Feather seventh. Maksim

It was a slushy, dreary autumn. Maxim woke up with a headache and lay for a long time, looking at the crack in the ceiling. Yesterday's nausea returned. This nausea had nothing to do with poisoning. Maxim was sick of hatred and longing. Fortunately, today was Sunday, and the teenager did not have to go to the hated school. It was possible not to leave the house at all, but it was necessary to get food somewhere. Maxim got up and, stepping over heaps of garbage, wandered into the kitchen.

There was no food. None at all. The refrigerator had not worked for a long time, but the boy nevertheless looked into its foul-smelling depths. Nothing. The electricity was turned off for non-payment three days ago. Maxim sighed and returned back to the room. Fumbling in his clothes, he found a bag of chips. It's embarrassing to say, but the boy found this bag in the trash.

One of the high school students threw the chips into the wastebasket, and Maxim picked them up. The boy looked around for a long time, afraid that someone would see him rummaging through the trash. Seizing the moment, he grabbed the torn package and held it tightly to him. He didn't eat chips yesterday. Mother found the strength to cook something and Maxim went to bed relatively well fed. Now the boy was lying mindlessly nibbling potato chips.

The boy knew that just a call would be enough to change his life. Mom will not mind if the son moves to live with his father. The father will transfer his son to another school. In the morning, the boy will have a hot breakfast, and the young stepmother will ... Stop! The boy shook his head negatively. No. It's not worth dreaming. Maxim knew that he would never leave his mother. One could think and dream of another life, but dreams could never fill the stomach.

Maxim was not yet old enough to get a job, but already tall and skinny enough for grannies to shy away from him in the porches. His stomach kept asking for food. The boy's mother drank in front of his eyes. She was not violent or aggressive. Sometimes she even came to her senses, and tried to somehow improve her life and way of life. Sometimes a relatively prosperous life lasted a week or even two, but then everything returned to normal. There is nothing of value left in the house. Once, my mother even tried to sell his textbooks, but all the textbooks were stamped by the library and nothing came of it.

Once a month, my father brought money. However, they lasted for a week. The father tried to somehow control the life of his ex-wife and son, but he was not enough for a long time. The young wife rebelled, demanding her share of attention, and the father stopped daily calls and visits. However, this time the situation has already reached the chapel. There was nothing left in the kitchen except the refrigerator.

Yesterday, my mother dragged the microwave somewhere. She would have shaken off the refrigerator for a penny, but the refrigerator was old. His elastic bands were coming off, and he let the heat through. We bought a refrigerator when we moved into a new apartment many years ago. Maxim did not remember these happy times, he was not yet born then.

Boy Maxim was a unique child. As many as three angels will claim it. All three angels will be ready to lower their feather at his feet. So, the boy was alone, and there were three angels - white, brown and black. Maxim did not yet know that tonight a person would return to his life who would change the usual course of his life. As a result, in a few years there will be an event during which the boy will be forced to make a choice. Unfortunately, the event could not be postponed or rescheduled.

In the meantime, the boy was killing time hour after hour. There was still enough light to read, but the boy could not bring himself to get up. He knew that if you get up and start moving, you will immediately want to eat. In the evening, you can try to steal something in the supermarket or rummage through the trash, but for this you will need to wait until the day is over.
 There was a whistle outside the window. Maxim was startled. His friend is back!

Max had the only friend, but, unfortunately, the friend's parents often left, and the friend (Sasha) was taken away during his absence to his grandmother. Grandma lived in another city. And now my friend is back. Maxim jumped up abruptly. His head was spinning, but the boy ignored it. Friends played late. Maxim was ashamed to admit that he had no money, so when Sasha offered to go to a cafe, Max refused. We parted ways around midnight. Maxim went into the dark house and sniffed the air. There was no one in the house. Mom hasn't returned yet. I wanted to eat more and more. There was no way to fall asleep.

Finally the boy broke down and picked up the phone. The phone, thank God, was still working. Dad paid for the phone at once for six months. Having dialed his father's number, Maxim waited for a long time, but it was not his father who picked up the phone. The stepmother reprimanded the boy for a long time, stressing that his father had to get up early for work, and he, Maxim, toils from idleness and worries a man who works tirelessly to earn a comfortable existence for him (Maxim) and his dissolute mother. When the father finally picked up the phone, the boy no longer wanted to talk about anything. He quickly turnedzgovor and went to sleep. Having somehow calmed his rebellious stomach, he tried to start counting to a hundred, but, as always, some nonsense climbed into his head.

The next morning, Maxim woke up hungry as a beast, but, nevertheless, he was in a good mood. Sasha returned and life promised to be bearable. Sasha was gone for about six months. Maxim followed Sasha home. A friend was finishing breakfast. Max was already sickened when he saw a table laden with dishes. On the table stood: a plate of porridge, a butter dish, bread, and a saucer of cheese.

If two years ago, my mother would have offered Maxim such a breakfast, the boy would have simply rebelled and refused to have breakfast. Now for Maxim this food seemed to be the food of the gods. Sasha briefly greeted his friend and continued to swear on the phone with his mother. He threatened that if the housekeeper tried to feed him such a breakfast again, then he, Sasha, would simply pour this porridge on the head of the housekeeper. Mom promised to change the menu and Sasha disconnected. A friend suggested that Maxim have breakfast while he, Sasha, gets dressed for school. Maxim could not refuse.

As soon as Sasha disappeared into his room, the boy began to stuff food into himself. Soon the stomach hurt, but Max could not stop. He ate a loaf of bread, licked the whole pot of porridge. I ate all the cheese and butter. When Sasha returned, Maxim greeted his friend with a dazzling smile. Life was great! Later, at school, Max became desperate to vomit, but it no longer mattered. The main thing is that the boy ate, and the consequences did not bother him.

Everyone in the class was happy to see Sasha, and someone even tried to push Maxim aside to take his place next to Sasha. Sasha smiled contentedly, but did not allow to offend his friend. All in all, the day went great. After school they returned home to Sasha. The housekeeper set the table and left. The guys had lunch and went up to Sasha's room. The nursery was covered with posters. When Sasha left, none of this happened. He probably decorated the room in this way quite recently.

Above the boy's desk hung a portrait of Hitler. It was not a poster, but a real painting. A heavy frame framed the face of a man with a mustache, dirty bangs, and an upraised hand in greeting. Maxim shook his head. He simply did not expect such an interest from a friend. Maxim himself didn’t care what his friend was interested in, he just considered the topic of fascism and Hitlerism somewhat ... Outdated. However, he preferred to keep his thoughts to himself. After chatting on general topics, Sasha began to tell how much money he had to pay for the posters. Each of the posters was a call. If you believe what was painted on the posters, then it was necessary to kill half the population of the earth in order for the world fascist paradise to reign. Subject to destruction: Negroes, Chinese, Jews, alcoholics, drug addicts, people with various defects - disabled people, downs, mentally handicapped people.

Sashka proudly showed his friend his collection and complained that not all the posters were here yet. There just wasn't enough money. Mom promised that she would replenish his piggy bank and then he (Sashka) would become the happy owner of not only posters, but also portraits of the Fuhrer's associates, Goebbels, Himmler and others.

Maxim didn't care. He knew history poorly, was never interested in the topic of the Great Patriotic War, and recognized the right of his friend Sashka to be carried away by whatever his soul wished. Three days later, Sasha's parents arrived after their son. But nothing has changed in the boys' relationship. Parents were never at home, and Max only went home to sleep. The rest of the time he spent with a friend. And also had breakfast, lunch and dinner, too, with a friend. Literally the next day after returning, Alexander invited Maxim to the club.

To be a member of this club, one had to pay membership fees, but Sasha said that he would pay for Maxim himself. Maxim still didn't care. He went where his friend called and did what Sasha suggested he do. The club where Alexander brought Max turned out to be a serious place. Five times a week, the club taught different types of wrestling. A lecturer came three times a week, read and analyzed Mein Kampf. Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was Hitler's book in which he detailed his political program. The club had a nanotheque, which consisted of a library, a computer room, where everyone had their own computer with access to the global network, and there were infosleep rooms in the nanotheque. The person lay down in a comfortable chair, put on headphones and fell asleep. The man was sleeping, and the headphones were broadcasting one of the lessons.

Sasha studied German in a dream, and Maxim chose French. Maxim's grandmother was French, and the boy dreamed of someday visiting France. The club fed for free. Only members of the club had this privilege. Maxim was very surprised when Sasha said that in all the subjects that are studied at the club, he would have to pass a test. To Maxim's reasonable question, why is all this necessary, Sasha answered simply: in order to extend the membership card. It turns out that only the first installment everyone had to pay on their own. If hflax of the club successfully passed tests, he himself began to pay money - a scholarship. Naturally, a member of the club did not have to pay for anything else.

Maxim began to worry. He could not stand all sorts of tests and tests. His excitement was understandable. Alexander said that if Maxim did not pass the tests, then it would be impossible to extend the membership card. No amount of money will help. This is not your school. At school, they could scold me a little for poor performance, but they still put triples and transferred from class to class. However, Maxim was well prepared for the tests. Everyone in the club was quite serious about studying. No one teased or laughed if Maxim began to seriously get involved in some subject. On the contrary, the boy heard only good things from the members of the club. After the tests, which were more like exams, were passed, Maxim was offered to stay overnight in the club building.

It turns out that the members of the club had their own bedrooms. It was only from the outside that the club looked like a shabby, one-story building. The bedrooms were located on the underground floor. Sasha refused to stay at the club for the night, he felt good at home. Maxim seized on this opportunity and agreed. The director of the club, who is also the rector of the Survival University, said that he would deal with Max's parents himself. Maksim was added to the list of those who, in addition to lunch and dinner, would also have breakfast, and this was the end of the settlement process. Maxim himself did not notice how he began to study well at his school.

However, this circumstance did not excite anyone. Sometimes Max came home. But at home everything was still the same. Mom was not happy when her son told her that for a quarter he had only fives in his diary. Mom didn't care. My father and stepmother left for six months somewhere in hot countries to sit out the winter and return when summer comes. The stepmother was found to have some kind of outlandish allergy. Allergies had to be treated with sun, sea and shopping. Pokryahtev, the father collected all the available cash, and they went to the place of rest and treatment.

Only the director of the club paid attention to the fact that the boy's grades improved. He called Max in for a chat. After a half-hour conversation, the boy left the office excited and happy. However, learning became more and more difficult. Once on the line, the rector announced that from the second half of the year three more foreign languages would be introduced. And also: make-up lessons, stage speech and stage movement. Maxim did not mind, he liked to study more and more.

Sasha suddenly jumped up. He was ready to learn all the rubbish that the rector slipped, but he did not like that the club's administration began to get into his personal life. By personal life was meant a passion for posters with fascist symbols. Despite the fact that Alexander's family was loyal to his son's hobby, the rector recommended that the boy remove posters and portraits and put them out of sight. Sasha was indignant and refused to comply with the recommendation. Punishment followed immediately. The boy was denied access to the club for two weeks.

When two weeks passed, they agreed on this: Sasha had his own bedroom in the club. In it, the boy hung his good.
 Below the level where the bedrooms were located was the floor where the weapons were stored. At special lessons, the children were taught to handle various types of weapons. They taught this weapon to disassemble and assemble. A little further down the corridor were rooms where the guys could try out the weapons they had just assembled. There were about nine shooting galleries. So far, only three training rooms with targets have been opened for students.

Another six months passed. Summer has come and classes are over. However, no one from the club drove Max. Sasha was taken back to her grandmother. On the floor where the bedrooms were located, only three rooms remained occupied. Maxim and two other guys lived in them. The guys were not from here, their parents lived somewhere in the provinces, and it was inconvenient for the boys to travel far every time to classes that were held at the club.

From the second year of study, it was proposed to come to classes in uniform. At the lectures, the guys began to be called young national socialists. Of course, Maxim knew who the National Socialists were, but it never occurred to him to object. The boy was afraid to get his uniform dirty in weapons training lessons. Fumbling with weapons was a dirty business. However, he was told that there was nothing to worry about. It was recommended that the uniform, soiled in gun grease, be thrown into the linen lift-box after the lesson, upon returning to the room. There were several buttons on the side of the room opposite the box lift. As soon as the student pressed the button, a clean and ironed form crawled out of the hole in the wall.

Maxim liked to walk in everything clean. Even if the uniform remained clean and not soiled during the day, the boy still sent it to the laundry lift. It was more convenient that way. There was no closet in the bedroom, which surprised Maxim at first. There was a hanger on which a few personal items were hung for going out into the city. Everything else appeared from a crack in the wall on demand. This also appliedunderwear, and socks and, of course, uniforms. Maxim moved to the tenth grade in a comprehensive school and at the same time began his third year of study at Survival University. Four more foreign languages, a lesson in fine arts, a lesson in photography were added.

Additional classes in physics and chemistry were introduced. In both lessons, emphasis was placed on the study of poisons and explosives. There were no days off at all. On Sundays we went far out of town. The children were taught the ability to overcome all sorts of obstacles. This included rock climbing and parkour and stunt elements. The first half of the third year of study is over. Maxim successfully passed the exams.

Unexpectedly, he was offered to return to live at home. Maxim was alarmed. He did not understand why he was being punished, because both his studies and discipline were at the highest level. In the secondary school, things were so good that Maxim could finish school with a gold or silver medal. However, the rector of the university reassured the boy and said that living at home is also part of the third year curriculum. Suddenly, all subjects disappeared from the program, except for the psychology and ethics of the National Socialist. The third subject was called the course of the aesthetics of the man of the future. The rector explained to Maxim that the boy's scholarship increases from course to course. Maxim had a bank card. She was given to him in the first year of study. But the boy still hasn't used it. There was no need.

At the university, Max was provided with food and new clothes for every day. The boy didn't need anything else. However, the boy only spent the night at home. Breakfast at the club started very early, so Max went to bed the way he was used to at the club. I went to bed at twenty-one and got up at six in the morning. This life lasted for about a month. But one day the rector called Maxim and announced that Maxim would need to stay at home for about two more months. The club was closed for renovations. For two months, all students were sent home.

The first days the boy walked like a lost man. The mother was not happy. She is used to bringing her friends over. Maxim was not the right company for such feasts. The boy was disdainful and hated the way of life that his mother led, but he had nowhere to go. Maxim's mother was a simple woman. She considered her way of life the only right one for an abandoned woman with her son. Maxim scared her. If three years ago, he could just be sent to sleep in his room, now the young man did not allow himself to be treated like that. Maxim endured two weeks.

When another drunk stumbled into his room and tried to start educational work on the topic: “be simpler and people will reach out to you!” the young man drove the drunk first out of the room, and then out of the apartment. The mother threatened her son, reasoned with him, frightened him that he would also leave home, but Maxim was firm: no more companies. So two months passed.

April ended. Finally, Maxim got a call and was offered to come to the club. The boy flew there like on wings. However, what he saw did not please him. He saw that no repairs were carried out in the club. Maxim was deceived, but no one was in a hurry to explain the reason to him. The young man was offered to continue his studies again, but his bedroom was occupied. Some rookie took over. The rector, without going into details, explained that Maxim would attend classes as before, but he would still have to live at home. Some subjects that are studied at the medical university have been added to the curriculum.

Thunder struck as the final exams of the third year approached. Each student was given a monstrous task. A member of the Survival Club, and there were very few of them left by the third year of training, needed to kill a person. Sasha has not studied with Maxim for a year now. He was expelled from the club for obstinacy and disobedience at the end of his second year of study. However, Maxim did not even notice this. He was just not up to it. The boys were still friends, met at school, shared news, but tried to avoid the topic of club membership in the conversation. Of the twenty people who started training with Max, only six remained. Three girls, three boys. All six have not lived within the walls of the club for two months now. Nonresidents rented apartments, since the scholarship allowed. Those who lived in the city lived at home with their parents.

Maxim did not know what was offered to the other five of his fellow practitioners. The young man himself was given a clear and unambiguous task. He had to kill the Chinese. Not any particular Chinese, but any man of Chinese nationality. The murder of an Asian man was the topic of his thesis and at the same time the main criterion for his assessment in the final exams. Max didn't know what to think. He understood that the task he had been given was no joke. And he knew that his future lay on the scales. All the knowledge, skills and abilities that he acquired at the club could help him achieve a lot in life. What is there to say; the boy knew perfectly well that he had no choice. The wise mentor knowingly sent him home for several months. VerWhen he returned to his father's house, the boy got the opportunity to compare. If he refuses the task, what is left for him? An eternally drunk mother, an apartment in which it has long been impossible to live, and complete emptiness around.

Graduates of Survival University were doing very well in life. Academies and universities around the world opened their doors wide for them. After graduation, graduates immediately had the opportunity to take high positions. As far as Maxim knew, several graduates even worked at the headquarters of the President of Russia, not to mention graduates who held high positions in America, Germany, England, and France. Of course, Maxim could now enter one of the institutes of his native city. But what future awaited him? The thought that he would have to return every evening after classes here, to this house, deprived the young man of any desire to think about the future.

The graduates were given a month to prepare the thesis assignment. During this time, the students had to decide on the victim. It was necessary to choose with what weapon the one who was chosen as a victim would be killed. In general, decide: where, how, when and whom. Moreover, all your thoughts and calculations had to be put down on paper. Three weeks before the alleged murder, it was necessary to bring the finished diploma to your curator, discuss all aspects, get his approval, and only then proceed with the assignment. That is, to do everything the way it is done in any higher educational institution. The only difference was that the topic of this thesis was murder.

Nobody bothered Maxim for two weeks. Apparently, the wise mentors understood that it was not easy for the young man to make the final choice and decide to kill. Sasha went abroad with his parents. Mother has not been home for a week. The father, as always, was not up to his son. The young man was not disturbed. Maxim withdrew a certain amount from the card, but left the house only when it was no longer possible to endure hunger. It only seemed to him that he was thinking and reflecting on the current situation, in fact, for a week now he had simply not thought about anything. Or rather, he thought, but not about what the mentors wanted from him. He thought about books, he thought about performances, he thought about the works of outstanding artists.

Last year, his entire group was taken to France. In Paris, among other excursions, there was an excursion to the Louvre. In the hall of Italian painting, in the Denon wing, Maxim stood for about an hour near the painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting depicted Mona Lisa or, as she was sometimes called otherwise, Gioconda. Of course, up to this point, the boy had identified many reproductions of the Mona Lisa theme, but he never suspected that the original would make such an impression on him. He saw the statue of Vinera de Milo, the statue of Nike of Samothrace. The treasures of the Louvre floated before his eyes and filled with their beauty every cell of his body. The boy woke up only when he realized that it was time to take a breath. Delight so overwhelmed his soul that he involuntarily began to hold his breath.

Now, after the lapse of time, from the entire excursion, Maxim remembered only the delight that seized him in front of the picture of the Mona Lisa. In order not to think about the thesis, Maxim plunged into the mystery of the Mona Lisa. He had a small laptop that he always carried with him. Day after day, he searched the Internet for the solution to the riddle of the great picture. In order to read articles in the language of the author of the picture, Maxim learned Italian. Of course, it would not be true to say that he learned it in a month. It took a year to learn the language, but, nevertheless, even reading articles in Italian, the young man could not get closer to the answer. He slept no more than three hours a day. His eyes were red, and his back hurt incredibly, but the boy searched and searched.

When two weeks passed, Maxim got a call from his teacher and asked how his work was progressing. Maxim replied that he had just started work today. The teacher was dissatisfied. He said that all the graduates, except for Maxim, had already made preliminary drafts for their diploma and received the approval of their teachers. The woman was unhappy. In the event of a bad mark on the defense of the thesis, not only Maxim would suffer, the teacher would also experience hardships. She would have been stripped of her award.

Surprisingly, while talking with the boy about the problems associated with writing a diploma, the woman only casually touched on the task that had to be completed before defending the diploma. After talking with the curator, Maxim could no longer return to those serene thoughts that swarm in his head half an hour earlier. Sighing, he typed the name of the country into his laptop: China. Maxim knew nothing about the Chinese. All his knowledge began and ended with the Chinese market. Nowhere else in everyday life did his paths cross with the Chinese. Yes, there were several other Chinese restaurants in the city. But even in the first and second restaurants the waiters were Russian.

Having opened the page where it was told about China, Maxim unexpectedly began to read. Right there, on the page, were engravings of beautiful landscapes drawn in ink. Maxim was an excellent painter, this was noted by teachers not only in the club, but also in general education. oh school. Impressed by what he read, he tried to draw a small sketch in the sei genre and he succeeded! Of course, the boy did not have mascara, like real Chinese artists. Maxim painted with three colors, white, black and gray, and tried not to think about anything. The more the boy read, the more perplexed he became.

Who came up with the idea of putting China on the list of nations to be destroyed? Why is a nation, whose roots go so deep into the past, put in a row of people unworthy of living on earth? Who made such a decision? Why? Maxim did not know that those who gave him the task did not care who he killed. The decision was made by lottery. Six teacher-curators participated in this draw, and each pulled out a piece of paper, which indicated the nation of the person who was supposed to be killed by his student.

Maxim liked one of the girls who studied with him. So, this girl got a task even more difficult than Maxim. She was asked to kill a black man. The girl was upset. The town in which they lived was not very large, and there were no Negroes living there. When she came all in tears to the curator, he promised to help her. And he kept his promise. Of course, he could not find a 100% Negro, but he found a girl in whose veins Negro blood flowed. The girl's mother was Russian, and her father was Ethiopian. Classmate Maxim immediately calmed down and cheered up. The victim was scheduled, the girl did not care about the rest. Having developed a plan for getting to know the future victim, the girl went to the curator for approval. But of course Maxim did not know all this. Another week has passed. One day, the rector's secretary called and invited Maxim for a conversation. The boy understood that this was a bad sign. Until now, the rector called him himself. However, there was nothing to do, the boy got ready and went to the place that he considered his real home for three whole years. The rector made the boy wait in the waiting room for two hours. However, when the conversation began, he did not scold the boy and spoke to him as gently as before.

Maxim could not please his senior comrade in the party. He didn't even touch his diploma. Maxim did not harm, no. He just didn't know how to approach this work. He was unprepared for the task he was given. The rector spent a long time finding out what was preventing the young man from starting work, and finally everything became clear to him. After a pause, he smiled again and said to Maxim.

“You disappoint me a lot. But you were my best student. But well, I have no right to force you to do what you do not want, however ... In this world, nothing happens just like that, for beautiful eyes. When your friend Sasha was expelled, his parents had to shell out a tidy sum. You didn `t know? Your friend didn't tell you anything?

“No,” the young man whispered in confusion, “I…

“So you didn’t say so,” the rector boomed with satisfaction, “but it’s a pity if you knew everything, maybe you would have behaved differently.” And the diploma has already been completed and written. Where do you think the money on your card came from? Who pays the teachers who teach you? What money was used to organize the excursions that you went on for three years? If I'm not mistaken, have you been to America, England and France with your band? Well answer!

“I don’t know,” Maxim lowered her head lower.

— Your education is financed by very serious people. People who want to finally bring order to our unstable world. In addition to the first membership fee, no money was taken from promising guys, one of whom turned out to be you. On the contrary, they helped you talented children with all their might. But you turned out to be unworthy of our care, you failed the first serious task with a bang.

- I, - Maxim tried to say something, but a lump in his throat blocked his vocal cords.

- What you? the rector asked with the same sympathy. “Do you mean to say that you will finally take on the assignment?”

“Yes,” Maxim said with difficulty.

“All right,” the man smiled again, “but so that you don’t have the desire to start a strike again, I’ll tell you this. Your training cost us,” the rector glanced at the computer screen, “three million dollars. As you understand, you need to earn this money. Otherwise, your family will have to pay. And since you have no money, you will have to pay not with money, but with your lives. But, do not be afraid, we can avoid all this if you do everything that is required of you.

If you are not confident in your abilities, then turn to your fellow students. They will gladly help you. Of course, this is against the rules. And the grade for the thesis will be reduced, but still, it will already be at least something. There are six of you. All together you will be able to complete this task with jewelry. Well, should I notify the curators that you need help? Not? Can you handle it yourself? Well, go ahead and work.

Maxim agreed with the rector and was determined to get to work. However, when he returned home, he realized that he was cornered. Sitting in front of the laptop screen, Maxim tried to write something, but the matter did not move. There were only two words on the screen: “I don’twow!
There was no exit. Maxim couldn't kill a man. So they will kill him.
Ten years ago, Maxim's beloved sister died, she was the eldest and loved her brother very much. That day, my sister, her name was Alena, was attacked by a gang of teenagers. The gang consisted of girls, there were only two boys. Alena was leading Maxim from kindergarten when she was attacked. Maxim saw how his sister was beaten, but he could not do anything. When he tried to protect Alena, he was thrown so that he hit the ground, he stopped feeling his arms and legs. He saw how his sister was killed, saw her look turned to him, saw ...
After the death of her sister, the family began to fall apart. Father loved Alena very much. Gradually things got worse and worse, until the father announced that he was leaving for another woman.
So many years had passed, but the cries of his sister still sounded in the boy's ears. Maxim rushed around the house, but could not calm down. Finally, he got up and went to the cemetery. It was already getting dark when the boy had to get up from the bench. The cemetery was closed. After stroking the photograph of his sister again, he got up and took a few steps, but was surprised to see that bird feathers lay near the fence. There were three feathers - white, black and brown. Maxim looked back. He sat near the grave for more than half a day and did not see any birds nearby. The plots were arranged so that there were large spaces between them. And all these spaces were covered with fine and clean sand. However, the area where Alena rested was adjacent to a rock, and trees hung over it from two sides.

Trying to find birds, Maxim examined the trees, but did not see anyone.
 This is understandable, because the feathers were dropped by angels.
 The moment of truth has come.
 High, high, where people can't see, three angels froze, watching the boy. The brown angel was especially worried. He was sure that the boy would pick up his pen, but it happened differently. Maxim kicked off the brown feather with the toe of his boot. The color of the feather reminded him of the color of the uniform he wore at the club. The black and white feather fixed his gaze for a long time. Suddenly Maxim wanted to draw. Right here on the sand.
The matter was small, it was necessary to choose which pen the drawing would be made with. It became completely dark, and so the young man chose a white feather. The picture he painted in the sand was done in the Chinese sei style. When the painting was finished, he suddenly realized how to solve the mystery of Mona Lisa. Here he carried out his intention. Mona Lisa's face was placed in the center of the painting. And the truth was revealed to Maxim, which the admirers of the great Leonardo had been looking for for many generations. The crux of the mystery was...

However, you yourself can solve this riddle by placing the oval of the Gioconda's face in any landscape, executed in the manner of the sei style. I have to hurry!
 However, my story is coming to an end. Maxim returned home. And although he realized that he had only a few days left to live, his heavy thoughts left without a trace. From the cemetery he came touched and calm. When the week was coming to an end, Maxim was unexpectedly invited to the police. invited as a witness.

The police arrested the girl Angela, who wanted to kill the thirteen-year-old Anastasia. Angela, under some pretext, lured the girl to an abandoned wasteland, but did not have time to kill her. The girl's father, the same Ethiopian, suspected something was wrong and followed his daughter's new friend. Nastya was psychologically traumatized, but survived. Angela said that she is a member of a closed club. She also said that she had studied at the Survival International University for three years. The girl's murder was her thesis.

When the police decided to visit the club management, it turned out that the club was closed. Moreover, it turned out that the club building had been closed for repairs for two days already. None of the people named by the girl could be found in the club. There was only a watchman in the clubhouse, who did not know about anything. The girl was very reluctant to testify. Only a week later, the police learned about the underground premises of the club. However, when it was decided to visit the club for the second time, it turned out that just the day before there had been a terrible fire in the club's premises.

Luckily, no one was inside at the time of the fire. No one was hurt, not even the watchman. No one could confirm or deny the words of the girl. Angela knew the teachers by sight, but apart from their first and middle names, she knew nothing about them. She couldn't even describe her curator. She only mentioned his name. The investigation reached a dead end, and suddenly the girl remembered the name of one of her fellow students. She knew for sure that the young man lives not far from the club. Once he even invited her home. Having learned why he was invited to the police, Maxim was at first confused, it even occurred to him that in this way the rector was testing his loyalty. When Maxim was read Angela's testimony, the young man decided to deny everything.

As the investigator did not try, the young man did not tell anything. He confirmed that he was a member of the club, but denied that he had received the task to kill the man. Max was embarrassed. He understood that the investigator would never believe in toh, that Maxim did not understand where he was studying. The young man suspected that the police would not find anyone. He was not afraid that the rector and his brethren would take revenge if he told about everything. The young man simply could not bring himself to turn out dirty linen in front of complete strangers. He realized that if you tell, then you have to tell everything. And he would have to start his story with an alcoholic mother and an indifferent father. And if the young man had already made some decision, then no one could make him change his mind. When Alena was alive, only she could persuade her brother. In general, the investigator could not get anything from Maxim. Angela, in the end, told the investigator about everything, but the facts were not enough, and the investigator was at a dead end.

The girl was let down by excessive zeal. The fact is that Angela had to first gain confidence, find out all the circumstances of the life of thirteen-year-old Nastya, and only then, after all the information had been set out in writing, would the curator choose the time and place for liquidation. Moreover, the management of the club took on all the work of preparing for the murder. For ten years of existence of the club there was not a single puncture. None of the students has ever come to the attention of the police. Angela decided to stand out. She tracked down Nastya herself and wanted to kill her. Her plans were not just to bring the finished thesis to the curator on paper, but to report that the thesis had already been done.

The girl did not understand that it was not the murder itself that was important for the curators, but the fact that the student who committed the murder became dependent on the people who organized the club for life. Survival University trained cold-blooded and non-judgmental people. Not all students became hitmen. Only one percent of the students were used as liquidators, all the rest worked for the secret leadership of the university according to their abilities. I suspect that a white angel pushed the girl to a reckless act that put an end to Angela's future career.

However, I can't say for sure. After a while, Angela was released. Except for Maxim, no one could confirm or refute her words. In the evening of the same day, Maxim threw a bank card into the waters of the river. The young man got a job as a waiter in one of the Chinese cafes, and the summer flew by in an instant. The boy graduated from the eleventh grade with honors. And when he was already in his first year at a local university, an amazing event happened: Maxim's mother stopped drinking. Miracles happen, you just need to make the right preparation for the miracle to happen and be able to declare itself.

That's actually the whole story.

I will add just one. When Maxim's mother, exhausted and beaten by her own drinking companions, was brought home by an unfamiliar man, Maxim at first could not believe his eyes. In front of him stood a Chinese. He held the unconscious woman and tried to explain something. The Chinese turned out to be a resident of a neighboring house. He was a businessman, lived in Russia for about three years and still spoke Russian poorly.

Compatriots squeamishly walked around the beaten woman, and only a neighbor showed mercy and literally brought the victim home. Maxim called an ambulance. Mom was in the hospital for a long time, and when she came out, she became a different person. Of course, there were still relapses, even old friends sometimes came to the light, but gradually everything returned to normal. Sometimes, before going to bed, Maxim recalls his studies at the Survival University and thinks, what would happen if he, Maxim, then stepped over himself and killed a Chinese man? What if this man turned out to be the same neighbor? And in this case, who would have saved Maxim's dying mother?