“Vaska, Vaska, come back,” the mother barely managed to catch Vasyan at the shirt, “where?”

Vasyan tried to escape, but to no avail:

- Yes on the pond, with the boys.

- What is the pond? - he was dragged away from the door, - and help his father? No pond until you help your father with the hen house.

- Ma, yes, Dad can handle it himself, he let me go.

The mother stared at her son doubtfully.

- You're lying, come on.

- No, ask yourself.

Coming out from the veranda, the mother ordered him to sit and wait for her to return. Yeah, look for the fool. As soon as the mother disappeared into the household yard, Vasyan jumped out of the veranda through the window, the mother nevertheless managed to close it and, jumping over the picket fence, set off in all directions to the gardens. The folder and he himself cope, and Vasyan was not up to sitting at home. Genka and Gray waited for him at the appointed place, and it didn’t come anyway, that betrayal.

Vasily was about to be at the age of fourteen, he was not tall, not like his older brother, but as a boy he was brisk and sharp-witted. Vasily did not like his own name, therefore he responded exclusively to Vasyan and tolerated only his mother’s address using his passport name. It was summer in the courtyard, time for holidays and free time. That mother always tried to take away from him. Romka, the eldest brother was lucky, he was in the student body of the detachment. That's great to live and work in the forest, bake potatoes every day, sitting by the fire with a guitar. And what kind of chicken coops do you need, clean your pigs, train your grandmother. Here goes to school, then it will help, but not now, not during the holidays. Moreover, they had a secret with the boys.

***

Vasyan flew to a meeting with friends and remembered how their secret appeared. Vacations have just begun. He and Gray and Genka were just making their way through the gardens, excitedly and joyfully discussing the successful foray into Cherry Orchard of Lyudka’s aunt, who half of the village called a speculator and another a prostitute. If the boys still understood the first word, it was more difficult with the second word. They then argued weakly that Vasyan would ask the school classroom what it was. The result was a parent call to school. The folder, however, laughed afterwards, but the mother Vasya left the towel as soon as they came home. When asked what a prostitute is, the older boys arrogantly derided the whole trio and said that they were still young, growing up, we would tell. Vasyan definitely didn’t want to learn anything, and the boys themselves calmed down, a prostitute, so a prostitute. What is the difference, but the gardens of the aunt Lyudki were notable and that is enough.

So, bypassing the tenth road, all the places where they could be seen, and all of them were brightly smeared with cherry juice, I had to squeeze right past the rural bathhouse. There was no other way, and it was not the first time they sneaked almost under the windows of the bath. To help were three healthy nuts that grew after a bath. But at that time, all three of them had to lie for a long time in huge burdocks, with which everything was overgrown behind the bath. In addition to burdocks and other weeds, a lot of garbage was dumped behind the bath. And the old shops, which have fallen into disrepair, and rusty basins, and rotten boxes. Here on such garbage collected in a heap, under a window of a bath, and grandfather Potemych was found. Grandfather got his nickname for not having one eye. In his place was always a black bandage. So the boys, jumping out from behind a knoll, almost stumbled upon Potemych, who was located right on their path. Terribly frightened, they rolled back into the mugs, in which they stuck out no longer understand how much. They were not afraid of grandfather, it was a couple of trifles to run away from him, but he could tell everything to his parents, but they would not stand on ceremony, pour out the first number for climbing where they shouldn't.

- Damn, ants crawled under his pants, - Gray whined, without ceasing, - itching all.

- Yes, shut up, - Vasily himself was uncomfortable, but did not want to risk.If Gray and Genka lived at the other end of the village, then from the house of Potemych to their hut, there were three houses. His parents will be the first to know.

- I wonder, what is he doing there for so long? - Genka was calm, and the most reasonable in their company - look like out the window?

- Rebzya, and maybe he cuts behind women, eh? - from such a guess Gray forgot about the ants and about scabies.

- How? - Genka, having crushed on the arm of another ant, cooled his friend, - The windows are painted over.

And yet, Potemych didn’t just work like that under a window. He had to wait for a long time, and when the boys had already decided on a breakthrough, the grandfather put a kind of old but wide board to the window, boldly rolled off the heap, covered trampled trash and was like that.

After waiting a little, and suddenly come back, the boys began to get out of the shelter.

“I thought I would never leave,” Vasyan shook his knees off the foliage, “they saw how he ran away, and he walks along the street with badik, limping. Send out late already.

Vasyan and Gray began to make their way to the fence of the post office adjacent to the bath, but when they saw that Genka was not with them, they looked around. The most desperate in their company was Vasyan. But even now he waved his arms, hissing at his friend:

- Moron, where are you?

And Genka climbed onto that pile, from which Potemych recently fell. Not believing his eyes, Vasyan saw Genka tearing something away from the window. Friends waving their hands briskly, trying to attract the attention of Genka, but it was all useless. Vasya and Gray didn’t think to run away, throw a friend like this? But he was also wrong, and if they burn them? Resigned to the curiosity of his comrade, Vasyan sat down at the bathhouse right on the ground, let him tinker, look, let him go. But Gray began to shake him hard on the shoulder:

- Glya Vasyan.

Genka, who had already examined everything by the window, undertook to drag off the board, which, judging by his red face, was not so easy. There was nothing to do, how to go to help. Vasyan did it with great reluctance, and Gray did so with his shaking knees, he was the fucker. Creeping behind Genka, they grabbed the board from the bottom and gently and as quietly as possible, dragged the board to the right of the window. Vasyan and Gray didn’t have time to straighten as they heard Genka’s exhalation:

- Heman!

He looked at his friends. Gena's face was stupid. His jaw dropped, his eyes five kopecks, his tongue even stuck out. Vasyan quickly realized that the comrade saw something very interesting. And what could be interesting outside the public bath? Not believing his hunch, he quietly stood next to Genka and saw that the lower right corner, instead of paint, was smeared with some kind of putty. In the front of which, Genka managed to make a small peephole. Vasyan leaned over and looked, choking, he realized that now they are the most significant boys in the village.

***

Friends were waiting for him near the bath. Gray was eating some kind of loaf, and Genka was messing with a tin can, stirring the contents with a stick.

“Forty-eight, we ask half,” Vasyan stretched out his hand to Gray.

- Forty one, eat one.

Vasyan dodged and grabbed a large piece of Gray.

- Come on?

- And no, it is necessary to share.

Having finished the loaf, they turned to Genk:

- Well, how is Gen, come out?

- Must. It looks like what Potemych smeared a hole in the paint.

Vasyan leaned over to the bank and put his finger there:

- And really, it seems. He should not notice.

- Rebzya, - Gray was not sure, - maybe it is not necessary? Well, its on dick, this window.

- What the hell? - Vasyan began to attack Gray, - go home, eat another loaf.

Gray lowered his eyes.

- No, I'm with you. Only points.

- Do not drift, Potemycha in the village there, and no one else goes there. And that means it does not know. We sat in ambush for two weeks, no one else came. So go?

- Yes, - Gray tried to give himself a bold look, - I'm going.

***

Having got to the backyard of the bathhouse without difficulty, the boys gasped in frustration, grandfather Potemych was on a pile of garbage. Having fallen into the mugs, they began to quarrel:

“You said he left?”

Vasyan had nothing to say, and in the morning, he saw Potemych go somewhere on his bicycle in the morning.

- I left, - Vasyan snapped back, - yes, I came here. I ...