Tamara Nikolaevna was returning from the store. A car was parked in front of the house, having driven onto the lawn. The neighbors had already left and were scolding the owner among themselves.
– To whom is it? the elderly woman frowned.
– Back to Anka, or what?
– And to whom else? – the neighbor picked up. – Expensive cars don’t go to us old people. Only ambulances.
The old ladies also stood near the entrance, quarreled with people who do not care about public order, and did not fail to murmur at the authorities, who do not care about people. And then the same Anka came out.
Ignoring the old ladies, she went about her business. The car remained standing on the lawn. The grandmothers followed the girl with their eyes, and Tamara Nikolaevna hurried home. There was a man standing in front of her door. The elderly woman frowned.
– Tamara Nikolaevna? the man smiled when he saw that she intended to get into this apartment.
– I will not buy anything from you, the counters are in order, I receive my pension at the post office, I will not issue it to the bank! – Tamara Nikolaevna immediately declared, knowing that many scammers go to apartments.
“I’m Dima,” the man laughed. – We talked to you two days ago. Remember? and he leaned over to Grandma. As if talking on the phone, she could see his face on the phone.
“Your great–uncle’s son.
– Oh, Dmitry, – grandma exhaled. – I would have warned you that you were going to visit, – Tamara Nikolaevna opened the door, they went into the apartment and then she caught herself.
– Wait, is that your car on the lawn?
– Is it on the lawn? – the man stretched a smile. – I thought it was parking.
– What kind of parking do you need there? Grandma asked sternly. – Well, I cleaned up quickly before the neighbors helped.
Dmitry hurried outside. And Tamara Nikolaevna went to make tea. He wants to sell the apartment, but why embarrass himself in front of the neighbors at parting? She will move out, and the lawn will remain crumpled after her.
While drinking tea with a distant relative, an elderly woman was looking at him. She doesn’t remember the last time she saw him.
Semyon, her great-uncle, maybe thirty years ago came with his little boy. Then I got lost somehow. He wasn’t interested in her, she was interested in him. And now the son has turned up. Seems like a good young man. Polite, smiling all the time.
Something repels him, but maybe he’s a smoker, he smells like smoke and his teeth are yellowed. It seems that the guy is also young, you can say, but he has already launched himself like this. Nevertheless, he showed up in her life on time. Volunteered to help an elderly woman with the sale of an apartment.
She is already under 70, she has seen enough of this bureaucracy. I didn’t want to go through all the instances myself, make a sale, and I was afraid to contact realtors. And here, like, relatives. I promised him a few thousand for his help, but he even refused them.
Anyway, she decided that she would stick it in as soon as everything was resolved and she would move to a new home. The money that will remain from the sale of the apartment and after buying a house in the village, I wanted to donate to the church first. But now I’ve decided that maybe it’s better to help my relatives with something. He’ll see how they’re doing.
She herself has neither a husband nor children. In my old age, I didn’t want to sit alone in the apartment. It would be closer to the ground, there are forces, a small vegetable garden can hold. And in the fresh air. I wanted to, I came out, I don’t need to go down from the fourth floor. Here is a house from old buildings, an elevator is not provided.
They discussed all the apartment issues with Dmitry, told him which house he wanted, in which area. And a day later he brought the first buyer to the apartment. As soon as he left, Tamara Nikolaevna turned to Dmitry.
– Maybe let’s postpone the question until spring? I don’t want to move in winter. The heat would be more convenient.
– What are you, Tamara Nikolaevna? – the man was indignant. – Do you know that houses get more expensive in the spring? There is no difference for an apartment, but now is the time to buy a house. And you will immediately see how the heating works. And in the spring, buy a seemingly decent thing, then it turns out that the house is cold.
And indeed, this argument seemed very convincing to the elderly woman. Later, a relative said that the buyer liked the apartment, ready to buy. Dmitry says, as long as the buyer agrees, you need to make a deal.
– What am I going to sell, but where am I going? Tamara Nikolaevna disagreed.
– Here, when we pick up a house for me, then we will arrange the sale of the apartment.
– The house is easier, there are many options, we will pick up quickly. And you have an apartment without an elevator, the area is not the most popular. As long as they give a good price, you need to agree.
“Let him wait,” Grandma persisted. – The issue will be resolved with the house, then I will sell the apartment.
– I agree with you, – Dmitry relented. – Let’s really find you an option right away, and one day we will execute both transactions. And you will not be afraid for money, and you will travel less to notaries.
The relative did not make me wait long with proposals for houses. A few days later I came to Tamara Nikolaevna and showed her housing options on the phone. The woman chose a few she liked to watch them live. A relative arranged for screenings and took his grandmother to the village on the weekend.
The options were not very successful, but at the price it turned out that there would be money left for a good repair. And Dmitry turned out to be familiar with the construction, told what materials are needed, how repairs can be made and how much it will cost. He even promised to help with this issue.
– Winter, I would like to move in right away and not worry about anything, – grandmother lamented. – I’ve already done so many of these minor repairs in my life that I don’t want anything else. I would be quietly tinkering with my own affairs, so that nothing needs to be patched up.
– Tamara Nikolaevna, – Dmitry stroked her shoulder. – The roof doesn’t leak here, the heating is working, and I’ll send the guys wallpaper, they’ll glue everything for you in a day. But your girlfriends in the city will look out of the windows, and you are already walking around your yard.
My grandmother was a little worried that Dmitry was too insistent that she finish with the screenings and buy some kind of house. But then she decided that there was no benefit to him from this, and it was also not particularly convenient for him to mess with her affairs. And so, thank you for doing all this.
And Tamara Nikolaevna agreed to a house that had a good location – a shop, a bus stop nearby. And the house itself did not require much repair.
A day was set for the execution of both transactions. And soon Dmitry, with the buyer of the apartment and another man who introduced himself as the owner of the house, took his grandmother to the notary’s office. While he was filling out the paperwork, Dmitry brought everyone tea. He put the cup in front of Tamara Nikolaevna last of all.
Grandma was a little nervous. Still an apartment. The money is big, I’ve lived in it all my life. And somehow it’s not comfortable that everything is so fast. I just sort of made plans, thought about it, convinced myself that I needed to leave my place, move closer to nature. And then, on – and everything has already been decided. There is no way back.
I drank some tea. When the papers were given for signature, my head was spinning somehow. I put it down to excitement. The last days are like needles. I sorted things in the apartment, put them in boxes. I signed it and decided for myself that I need to calm down, everything has already been decided. Soon he will enjoy village life.
– Everything is ready in the house, you can move in even today, – said the owner of the house.
– And what, let’s take you there right now, – Dmitry picked up. – And then we’ll organize things.
– But what am I going to do there in an empty house? No, I’ll go with my things myself,” grandma refused.
– By the way, about things. We have some furniture left there and some dishes. Maybe take a look at what you need, and I’ll take the rest,” the owner offered after some confusion.
And the relative started insisting to go to the house again to see and solve all the issues. Grandma succumbed to persuasion, even though it’s already evening, it’s getting dark outside. The men loaded her into the car and took her to a new place.
The woman began to feel sleepy. And after a while she went into unconsciousness. Consciousness returned in spurts. I saw that they were taking her. The men are talking about something unintelligible.
– Grandma, do you hear me? – Dmitry’s voice seemed to be heard from far away, but there was no strength to answer.
“Leave her here, she’ll die herself,” she heard when she came to her senses the next time.
I woke up again from the cold air. And I realized that they had thrown her into a snowdrift. Through the fog in her ears, she heard that the car that brought her was leaving. She realized that Dmitry had deceived her. It was not for nothing that I was alerted when the man who introduced himself as the owner of the house turned out to be not what this house showed.
Apparently, a relative mixed something in the tea and slipped her a gift to sign. She closed her eyes and prepared to face death.
Meanwhile, a young woman was watching this picture from afar. She was passing by. I saw that a car had stopped at the curb. I thought maybe I needed help. But two men came out of there, pulled out something big and headed into the forest.
It was snowing, I didn’t see what they were carrying and I couldn’t see the details at speed. But it alerted her. Why would people take something out into the woods on a deserted highway? Unless it’s just garbage, or even something worse. The girl has seen a lot of movies. I immediately came up with a crime in my head.
After driving a little, she stopped her SUV, turned off the headlights and waited. I prepared a pen with a notebook to write down the number. When the car she was interested in drove past, the girl turned the car around and headed to the place where the suspicious car was parked. Even more suspicion crept into her, because these people were in such a hurry to leave.
The snow was getting heavier. The girl was hurrying along the tracks of people. And I saw an elderly woman in the snow. I rushed to her – she was unconscious, but breathing. The girl immediately started calling her husband and explaining the situation.
Grandma stirred. The young woman began to rub her, trying to bring her to her senses. It was dangerous to leave her in the cold. Fortunately, Grandma could move and, although she understood almost nothing, somehow miraculously got to her feet.
Slowly they tried to walk to the car. Grandma was constantly falling, losing consciousness. But the main thing is that she moved somehow, otherwise she would have died of hypothermia. Soon an ambulance drove up to the young woman’s car.
The men carried the grandmother to the car and took her to the hospital. The girl followed them. She couldn’t just leave the unknown. It was necessary to punish the people who had treated the elderly woman so cruelly. If the strange car had not attracted the girl’s attention, then because of the snow, the tracks would not have been found and so this case would have remained unsolved.
Grandma was saved. And Dina, her savior, reported the incident to the police. The girl came to the hospital to visit her grandmother. Seeing her in a calm environment, she was stunned, did not know how to react.
– Tamara Nikolaevna? Dina couldn’t contain her excitement. – I’m Dina, remember?
The grandmother looked closely at the girl and began to cry. She recognized her, even though it had been 20 years. And she saw her as a very little girl. Most likely, if the girl hadn’t called her by name and introduced herself as Dina, she wouldn’t have recognized her.
But now, looking at her plump lips, thin snub nose and red curly hair, I remembered little Dinah, whom I once took care of.
The police were dealing with the case, and meanwhile Grandma had nowhere to live. The apartment has already been issued to other people. And Dina and her husband took Tamara Nikolaevna to themselves until the issue of housing is resolved.
Sitting over a cup of tea and watching Dina’s two-year-old son running briskly around the kitchen, they recalled the past. Dina was 8 years old at the time. Mom suddenly became ill. They lived together, there were no relatives. Tamara Nikolaevna, then still quite a young woman, came to the call. When examining the patient, it turned out that she had appendicitis. But already in a running form. There was a serious risk to life.
– We will take Mom to the hospital, – the kind aunt doctor told the girl. – can someone look after you?
The girl shook her head, and the mother, with difficulty, said that they had no one and the daughter would be left all alone. While mom was being carried on a stretcher to the car, Tamara Nikolaevna collected some of the girl’s things and took her with her.
Dina’s mother underwent surgery, but she remained in a serious condition, still worried that her daughter might be sent to a shelter. And Tamara Nikolaevna felt sorry for Dina. She took the girl to her home. The woman herself could not have children and it was her joy to look after this baby.
Dina stayed with her for a whole month until her mother recovered. They managed to get attached to each other and for a while Tamara Nikolaevna felt the joy of motherhood.
After her mother’s recovery, she still communicated with this family. She brought gifts to the girl and even once took her with her for a shift. Over time, the connection was cut off.
Dina and her mother moved to another place, it was not convenient for Tamara Nikolaevna to get there. And the girl has already grown up, she has lessons, clubs, friends of the same age. There was no time to communicate with an adult aunt.
And now, 20 years later, this little baby is sitting in front of her. Already the mother of the charming Vanechka herself. Her mother died without waiting for her grandchildren. Her health was weak. She worked without sparing herself so that her daughter would get everything that she herself did not have in the orphanage.
Dina got married successfully. Their family is wonderful – her husband works as a lawyer, she works with him in the office as an assistant. Dina’s husband helped Tamara Nikolaevna to return her apartment and was going to get a good sentence for the detained Dmitry for attempted murder and fraud.
Since then, Tamara Nikolaevna has had a family. An elderly woman quickly found a common language with Vanya. It turned out that she could not have children herself, and other people’s children became her relatives. And now, to her delight, a grandson has appeared.
She offered her help in looking after the baby, now Dina could leave her son with her grandmother if any urgent matters appeared, and not look for a babysitter.
By spring, Tamara Nikolaevna had already sold her apartment without fraud and bought the house she dreamed of. Dina’s family often came to visit her. Here we came again in the summer, grandma treated them to homemade vegetables.
– Tom, Tom, – Vanechka ran to Tamara Nikolaevna, the boy for some reason began to call her that himself, and an elderly woman is pleased with such an address. – Go, look, there’s a scary worm there, you need to kill it.
– What are you, Vanyush, you can’t! – grandma sat the boy on her lap. – The worm will dig up the ground, then a tomato seed will fall there, a tomato will grow. Vanyusha will eat it and grow up to be a big boy.
– How will he dig up? the boy laughed. – He doesn’t have a shovel.
“If you don’t see a shovel, it doesn’t mean he can’t dig,” Mom laughed. – You’re going to regret the worm now, and it will save you in the future.
– And how will I know what will save? – the boy persisted.
– Do you see his shovel now? – dad intervened, Vanya shook his head negatively. – And he digs the ground. Then it turns out that if you don’t see something, it doesn’t mean at all that it doesn’t exist. Do you understand?
– Aha, – the boy rejoiced. – So there is a God.
The adults looked at each other in surprise. – Toma says there is a God, but he can’t show it. Now I know. And the adults laughed.
After all, every action leads to some result. Whether we see it or not. And if we want a good result, then we need to do something good, even if there are no visible benefits in it…
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