the main breadwinner, and registered her in the apartment as a distant relative.

Only in one area did Lilya stubbornly ignore Cyril's instructions. She refused to imitate what she didn't feel: passion. Cyril lagged behind her when he realized that perhaps this is what makes her so attractive to clients. They were aroused by their own role as rapists. It is easy for a prostitute by vocation to portray passion. But it is impossible to portray bashfulness and chastity for a prostitute.

“Yes, any nun is more depraved than this girl in her thoughts,” Kirill thought sometimes, feeling something like tenderness and sympathy for his new project. But the business demanded a transition from one level to a higher one. Soon Lilya was sent to a client not for an hour, but for three and five, then for the night, then not to one client, but to a group of men. Kirill's income grew, Lily's percentage increased. She finally ceased to be afraid of complete lack of money and tomorrow. Zina opened a fruit shop and even hired a worker, whom she set up a camper for permanent residence at the shop. The children went to a good kindergarten. Kolya was preparing for the first grade with a teacher next door.

Lilya endured everything except pain. This was her first serious demand. Kirill not only designated this as the main condition for clients, he once gave a demonstration lesson and made sure that all consumers of the secret empire became aware of his anger. When Yegor brought Lilya in bloody scars from lashes, with hands and feet worn out by handcuffs, Cyril urgently called not only a traumatologist, but also a psychiatrist to the girl. She was released for a week, treated in a small private clinic, mainly for severe depression. Scars on the body healed faster than on the soul. Lilya did not want to talk to anyone, eat, sleep, live.

A group of serious guys went to the address of the men who rented one rich apartment. The apartment was equipped as an office with a secret room in the style of sadomaso. When Cyril's guys left this apartment, the neighbors called the police and an ambulance to the terrible groans. All the participants of that orgy were found in the apartment in a state of chops. They were shown on the news, they themselves refused to name the people who dealt with them. They said that they did not know the reasons. All the victims turned out to be good family men, workers with a good reputation. Whoever was interested understood everything.

After an illness, Kirill sent Lilya to the middle-aged, intelligent, modestly and reservedly living head of a small but very successful company, Vitaly Nikolaevich. He invited Lilya for a few hours. She put on "her uniform" - a black dress with a white collar and cuffs. She crossed the threshold and saw a short, thin, gray-haired man in gray trousers and a blue shirt, and for the first time did not say to herself the words: “Lord, help me. Can I really endure all this without anesthesia. "

Vitaly Nikolayevich didn’t rush to pull off her dress, didn’t say hasty, shameless words that didn’t require her answer, didn’t look at his watch to fully enjoy the purchased time ... He led Lilya into the living room, put the children's menu on the table: juices, ice cream, cakes. He sat opposite, looked almost fatherly, admiring, studying. He asked questions about life, listened carefully to the answers. He told some lovely stories. Lilya was laughing! Like at home with my grandmother. She was surprised that she still knew how to laugh.

There was a feeling that they would spend all these three hours talking. Leela thought it was unreal luck. After dinner, he took her to the library, showed her beautiful books and paintings. I still didn't look at my watch. Lilya looked: she did not want Yegor to come for her. And Vitaly Nikolaevich suddenly pulled her gently into a modest, darkened bedroom. When he took off her dress a la schoolgirl, Lilya did not feel nausea and the surge of her usual panic. And when he caressed her gently and carefully, she was not bad and disgusted, the feeling of an invasion of her secret, an insult to femininity, disappeared. She herself did not notice how she froze at first in languor, and then experienced an acute attack of a still unknown disease called desire.

He watched as Lilya returned to herself from this attack, attentively, like a doctor, without touching her anymore.

“This is exactly the way it should be, girl,” Vitaly Nikolaevich replied to her questioningly amazed look. - What a delight: the call girl had her first orgasm. You got scared?

- But did you feel good?

- Yes, - said Lilya confidently.

She got dressed three minutes before Yegor rang at the door. The latter whistled in surprise, glancing at the amount that Vitaly Nikolaevich handed him.

That night, Lilya hurried to sleep so that it would repeat what she had never dreamed of. I woke up with a clear head and sternly asked the sunbeam that slipped through the curtains into her room: “And how can this be combined with my chronic nightmare? Does this mean that a stranger has become my family? He may never call me again. "

But Vitaly Nikolaevich, of course, called. And called her out all night. He called the amount such that Kirill did not even have a thought about trading. And for the first time in her work, Lilya went herself to a not very expensive, but quite decent clothing boutique and bought with her own money a gray crepe dress, closed, tight, with elbow-length sleeves, a skirt below the knees and a zipper across the back. She combed her blond light hair up, pinned it up with a beautiful hairpin, revealing a clear forehead, a delicate oval of the face and a thin neck.

Vitaly Nikolayevich, having examined her in a businesslike manner in the hallway, nodded approvingly and gently pulled her to him to kiss her on the cheek. It was only ten o'clock in the evening. Time ahead - until the morning. Yegor went to spend the night at his home.

The table was set again in the dining room. This time the menu was for adults: with spicy salads, meat and wine. Vitaly Nikolayevich poured wine into glasses and made a toast:

Oh beautiful lily
You are no whiter
There is no more tender than your heart
Look with an obedient look
Be by my side
Here's your cherished ring ...

“Oh,” said Lilya, shocked. - This is Gray's epigraph to the novel "The Crimson Petal and the White"!

- Did you read this book? I'm not surprised. You are a very unusual, interesting girl. I hope it wasn't the heroine's fate that led you to choose such a job?

“Her fate should have made me flee from such a thought to the other end of the earth,” Lilya complained bitterly. “But I fell into a trap. There was no way out. It's bad for me to say that, right?

- Are you afraid to knock my mood off? Do not be afraid. You're not Romance Candy, I'm not a dumb customer. Lift the lid on this jam bowl next to your plate.

Lilya lifted the lid of red Czech glass, and a crimson stone in a ring of white gold gleamed at her from the bottom of a small vase.

“It's a ruby,” said Vitaly Nikolaevich. - Put it on your finger. I am sure I was not mistaken in the size. It is a stone of confidence and passion. He will help such a gentle girl like you to master this science - the science of real passion, which cannot be bought or sold. This is how we begin to get out of your trap.

Which of them was more talented? An intelligent, sophisticated and patient teacher or a student as sensitive as a perfectly tuned expensive violin? Of course, both had to coincide without fail. And the master's symphony was born, which was accepted and voiced by a perfect instrument - the awakened sensuality of a woman who learned about what temptation was hidden in her from herself.