My sister and I have been inseparable since childhood. I have heard many stories about there, how sisters or brothers fought each other in mortal combat, feuded, and scandalized over inheritance. But what is there to go far: our neighbor, Uncle Kolya, with his brother fought for the parent's dacha on axes in the truest sense of the word. Thank God, the wives intervened in time - there was no murder. But then for 20 years they did not speak, they did not want to know each other, they spat when they met. And now there is no one to talk and to spit - both have died, and the parent's dacha burned down last year.
I think all the time: what nonsense! How can family members quarrel, even hate each other? Especially because of the dilapidated shack on the unfortunate six acres. Terrible nonsense! Fortunately, these passions are not about my sister and me. Both small and adults, we remained close people. Mom managed from the very beginning to eradicate the feeling of rivalry in us, did everything to avoid jealousy or envy.
We played, the weather, always together, received gifts too, well, and punished both of us, if anything. Having grown up, when playing with dolls and building huts in the country faded into the background, and beautiful boys from parallel classes loomed on the first, Tanya and I again acted together. Consoled each other in dramatic situations "He doesn't love me!" and together they came up with insidious plans on how to ward off cute classmates from “our” guys.
Tanya jumped out to get married at the age of 19. Mom and Dad were clutching their heads: they say, where do you get married so early! You have to think about studying! But my sister was not persuaded: "I love and will live with him!" They say that difficulties do not scare us - I will transfer to correspondence course, I will go to work!
Well, she was not allowed to work: they say, get a diploma first. And they promised to support her husband until his first earnings. By the way, she chose the most inconspicuous guy in our institute as her husband. Yes, cute classmates are a thing of the past. As, however, and cute classmates. Among the crowd of handsome men, future engineers, she looked at the quiet Vlad, who was always sitting at books when we were having parties.
He was one of those regular "batans". I never liked those. Here my sister and I did not agree on tastes. Vlad did not skip classes, did not even drink beer, did not smoke and shyly turned away when the girls flirted with him - in a word, a godsend, not a man! You can do this anywhere with a calm soul: he, like a faithful swan, will fly into his native nest at the first opportunity, and he will also bring some prey in his beak.
He adored Tanka, he never dared to contradict her. But she, I admit, was in love with him for real. The wedding was very modest. Vlad's parents, our mom and dad, the bride and groom themselves, and I, of course. While the young people ran to the registry office to sign with two witnesses from our polytechnic, the mothers were preparing the table, and the fathers were sitting in the kitchen, drinking stealthily and complaining to each other about their wives.
I was instructed to prepare a room for the newlyweds. The first wedding night - everything. Well, you understand. By the way, I'll tell you a secret: that night was really the first for Tanya and Vlad. My sister confessed to me that before the wedding they only kissed a couple of times, and there was no question of anything serious. Vladik, apparently, was shy, hesitated, but Tanya did not insist - she is generally a pretty correct and strict girl.
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By the way, Tanya and Vlad stayed with us to live. Compared to the communal apartment of his parents, our apartment is a palace: three rooms and a ten-meter kitchen, and a corridor about eight meters. True, for the convenience of the newlyweds, I had to move to the entrance room, which used to be our living room. But I was ready to sacrifice comfort for my sister. It’s something to me: I came after midnight from the institute or from work, drank tea and went to bed. And family people need to be alone - talk and so on.
This very "so on" made itself felt after a couple of years. Tanya had already graduated from the institute when it turned out that her sister and Vlad were expecting a child. Of course, everyone was delighted. Mom rushed to sew diapers from the stored bike - it was tight with baby goods then. Dad began to dream of how he would start messing around with the baby, walking, taking him to the forest in the country. In general, everyone was waiting for the appearance of a newly-minted relative.
The high spirits were not spoiled even by the fact that one more tenant would appear in our already "packed" apartment. In cramped quarters, as they say, but not offended! When my niece Sasha was born, I volunteered to be the godmother. Living with six was a bit crowded, of course. But, as it turned out, these are all flowers! Two years later, having already gone to work, Tanya announced that she was pregnant again. Mom and Dad were speechless, and to be honest, I was scared. Well, what family can stand such a test ?! There will be four of them in a 16-meter room!
She shared her doubts with her sister, but she just laughed: “Children are flowers! And there are never too many flowers. Tanya gave birth to her second daughter, Zhenya. And the apartment became very crowded. Yes, and noisy, and my mother has pressure. Parents began to consider buying a home on credit and, having collected money from relatives, found a modest kopeck piece for Tanya's family in an old Khrushchev building on the outskirts.
My sister moved with joy, and I was sad: we have never parted until now. Dad helped her make cosmetic repairs, and a couple of weeks later Tanya invited me to visit. So to say, celebrate the housewarming. After sitting up late, having drunk a fair amount of champagne, I stayed with Tanya and Vlad to spend the night. My sister made a bed for me in the nursery. There, besides two cots for nieces, was an old leather sofa - very shabby and bulky, left over from the old tenants.
- I hope you will be comfortable. It creaks, true, but quite bearable. At the same time you will calm Sasha down. She has recently begun to invent that she is scared to sleep in this room. I think he's just jealous that we often take the younger one. Such are the tantrums at night! Someone is supposedly grumbling at her.
- Of course, Tanyusha, I'll go to bed here. Very comfortable sofa, by the way, - I said, laying down on the sheet and feeling the old springs dig into my ribs. - Go to sleep, don't worry about Sasha.
I lay down, turned off the light and then discovered that my nephew was not sleeping: she stared at me and put her finger to her lips.
- What are you doing? It's late, go to sleep! Do you want a song? A lullaby … Or maybe a fairy tale?
“No,” Sasha whispered. - Aunt Vera, aren't you scared?
- Why should I be scared? Do you have a wolf living here? I jokingly goggled and clicked my teeth.
- No, but this is not a good room, - the baby frowned. - Someone evil comes at night.
“Very good,” I replied cheerfully. - Look, what beautiful wallpapers you have, with princesses … What wonderful toys you have … And no one can come here. He also needs to go through the parents' room. And your dad will show him!
- No, dad doesn't believe me …
- Well, today, Sanya, you don't have to worry, I'm with you! Do you want a song and a fairy tale? Then let's sleep! Good night.
- Uh-huh, - Sasha responded from under the blanket.
At night I woke up with a strange feeling as if someone was looking at me. It is impossible to explain - there was no noise, no one touched me, but something suddenly seemed to pounce on me … I listened, looked around: my nieces were sleeping, snoring, slanting rain outside the window, Tan'ka's husband snoring in the next room. Why is the soul heavy? Suddenly it seemed to me that someone looked out from behind the armrest of the sofa at my feet. I got up - nobody. She turned on the night light - a faint light fell on the head of her niece's bed. Some kind of shadow flickered in the corner, someone's sigh and a barely discernible fuss behind the nightstand were clearly heard. I didn’t see anyone, but I clearly felt an outside presence. Sashka woke up, looked at me probingly: they say, scary? I told you.
"Come on, perish, evil spirits!" - deliberately cheerfully said I and threw a slipper into the corner. Whoever it was, this creature muttered something, honestly! I almost made out: "Damn you!" Sasha and I spent the rest of the night in my bed, hugging tightly. It's good that at least Zhenya slept in the sleep of an angel - no one bothered her. I was singing to Sasha, and she stroked my hand and consoled me: “Don't be afraid, Aunt Vera, he has already come! He does not bite, only mutters something viciously!"
In the morning at breakfast, I demanded from Tanya that the little ones be immediately transferred to another room: such an adult's psyche would undermine, not like children! After hearing my story about the night incident, Tanya grabbed her heart and, almost crying, said:
- And I did not believe her, I thought that a dreamer was growing!
- Oh, you, mother! We must trust our children! - I commented instructively.
- What am I supposed to do? - the sister was clearly confused.
- Throw out the sofa first. Some kind of negative comes from him. I felt it myself.
- Yes of course. We were going. There was simply no money to buy new furniture right away. And you won’t just throw it away - I saw how huge it was … I don’t know how the previous tenants dragged him here. With a crane, or something, through the window … They did not drink it, probably only because they could not bear it …
- Have spent on drink … Drunkards, perhaps, lived here?
- Yes, a neighbor told me recently. Husband and wife. At first there were normal people - they worked at the factory, and then they began to drink. They drank themselves to the point that the two of them begged at the wine shop. Then the aunt died, and the man lived here as a real demon for a couple of years. He drinks - calm, but when there is no money or from a hangover - he yelled, played tricks, frightened people. The sofa is all that remains of it. I couldn't bear it exactly, that's why I didn't drink it, unfortunate drunk.
- Especially! This smelly sofa had to be thrown out right away, - I soared. - Doesn't go through the door - cut it with an ax and take it to the devil!
A few days later, Tanya called me and said that they had now set up the nursery in another room. And the old sofa Vlad and his friend really raskurochit and took it to the trash. Instead, they put a temporary folding bed. “And you know, even the apartment began to breathe differently! - reported the sister. - And most importantly, Sashka has been sleeping peacefully for three nights, not waking up from ten in the evening until eight in the morning!