Oswald's Tale Read Online Free PDF

feet—and Valya pitied her, for Marina had had a very difficult destiny. Marina even told Valya that she loved her. Loved her a lot. Marina said Valya was the first woman to treat her decently and give her all this freedom, and in turn, Valya loved and pitied her.
    Ilya was much more strict. He worried till Marina came back at night from a date. Not everything went smoothly between them, either, for Marina had a quick tongue. On the other hand, there was one young man with very good manners that Ilya liked, a young medical student named Sasha, and Ilya even had coffee with him. And, of course, there wasn’t really all that much friction with Ilya, because Marina didn’t come home late all that often. Not when he was home. Marina saved her late nights for those times when Ilya was away on a business trip and Valya was alone. Marina had told Valya that in Leningrad her stepfather, Medvedev, didn’t allow her back into his apartment if she was late. She would have to sleep on the outside staircase. Valya cried when she heard that.
    Valya always wondered why, after Klavdia died and her stepfather mistreated her, Marina never asked any of her aunts or Ilya to take her in. “Why did she stay on in Leningrad so long—two more years?”
    Yet, Marina was full of envy when she finally arrived. She said, “Oh, what a paradise you two have here.” Valya never understood these remarks, because there wasn’t anybody to work for Valya. If it was as good as Marina described it, Valya was the one who worked hard to create it.
    Still, there was no real problem with Marina. Her room was always neat and there was never any difficulty with their bathroom, which was inside now, and in turn, Valya would never say a word to her when she did come home late, because she trusted her to be a nice girl. For that matter, Marina shared her secrets. So Valya now knew which boyfriend she liked and those about whom she felt most critical.
    Because of such knowledge, Valya pitied Sasha when Marina didn’t treat him well. Valya just couldn’t see people being handled so rudely. After all, Sasha came every time with flowers, and was so nice to Marina. And how Marina treated him!
    In fact, he was so much in love with Marina that Ilya and Valya had even started to call him “son-in-law,” but one day, feeling sorry for him, Valya told him that if you’re going to marry Marina, you have to understand that she had a very difficult time in Leningrad. Sasha said, “I don’t want to hear anything about that.”
    Marina came home about this time, overheard part of their conversation, took Valya into the kitchen to tell her how upset she was, then came out and said to Sasha, “I don’t want to see you anymore.”
    It depressed Valya, but then you could say that Marina, living with her stepfather, Medvedev, had gotten used to being the boss of herself, anyway. No one could influence her, Valya decided, because Marina was accustomed to taking serious decisions without a mother, without a father. Valya knew, for example, that Marina was smoking. In Leningrad, somebody had introduced her to cigarettes that came in a pretty box. They were slender and slim and feminine. Valya knew she was smoking, because a neighbor saw Marina doing it in a restaurant and told Valya. It was fortunate Uncle Ilya was away in another city on business. And Valya had a toothache that time, so she said to Marina, “I took medicine; it doesn’t help. I’m hurting. Give me one of your cigarettes.” Marina was flabbergasted. She said, “I don’t have any.” Valya said, “Come on, don’t lie to me. Go get it from your purse.”
    Marina said, “Did you check my things?” And Valya said, “I know you’re smoking, so give me for my toothache. You know, nicotine, painkiller.” After Marina passed one to her, Valya said, “You better stop doing it. If you don’t quit, I’m going to tell Uncle Ilya.”
    But she wouldn’t quit, Valya knew. Marina liked smoking. It was