– Come, Seryoga, why sit at home? Look, the weather is so wonderful in the courtyard!
At first Sergey was going to take a walk, put on his sneakers, but at the last moment he changed his mind:
– You know, come on another time? Now I listen to music a little better.
They had not seen each other for a very long time, and now, now this is a bleak message. Levy came to his mother from abroad, where he had been for many years. Not much joyful happened during this time in St. Petersburg, in “their” area – mostly disappointing and sad things. And not only in the Kunder’s family.
Nevertheless, you need to visit a guy without saying aloud so as not to upset your mother, Levy thought.
The top floor of the deaf Petersburg front door of a gray well-house. The bell at the red-painted door:
– Who's there?
– Hello!
Further beyond the door you hear animation and a smoky voice unmistakably names the exact Levi’s data, up to the home address and phone. Then the door swings open and Seryozha, easily recognizable, invites Levi inside with his tongue twister:
– How glad I am! How glad i am! Come in, come in! Do you want to smoke a cigarette or listen to music, for example, “Electric Light Orchestra” or “Prompter's Box”?
On the table in the middle of the room rises a mountain of packs of cheap cigarettes – Baltic, Prima. The room is covered with smoke. Seryozha has almost no teeth left, he smokes a cigarette one after another. Hair covered with smoked yellow gray hair, earthy skin color, puffy face.
Leo doesn’t understand anything in such music, and answers:
– No, thank you.
– Do you want to take a plate for memory?
Levy nods his head.
“Can I do something for you?” Here I have some tidy, still solid things, can they come in handy?
Sergei willingly picks up the bag. Thanks indifferently. In the room to the noise of the conversation of old friends enter the aged mother of Sergei. She still remembers and immediately recognizes Levy.
“Would you like to buy us some vegetables?”
Levy does not refuse, and with a carefully given out list and hunt, she goes first to the pharmacy and then to the food store. When he returns with purchases, Seryozha's mother asks him to repeat this procurement trip again. Levy does not refuse again and soon returns again loaded with packets. On the third attempt of an older but more energetic mother of a friend to send Levy to the next shopping trip, Levy addresses both of them: