Between two mountains. Juan Gabriel Borges

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СКАЧАТЬ woke up to someone’s angrily slam closing the door. He jumped out of his bed and looked at the pendulum clock on the wall; it was a quarter to eleven. In a hurry he stretched out his hand to his clothes thrown on the chair. Hastily he wore his trousers; his heart was beating fast because of anxiety and waking up suddenly. His blood pressure has definitely risen. If only he wasn’t late for work…

      Suddenly he noticed the honorary order on the bookshelf. He chewed his lips for a moment with sorrow, and then relaxed. Only now, while seeing the honorary order he remembered that since yesterday he is retired. The honorary order which he had put behind the glass on the bookshelf had been signed by the head of the Criminal Investigation Department. On behalf of the Ministry he was thanked for his thirty year activity. He sat on the bed, and threw the shirt he was going to wear on the sofa. But it appeared that his retiring wasn’t to Jannah’s content. While leaving she slammed the door so that he understood how angry she was.

      Deep in his heart he justified Jannah. Is there any woman who agrees with her husband’s retiring and sitting at home all day long? Especially in this age… Fifty one year isn’t old age. He should not offend Jannah. If Jannah leaves him…well, what to do. It is right, Jannah is too plump. As a woman she isn’t so attractive. But it is better than to live alone, all by himself. He is not smart – now it isn’t the Soviet’s time, the borders are open. He had to take a holiday and go to India. He should have found Kaushari whom he could never forget, and tell her that he was going mad because of her. He would tell her that though many years passed, he still loved her. Maybe Kaushari wouldn’t remember him. Kaushari saw a lot of tourists every day. And all of them were from different countries. Would she remember Masud? If Jannah didn’t live with him he would collect his pension money and would somehow go to India. But he shouldn’t brake up with Jannah.

      He would be reproached. They would tell that Zibeyde couldn’t bear because he didn’t earn enough money; she and his daughter Sabina lived half starved, half satisfied. That was why one day she collected all she could take with her and said: “Most of the men in your age are with position. They have much money. Do you think all of them have relatives at high posts supporting them? No, of course, not. Simply, they are not as stupid as you. All day long you are in the streets, in the cities. You search for a swindler. You never celebrated New Year at your home. Each year you are on duty in the office. You can’t demand your rights. Isn’t there anybody except you? I feel shy to tell anybody that my husband is a captain. When I see young boys become generals, how can I tell that my good-for-nothing husband isn’t even a major, not a general? ”

      High pitched voice of Zibeyde tingled in his ears. He grabbed his head. Each time when Zibeyde’s shouting tingled in his ears his mind shook up. In fact, it was thus since the first day of their marriage. Since the morning of the wedding he began to hear that odd voice. Zibeyde spoke over telephone loudly too. How happy Masud became when Sabina was born. He had promised himself to bring her up as the happiest girl of the world. Because she is a girl. She is a guest at home, as one day she will leave for her husband’s house. She should not hear the word “no”. She should be brought up as a lady. She should get good education. As if Sabina was his breath. He thought that his small daughter was the best gift of the Great God to him. He had a lot of optimistic wishes and plans connected with Sabina. After he divorced with Zibeyde, though he was reproached he could find time to rush to Sabina’s school and see his daughter. Day after day he could feel how his daughter becomes colder and colder towards him. During the first days when Zibeyde left home taking Sabina with her, Masud missed Sabina too much. Every day he woke up crying bitterly saying “Sabina”. At court he told that he passes his house to his daughter. The home in which he was living now was the home his parents lived once. Approximately for a year he went to school to see his daughter. But one day he saw Zibeyde coming out from the chief’s office. As soon as Zibeyde left, the chief called him and informed: – Masud, your wife complained that you were going to kidnap your daughter. She says that you instigate your daughter against her mother. She says that if you go to see your daughter once more she will complain and try to get you to jail. Be careful. Your wife is too aggressive.

      After that event captain Masud Ibrahimzade went to school to see his daughter Sabina but he could feel how his daughter grew cold to him. The last time when he went to school he saw how Sabina ran towards classroom seeing him. He turned back and wanted to leave the school, he saw Zibeyde at the gate. Even now he can remember the insulting words of Zibeyde. Since that time neither he could forget Zibeyde’s words nor his daughter Sabina. Masud who wanted to console himself somehow, would never forgive himself for losing Sabina. Zibeyde could be able to make Sabina lose interest to him. Even if he married Kaushari and they had five or six daughters or four sons Sabina was dearest to him. The wound in Masud’s heart would never be recovered. Now there was neither Sabina nor Zibeyde near him. Only Jannah was near him….

      ***

      Jannah Agafovna Gubanova worked as a ticket-seller in a booking-office. They met when Jannah’s son killed some guy. He was a member of operational group. Jannah was taken to the department as a murderer’s mother. He felt sorry for a stout woman waiting in the corridor for her investigation for hours. He called her to his office and offered her a seat. Jannah was crestfallen and revealed the story of her life to him. When Masud brought up the subject of India he felt how attentively this large woman was listening to him, what only increased his sympathy to her. He didn’t allow other policemen to hurt somehow her feelings. After one month Jannah called him at his work place:– Masud, help me. My darned daughter deceived me and made me sell my house. She told me, let’s sell it and move to Rostov, and so I did and went to Rostov. Over there coupled with her husband drunkard they took my money and ditched me on the street, telling me to scram back to the place where I came from. Masud, the booking-office is also closed. Who would lend money to anyone nowadays. God forbid, should I beg on the streets?

      This is Jannah’s life. What can she do? Then he brought Jannah to his house and told her that she can stay here for awhile. “I am also alone. You can tidy up the room. Later we would figure something out”. Since that time Jannah lives with him. Everyday she leaves in the morning and returns back in the evening. “Masud, I am seeking for a job”. “Let me go have a look if the booking-office is open”. “Masud, do you maybe have 3 manats? As soon as I find a job I will pay everything back…”

      Oh well, at least from time to time Jannah cooked a borsch or something else. Plus, no one listened to his story of India as attentively as Jannah did. In fact, Masud started to like her initially because of this. Everyone has heard his story of India. Some, as their chief used to do, were telling him that they were fed up with his stories of India and if he doesn’t want to work, why doesn’t he move to his beloved India. His colleague who sat with him in the same room would leave the room immediately as Masud started talking about India saying: “I will come back in a second”. Zibeyde in these cases used to increase the volume of TV or would quickly start dialing her sisters. Sabina would smile and say: – “Father, you have said this already. Arsham is there, Taj- Mahal is there, there are the monuments of Buddha” – and would quickly leave to her room. At times some of his joker friends would ask him: “Masud, how are your relatives in India?” and burst out laughing after this – “Ha, ha, ha…”

      But when a young employee who graduated from the Police Academy was appointed to the Criminal Investigation Department, Masud was happy. That young employee was attached to him, he had to teach him the secrets of work. The trainees whom he taught are either a major or a colonel. When the young employee was assigned to him in between teachings of subtleties of work Masud also used to tell him about India. Masud talked about India in such a way that young man the relative of some authoritative man started to believe that India is better than the places like New York, London, Dubai and Venice which he has visited numerous times. But after some time the employees who sat in the next room stared to ask the young boy whether the talks of Masud bored him or not: “We respect your father a lot…Masud has lost his mind…Only once in his life he traveled India, since that time…Well, don’t pay much attention. We know that you won’t stay here for СКАЧАТЬ