Читать книгу The Secrets of the Two-Faced Maiden. Part 2 - - Страница 3

After six months, Natalia learned that her former friend Galina (Alla) Khomich was in a very difficult situation. She lost her apartment (she was deceived by friends of her ex-husband, who allegedly had to be bought out of prison), she drank herself and was about to be at the station with the homeless. Natalia again felt sorry for her, found her and took her to live with her temporarily until she recovered and stopped drinking. She lived with Natalia in her grandmother Irina Afanasyevna’s apartment and at the dacha for about 8 months. She stopped drinking, Natalia took away all her debts, using her connections. At that time, while Alla lived with Natalia in the apartment, through a mutual acquaintance, Alla met a certain man Alexander (Kovalev). Alla fell in love with him without memory. He often came to visit Natalia to meet Alla. When Natalia and her sister began to leave for the capital for sessions at the institute, Alla lived with her and looked after her dog – the marble Great Dane Diana. Then Natalia did not even assume that acquaintance with this Alexander would become fateful in her life and in the life of her sister. And she did not even guess that she had previously been acquainted with this Alexander, but at that moment she did not recognize him. It was acquaintance with this Galina and Alexander that for the next 9 years will turn Natalia’s life so that her life will hang by a thread, and old problems with crime will seem to her a lull before the approaching nine-point storm of passions, dangers and betrayals.

All this story began one evening when Alexander came to visit Alla. At the table during the conversation, Natalia, her sister and Alla discussed various prophecies of famous elders for the coming years, the fulfilled forecasts of psychics and fortune-tellers, to whom she and her sister went several times. Natalia told the case with her mother, to whom a certain woman Liza, even before 1986, had prophesied that her mother would take a relative by her husband from the village to the city and that she would receive a 2-room apartment on the 3rd floor in less than 2 years and even named the number – 10. And surprisingly, everything turned out that way. After the Chernobyl accident, Natalia’s parents took from the village, which fell under the program of mandatory eviction, grandmother Irina Afanasyevna to their apartment. And then Natalia and her sister, on the advice of acquaintances, put their grandmother on the apartment queue and registered her sister Elena as her guardian. Less than 2 years later, the grandmother received a new apartment with Elena on the 3rd floor under number 10. There was another amazing coincidence – the house number 131 in the village where the grandmother lived and the number of the new apartment coincided (d. 130 sq.10) In this very apartment, this whole story began. Alexander, silently, listened to the girls’ stories, and then asked: «And can clairvoyants find what is lost, for example, things, money?». Natalia replied that there are such psychics – searchers. But there are no such in our city, but there are definitely in Moscow.

That same evening, Natalia and her sister began to recall various unpleasant incidents from their lives. Natalia told how one day in the entrance where she lived with her parents, she was attacked by a guy who lost at cards. He scared her badly, almost strangled her, showed her passport, then raped her, escorted her to the apartment and even introduced himself to her mother. After Natalia felt safe, she told this scoundrel «Get out.» Natalia said that after this incident she was in a state of shock for several days, and only a glass of vodka relieved this stress. After that, Alexander asked her if this incident was in the house where Natasha lived with her parents, naming the house number and entrance? Surprised, Natalia asked him «how does he know where it happened and where Natalia’s parents live in another part of the city, where Alexander has never been?» He was silent. And Alla asked Alexander, but why did this guy who lost at cards attack Natalia? Alexander, lowering his head, replied that this happens and that the guy had no way out. After that, Alexander hurried to leave. And Natalia and her sister were at a loss from his behavior. Natalia also recalled that the passport of that guy was named Alexander Kovalev. She remembered him, because then there was a Soviet film with a hero named Koralev. And the replacement of one letter in the surname corresponded to the surname of the attacker. Realizing that Alexander’s surname was also Kovalev, Natalia and her sister realized that it was the same guy who lost at cards. Alla was in shock. Then Natalia decided that, maybe, he really had no way out. Moreover, she had known Alexander for more than six months and he had no maniacal inclinations. But she realized that he was connected with crime and seriously. In addition, at the first acquaintance, one of Alexander’s fellow travelers in a drunken state told her sister Elena that she and her sister should be careful in communicating with Alexander, since he is a certain thief in law. Then Elena told Natalia and Alla about this, but they took the words of the drunken guy for drunken delirium. After that evening, Natalia decided to still keep Alexander at a distance from herself and her family. She asked Alla to secretly look at Alexander’s passport to make sure that it was the guy who attacked her, since she still remembered his place of birth – either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. Her suspicions were confirmed. Natalia decided to talk to Alla about the fact that it was time for her to return to live with her parents. Moreover, at that time Alla was already pregnant with Alexander. And judging by Alexander’s attitude to Alla, he was not very happy about this circumstance.

After that evening, Alexander K disappeared for almost a month. During this time, her sister Elena went to live with her parents, since her brother remarried and her parents bought him a 2-room small family house and he and his pregnant wife moved out of the parents’ apartment. Then Alexander suddenly reappeared again. He came to Natalia’s house very excited and asked her to show him her hands, or rather her palms. She showed. He suddenly changed his face and was very happy, as if he had won the jackpot. At the same time, he began to ask about the origin of her family, whether she was a countess or a queen, claiming that it was hidden from her and Natalia did not know her origin. Then he began to ask about large sums of money stolen once from people from the criminal world, claiming with complete certainty that Natalia knew and saw who and where hid this money. He also said that she and her family were in mortal danger, as the thief of this money would try to kill her entire family. He said that Natalia was sick and that it was a very large sum of money for which she could be examined and treated abroad. At that time, Natalia took his words as a ridiculous joke, since she only knew about her origin that there were only wealthy peasants in our family who were dispossessed. And Natalia, moreover, did not see anyone who would bury money or any kind of treasure in the ground. But Alexander continued to insist that Natalia think and remember – he was somehow sure that she knew exactly where and who had this money. He begged Natalia to tell him who had this money so that that person would not kill her. Natalia asked him to tell her where he got all this from.

But, unfortunately, Alexander did not explain anything more. He also said that Natalia had some personal problems with this person. At that time, she really only had problems with Yuri Semenchuk, who was the only one of her acquaintances who was connected with the criminal world, although he himself was not in prison. Natalia told the curious Alexander Kovalev about this, but for some reason he did not pay attention to her words. And he continued to inquire again and again. So he left, without getting from Natalia the coordinates of the buried treasure.

At that time, Natalia also had problems with one man, Nikolai Stefanovich, who had nothing to do with crime. Natalia also borrowed a small amount of money from him at interest. And when her spinal disease worsened, she gave him half the amount at once. And she asked him to wait for the rest of the amount and stop the interest. Then her sister Elena traveled and traded the remaining goods. But, human greed knows no bounds. Having lived for more than six months on interest, Nikolai Stefanovich, seeing a girl chained to bed, who is fit to be his daughter, decided not to lose his free income. Natalia’s father met with this man and was ready to give the entire remaining amount on the condition that Nikolai Stefanovich would return the deposit that Natalia had given him for that small amount that she had borrowed from him – documents for a 2-room apartment belonging to her grandmother and sister (borrowed 2000 y.e., the apartment cost 50,000 y.e.). On the appointed day, Nikolai Stefanovich met with his father, but did not bring the documents for the apartment. He said that he had lost them, although before that he had threatened Natalia and her sister that he would give these documents to the bandits. Natalia’s father said that since there was no collateral, there would be no return of the debt. But Natalia did not tell Alexander anything about this man.

In a week, Alexander said that his friends would come to him, and that he wanted to introduce her and Alla to them. Natalia and Alla prepared the table to treat the guests. Four men entered Natalia’s apartment at the appointed time – as it seemed to her, three of them willingly, and one man under duress. Three were aged about 50—60 years, criminals in appearance, but they were dressed in chic and very expensive suits. A frightened man of about 45 years of age, half bald or simply light-haired, but short-haired, all well-groomed and very intelligent in appearance, entered with them (or rather, he was almost pushed into the apartment). When he looked at Natalia, he suddenly raised his eyes to the sky and exhaled, calmed down sharply and, looking at those three men with a condemning look, asked – «Where should he sit?». Alexander asked Natalia not to do anything, but just to stand next to him. All four men simply devoured Natalia with their eyes and refused not only the treats, but even tea. After 10 minutes, suddenly the well-groomed man said that he was ready and that they could go. They got up and left. At the same time, this intelligent man, leaving the apartment, suddenly began to speak very loudly:

– Guys, who does that, dragged me out of a warm bed in the evening, shoved me into a car, drove me all night. I’ve already changed my mind, God knows what. I said that a photo was enough for me – I won’t tell you anything new – everything is the same. It was necessary to bring me from Moscow to this backwater – now give me a room in the best hotel – and I am waiting for an apology….

Natalia and Alla pretended to close the door to the apartment, but in fact just covered it and heard everything. One of the guests said to the intelligent man:

– Everything will be fine now: both a hotel, and a sauna, and a restaurant.

To all Natalia’s interrogations, whom Alexander brought to our house, she never received answers. But after this visit, Alexander returned to the topic of the missing money once again during the month. And for reasons that were unclear to her, he was sure that she knew who had this money and where.

During the time that Alla lived in Natalia’s apartment, some unknown people set fire to the front door in the apartment twice at night. Only thanks to the fact that Natalia was awakened by the dog Diana, all the residents of the apartment remained alive and did not get carbon monoxide poisoning. Criminal cases were opened, but they did not yield results. The arsonists were never found. After that, Natalia’s father installed a metal vestibule in the corridor, separating 2 apartments on the site. The arsons stopped. After some time, Natalia decided to send Alla to live with her parents, as Alexander began to accuse her of interfering with their meetings. And Alla began to be very jealous of Natalia to her lover. Natalia collected Alina’s things, called a taxi and sent Alla to her parents to solve their problems together with her cohabitant. All this time while Alla lived with Natalia at home and at the dacha, she did not work and was supported by Natalia and her sister Elena. After that day, Natalia no longer saw Alexander Kovalev. But he was very offended by her, called and threatened to deal with her entire family. What caused his aggression was not clear. Either Alla told him something, or he was offended that Natalia did not tell him about the mysterious treasure.