Millionka 2

CHAPTER THREE. GRISHKA

- Grishka, did you hear that a man was found dead this morning!

- Ha, big deal! Yes, we find dead people almost every morning! Yesterday, they say, as many as thirty Chinese died!

- Listen to me, you fool! The fact of the matter is that it was Russian! Filka, the clerk’s son, told me from Semyonovskaya!

- You're lying, I suppose! Worry!

- Here are those crosses! You should sleep more! So you will sleep through the kingdom of heaven! It’s already noon, and you’ve only opened your eyes!

- You, Nikolka, are greedy! You live with your father and mother and don’t understand that I need to feed my little sister and grandmother. I am the only breadwinner left! I spent the whole night catching the moment to steal fish from the Chinese!

- Grishka, what are you doing? Stealing is bad! Father Feofan says...

- Listen, Nikolka, go home! Woke me up and thank you, otherwise I fell asleep after a night out! Now go, go! Go, mommy is waiting for you!

- Grishka, are you offended? Do not be angry! You know, I have a tongue... First I speak, and then I think! Well, Grishka!

- Okay, Nikolka. Not angry. I'm so tired that I don't even have the strength to be angry with you! So what about the murdered man?

- And he’s not a man at all, but a young guy! Five years older than you and me! His hands are cut off! And the official shirt is cut into shreds!

- Government shirt? Is he on duty?

- I didn’t tell you? Filka said that the guy was a sailor.

- Well, that's it, now the police will come running again! The entire Millionka will be taxed! You won’t be able to steal anything for a week!

- Grigory, fear God! I’m talking about a murdered soul, and you’re talking about theft!

- If you starve like me, then you’ll sing differently! When Sonya's stomach is swollen from hunger, all strangers are at the side! Listen, Nikolka, you better leave yourself before I throw you down the stairs!

- Grisha, Grisha, listen! Don't push me! On the! Rip it!

- Whom?

- Tear, Grigory, my tongue! I'll be better off without my tongue! How much trouble he brought me, how much more he will bring!

- Listen, go to the devil with your tongue! I managed to stand up for you when those four manz beat you up!

- It wasn’t my fault then!

- Who cares! If only I could pass by, my life would be simpler now!

The boys' sluggish squabble was interrupted by a woman's scream.

- Grishenka, come here! Sonyushka is all on fire and mutters something in her sleep!

Grisha's grandmother screamed. Two years ago, when someone stabbed Grisha’s father and mother in an alley, she was paralyzed. Since then, the unfortunate woman has been tormented, watching the boy’s futile attempts and unable to help him in any way. The bed was sold a week ago to pay off debts, and so Serafima Mikhailovna and her granddaughter slept on some kind of sackcloth, on the floor. At night it blew mercilessly from the cracks. The grandmother wrapped her granddaughter up as best she could and hugged her close. Thank God, at least God left her hands. But somewhere in the middle of the night, sleep overtook her, and Sonya rolled over to the window in her sleep, right under one of the largest cracks. When she crawled to her grandmother in the morning, the old woman did not understand anything at first, but when she understood...

- Grisha, run quickly to the doctor! Well, what are you worth?

- Grandma, the doctor won’t come to us. No money left.
 
- But how... Sonyushka is all burning.

- The doctor won’t come. The one who was kind shot himself right on the pier out of boredom when the ship was leaving for Russia, and the new one is said to be fierce! And he won’t let you onto the porch of his hospital without money.

- But there are other doctors, this monster is not the only one in the whole Millionka!

— Grisha, they say that in Doctor’s Sloboda there is a doctor who treats for free.

- Nikolka, sha! Will you tell me more stories? There are no doctors who are without money... Lord, where can I get money? Treatment requires a lot of money! A lot and quickly!

- Look, Grishka, you don’t believe me, but I know that there is such a doctor! My mother has a sister, and my sister has a friend who lives in Matrosskaya Slobodka. And this friend...

- Kolka, keep it short!

“It’s always you, Grisha, who don’t let you really tell me anything!” My friend had been sick for a long time, she was already coughing up blood, and he cured her. For free. And then he got married! Here! I even know this doctor’s name and where he lives!

- Well, where does he live?

- In the courtyard of Tokunago's house. After the wedding, they moved here to Millionka.

- What’s his last name?

- Aristarkh Genrikhovich Seledkin! Well, why are you laughing? Is it a person’s fault that...

- I'm not laughing. Went! Why are you so surprised? You've convinced me! Come on, come on, get dressed! Went!

- Yes, I somehow... I also need to help my mother. She's been itching for a week now for me to crawl underground for two cans of tomatoes. And dad said that we need to nail it down...

- Go-go! You will get everything, you will pin everything... Let's go! Show me this house, and then I’ll do it myself!

- But…

- Grandma, I’ll go to the doctor. Can you hold out a little? I'll try to turn around in half an hour! Well, Nikolka, let's go! Why are you resisting? Is this where we need to go?

— To the lower part of Semenovskaya. Where it is adjacent to the market.



Millionka is a neighborhood built specifically for the Chinese. But this does not mean that only Chinese live in this quarter. No. Houses, shacks, fanzes, Russians, Koreans, Japanese, support each other and leave only narrow passages, in which only those living in the building can navigateYes.
  So, Tokunago's house or Semenovskaya, 3.



House number three, on Semenovskaya Street, was famous for its famous wrought-iron gates, which were locked at night. Come with me, I will take you through one of the courtyards of Millionka. Entering through the gate into a long gateway, you will find yourself in a passage courtyard. Passing the entrance yard, you will find yourself on a narrow path between Chinese shops, and colored Chinese lanterns will tell you that you can come here and have a snack. However, you can guess that there are Chinese restaurants here without a hint. The unique smell of Chinese cuisine will tell you everything without words. And the cylindrical Chinese lanterns are worth admiring. The color scheme on lanterns is a whole art, and every restaurant owner, when hanging lanterns, communicates to visitors certain information contained in the color combination of the design on the lantern.

When you think that you have already passed through the courtyard and are approaching the exit, take your time and do not increase your pace, trying to escape from the multilingual hum, amplified and reflected by the design of the courtyard, because such courtyards are fraught with a lot of surprises. And the courtyard at 3 Semyonovskaya Street is one of them. The fact is that, moving at full speed towards the exit, you may stumble upon the brick wall of another house and decide that you are in a dead end and it’s time for you to turn back. Take a breather and don't be afraid! This dead end is just an illusion! Walk boldly and you will find yourself in a narrow passage perpendicular to the house you just left. And here's a surprise: the passage along which you walked becomes like a labyrinth. On the one hand, it is filled with boards, over which, however, you can climb, and on the other... Oh, this is already getting interesting! On the other hand, you run into a Chinese theater building! The theater is two-story. So, you go to the theater, because, turning right and passing between the end of the first building and the facade of the theater, you will find yourself in another, this time more spacious, although still gloomy courtyard. Now through the gateway you can exit onto Pogranichnaya Street...

But you and I don’t need to go anywhere; on the contrary, we go back to the beginning. To the iron gates that block the entrance to uninvited guests at night, but now, during the day, are hospitably open.

At first glance, it is clear that two boys, hastily running towards Semyonovskaya, 3, are arguing about something important. Grisha convinces Kolya to hurry up, but Kolya, as he approaches Tokunago’s house, slows down his pace more and more.

- Kolka, were you talking about this yard?

- About this one. But, you see, Grisha, I suddenly remembered...

- Nikolka, what are you doing? Why are you turning back? Do I have to drag you? Show me this doctor's apartment and go about your business. Well, why are you stubborn?

- Grisha, you understand, I...

- All. The time for talking is up. You, Nikolai, if you continue in the same spirit, all you will achieve is that I will take you in my arms, throw you over my shoulder and drag you on me. Well, are you going?

- OK. I'm coming. You win.

- It’s somehow... Wow, what a gate! We could use these in our yard! It’s even scary to pass by them! That's a lot of money that went into these gates! Listen, this Tokunago is rich, right?

Grisha took his breath away, he was simply lost for words, looking at the gate. Some time passed before the guys finally entered the yard. The entire length of the three-story house, which was a kind of huge corridor, ran covered galleries, communicating with wings, small and narrow bridges. The space of the building, framing the emptiness of a cramped courtyard well, was literally pierced by a mass of entrances and exits, broken by turns and nooks. The doors of dark corridors, gathering in a thick cluster, numerous and tiny Chinese apartments, in addition to internal platforms and staircases, opened onto galleries. This layout allowed residents to always be on alert: the yard was perfectly visible and any change in the situation immediately became known to all residents. While the uninvited guest was climbing the high stairs and wandering through dark alleys, the owners had time to thoroughly prepare for the meeting... This is what happened now. The guys had not yet managed to climb even one flight of stairs, and they were already called out

- Hey, you down there, who are you going to? If it's a bark beetle, then we're late! He died yesterday!

- No, we are not visiting the Chinese. We need a doctor!

- What kind of doctor is this? As long as I’ve lived here, there hasn’t been a doctor in my life! Have you lost your mind, boy? The doctor will live here! They have their own, Doctor’s Sloboda. They say it's clean there! There are no cleaner ones than ours on Millionka and the Chinese.

- But of course, Kolka told me... Kolka, Kolka, where are you? Where did you hide?

- If you are talking about the boy who followed you, then he ran away! You just put your foot on the first step, and he ran away! So, what were you saying about the doctor?

But Grishka was at a loss, he did not know what to do next: either run after the deceiver Kolka, or ask the invisible interlocutor in more detail.