each breed, from the same took out a small carpenter's hatchet. It was made from some kind of super rafting at an aircraft factory, and I gave it to Romke on his twenty-fifth birthday.

He took the brooms into the steam room, turned on the automatic, turned on the light bulbs, the Light came on.

- Stas, joke do you remember? - Asked Acne, buttoning the jacket and lighting a cigarette.

- Which one?

- “- Do you have water circulating?

- Circulates.

- Does the bath function?

- It functions.

- Then a ticket for one person.

- And what, you will not wash an ass? "

- Yeah, it was like that. - I grinned.

- How?

- Yes, everything seems to work. The light is on, the "heater" would still burn, or else ... "I passed the feces, I passed my urine, and I fell asleep on the math."

I picked up a small chock, and began to dismiss it on splinters.

- Vitya, ask your mother for dry kindling paper. - I turned the kid, who was spinning around us.

- Yes! Uncle Sas, - for some reason he swallowed the letter “t” in my name.

A minute later he ran out of the house, with an armful of newspapers in his hands.

- Here! - He handed it to me.

- Well, let's go kindle the stove in the bath, - I winked at him. - And let Uncle Vitala continue waving an ax.

The firewood was dry and flared up easily, and after five minutes the fire in the stove was already buzzing. And I almost filled the furnace to the eyeballs and went outside to smoke with a sense of accomplishment.

... That's always the case: just relax and bang you on the head from behind with a bottle, and then you drop the paratrooper or you just sat on a painted bench ...

The phone in my pocket rang exactly at the moment when I hid a lighter in it.

- Yes? - I said, letting out a stream of tobacco smoke from my mouth.

- Stas, cranks! - I heard a nervous voice in the tube.

- What's wrong?

- You have not drunk !?

- Not. And in general, not even going.

- Then get in the car and come after me!

- Rum, explain, you clearly what happened?

- I have a cold diesel! - Necro at the other end of the “wire” was obviously angry and nervous.

- Did I not tell you: “Buy a car with a gasoline engine”?

- Spoke.

- Did I not say to you: “Refuel at the gas station of large networks”? - I continued to mock my friend.

- Spoke.

- Now sit alone in a snowdrift under the tree and wait for the new year.

- Stas! Come on! Come over.

- Wait, said! - I snapped and dropped the call.

Acne turned around.

- What happened?

- Roma froze.

- In terms of? Where?

- His diesel is cold. - I explained. - I went after them with Tatiana.

- I see.

- So, you have a special responsible task: in half an hour you go into the bathhouse, look at the temperature, and throw in firewood.

- There is! - With these words, Vitaly stretched out into a string and put his hand to his earflap.

- And ... No, I'll ask Jan. And you ... - I wondered again, - Let's go, we will bring a brazier.

- Come on. - Vital agreed.

Brazier was buried in a barn under a pile of hoses, polyethylene, rags and some other dacha accessories. But after five minutes it was removed and installed on a pedestal in the middle of the courtyard.

- I'll dial you when we leave the city. And you ignite the brazier. All I flew!

- Come on man! We wait.

I rushed into the house. He threw off his work jacket, quickly put on a front sheepskin coat.

- Yanchik, your mouflon machine is broken, I'm after him. To you a huge request, stir the meat in a blue saucepan. Every hour and a half, more often it is not necessary.

- Good. Where is Vitya?

- With Vaska, it helps to carry firewood. I flew! - He smacked her on the cheek, and ran out into the street, slamming the door.

Flew to the city instantly, but the way back did not seduce me at all. I drove into the city and turned on the navigator. The city was stuck in traffic jams, not yet completely, but in many places, especially in the center, where I needed to be.

I typed Romke.

- Where are you?

- Still at work. Gonna go out.

- And, Tanya, where?

- We are going to my house in an hour.

- The order is accepted, the taxi will be on time! - I tried to joke.

- We wait. - Roman snickered and hung up.

I was lucky, I did not manage to drive around some congestion, but mostly I slipped through secondary streets and courtyards.And twenty minutes later I was already in a familiar courtyard.

He turned on the disk, found Sinatra "Let it snow" and fell into a kind of borderline between nirvana and half-sleep.

Ten minutes later, an old heavily understated and tinted Toyota flew through the yard with a roar and a crash. She stopped at the entrance. A guy came out of it, opened the passenger door, almost took out someone from the passenger compartment, closed the door and sat back down with a slip.

I looked closely and could not believe my eyes, squatting, leaning on the door, sat Nastya. She wrapped her head in her hands and buried her face in her knees.

I jumped out of the cabin and ran to her.

- Lord, Nastya, Nastya, what happened? - I asked.

She only tightened her face to her knees, and did not answer.

I sat down next to her, put one hand on her knee, the other on her head. She vibrated finely with her whole body. Now I heard that she was sobbing softly. I reached out and kissed her cheek.

- Nastya, honey, calm down, what happened? - I tried to find out something.

She only shook her head in response.

- Get up, let's go home! - not in a loud but confident voice, I turned to the girl and began to lift her.

Nastya did not resist. I got up leaning on my arm.

Mascara flowed and smeared over the face, and on the right cheekbone there was a clearly visible wide scratch.

I tried to wipe the mascara, but Nastya clasped me with her hands, pressed herself and sobbed in the shoulder. Then I noticed the keys in her hand. I carefully took them away, picked up the weeping lady in my arms, opened the entrance, and carried her on foot to the fifth floor.

At home I, without taking off my shoes, went to the kitchen, sat Nastya on a chair, poured her a glass of cold water. She took a few sips, put the glass on the table with shaking hands, intermittently several times, but took a deep breath.

- Well, how are you? - I asked, looking the girl in the eye.

She nodded her head slightly.

- Uzhzhe l better. - she squeezed.

- Drink some more water or something stronger? I have - I got a flask of brandy out of my pocket (especially the bank was sober just in case).

“Thank you.” She sipped some more water, got up, and went into the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Nastia, washed and calm, appeared as calm and confident as on the first day of our acquaintance.

- Here you go! - I smiled. - It is quite another matter.

- Yes! - She sniffed and seemed to wipe something under her right eye. - That's better.

- He hit you? - I asked.

- Not! It was I myself who had already scratched the key at the entrance.

- Who was that?

“My ex,” Nastya sniffed again, “I was so expecting that we would make peace.

- You cannot enter the same river twice.

- I heard. Confucius.

- Now you will also know, on personal experience, so to speak. - I smiled and winked at her.

She winked back.

“Can I?” She looked questioningly at the flask.

- Can. - He stretched out his hands, took out his glass, splashed fifty grams into it, moved it to Anastasia.

She drained him to the bottom in one gulp, looked around, stood up, and kissed me on the lips.

- Yeah, nothing else, so you decided to bite with my lips?

- Didn't you like it?

- Not at all. - I thoughtfully stretched out, licking my lips.

- And you, what are you doing here? You should be with Jana and the children in the country.

- We also have a force majeure from the series “Fraer's greed will destroy.” - I grinned.

- What is it?

- Niklevich's diesel engine froze, the car got up.

- I see, and you came for him.

I shook my head. Nastya removed the second glass, put it in front of me. Poured into everyone a little from the flask.

Raised her, made a gesture as if she wanted to clink.