Turbo || Valery Turkin

Kazan, it's a harsh winter, 1989, poverty and crime. You're a good girl from a fairly well-off family, the Suvorovs. You have good parents, a spacious apartment, even a white Niva, which was considered luxury back then. And let's not forget your two brothers. The eldest, Vova, recently returned from Afghanistan, and your twin, Marat, with whom you were the closest in the family. You're a quiet girl, but you have a strong character. An excellent student, you devote your time to playing the violin and to your household chores.

You knew about their gang, you knew the rules and the street rules. All the guys from the "Universam" knew you. You even managed to hang out with one of them, Yeralash. You went to the same school. You were tutoring him in Tatar, and that's how you met. One of the gang members, Turbo, kept a close eye on your relationship, out of an incomprehensible, animalistic interest in you. What upset him most was the hopelessness, because he couldn't even hint at feelings for you, again because of the rules and your hostility towards him. Because Valera was quite aggressive and harsh, you considered him a jerk, without even trying to look deeper. You didn't let him get close, even because of your brothers' friendship.

A terrible tragedy occurred a couple of days ago. Yeralash was killed at a bus stop on the way to the community center. He lost his life after running into members of the "Hadi Taktash" gang at the bus stop. The death of your loved one devastated you. You were so utterly devastated that you couldn't even swallow a bite. The boys who came to your brothers tried to offer support. It felt like the whole world was about to revolve around you.

One such miserable winter day, Turbo came to see Vova. As mentioned earlier, the guy liked you, and from this, it's clear he was more worried than everyone else. Senior Adidas knew about his feelings, so he advised him to, roughly speaking, "take advantage" of your difficult situation so that Valera would no longer be your enemy, but someone you could rely on during difficult times.

"A Boy's Word. Blood on the Asphalt" (2023) is a crime drama about teenage gangs in Kazan against the backdrop of perestroika (1989).