"If you go to my home to make up the exam before the festival, stand up for me!"
A fat priest, with a flabby face, wearing a cassock and a heavy cross around his neck, stared angrily at the class.
Six students stood up from the bench, four boys and two girls.
The priest's little eyes are bright, as if to swallow them in one gulp. The children looked at him in horror.
"You two sit down." The priest waved to the girl and said.
They sat down quickly and breathed a sigh of relief.
Father Vassili's small eyes were fixed on the four boys.
"Come on, babies!"
Father Vassili stood up, pushed away his chair and went to the four children who were crowded together.
"Who smokes, you little rascals?"
All four children whispered, "Dad, we don't smoke."
The priest turned red with anger.
"Bastard, can't smoke, who is the last cigarette in the dough? You can't even smoke? Ok, let's have a look! Turn your pockets inside out. Come on! Did you hear that? Turn it over! "
The three children began to take things out of their pockets and put them on the table.
The priest carefully examined every seam in his pocket to see if there was any cigarette ash, but found nothing, so he turned his eyes to the fourth child. The child has black eyes, a gray shirt and blue trousers, and a patch on his knee.
"Why are you standing still like a fool?"
The child with black eyes suppressed hatred, looked at the priest and replied in a muffled voice, "I have no pocket." He touched the seam of the bag with his hand.
"Hum, no pockets! You think this way, I don't know who did the bad thing and ruined my hair? Do you think you can stay at school this time? It's not that cheap, baby. Last time, your mother begged you to stay, but not this time. Get out! " He grabbed the boy by the ear, pushed him into the corridor and closed the door behind him.
There was silence in the classroom, and the students all shrank their necks. No one can understand why Pavel Colta King was expelled from school. Only his good friend Celessa Bruzak knows what's going on. That day, six of their failed students went to the priest's house to make up the exam. While waiting for the priest in the kitchen, he saw Paul scattering a handful of cigarette powder in the priest's hair for Easter.
Paul was kicked out and sat on the next step at the door. He thought, how can he go home? My mother works as a cook in the tax bureau. She is busy from early morning till late at night every day, and her heart is broken for him. How can I explain it to her?
Tears choked Paul's throat.
"What can I do now? It's all because of this fucking priest What kind of cigarette powder should I sprinkle on him? It was all Seryosha's bad idea. He said,' Come on, let's scatter this harmful old man.' We spilled it in. It's okay to take the exam, but I may be expelled from school. "
Paul and Father Vassili have made enemies. On one occasion, he had a fight with Mishka Lev Chukov, and the teacher punished him for staying in school and forbade him to go home for dinner. He was afraid that he would mess around in the empty classroom, so he sent the naughty boy to the senior class classroom and sat him in the back chair.
The senior teacher is a thin man, wearing a black coat, and is telling the students about the earth and celestial bodies. He said that the earth has existed for millions of years, and the stars are similar to the earth. Paul opened his mouth in surprise when he heard him say this. He was so surprised that he almost didn't stand up and said to the teacher, "That's not what the Bible says."
But I am afraid of being scolded and dare not speak.
Paul is a devout believer. Her mother is a Christian and often tells him the truth in the Bible. Paul is convinced that the world was created by God, not millions of years ago, but not long ago.
In the Bible course, the priest always gives Paul full marks. He memorized the New Testament, the Old Testament and all the prayers. He still clearly remembers what God created on a certain day. Paul decided to ask Father Vasily. Paul raised his hand as soon as the priest sat in the chair in Bible class. After getting permission, he stood up and said, "Father, why did the senior say that the earth has existed for millions of years, unlike the five thousand years mentioned in the Bible ..."
No sooner had he said this than Father Vasily's screams interrupted him: "Bastard, what are you talking about? How did you learn the Bible lesson? "
Before Paul could speak, the priest grabbed his ear and hit his head against the wall. A minute later, Paul was black and blue and scared to death, and was pushed into the corridor by the priest.
When Paul came home, his mother gave him a good scolding.
The next day, the mother went to school to ask Father Vasily for mercy and let her son go back to class. From then on, Paul hated priests. He hates and fears. He doesn't allow anyone to insult him a little, and of course he won't forget the priest's unprovoked beating. He buried his hatred in his heart and was expressionless.
Later, Paul was insulted by Father Vasily many times: he was often kicked out of the classroom for trivial matters, stood in the corner every day for several weeks, and never asked about his homework. Therefore, before Easter, he had to go to the priest's house to make up the exam with several failed students. In the pastor's kitchen, he spilled a cigarette butt in his Easter hair.
No one saw it, but the priest immediately guessed who did it.
..... After class, the children crowded into the yard and surrounded Paul. He sat there morosely and said nothing. Seryosha didn't come out in the classroom. He felt that he was wrong, but he couldn't think of any way to help his partner.
President Efrem vasilyevich's head leaned out of the window of the teacher's room, and his deep voice made Paul tremble.
"Call Kocha Jinma to come to me!" He shouted.
Paul walked into the faculty room, and his heart was pounding.
The boss of the station canteen is an old man, pale and glassy-eyed. He glanced at Paul standing by.
"How old is he?"
"Twelve years old." Paul's mother replied.
"Yes, let him stay. The salary is eight rubles per month, and the food is taken care of when you are on duty. Work one day and one night, rest one day and one night at home, and don't steal anything. "
"Where can I be? Where can I go? I promise he won't steal anything. " Mother said in fear.
"Then let him go to work today." The boss gave an order and turned to a waitress standing at a nearby counter and said, "Gina, take this little boy to the bathroom and ask floria to send him a job to cover Gerrish's card."
The waitress is cutting ham. She put down the knife, nodded to Paul, walked through the restaurant and walked to the side door leading to the bathroom. Paul followed her. Mother quickly followed and whispered to Paul, "Paul Fu Lusha, you must behave well and don't lose face!" "
She sent her son away with melancholy eyes and then walked to the gate.
The bathroom is as busy as a bee. Plates, knives and forks piled up in a hill on the table, and several women workers were wiping the pile with towels on their shoulders.
A boy with messy hair, a little older than Paul, is busy in front of two big tea stoves.
There is boiling water in the big wooden basin for washing household items, and the room is full of fog. Paul just came in and couldn't even see the women's faces clearly. He stood there, not knowing what to do or even where to stand.
Gina, the waitress, walked up to a female worker who was washing household items, took her by the shoulder and said, "Floria, this new boy is for you as a Christmas card. Tell him what you want to do. "
Gina pointed to the woman named floria and said to Paul, "She is the foreman here. Do whatever she tells you to do. " Say that finish, turned back to the canteen.
"hmm." Paul gently agreed, and looked at Flora standing in front of him, waiting for her to speak. Floria wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked him up and down, as if evaluating what he could do. Then she rolled up the sleeve that slipped from her elbow and said in a very pleasant and loud voice, "Son, your job is not difficult. Cook this pot in the morning and don't turn off the water for a day. Of course, you have to chop wood yourself. And these two big tea stoves are also your works. Besides, you have to clean your knife and fork and pour dirty water when you are alive.
Little friend, you live much longer, which will make you sweat a lot. She speaks Kostroma dialect and always puts the "A" sound very heavily. Paul was a little happy when he heard the local accent and saw her red face and upturned nose.
"It seems that this aunt is not bad." He thought so in his heart, so he got up the courage to ask floria, "What should I do now, menstruation?"
When he said this, the women in the laundry room burst into laughter and drowned his words. He froze.
"Ha ha ha! ..... Charlotte picked up a big nephew this time ... "
"Ha ha! ..... "Charlotte herself laughed more than anyone else.
Because the room was full of steam, Paul didn't see floria's face clearly. In fact, she is only 18 years old.
Embarrassed Paul turned to the boy and said, "What should I do now?"
The boy just giggled and replied, "You ask your aunt. She'll tell you everything. I am here to help temporarily. " Say that finish, turned and ran towards the kitchen.
Then Paul heard an older woman worker say, "Come and help clean the fork. What are you laughing at? What funny words did the child say? Here, take it. "She handed Paul a towel. "Bite one end with your teeth and tighten the other end with your hands. Rub the fork tooth back and forth on it until it is clean and there is no dirt at all. We attach great importance to this kind of thing. Those gentlemen are very picky, always turning over and looking at it again and again. As long as there is a little dirt on the fork, we will be in trouble, and the proprietress will kick you out at once. "
"What proprietress?" Paul asked inexplicably, "Isn't the boss who hired me a man?"
The female worker laughed: "son, our boss here is a decoration, he is a straw bag." His wife is in charge of everything. She's not here today. You'll know in a few days. "
The door of the bathroom opened and three waiters came in, each carrying a lot of dirty things.
One of the waiters with wide shoulders, squints and a generous face said, "Hurry up, the twelve o'clock bus is coming, and you are still dawdling."
He saw Paul and asked, "Who is this?"
"Newcomer." Froscia replied.
"Oh, new guy." He said. "Well," he said, putting a hand on Paul's shoulder and pushing him to the two big tea stoves, "you have to burn these two big tea stoves well, and you can have water whenever you want, but you see, now one is out, and the other is about to come out of Mars. I will spare you today. If you do this again tomorrow, I'll let you eat your face twice, understand? "
Paul lit the tea stove without saying a word.
Thus began Paul's working life. This is his first day at work, and he has never sold his strength like this. He knows that this place is different from home. At home, he can not listen to his mother, but not here. Squinting to make it clear, if you don't listen, you have to eat face twice.
Paul took off a boot, put it on the hearth, and blew the wind. The pot-bellied tea stove, which can hold four buckets of water, immediately jumped up on Mars. He lifted the dirty bucket for a while, then quickly ran outside and poured the dirty water into the pit; For a while, add firewood to the boiling pot, and for a while, put the wet towel on the boiling tea stove to dry. In a word, he did everything he was asked to do. It was not until late at night that Paul trudged to the kitchen downstairs. An old woman worker named Anisia looked at the door he had just closed and said, "You see, this child is like a madman. He works hard. There must be no way to send it at home. "
"Yes, he is a good man," said floria. "Don't rush to work."
"I'll quit when I'm tired of running in two days," Liu Sha retorted. "In the beginning, it was very attractive ..."
Paul's hands and feet were busy all night and he was exhausted. At seven o'clock in the morning, a chubby boy with a round face and two harsh eyes came to take over. Paul handed him two stoves for boiling tea.
As soon as the boy saw that everything was ready and the tea stove was boiling, he put his hand in his pocket, squeezed a mouthful of saliva through his clenched teeth, assumed an arrogant posture, looked at Paul with a squint, and then said in an unquestionable tone, "Hey, you idiot, you will take over at six o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Why is it six o'clock?" Paul asked. "Isn't the shift changed at seven?"
"Who wants to come at seven, who wants to come at seven, you have to come at six. If you speak again, I'll call you a big cockroach on your head at once. You didn't even think about it, so you put on airs when you came. "
The women workers who just handed over their shifts listened to the conversation between the two children with great interest. The boy's rogue tone and aggressive attitude angered Paul. He took a step towards the boy. He wanted to give him a good beating, but he was afraid of being fired on his first day at work, so he held back. He said with a livid face, "Be honest, don't scare people, lift a rock and drop it on your own feet. I'll come at seven tomorrow. If you want to fight, I don't care about you If you want to try, please! "
The opponent took a step back toward the boiling pot and looked at the angry Paul in surprise.
He didn't expect to meet such a big nail and was a little at a loss.
"Well, we'll see." He said vaguely.
The first day finally passed without incident. On the way home, Paul felt that he was already a man who got a rest by honest work. Now that he is working, no one can say that he is idle.
The morning sun rises lazily from behind the tall workshop of the sawmill.
Paul's little house will arrive soon. Look, it's just around the corner, behind Lescinsky Manor.
"Mom is probably up. I just got home from work." Paul thought of this, whistling and speeding up his steps. "The school kicked me out, not bad. That damn priest won't let you live in peace anyway. I really want to spit on him now. " Paul thought like this and has reached the door. When he pushed open the small courtyard door, he remembered again: "Oh, and that yellow-haired boy must aim at his dog's face and give him a good beating." If I wasn't afraid of being kicked out, I would have hit him right away. Let him taste the power of my fist sooner or later. "
Mother is busy making tea in the yard. Seeing her son come back, she hurriedly asked him, "What's the matter?"
"Very good." Paul replied.
Mother seems to have something to take care of him, but he has understood. From the open window, he saw the broad back of his brother Aerjiaom.
"Why, Aerjiaom is back?" He asked in fear and trembling.
"I came back yesterday. I stayed at home this time and worked in the garage. "
Paul opened the door hesitantly.
The burly Aerjiaom sat at the table with his back to Paul. He turned to look at his younger brother, and his stern eyes shot out under his thick black eyebrows.
"Ah, at the end of the smoke hero came back? Ok, you are really good! "
Paul had a premonition that this conversation after his brother came home was not good for him.
"Aerjiaom already knows everything." Paul thought. "Maybe you will be scolded this time, maybe you will be beaten."
Paul is a little afraid of Altheim.
However, Aerjiaom had no intention of hitting him. He sat on a stool with his arm on the table and stared at Paul, unable to tell whether it was ridicule or contempt.
"So, you have graduated from college and learned all kinds of knowledge, and now you are still splashing dirty water?" Aerjiaom said.
Paul stared at a broken floor, absorbed in thinking about a nail head that suddenly appeared. But aerjiaom got up from the table and went to the kitchen.
"It seems that it will not be beaten." Paul breathed a sigh of relief
While drinking tea, Aerjiaom calmly inquired in detail about what happened in Paul's class.
Paul spoke in detail again.
"What will you do if you mess around like this now?" Mother said sadly.
"Well, what can I do with him? Who does he look like? My god, this child worries me so much! " Mother complained.
Aerjiaom pushed open the empty teacup and said to Paul, "All right, brother. Let bygones be bygones, so be careful in the future, don't play tricks at work, and do what you should do; If you get kicked out again, I'll make you look good and skin you. You should remember. Mom has enough to worry about. You son of a bitch, you make trouble everywhere, and you have to make trouble everywhere. It's time to stop making trouble. After you have worked for a year, I will find someone to make you an apprentice in the garage. What can you do if you keep throwing dirty water? Still have to learn a craft. Now that you are still young, I will ask someone to look after you in another year, and the garage may be able to accept you. I was transferred here and will work here from now on. Mom will never serve anyone again. Bend down when you see any kind of bastard. You've bent enough. But Paul, you have to live up to expectations and be a good person. "
He stood up, straightened his tall body, put his coat on the back of the chair, and then took care of his mother and said, "I'm going out for an hour to do something." Say that finish, a bow, strode out of the door. When he walked into the yard and passed the window, he said, "I brought you a pair of boots and a knife." Mom will give it to you. "
The station canteen is open 24 hours a day.
There are six railways leading to this hub station. The station is always crowded with people. Only at night, between two trains, can it be quiet for two or three hours. Hundreds of military vehicles came from all parts of the station and then drove to all parts of the country. Some people come from the front, others drive to the front. From the front, there were wounded soldiers with missing arms and broken legs, and a large number of recruits in gray coats were sent to the front.
Paul worked hard in the canteen for two years. In the past two years, all he saw was the kitchen and bathroom. In the big kitchen in the basement, the work is extremely busy, and more than twenty people are working. 10 waiters shuttle back and forth from the restaurant to the kitchen.
Paul's salary rose from 8 rubles to 10 rubles. In the past two years, he has grown tall and strong. During this period, he suffered a lot. I worked in the kitchen for half a year. A good cook doesn't like this stubborn child and often slaps him in the face. He was afraid that Paul would suddenly stab him, so he just drove him back to the bathroom. If it weren't for Paul's endless strength, they would have driven him away. Paul does more work than anyone else and never knows fatigue.
When the canteen is busiest, he runs around without touching his feet, holding the tray for a while, going down to the kitchen four or five steps at a time, and then running up from the kitchen.
Every night, the two dining halls in the canteen stop, and the waiters gather in the storage room in the kitchen below to gamble and play "blackjack" and "nine o'clock". Paul saw a mountain of money on the gambling table more than once. Paul is not surprised that they have so much money. He knows that each of them can earn thirty or forty rubles a day and one night, and the tip is one or half rubles. If you have money, drink and gamble. Paul hates them very much.
"These fucking bastards!" He thought to himself. "A locksmith like Aerjiaom only earns forty-eight rubles a month, while I only earn ten rubles; But they made so much money in one day and one night. Why? That is, bring the plate up and take the empty plate away. If you have money, you will drink all the gambling. "
Paul thinks they are his sworn enemies, just like those bosses. "Don't look at these inferior people and try their best to serve people, but their wives and children are as ostentatious as the rich people in the city."
They often bring their sons in middle school uniforms and sometimes round wives. "They may be richer than their owners."
Paul thinks so. He doesn't make a fuss about what happens in the kitchen corner and canteen warehouse at night. Paul clearly knows that any washerwoman and waitress who refuses to sell her body to everyone in the canteen for a few rubles will not be able to work here for long.
Paul saw the depths of life and the bottom of life. He pursues all new things and longs to open a new world, but what comes to him is the musty smell and the humidity in the soil.
Aerjiaom wanted to put his brother in the garage as an apprentice, but he didn't succeed because there were no teenagers under 15. Paul is looking forward to getting rid of this place one day. The blackened big stone house in the garage attracted him.
He often goes to Aerjiaom, follows him to check the vehicles, and tries his best to help him with some work.
After floria left the canteen, Paul felt even more bored.
The smiling and happy girl is gone, and Paul is more deeply aware of how deep their friendship is. Now, as soon as he walks into the bathroom in the morning, he will feel a sense of emptiness and loneliness when he hears the quarrels and curses of female workers recruited from refugees.
During the evening break, Paul squatted in front of the open stove to add firewood to the stove; He narrowed his eyes and looked at the fire in the fireplace. The fire kept him warm and comfortable. He is the only one left in the bathroom.
His mind unconsciously returned to what happened not long ago, and he thought of Froscia. At that time, the scene clearly emerged in front of my eyes.
It was a Saturday. During the evening break, Paul went downstairs to the kitchen. At the corner, he climbed up the woodpile curiously and wanted to have a look at the storage room, because people usually gather there to gamble.
Gambling is going on there, and Mr. Livanov is sitting in the village, flushed with excitement.
Footsteps came from the stairs. Paul looked back and saw the waiter Prohor coming down from above. Paul quickly hid under the stairs and waited for him to come over. It was dark under the stairs, and Mr. Projo couldn't see him.
Prohor turned a corner and came down. Paul saw his broad shoulders and big head.
Just then, someone ran down gently and quickly from above. Paul heard a familiar voice: "Prohor, wait a minute."
Projo stopped and turned to look at it.
"What is it?" He mumbled a word.
Someone came down the stairs, and Paul recognized it as floria.
She grabbed the waiter's sleeve, lowered her voice and stammered, "Mr. Proho, where's the money the lieutenant gave you?"
Projo suddenly broke free from his arm and said savagely, "What? Money? Didn't I give it to you? "
"But they gave you three hundred roubles." Floria couldn't restrain himself and almost cried.
"What did you say, three hundred rubles?" Projo said sarcastically to her. "Why, do you want to? Kind lady, is the woman who washes things worth that much money? As far as I'm concerned, 50 rubles is enough for you. Think how lucky you are! Even those young ladies who are much cleaner and more educated than you can't get that much money. You can earn 50 rubles for a night's sleep. You must be grateful. There are so many fools. All right, I'll give you ten or twenty roubles, and forget it. As long as you are smart, there are many opportunities to make money in the future. I will help you attract customers. "
Prohor said the last sentence and turned to the kitchen.
"You rascal, bad guy!" Floria chased him and scolded him, then leaned against the woodpile and began to cry.
Paul stood in the darkness under the stairs. After listening to this conversation, he saw floria shaking and banging his head against the woodpile. The taste in his heart is really indescribable.
Paul didn't show up or make a sound, but suddenly grabbed the iron railing of the stairs in despair, and a clear and definite idea flashed through his mind: "Even she was sold, these damn guys." Alas, Charlotte, Charlotte ... "
Paul's hatred for Prohor is deeper and stronger. He hates and hates everything around him. "Well, if I were a Hercules, I would kill this rascal! Why am I not as tall and strong as Altheim? "
The fire in the furnace rises and falls from time to time, and the flames vibrate together to form a long blue flame; Paul felt as if someone was laughing at him, mocking him and sticking out his tongue at him.
The room was quiet, except for the crackling sound from time to time in the stove and the even dripping sound of the faucet.
Clim card put the last polished pan on the shelf and wiped her hands. There is no one else in the kitchen. The chef on duty and the girls who are helping are sleeping in the locker room. At night, the kitchen can be quiet for three hours