Peter, then Leningrad. 70th years. The third course of the institute. Hooray! I am being transferred to a new dormitory building. Not a hostel, but a dream! Separate, almost apartment blocks for two - only the common kitchen, one on the floor of the floor. Spacious room, table, two beds, wardrobe, in the middle of the place so much that even arrange dancing. The floor-to-ceiling window does not go out onto the noisy street as before, but into a quiet courtyard with a lawn. Dream!
Everything happened the day before the start of the new school year so quickly that I did not even have time to find out with whom I was accommodated. Although, after a room for six people, one is not a problem at all.
Indeed, there were no problems. Valya, a graduate student of my faculty, turned out to be a neighbor. Tall, slender, big-eyed and large-eared. She seemed ugly to me. The only plus is growth and a beautiful figure. Lucky! However, I was always a little jealous of the tall and slender. This is probably a disease of many who were unlucky with growth, who considered themselves to be a "bun," and I considered myself just that.
Valya was not like any of my student friends. Very active, confident, energetic. Our double room immediately turned into a communication center for a huge number of people. It was impossible to single out someone from one or even more of her close friends. Everyone was the best!
Valya was a sea fan: “I will marry only a sailor!” It was almost the first phrase that I heard from her when I met.
She was the first to drag me to Makarovka (Admiral Makarov Maritime Academy) to dance and then regularly do it two or three times a month. Resisting was futile. However, I especially did not resist. New friends were also interesting to me. The focus, of course, is Valya.
Everyone was drawn to her, she constantly solved someone’s problems, reconciled someone, stood up for someone, consoled someone and waited ... She was waiting for her only sailor. It was some kind of obsession, which eventually became mine. My in the sense that I had a goal - to help Valais marry a sailor.
In the evenings, we sat in a dormitory on beds opposite each other and discussed some new acquaintance Vali. For example, Pashka is handsome, tall, courageous, and in uniform irresistible. Some girls constantly revolved around him, but he paid attention to dances only to Valais. He went to foreign countries several times, brought us some souvenirs, and told us very interestingly about the cities he visited. From my point of view, it was an ideal option. But Valya immediately became thoughtful and negatively shook her head. Like, no, it's not him.
Once I was traveling in a trolley from the institute to the hostel. I stood on the back platform. The trolley bus twitched and a guy fell on me. In order not to fall, he grabbed my bag and ... tore off the handle. Torn off “with meat” - now I’m unlikely to be able to use it. That was my only bag. I muttered something, lamenting about the loss, he apologized, collecting scattered textbooks and notebooks from the floor, and promised to buy a new one.
We met. He is Vadim, a cadet of Mozhaika (Air Force Academy), the future military meteorologist, is in his final year. He took me to the hostel, brought the torn bag, promised to come in.
A few days later, returning to the hostel in the evening after classes, I find myself worried about Valya. She pounced on me from the doorway, scolding me for not telling me which guy I met recently. “He is so, he is so, he is so-oh-oh! ..” she repeated, raising her eyes to the ceiling and blinking. I did not immediately understand who she was talking about. And she shows me a new bag. Well, clearly, Vadim came. Wow - did not forget! Then questions rained down - who is he and how long have I been meeting with him.
All evening Valya sat silently.It was nothing like her. I glanced sideways at her: sitting, legs crossed, a thoughtful, dreamy smile on my face.
Vadim came in several more times, but again without me. And every time Valya attacked me with reproaches: “How can I make such a guy wait!” No excuses, they say, how do I know when he will come, did not remove my guilt.
Of course, Vadim came again, but this time I was at home. He came with a guitar. The three of us sat all evening, drank some wine, washed down with tea, chatted, listened to him sing, sang along with him.
I woke up at night from the fact that Valya was quietly crying. What happened? The whole evening is so funny, and then suddenly sobs. Smearing tears in her face, Valya muttered: “Well, why did he fall on you? It must be me! Why am I so unhappy? ” Oh my god, Valya fell in love!
I gently stroked her shoulder. “Valya, but he’s not a sailor!” From these words of mine, Valya sobbed even louder: “I don’t care who he is - a sailor or not a sailor. He comes to you, not to me! ” “How is it to me ?! How many times has he come? Five! Out of these five, how many times have I been home? Only today! He is not to me, he came to you! And then, introduce us together! My crown doesn't even reach his armpit! ” Valya laughed and fell silent - she fell asleep.
From this moment on, our lifestyle has changed dramatically. Our dorm room seems to have become the quietest. All friends sailors disappeared somewhere. Dancing in Makarovka took place without us. In the days when Vadim received his dismissal, we almost always had freshly baked pies for dinner. It was amusing to watch how proud Valya brought a hot cakes dish into the room and with what appetite, praising, Vadim ate them.
Not often Vadim was given a dismissal and not always coincided with the weekend. Once I became an involuntary witness to their meeting. Our institute was located next to the Summer Garden. Often students in between pairs spent free hours there. I also liked to sit there on some bench, located away from the central alley.
Before entering the Garden, she saw Valya. She sat buried in the compendium. I bought two ice creams, but when I approached the bench on which she was sitting, I saw that Vadim was approaching her from the other side. In one hand he carried two ice creams, and in the other a small bouquet. I had to retire. Both ice creams had to be eaten by myself.
In the evening on the table I saw a bouquet of forget-me-nots. Valia endlessly approached him and, squinting, inhaled the aroma with pleasure. She did this so that I also wanted to know how forget-me-nots smell. But ... a beautiful bouquet smelled of grass, fresh, but grass - I did not feel any breathtaking aroma. Valya snorted at me and in a mysteriously solemn voice informed me that she and Vadim decided to get married. What a news!
Summer was approaching - at Vali and Vadim state examinations and distribution. Who and where will go after graduation? I had no doubt that Valya and Vadim would go together to the place of his future service.
But weeks and a half before registration, Vadim disappeared. He did not appear on the day of dismissal - but this was not surprising, since sometimes the dismissal was canceled, postponed to another day. But, when there were five days left until registration, Valya and I went to the hostel-barracks, where Vadim lived, to find out what happened. We, of course, were not allowed anywhere. Among the students who entered and exited, we did not meet a single friend of Vadim.
The next day, we learned that several platoons of cadets on one of the days were raised by alarm at night and sent to some exercises in some sort of flight camps. When the teachings end is unknown.
The next few days were terrible for both Vali and me. “Why did it happen? Did Vadim know about the teachings or not? If you knew, why didn’t you say? Was it really impossible to warn? ” - For several days in a row, I only heard these questions from the crying Vali. We both did not know the answers.True, I tried to calm Valya, saying that sooner or later the exercises would end and they would meet, they would be together. But she did not listen and did not hear me. Locked up. Silent more. I didn’t cry anymore. Passed all the exams.
The day of distribution has arrived. Valya went into the audience. I sat in front of the door, as if on needles.
“Vladivostok,” she said calmly, leaving.
- How is Vladivostok? Why so far?
- I myself asked me to distribute there. This is a seaport. There are sailors. This is what I need!
- And Vadim ?!
- And what about Vadim? If he wanted, he would at least send a letter.
Yes, that's right, I also thought about it ... More than three weeks have passed, and from him neither hearing nor spirit. Valya went home to her parents. A month later, she should already be in Vladivostok, to begin work. And my session was ending, my concerns and worries. Ahead of the holidays and another year of study.
The first letter from Vali from Vladivostok I received when the school year had already begun. Everything she had was wonderful, a good team, a beautiful city, a separate room in a hostel. Not a word about Vadim. Well then, it’s not fate ...
And then a telegram suddenly comes to me. Telephone telegram. The city of Krasnovodsk invites me to a telephone conversation. She climbed into the atlas. Krasnovodsk is in Turkmenistan.
Vadim! It's him! It was very hard to hear, but I realized that he had a misfortune with his sister, he urgently had to leave for his homeland, and then immediately to the exercises, and after the exercises to the place of future service in the Baku Military District. But the main question is “Where is Valya? How can he find her? ” He gasped when I told him about Vladivostok.
The next letter I received from Vali was already from Krasnovodsk!
They are together now. Three children. Grandson and granddaughter.