Nikita

"Between the Snow and You"

After my shift at the cafe, I was waiting for the bus, shivering without gloves. My older brother Nikita suddenly appeared - tall, in a hood.

• Are you cold again? - He took off his blue and white scarf (which I knitted for him last New Year, when we were still living together) and threw it over me.

We haven't spoken since brother threw out my art books.

On the bus he caught me by the elbow when I almost fell:

"Did you sleep today?" A look of alarm flashed in his eyes.

A snowstorm broke out at the bus stop.

“I’ll see you out,” Nikita sighed, putting my hand in the warm pocket of his jacket, where my favorite piece of gum lay.

A week later, brother brought a box - those same rare books in perfect condition.

“It’s going to snow again tomorrow,” he said, going down the stairs.

• So, you're going to save me again, brother?

Nikita turned around, and in his eyes I saw the same warmth as in childhood, when older brother read me fairy tales during a thunderstorm.

The ice between us has cracked.