For the first time, Irishka saw a rhinoceros when her grandmother took her to the zoo. They walked long between animal enclosures. Grandma bought her an ice cream. It began to melt and flowed down the Irkin’s hands. Straight to the elbows! She licked the sweet streams and was so carried away by this occupation that she did not even notice how they were near the large corral.
At the far wall from them stood a giant monster, generated by the bizarre nature of Africa. And next to it - exactly the same, only ten times reduced. Mother and baby stood near the feeding trough and indifferently chewed special food that was supposed to be them, as legal emigrants.
Mother was huge, all covered with something that didn't even look like skin. Legs too short for such a large body held onto the ground confidently. And the eyes, small, faded, were not immediately visible even on the emotionless face of the parent.
The baby, exactly repeating the whimsical ugliness of his mother, only instead of a horn on his face were barely noticeable pimples, he suddenly looked at Irishka with his grandmother
They left the cage, and the girl looked around for a long time, forgetting even about the melted ice cream, and could not remember where she had already seen such a thing. When the grandmother nevertheless noticed that the granddaughter was all dirty, and began to wipe her hands and face with a handkerchief, drooling at the tip and scolding the girl for her untidiness, Irishka even began to smile. Because I remembered!
Ira’s mother already occupied quite a large part of the space. And legs as strong and short also crushed the ground. And the eyes were just as small and uncertain in color. From above, as if with a visor, they were covered by a single, monolithic eyebrow, crossing out the whole face with an almost straight line.
It was the hardest thing with legs; Irishka simply hid them under long hemlines or trousers.
Mother Irishka never caressed, but she did not punish either. Simply, if she was happy with her daughter, she smiled a little, nodded slightly and said only one word: “Normal ...” If she was angry, she looked at her daughter for a long time, so expressively that it would be better if she beat her up to blood. Then she sighed noisily and again said only one word: "Do you understand? .."
And so she behaved not only in relation to her daughter.
When Irisha's dad found a new home, to which, as a bonus, a new wife was probably also attached, she did not begin to pursue the unfaithful spouse.
When dad, as a decent man, first sent money for his daughter, his mother found his new home and, without even crossing the threshold, when her father opened the door in front of her, said: “We will get around ...” With these words, she handed the money to her ex-husband and left.
However, when the grandmother had already died and the father’s new wife called her mother to say that her father was terminally ill, she took a taxi and brought her ex-husband to their house with Irishka. I followed him to the last. And in the cemetery, when, all in black, the father’s new new wife came up to her mother and asked if she needed money, because burying now is expensive, her mother just turned her small eyes in her direction and said: “We will get around ...”
Then Irishka became already so big that she started going to dances. Mother did not interfere, she also dressed and walked with her daughter. Already on the spot, I sat down on a bench near that recreation center where this time there was a disco, and - I waited. As much as needed, she waited so much until her daughter went out onto the porch. If she was in the company, then the mother did not approach her, but walked behind and vigilantly watched so that nothing would happen to her cub.
When Vadik came to their house, and Irishka said she wanted to marry him, her mother took the alleged son-in-law into the kitchen and there, behind a tightly closed door, the longest speech in her life broke out:
“You boy take care of her.” If you only touch your finger, I will trample you ...
Then, tired of the length of the conversation, she took a deep breath and, perhaps, for the first time in her life, smiled. Her smile was surprisingly warm and a little childish. So she smiled and said further:
- And for the wedding, I will give you her grandmother’s apartment with Irka. To immediately have your own house ...
... but did not give. Because soon Vadik got under the truck on his motorcycle, when he was going on a date to Irishka, and hit hard on his spine. Six months later, he was taken out of the hospital in a wheelchair, saying that he could get out of it only in Germany, unless, of course, there was money for the operation.
Mother sold her grandmother’s apartment and drove Vadik to Germany ...