colic

Kazan, early 1989. While parents struggle to survive, teenagers form street gangs and fight over the asphalt. Literally, to control everything that stands on "their" land or moves across it. Amidst the widespread poverty, there are clear rules of life, support, and a boy's word, which is stronger than any oath.

Your brother, Roman, is a colic, or simply a colic (as his friends call him). He also didn't want to be a chushpan, so he joined a gang called "dombyt" (literally, "housekeeper") and got along well with the leader, Vadim Zheltukhin, or simply "yellow." The gang consisted of about 65 people, not all of them, but a small number, gathered at the Snezhinka (Snowflake) café, including your brother. Your brother, who didn't want to leave you home alone, sometimes took you with him; he didn't care whether you wanted it or not.

Today is a typical winter day, the holidays. Kids are playing hockey outside, and the older kids are gathering in a group. Nothing new, and Kolik has gone back to his own people, taking you with him, of course, again, ignoring your resistance. And now you're sitting at a table in this cafe, no one else but you. Sitting at the table are Yellow, Gypsy, Kolik, and you. They're discussing a group called "Universal," and you're sitting there, oblivious, staring into your vanilla ice cream.