The story "Lyudochka" Astafyev V.P. wrote in 1987. The narration is conducted in the third person. The plot tells us about the story of the girl Luda, the main events of which take place in the dying village of Vychugan. The author could not understand why this event still lives in his memory and burns his heart like that, so he decided to share it with us.
The story told by the author was heard by him 15 years ago. The story of a girl whom he had never seen and never will see, named like Lyudochka, sits in his memory and burns his heart. A heroine was born in the village. Father was a drunkard, he soon died, and his mother worked for a penny and was forced to seek help from new men. Luda had a stepfather, but soon she had to part with her family: there was no work in the village. Mother sent her to work, promising to help the girl at first with the expectation of help in old age.
The heroine decided to get a job in a hairdresser, but there were not enough skills. Then she asked for a student to the local craftswoman. After checking all the documents and questioning the girl, Gavrilovna wailed her to her, but with the conditions. This agreement was not for long, until the girl worked for the hostel. The girl was a huge exception in Gavrilovna’s apartment, since she was strict with the boys, and the girls were not allowed to live at all after the situation with the residents from the technical school. Two girls lived with her, they seemed to respect her rules, only they did not observe the order, did not pay for the apartment on time, tried to educate Gavrilovna, and then they began to steal sugar and pies. The last straw was that they ate three ripe cucumbers, over which the old woman was so puffed up, not sparing her back and manure. Then she let in only students, taught them housekeeping, cleaning, and even taught two to cook.
Despite the simplicity of the clerical work, the girl found it difficult, and she did not turn in to the master, but she remained a full-time employee, moonlighting as a cleaner. She continued her practice - she shaved the baldness of draftees, and she cut schoolchildren with electric shears. In addition, the whole economy of Gavrilovna was kept on it. And the old woman even promised that she would rewrite the house on her if she would also do her work.
From work to the house, Luda rode on the tram to the final stop, and then walked on foot through the park of the car and train depot, dying from the fact that they laid a pipe through it and forgot to bury it. So the black pipe remained, all in bends, and under it steamed clay, later a hot river began to flow over the pipe. A wooden bridge was laid over the pipe, with a railing that constantly broke, and was updated in the spring. For convenience, there were reinforced concrete benches.
Young mischievous people lived there. Their leader was Artem-soap with white hair on his head, which Lyuda could not pacify. Once, for the harassment, the girl severely hurt him, and now he and his boss answered the heroine with respect for her intransigence.
Once they went with Artyom to dance. There was chaos in the corral, as if animals had been released from their cages. The heroine escaped from there and escaped. The old woman constantly lamented when Lyudochka would turn in for the master and decide on the profession, they would find her a good boyfriend in an instant. The girl agreed with everything, because it will not be bad to advise a person that he has so much experience.
He looked like a black bug with narrow eyes. Instead of a mustache above the upper lip, it was as if smeared with black paint, and smiled with spoiled teeth. Already in childhood, Strekach began to rob, taking away chewing gum and gingerbread from kids. In the seventh grade, he began to walk with a knife, instilling fear, he received prey without threats and violence - they were so afraid of him. Later, he cut a man and he was registered with the police, and sat down for 3 years for trying to rape a postman girl. In winter, Strekach lived in other people's cottages, leaving the threat of arson, so the owners began to leave alcohol and snacks with the wish: “Dear guest! Drink, eat, rest - only, for God's sake, don’t set fire to anything! ” Everyone respected Strekach, followed him, and he was content and tore off the guys either into cards or thimbles. People lived in anxiety in Veparveze. After returning, Strekach spent his evening in the park on a bench, drinking expensive cognac, and the punks promised him a chick from dancing. When he saw Luda, he grabbed her by the belt of his cloak, pulled her and tried to put her on her knees. He did not listen to Artem, who said that the girl was "sick." When she began to resist, he threw him behind the bench and raped Lyudochka. Then the accomplices repeated his “feat”, because the criminal made them do it so that no one would surrender him. When Artemka tried to throw a cloak on Lyudochka, she ran away, shouting: “Soap! Soap!".
Upon returning, the heroine fainted. Waking up, she decided to go to her mother for comfort and advice.
Lyudochka arrived home, her mother wiped her wet hands on the apron that framed her large belly. Looking at her daughter, she realized that a misfortune had happened to her, and what kind of misfortune. But she did not console Ludochka, believing that every woman should go through this, learn how to cope with pain. Not counting on Lyudochka’s arrival, my mother was glad that they had accumulated sour cream and pumped honey. Mom was embarrassed by her position at 40, but the stepfather himself wanted a child. They planned to sell the old house and move to the village.
Luda thought about his stepfather and how he got used to the housework. Difficult, but with excitement. After the haying, Lyudochka went to the river, and after the search she heard “animal rumble”. The girl was surprised when she saw her stepfather running through the shallows, slapping herself on her wet stomach and plucking out a roar of joy. Laughing from the fun of her stepfather, the girl told her mother how he swam. What mother was not at all surprised at, saying that there was nowhere for him to learn this, all his childhood in exile and camps. But he is a decent man, maybe a good one, the woman said, as if proving to someone.
Despite the warm welcome at home, communication with her mother was cold. Maybe her stepfather could comfort her. She so wanted to run away to the timber industry, cling to his rough chest and cry. Having not found support in the house, Lyudochka decided to leave with the earliest train.
Upon returning, the heroine said that her mother was busy. When she saw two ropes on her bag instead of the straps, she recalled her mother’s story about how she tied the ropes to the cradle, put her foot in the noose and shook her foot. Gavrilovna was frightened by the girl's tears. Lyudochka replied that she felt sorry for her mother.
Meanwhile, the old woman received threats against Luda from the people of Strekach. She was scared for her housing and asked the girl to move out.
Lyudochka remembered how she got to the hospital with pneumonia, living on a state farm. One night, she saw in the corridor, lying on her bunk, as in a corner, near the stove, a guy was dying. The nurse told her the story of how this guy, recruited from distant places, fell ill in the cutting area and a boil jumped out from his temple. Having asked for help, the assistant nurse only scolded him for treating for nothing, and a day later she herself accompanied him to the hospital, as the guy fell into unconsciousness. Pus was discovered in a hidden skull, which began to destroy everything, so the guy was left to die in the corridor. Lyuda sat and looked at him, and then came up and covered his face with her palm. He relaxed, calmed down, and tried to say something "mustache-mustache ... mustache ...". The girl realized that he thanks her. Pity for a young guy who probably did not have time to enjoy love, and tormented her. Taking his hand, she sat on a nearby stool. The guy's eyes were full of hope, he tried to whisper words to her. The girl thought that he was praying and began to help him, but she was tired and fell asleep. Awakening, she saw tears flowing down. She shook his hand, but he did not answer. He comprehended the price of compassion. Betrayal between the living and the dying will always take place, wishing a person not to suffer, because they themselves do not want to suffer at his bedside. Taking his hand from Lyudochka, the guy turned away - because he was expecting a victim, not consolation, a strong-willed decision to be with him to the end or even die. And maybe then a miracle will happen, powerful forces will appear in him that can bring him back to life. But, never alive will he not sacrifice himself for the sake of the dying, and he alone will not overcome death. Lyuda quietly moved away from the lumberjack’s bed, and since then the guilt before the late guy has not subsided in her.
The heroine lived with Gavrilovna, but at her request she hid it. And yet, in the park, the guys caught her again. Frightening the Strekach, they pushed her towards the bench and Lyuda knew why. After the rape in her pocket, she began to wear a razor, wanting to cut off the dignity of the criminal to the very root. Luda did not come up with such a plan of revenge herself, but heard in the hairdresser. Visibly upset that Strekach was not among them, she promised to return to the park as soon as she changed into torn clothes, otherwise she was not rich. Lyudochka came home, dressed in an old dress, tied that rope from her cradle on a belt. I wanted to leave a note, but could not find a pen or pencil. Walking to the park, she saw an announcement about the recruitment of young people in the forest industry, and immediately embraced her desire to leave everything and leave. But the thought that there, in the forest, the ratman on the rattleman, and all with a mustache, interrupted her.
In the park she was waiting for a poplar, which she had long noticed, with a protruding clumsy bitch over the path. Throwing a rope at him, she deftly tied a loop. Village life taught her a lot. Climbing onto a fragment of poplar, I put a noose around my neck. Mentally saying goodbye to all friends and relatives, asking God for forgiveness, if he exists, with a noose around her neck, covering her face with her hands, as in childhood, she pushed off her feet and plunged into the abyss. She only felt her heart swell in her chest, as if she would break her ribs, but she quickly weakened tiredly and all the torment left Lyudochka.
The guys who were waiting for Lyudochka began to scold her for being late. One was sent to scout. The friends immediately ran away, learning what the girl had done to herself. In a cafe, one of them told how he saw a twitching body. They decided to warn the Strekach before they were taken.
At the wake, the stepfather came to look at the Bandit, which led Lyudochka to suicide. The man tore off the cross from the neck of the bandit, to which he began to threaten with a knife, which made the stepfather of the dead girl laugh. Grabbing the Strekach’s hand, he ripped it out of his pocket right with a piece of cloth. He also quickly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him into a ditch through the bushes, to which there was a heartbreaking cry. Wiping his hands on his pants, his stepfather stepped on the path, the punks stepped in his way. He stared at them. They saw in him a true leader, adamant and incorruptible, who cannot be broken. Everyone ran away, who where. Someone is just from the park, others look for Strekach in the ditch, who ran for help, and someone to tell the news of the half-drunken bandit mother about his new fate, the path of which ended. The man went further, and reached the end of the park. Stumbled, he saw the remaining rope on the bitch. An unknown force, which he knew before, but not fully understood, instantly pushed him up, he grabbed the bitch with his hand. He only creaked and broke off. Turning it in his hand, even smelling it, he silently prayed. Why didn’t he break off when it was necessary? ... Having crushed the tree and scattered to the sides, the man went home. His stepfather drank another glass, and after that he got into a timber industry farm, and his wife kept up with him a little. He took Ludochka’s clothes from her, helped to climb the high steps into the carriage and found a free place. Lyudochka’s mother began to pray to God that at least this child would grow up healthy and be healthy. She asked for forgiveness from Lyudochka, because she could not save her. Shyly laid her head on her husband, who he seemed to have lowered to make her comfortable, and seemed to put a hand to her side to make it warmer.
Artyomka-soap was never able to split, so they let him go home. With fear, he went to the communications school, where he climbed poles, screwed in glasses and pulled wires. He also soon got married with fear, the fastest in the village they had a smiling and cheerful curly-haired son. And the grandfather laughed that the grandson was already with a flat head, since he had been removed with forceps and, moreover, would not be able to cope with his father’s profession, since he could not figure out which end to climb onto the pole.
After a while, a note appeared in the local newspaper on the moral structure in the city, where Lyudochka and Strekach did not get. The percentage of morality increased, and the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate, who was 2 years old before retirement, did not want to spoil the statistics by two suicides who foolishly laid hands on themselves.
