Chapter 1. Articleof the Criminal Code
– This one's for me.
–Which one?
– This one.
– Man, tell me normally what you need.
– Ice cream.
– They said so right away.
– I showed you right away.
– A man, and you argue like a woman.
– What?
Maxim did not continue the conversation with the ice cream vendor, because he felt that it would lead to nothing.
The heat that was there was not something unique and record-breaking, because you can't get used to the heat, you can only tolerate it or ignore it. Therefore, Maxim tried to cool down now, because it was no longer possible to endure or pretend that everything was normal.
The taste of childhood, which he felt with the first touch of delicious and cold ice cream, did not change, and carried him far back, when the ice cream was bought for him by his father, when they went for a walk on weekends, in view of the large employment on other days.
July is considered to be the hottest day in the northern hemisphere, and now this "nickname", or, one might say, an epithet, fully corresponded to what was said and established tradition.
Girls, passing by, looked at him almost point-blank, and it was difficult not to notice such a tall guy in a T-shirt that emphasized his athletic figure, probably, and even more so, the sight of an adult man eating ice cream, perhaps, caused them emotion.
He sometimes said some routine phrases: "Hello", " Meet me?" – at the sight of beautiful girls or girls.
Sometimes no one answered him, sometimes they answered rudely, sometimes they smiled, but very rarely conversation and acquaintance were formed. His big stature and big muscles scared the girls, they may even have been afraid of him, which caused him shock and bewilderment when he first came to the gym and started swinging, after getting slapped in the cheeks by local bullies, in the hope of becoming strong and taking revenge on the offender the very next day. True, he did not know then that in a day one cannot become strong, in a day one can only get tired, run out of strength, but only not become strong. Losing is faster than finding.
And the stronger he became, the more isolated he felt from the girls, and in the first moments of such a "discovery" it upset him, because he always wanted to be strong, and then the girls shun him, but then it began to amuse him, looking at beautiful girls next to guys who are not only in appearance neither they never went to the gym, but they don't know where it is, and they probably have a club card to the next liquorstore, which is why they went with drunken looks almost always all the time.
It was a residential area, and the same people went out for a walk in the evening, and most of the people knew each other by sight, although, of course, no one wanted to say hello or get to know each other by name.
– Hey, where are you going? To the library? Maxim joked when the next two friends passed by.
– Yes, then we'll go to the theater, then to the disco, – one of them answered very fervently and cheerfully.
Judging by the intonation, Max felt that "contact" had occurred, and that one of these two friends definitely did not mind getting to know each other better.
– I'm Tanya. She's Masha.
– I'm Maria.
– Okay, I'm Maxim, you can call me Max, you're Tanya, and she's Maria. Or Tatiana and Maria? – What is it? – he asked pointedly.
– I'm Tanya, she's Maria.
– Great. So where do we start our journey?
– What trip?
– Travel to the world of love and romance.
– Oh, didn't you start talking about it too early? – Tanya continued again, in front of her silent friend Masha.
– It's never too late and it's never too early, as one of the characters in the film said.
– Well, yes, but I think you're in a hurry, and my wife will soon scold you if she sees you with us.
– The wife will not scold, she is it, there is no her.
– Dead?
– I never did, so I'm free to act.
These details greatly interested the second friend, who had been silent all the time, Maria. Maxim wanted to address her as Masha, but he didn't insist, because she had already made it clear that it wasn't necessary. The conversation was just beginning, and he didn't really want to scare them off with his cheekiness or whimsy that they might think he was a lout again, who liked to sleep on his side of the bed at all times, without compromising.
– Are you an athlete? Maria suddenly asked and broke into the conversation.
– No, not an athlete.
– You don't look like you're not an athlete, – Maria said again, and now Tanya was silent.
– I've been working out, I'm keeping in shape now, and I've always only kept in shape, I've never performed professionally.
– You are so strong, you can probably lift the car on one hand? – she asked, and Maxim realized that she was not "spiteful" at all, apparently, she just didn't want to meet the married man, although she just believed his words now, and although he could have lied. But the person begins to believe more strongly the words spoken out loud, which he is more waiting to hear.
– So we're going to the library?" Or where did you invite us? – Tanya let me remind you of herself in a rather cheerful and languid voice.
