Читать книгу Destiny's Puppets - Henri Mallet - Страница 5

The autumn sky hung over Kronstadt. Low, dark gray clouds pressed heavily and breathed moisture. Screaming seagulls deftly maneuvered in the air currents on spread white wings, creating the illusion of confusion and anxiety. Gusts of wind brought splashes of sea water and the smell of diesel fuel. The project 613 submarine was visible at the long pier. In the light of the lanterns, its wet body shone silver.

The girl from radio communications was standing on the pier trying to protect her face from the gusts of the chilling wind. Her nearly black eyes were watching the submarine closely. Finally, people began coming down on the shore.

One of the sailors, short and lean, went straight to the girl. He was buttoning up his pea coat in motion and turning up his collar, trying to protect himself from yet another blast of wind. Surprise and aloofness could be discerned in his eyes, which were colored like the sea on a cloudy day.

«Nelly! What are you doing here? I told you that when I get free, I will call on you and we will go somewhere together,» almost shouted the man, his voice mingling with the sound of the wind and the waves, his low brow furrowed.

«Victor! I really need to talk to you! Now!»

The girl nervously took the young man by the arm and they walked fast to the host of lights on the shore. The sound of their steps was buried in the thunder of the waves beating against the pier and turning into greyish foam. Shrieking seagulls were a part of this familiar cacophony of relentless movement of salty water.

Several sailors who had come ashore from the submarine, exchanging remarks and chuckling, were watching the receding couple. The soggy autumn rear wind stole under their clothes and the sailors hurried to shore.

The low skies were getting darker by the second, making the street lamps along the road near the red brick barrack buildings of Kronshtadt seem brighter. Victor was walking with his head down, protruding his lower lip so that it nearly touched his nose. He always did it when he was displeased. And now he was extremely displeased! He had to solve another one of his girlfriend’s problems instead of enjoying his dinner and a game of chess in the club.

«Nelly, I am very tired, let’s meet and talk tomorrow,» Victor rolled his eyes up languidly, losing all hope of being released.

«No! Tomorrow may be late!»

The girl’s eyes turned into narrow black crevices, and her stiff dark hair looked as if she had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Victor looked at the rolling roaring waves.

«We have to get married! Without delay! All because of that apartment on Nevsky avenue! Let’s go to the general immediately and make a formal written request to get married!»

«Nelly! I have already told you: we shall get married. We do not have to do it on the spur of the moment! Calm down. I’ll go get some rest, and you do the same and we’ll discuss everything tomorrow,» Victor mumbled in an obsequious way, speeding up his pace.

«You don’t understand! This is our chance! I’ve already done everything myself, but in order to get the whole apartment we have to get married immediately, and it would be better if I got the certificate that I am pregnant!» Nelly’s voice turned into a kind of roar, she was clutching the sleeve of his pea coat and was hopping next to him.

«I reported my flatmate to the authorities and now she is going to be fired. Naturally, she will lose her accommodation! The second flatmate is so old and sick that she won’t last long. And you can be registered in my room only if you marry me!» The girl stopped in despair, clenched her fists and stamped her foot.

«Are you sure it will work out and we’ll be able to get the whole flat all to ourselves? And your roommate will be evicted?» Victor stopped, too. A thoughtful mien appeared on his face and a ghost of a smile settled on his plush lips.

«Of course, it will! I wrote to the head of the military base that Svetlana and his deputy are lovers and that I had nailed them in our room! She missed work several times, because I added medicine to her food and she couldn’t get up in the morning! You do realize that this is a smashing reason to fire her!»

Victor peered into his girlfriend’s eyes blazing with rage. He stood still for a while, staring at the light of the streetlamps and the round dance of varicolored leaves on the asphalt. The wind was getting stronger, stealing under his coat.

Nelly was looking at her fiancé, screwing up her eyes and awaiting approval. Her hair was messed up by the wind, but she took no notice. The girl was staring at Victor. It was obvious that thinking was not an easy task for him. One emotion was giving way to the next one, and this could be easily noticed to see on his handsome face, as if one was looking at the screen. Finally, he looked at Nelly. She tossed her head triumphantly. She won! Now everything will go according to her plan and they will get married, Victor will be registered in her room, and the old hag won’t last long. Nelly rubbed her cold hands and dragged Victor after her with enthusiasm.

«Come on, to my boss! He is expecting us.»

Victor had nothing to do, but to follow his girlfriend.

Half an hour later the girl, with a pleased grin on her face, darted out of her boss’s office and, holding her fiancé by the hand, went to the ground-floor of the building. She opened the door with the plate “Staff Only” and pushed Victor inside. She swiftly blocked the door handle with the mop and began pulling his trousers off.

«What are you doing? You want here?» the man listlessly took her by the wrist.

«Yes, here and now! I’ve been waiting for this so long. Look, the sooner I get pregnant, the better. With a baby we might get a bigger apartment, and you might be promoted,» whispered Nelly hotly.

The girl undid her uniform skirt and it fell down, showing her pale legs in cheap stockings with plain suspenders. Victor held out his arms, put them round her hips and pressed her body to his. He could feel her heart beating wildly.

«But it’s not convenient here; this place is full of dust. Next time, perhaps.»

Nelly stared at her fiancé in bewilderment. «Please, let’s do it now! For me,» she looked into his eyes with tenderness.

«No, I don’t feel like it. Let’s go.»

Nelly, without trying to conceal her mortification, put on her skirt, unblocked the door, pricked up her ears, looked out into the corridor and quickly plunged into the WC.

She was splashing cold water on her flushed face and tears were rolling down her cheeks, «he does not love me, no,» the words repeated themselves in her head.

«It does not matter. Everything will be my way. Now the main thing is to get pregnant, and it does not matter who the father is. The child will give me a certain status, and Victor is nearly my lawful husband,» the girl stopped sobbing, wiped away the tears, smiled at her reflection and went to meet Victor in the corridor.

«Everything might work out in the end,» he was pondering, «if I get registered in the apartment, I will continue my service in Leningrad and then I will be able to bring my mom here.» And anyway, he was going to marry Nelly.