Damenstok

Seryozha Nevduplyon was an overly curious and perniciously gambling man, as he was repeatedly told by others. In his youth, his mother often scolded him for his pernicious curiosity and repeated that "this meticulous curiosity will one day destroy him." But our dear Seryozha did not listen to her and continued to mind his own business, even if someone did not like it and someone was against it. He was a charming-looking young man of twenty-six years old, with a beautiful pink face, an upturned nose, large azure eyes and slicked-side blond wavy hair; he was athletic and tall enough. Seryozha always dressed neatly and gave the impression of a very polite and courteous person, which he really was, only gambling spoiled his appearance of an ideal person. He was terribly carried away, almost constantly losing his fortune in casinos or gambling clubs and sometimes making ends meet, but even this did not stop him from playing another game. If he won, he rejoiced as if he were not himself, rushing into everyone's arms and exclaiming: "Hooray, victory!", if he lost, he calmly put up with it and continued the game until the long-awaited victory. And so, at the casino, a year ago he met his now best friend Agri Kapkanov, a thirty–year-old big man with a tall long dark tail, a large blue mole under his right eye and prickly black stubble. A handsome and prominent man in a snow-white suit and a blood-red tie around his neck attracted the attention of hundreds of different women who secretly sighed for him. In addition to women, men were attracted to him, who wanted to make friends with him and listen to his pleasant affectionate baritone. This man was very pleasant and good-natured in appearance, but it always seemed to our Seryozha that behind this mask of virtue there was something terrible, something that should be kept silent and if you find out about this "something", you will terribly regret it. And curiosity, unfortunately, got the better of him even here. For the first time in his life, Kapkanov invited Nevduplyon to his house to drink tea and make small talk. He always lived in prosperity, because he was lucky to play games and had his own business: his twenty-first apartment was located near the Main Square on Plamennaya Street and had a beautiful view from the windows (from one you could see a large copper statue of the Creator on the Main Square). His two-room apartment was cozy, bright and very nice: delicate peach walls were hidden by light birch furniture, large chandeliers with hangers in the form of multi-dimensional drops swayed from side to side, high ceilings shone white. Agri carefully sat Seryozha down at the table in the kitchen connected to the living room, let him choose what kind of tea he would have, because he had a huge choice, like a mad tea lover, and pulled out a raspberry pie baked by him from the oven. "Here, try it; I cooked it myself". "Wow, just by yourself?" while eating a piece, Nevduplyon was surprised. "By yourself. There is no one else". "And the mother or the girl?" "There is no girlfriend, as well as a wife, in fact, my mother died two years ago". "From what?" "From lung cancer". "I'm sorry". "Thanks. I moved away from this not so long ago..." he went to the table, took out a photo of a very beautiful dark-haired young woman with a mole under her right eye and a radiant smile and handed it to Seryozha. "Here, this is my mom". "Wow! How young he looks". "Yes, because she gave birth to me at the age of fourteen. Her father raped her and disappeared completely, so I don't know him. I can't even imagine what he looks like or what his name is". With a sad sigh, Agri put the frame back and sat down opposite Seryozha, who was carefully peering at the table. In fact, the apartment was a three-room apartment, but one of the Trap doors was specially painted in the color of the wall and put a table in front of it so that it would not catch the eye. But our Seryozha, as always, saw everything and was immediately interested. "What lies behind that door?" he asked himself as he talked to a friend. But he did not want to ask directly what was behind the door, since his counterpart could lie, because only his eyes, which he trusted more than life, could satisfy his curiosity. "Has something happened?" Agri asked him, to which Seryozha shook his head. "Nothing, I was just thinking". "About what?" "It doesn't matter". "I wish he would go somewhere and I could look at what's lurking there..." he asked himself. And, fortunately for him, Agri opened the refrigerator and realized that he had run out of milk, without which he never drank tea. "Oh... Seryozha, I'll go to the store quickly, okay? Will you stay here?" "Of course". "Great! I'll go there and back quickly". Agri threw a sand raincoat over his shoulders, took a bag with a purse and went out into the entrance. After waiting for a while, our Seryozha quietly crept up to the table, pushed it aside and, suddenly stopping, listened. He heard soft whispers coming from behind the door, like a woman crying and praying. "Is there someone here?" – he asked softly after knocking on the door. Everything fell silent. No one answered him. Having gathered his courage and said a quiet prayer, he opened the door, and there was a low, terrified screech. Groping for the switch, he turned on the light, froze in place and turned deadly pale. A small, withered room appeared in front of him: the yellow walls were eaten by fungus, instead of a chandelier, everything was illuminated by a light bulb hanging on a wire, and the only furniture here was a rickety table and a smelly mattress. On the mattress lay a long-haired woman, dressed in old rags, who had lost her former beauty, without arms and legs, who, like an inverted bug, helplessly moved her stumps and looked at Seryozha in the most terrible fear, whispering something. There were open condom wrappers and wads of tissues next to her. Pale Nevduplyon cautiously came closer and squatted down in front of the woman, whom he recognized by the birthmark, as Agria's mother, who had been dead for two years, according to a friend. "He... help me..." the woman whispered, breathing heavily, trembling and twitching in her attempts to get up. "What happened to you?.." "Me... I'm being tortured here..." "Tortured? Who?" "A... Agri... My son..." "What is he doing to you?" "The horrors! I beg... Help..." "Okay! I-I'm going to call..." "He's here!" Seryozha jumped up and turned around in fright, coming face to face with Agri, whose face was hidden by the shadow of the hood. "Agri!" Seryozha cried, tripped over the mattress and fell to the floor. A rusty axe handle glinted in the light. Terrible screams cut through the silence of the apartment, but none of the neighbors heard him, because, unfortunately, there was no one nearby. ... Evening crept up unnoticed. Kapkanov got out of the car, took a large bloody backpack with him and, after making sure that there was no one in the area, stood in the middle of the bridge over the Bezdna River, which was infamous for the waters that dragged everything to the depths, even swollen ugly corpses and living people, because it was easier for murderers to hide the bodies and suicides to die. After looking around again, he threw his backpack into the water and returned to the car with a mischievous whistle.