Bogdan dropped out of life for a week. He lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling, remembering a pattern of cracks and cobwebs printed on the wallpaper on his subcortex. He didn't eat, didn't speak, didn't really sleep, just listlessly noted that the first night Kirill lay at the foot of the door like a disgusting pile. At first he was unconscious, after he didn't not dare to crawl to his bed across the room.
At dawn, the boy slipped out into the corridor, and he was not in the room for a day, then he returned, turned out to be disheveled, wearing torn clothes, with fresh bruises on his body. So, it was obvious, the newcomers were given time to get used to the life welcoming them in the rat shed.
In addition, Kirill grew even more emaciated, and if earlier he might have been able to fight back, now he did not even have the strength to escape. He didn't want to eat the local booze, or maybe he was not able to. He always walked around with a pale face. After walking to a dining room he vomited in the toilet. He left the room just to go to school. Every time he flinched if Bogdan moved in his corner, but, apparently, they beat Kirill en masse, because he preferred Bogdan's fists to the others'.
Then they remembered Bogdan and the group's tutor, which name was Vera, and a psychologist came into the room. All the newcomers in the orphanage went to Vera first. About twenty years ago she stopped bothering and feeling sorry for abandoned kids. And Bogdan personally was ready to thank her for that and then turn further to the wall. But the second woman has been working in such a place for only a couple of months and, judging by the enthusiasm in her eyes, she was voluntarily stuck herself in such a place which was rich in freaks. The cute girl decided that she was saving the world.
***
... "Of course, I must talk to everyone in private, but you have a special case, right?" the psychologist simply spoke with her teeth stuck together.
Bogdan was almost ready to bury his nose in the collar of his hoodie and nod dully at everything, listening only to the intonation. Egor, who was a lover of their identical clothes, emerges from his own collar with exactly the same hoodie, licking his lips in anticipation of the trick. He nodded happily.
"Of course, madam, Egor and I are inseparable, we cannot be separated. What's your name?" said Egor.
Bogdan slightly choked.
"Idiot," he said using only his lips. Egor just grinned and imperceptibly raised his eyebrows. That was a stupid game of substitution that even the psychologist couldn't figure out...
***
Bogdan endured a whole hour of tedious chatter about how life was going on. He pretended to find out that everyone needed to move on and the death of loved ones is not an ending and blah blah blah. Then he silently hid himself in a warm black hoodie. This one was without a double because Egor hated this color, because if Bogdan really wanted to be recognized, he wore black color. After the conversation Bogdan went out into the corridor.
Until evening, Bogdan wandered through the corridors, then around the courtyard, and looked at the city glittering with neon lights from afar. Then he went to the boiler room towards the familiar sprawling slabs, but did not managed to get out because from the other side an elegant leg squeezed into the gap with a skirt lifted up to the cast thigh.
"Oh," said the owner of the skirt and legs, blushing. She was unusually pretty. No, not all parents abandoned their children due to external pathologies, but Bogdan managed to see enough of Downs or a girl with a cleft lip, and in general this place was not a comfortable one. The most of the faces were gray, wrinkled, not everyone even knew that washing is a normal thing. And the girls there were often not much different from the guys. They had the same haircut and undyed hair. It was because of a danger to pick up parasites and free money is already scarce, if there was any.
The girl he met had long and dyed hair. Moreover, the bleached hair did not look like burnt wire, which meant it was chemically treated in the salon. The face was clean, the teeth were white, the clothes were not faded, there were even earrings in the ears. And the eyelashes were let down. Was she a real orphanage?
"It would be better if you didn't go there," she followed his gaze and saw the abandon building.
"Why?" asked Bogdan.
"You're new to us, right?" the girl even asked somehow with pity.
"Are you also going to tell me that the building is located in an old cemetery and that ghosts roam around there at night?" he grinned, remembering the every horror story he heard in the shed. A horror film is not a horror film, but the kids really didn't go there.
"Well, Alec just doesn't like it when someone goes there, especially in the evening. The guys there often hurt themselves, and our guys have dragged them on their backs more than once.
"Alec?" asked Bogdan in confusion.
"He's kind of our eldest. You've probably met him, he gets to know everyone new," the girl explained.
"Is it that blond wearing a tracksuit?" Bogdan asked again.
"Yes," she replied.
"I don't think I'm interested in the opinion of a psycho who likes to beat people up in public," Bogdan said.
The girl shook her head.
"Sometimes he goes too far, but in general, he's sane, he just loves spectaculars watch. Don't go into the building anyway." she went on talking.
Her obsessive guardianship irritated Bogdan much more than the words of the psychologist.
"Wherever I want, I go there", he said curtly.
But the girl surprisingly deftly kicked his own foot, when he had already stepped into the hole. She smiled gloomily.
"No need. The building is old, the stone under your feet is falling apart, you might fall and break your neck, especially in the dark", said the girl.
"Why are you so concerned about my neck?" Bogdan said in a sarcastic voice.
"Well, consider me his deputy, your security does not bypass me either", she answered.
"Are you his girlfriend?" Bogdan asked.
"You could say so," she reached out her hand, and he took it, forgetting that the girl was annoying with her care and in general she was too unusual for such a place.
They reached the very entrance to the orphanage before he thought to ask her name.
"Dina," she smiled and went away leaving the soft smell of floral parfume as a souvenir of herself. That seemed absolutely unreal in such a place.
Bogdan returned to the room in high spirits. It was enough to reach the door to see the pale slim figure. It was Kirill and he jumped out looking at Bogdan.
"It's not me," he only managed to say when Bogdan burst into their bedroom.
The room was in a mess. The things were scattered everywhere. They were on the floor, on the bed, on the doorknob, T-shirts were even caught on the hook of the lampshade. Everything on top was aesthetically dusted with feathers, thanks at least they didn't tear the pillow, but simply pulled off the pillowcase. The stuffing itself half fell out of the inside and crumbled like a blanket of snow. Kirill's stuff was scattered around the room in the same way, the backpack was gutted, he disgustedly put his hand in there and grimaced.
"You're stuck in your room all day, what the hell happened here?" Bogdan scolded.
"You're stuck to your bed too," the neighbor snapped.
"You came out. So I went out too. Those bastards stole my phone.
Bogdan reached to his nightstand and discovered that his and his twin's phones were also missing. It was not allowed to take them out of the room; they would ring sometime, distract them from the lesson or from some errands.
The truth was that there was nobody who can even call in this musty place? There was not a single call to Kir too. Bogdan started using the phone only for his brother's sake, but Egor was chatting non-stop. Maybe that's why he didn't go crazy because he was buzzing at his side day and night. When Bogdan recieved SMS from former classmates, it was easy to pretend he and his brother were still in their apartment, walking around the park or planning a picnic. He pretended to see their mother cooking something in the kitchen and there was no need to skip school to find where to earn extra money for the unscheduled outing of the younger bastard. Now the box was empty.
"Clean up here," Bogdan ordered and left.
Not that he was sure who the theft was, but if there was a "senior" here, then something like this would not have passed him by, if it had not been organized by that blond guy one at all. When their money disappeared on the first night, Egor went to complain to the tutor. She listened to him, nodded, but didn't even get up from her chair, and continued to fill out some magazine dregs. Being a naive, kind boy, he continued to puff for a long time, still could not believe that adults did not care about his problems. It was enough for them to know that he was alive, healthy, the rest would be written in the report.
Alec, like the rest of the male population, lived on the second floor. His room was situated in the corner room, where the noise from the toilets and stairs did not reach. Although they made so much noise there that it could cause goosebumps. Maybe Bogdan would have managed to restrain himself, but music was pouring out from behind the door, and actually the tune could not possibly exist there. The track was arranged by Egor and his friends the day before they were taken away. He mumbled for a long time that the track was raw, then he put it in his phone and played over and over with headphones, looking for sharp, ear-piercing bars. And Bogdan silently stole the file for himself and challenged his brother.
"Now go out, knock and come in as expected," said the blond cheerfully, looking philosophically at the door that had been kicked in. The angry guest in the doorway didn't bother him one bit, perhaps because there were about a dozen of them sitting there, and the youngest looked to be at least fifteen—with healthy adult foreheads. Mostly guys, but there were three pawing in the corner and one of them was definitely female with big tits...
"Give back the phones," Bogdan asked, trying to restrain his growl.
"Good evening to you too," the blond nodded affably to the floor in front of him to the laughter of those around him.
Bogdan went inside, but did not bow to the upstart. He threw his hand forward and snatched the stolen stuff. And immediately he felt his hand placed behind his back and raised to his shoulder blades. At once someone from the retinue knocked him to his knees, snatched the ill-fated phone and handed it back to the yawning Alec. It seemed this fuss did not touch him one bit.
"Hush, hush," Alec said.
"The guy is just new, he can be forgiven." he added. The environment began to stir in displeasure. Not to say that the guys stood in the corners in the form of statues, because they was playing cards, the trio on the sofa almost relieved the girl of her clothes to the satisfied chuckle of Alec himself, another couple, also girls, were sitting not far from the door and drawing something on the paper, enthusiastically wielding brushes, good, the door opened in the other direction - no one was slammed. There was only one bed in the room, Alec was definitely assigned here in splendid isolation, and yet the company gathered was clearly familiar.
"I'm getting the phones." Bogdan stubbornly repeated.
"Oh, don't worry," the owner of the room smiled warmly, poking around in one of the stolen phones, which was new, expensive. This one belonged to Kirill and Bogdan didn't care about it at all.
"I just wanted to find out about the newcomers, and phones are now like personal diaries - there's so much junk crammed in," Alec frowned, picking at the playlist, turned it on at random, and the room was filled with enveloping, viscous music, that was pleasant, but unusual.
"What crap." Alec said again.
"Gregorian chants," Bogdan grinned. His legs were numb, but someone stood behind him and, although he didn't break his arm anymore, he didn't let him get up, putting pressure on his shoulders.
Kirill's phone was full of stuff like this; sometimes, forgetting himself, he even purred into his headphones in a quiet, pleasant voice. Without looking at foreign music, the boy knew the words. He pronounced pure text, and did not inherit the sound, like most.
"Even more crap." Alec threw the phone into the bedside table, pulled out a third one from his bosom, an ordinary push-button one. Only the teacher and Egor called Bogdan, and songs could be put into a simple, non-touch box.
"Is that one yours?" Alec unmistakably determined.
Bogdan extended his hand, but the guy deftly turned it away, falling backwards onto the man sitting with his back to them. Not looking at the fact that his back was to the speakers, he did not flinch and generally bent under the fallen body, as if softening it, as if that was why he was sticking out there. Bogdan saw him once before. He was a strong, silent man who always went with Alec and usually beat someone Alec pointed at. Now the guy was putting a poster from some TV series on the wall. All the walls and even part of the ceiling were covered with this, individually the topicless mess was a really reckless thing, but if you didn't peer at the dozens of portrait faces, the room seemed as if it was covered with wallpaper - lived-in and warm, not a faceless orphanage.
"You seem to have already checked the filling, our tastes didn't suit you, give it back it". - said Bogdan.
"Do you deserve to have it?" asked Alec directly. Bogdan was even taken aback by such impudence. He thought that it was stupid to burst in here and knock down the door. Bogdan wouldn't be able to place it. But he didn't want to report to the supply manager. In that case even tutor Vera wouldn't help.
"You stole the phones!" Bogdan screamed.
"Firstly, it's not me, secondly, try to prove it," Alec kicked his chest with his foot, and Bogdan fell on his back under the mocking laughter of those around him. The hubbub in the room died down, everyone turned to the fallen man, as if on command, even the girl who was lying under the guy stopped moaning. And then Bogdan jumped up, aiming at Alec. His escort idly clawed at the air behind him. Bogdan managed to jump onto the bed and hit his enemy's cheekbone with his fist, his knuckles aching, before they grabbed the hood from behind and pulled him back. The throat pinched by the collar was slashed with fire. Alec slid like a snake from under the attacker, moved his head under the jaw of the guy who was already being pulled off him and followed him down, falling on top of the uninvited guest. A sharp shout was sounded when his flock attacked the offender, so that the owner would not be killed along with the victim.
"Are you Bogdan, right?" Alec blew off his bangs, sitting more comfortably on the prostrate guy. Bogdan twitched, but one of the guys stepped on him roughly so he didn't dare to hesitate.
Alec was still smiling, but the smile was reminiscent of the one with which he had beaten the boy a week ago. Blond-haired, light-eyed, with dimples on his cheeks... he would have had the wings of an angel behind his back, but his squinting sent a chill through his skin.
"It seems like your brother crashed a few days ago. So, it seems like you've already come to your senses, since you're crashing the room and grinning at me. You won't get the phone back because you don't deserve it. I was waiting for you at my place even after our first meeting, we would have talked, decided how we could be useful to each other, and everything would be ok." said Alec. And then he let Bogdan go.
Alec carefully touched the bruise on his face. Bogdan suffered a mental blow, but a week of hunger strike deprived him of strength and dexterity; before, five of them could not take him down. Although earlier fights were ordinary street fights, there was no authority there that would incite the entire crowd against one single opponent, or, well, against an opponent and his brother because they often fought as two, even in a small group.
"So you know how to swing your fists," Alec remarked thoughtfully.
Bogdan nodded and tried to attack again. He was pissed off with Alec's ostentatious boredom as he acted very theatrically. One could only guess how Alec managed to persuade this whole pack to fall in line with his chained dogs. This time they tied him down and kicked him. Alec was sitting on his bed and picking at his ill-fated phone without interest.
"It sucks. I don't need brute force, I don't have enough workers," he said so businesslike, like a trader at the market.
"It feels like you're a slave trader," Bogdan spat.
"Well, why," the blond man seemed to be offended.
"Everything is purely voluntary, I don't steal, I just take part of what I earn, the rest remains for the guys." he replied.
"Why should they feed you at all?" Bogdan asked.
"Because I protect them." was the answer.
"From your thugs?" Bogdan asked again.
"From strangers. Sometimes from themselves. " Alec did not boast but simply told. The same boredom was their in his voice, but it seems he wasn't lying.
"If some idiots get into a fight, even the tutors come to me first, because they are still not obeyed." he added.
"I'm also an authority," Bogdan ran over his face, his broken eyebrow twitching disgustingly under his palm.
"They just obey me." Alec said.
"Go out without your retinue, we'll see." Bogdan threatened.
"You have bad mouth. Guys, go ahead. Just don't hit him in the face..." Alec ordered.
... "I don't like this home boys," he finally said, when Bogdan was lying curled up on the floor and his ears were noisy from the beatings and anger.
"Every time I have to explain from the very beginning, teach politeness and in general you're not worth a penny. There are only problems with you. Whether it's homeless children, these immediately know that they need to be friends with the leader otherwise they would be punched in the teeth. And you're bitching about your phone. What a shame." Alec shook his head.
"My mother might be found, she might call me!" Bogdan yelled.
"Yes, and that's why I don't like home children either," nevertheless, Alec opened the plastic box, took out a SIM card and clicked it on Bogdan.
"What about the phone itself?" the guy asked.
"Sorry, mine broke recently, I need a new one. And Ignat also needs one." Alec smiled sweetly again.
"And in general, you're naughty, I'm tired of you. I'll count to three and if you're still here..." Alec said.
This damn love of counting. There, in the building, stunned and confused, he didn't really see the face, but he perfectly remembered that damned murderous countdown.
"One..."
The guys in the room became noisy, came to life, and began banging their feet and hands.They acted like a real pack of fence dogs, noisy and barking. Such people are only strong in a group; individually, an ordinary kick is enough for them. And yet they can tear it apart in a heap...
Bogdan was led, he grabbed onto someone and jerked up. He was cheerfully pushed towards the door.
"Two!"
Someone rushed after him, bringing up a book, slipper, and pillow, grabbed by the arm, to strike. He dodged most of the projectiles, knocked the door in the other direction and fell out. To the familiar cast legs in a short skirt.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
