LITMIR.BIZ

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continued:

      – Yes. Forgive us. It’s Jorge’s and my fault. We were supposed to leave with the proceeds from the cash register, but instead we decided to also open the safe.

      Pablo pulled out a package from his back pocket.

      – In general, we decided not to divide everything into equal parts. The total was 1,940. Jorge and I each kept 420 for ourselves; before that, we gave a hundred to Aunt Barbara’s attending physician so that they would move the line and perform the operation a couple of months earlier. They said that it would be impossible to move the queue by more than two months and that was the maximum. And this is the rest – Pablo said, placing the remaining money in front of Massimo.

      Massimo put his hand to the stack of bills and pushed them into the center of the table.

      – Hey-hey! What are you doing? – Jorge almost shouted.

      – In short, I didn’t even suspect that you somehow helped with my aunt. So this action of yours is more valuable to me than money.

      – Yes, that goes without saying. Just take yours. You’re without funds.

      After much convincing from his friends, Massimo said:

      – Listen, guys, I’ll take it only on one condition. I won’t be able to help you until the probationary period expires. One year will pass and you can count on me.

      Massimo said the last phrase firmly, decisively and with enthusiasm.

      Pablo spoke indignantly:

      – Of course. Forget it. We’ll manage somehow ourselves. We’ll hold out for a year. Just take it. The main thing is, as soon as they start to run out, you let us know, and we’ll give you more. In general, whether you say it or not, we will still throw it in at the first opportunity. We don’t abandon our own people.

      – Thank you, guys. I do not forget.

      Jorge replied:

      – And you forget it. That’s an order!

      Laughter filled the kitchen.

      They left the apartment and spent the whole evening until late in a bar called «A glass of red». The owner was a stocky forty-two-year-old Cuban named Murillo, with whom Massimo had a special relationship. He often visited the establishment and took a place at the bar, where he and Murillo had heart-to-heart conversations. This has been the case since early childhood. From the age of eight Massimo was a special customer at the bar. Here Murillo constantly treated him to soda or fruit cocktail. If Massimo undertook to carry out some errand, took an order home, ran to the grocery store for another package of napkins, helped collect empty bottles from tables, Murillo paid him generously for this, fed him a hamburger or a hot dog, and in addition offered him a free choice of any drink. The bar was located half a block from Massimo’s house. In the evenings and on weekends, the establishment was always full of customers, and during the day it was a quiet and peaceful place, a time when you can sit at a table with a plate of fried chicken, potatoes and a full glass of beer or Coca-Cola. But in the evening, vodka, wine, rum, whiskey, cognac and other alcohol are consumed, so actively approaching the moment of separation of the brain from the rest of the body.

      By morning Massimo had slept well and a very atypical day began for him. The first thing he decided to do was tidy up the apartment. In the absence of Aunt Barbara, chaos reigned inside on a universal scale. He washed the floors, wiped dust wherever it could accumulate, collected and took out the trash, washed the dishes, washed and put some clothes in their places. It soon dawned on him that he would never do laundry by hand in the future. This decision was fueled by the amount that Jorge and Pablo gave.

      Massimo went to the door of the neighboring apartment. After the first ring, Lorenzo opened the door. He had an apple in one hand and a short-barreled revolver in the other.

      And yet he followed Massimo’s advice.

      – Hello.

      Clutching the apple, which had been bitten several times, in his teeth, Lorenzo put the revolver behind his back in his jeans, extended his hand and said, taking the apple out of his mouth:

      – Salute.

      Without further delay, Massimo got down to business:

      – Listen, Lorenzo, I know you don’t sell anymore, but can you tell me where I can get a washing machine inexpensively?

      – Just a moment.

      Lorenzo went somewhere deeper into the apartment. He returned half a minute later with a piece of paper, handing it over and saying:

      – Here. Call this number. Just ask Rodrigo. He is a first-rate nit, but he will help solve the issue about washing machine.

      – What did he do?

      – What do you mean?

      – Well, you said he’s a nit.

      Continuing to stand on the threshold, Lorenzo said, waving his hand:

      – Forget it. Former competitor.

      Manuela’s voice came from the apartment:

      – Who are you talking to?

      – Okay – said Lorenzo. – Sorry, I have an emergency there.

      – Thank you – Massimo said goodbye, after which he heard Lorenzo’s loud voice even before he closed the door:

      – How many more times to repeat!? Shut up and take off your panties!

      During the day, a used washing machine was delivered to Massimo’s apartment, but in very good condition. The workers provided free services for connecting to sewerage and water supply. Rodrigo himself turned out to be not such a nit. He offered to sell Massimo the faulty washing machine for parts for ten percent of the cost of the one he brought. Massimo agreed without hesitation. In a couple of starts, he washed all the dirty laundry.

      Towards evening the apartment took on a neat appearance. Massimo visited the grocery store and shopped for the week ahead.

      For a week he went to the hospital every day. Every day he took Aunt Barbara strawberry peanut ice cream, which was her favorite. In the evenings, Jorge and Pablo dropped in to visit him. Following a certain ritual, they invariably, according to a set schedule, went to have fun in local latitudes. On weekends, Jorge occupied his father’s Volkswagen and they had the opportunity to get out of Little Rome to travel around other areas of the city.

      On the ninth day after the trial, Massimo had his birthday. He bought a small cake at a pastry shop, which he took to visit his aunt. By seven o’clock Pablo and Jorge appeared on the threshold of the apartment. From the very beginning, fanfare thundered, after which, with congratulatory words, Pablo shook the birthday boy’s hand, pushing three $100 bills into his palm. Jorge gave a marble money box in the shape of Jesus with a lid at the bottom. Massimo later found another three hundred under the lid.

      The birthday has passed. The next morning, Massimo was getting ready to go to the hospital. Aunt Barbara had an operation scheduled for nine o’clock. He was already planning to leave when someone rang the doorbell. Massimo turned the key twice and pulled the door out. Pablo stood in front of him. His T-shirt was stained with fresh blood. It was the blood of Jorge, whom he struggled to hold, keeping his hand on his neck. He dragged him three floors up the stairs and who knows how many more to the house.

      In a hurry, Massimo helped drag Jorge inside and then slammed the door.

      Jorge lay on the couch, wincing in pain from the open wound left by a twenty-five-caliber shot in his left shoulder.

      – What happened!? – Massimo asked, feeling his heart begin to beat in his chest against his ribs.

      The apartment was filled with Jorge’s loud, painful moans.

      With a shaky breath, Pablo replied:

      – His…

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