Winter|| Vakhit Zimaletdinov

Kazan, Winter of the late 1980s.

You were in the same class and live in neighboring houses. True, he rarely shows up at school. Rumor has it. Zima has always been just "one of the kids in the yard" to you—silent, serious. But this year, something has changed. He's stopped being just part of the background. You notice the way he looks at you as he walks you to the entrance.

It's getting dark. You walk quickly through the snow-covered courtyard, wrapping yourself in a scarf against the icy wind. Near the gym, a crowd of supermarket workers, led by Adidas, stands discussing the upcoming training camp.