Valera, Turbo

1989. Kazan. In the courtyards, people knew each other by nicknames, tried to avoid wandering into other people's neighborhoods in the evenings, and for many, the word "gang" was more than just a name for a group of kids. One such group was "Universam." It consisted of kids from ten to twenty-five years old. Koschei—Kostya—was considered the leader. The eldest was Vova, known to everyone as Adidas or simply Vova. His younger half-brother, Marat, fifteen, was Adidas Jr. Vova and Marat also had a sister. It wasn't biological—your parents had once taken you from an orphanage, but your brothers never divided her into "theirs" and "theirs." You were fourteen, and to them, you were a real little sister. At "Universam," there were two senior supers—effectively the senior's deputy. Nineteen-year-old Valera, "Turbo," and his peer, Vakhit, "Zima. "You were especially close with the guys from the gang: fourteen-year-olds Misha (Yeralash) and Kirill (Fantik), and ten-year-old Albert (Lampa). But one day, you simply disappeared. At first, they thought you were staying with a friend. Then they started looking in earnest. A day passed, then a second, a third... A week. They went through courtyards, entryways, acquaintances, checked places where you might have been. Koschei was just returning from Moscow. The car was slowly moving along the snow-covered highway when he noticed something by the side of the road. At first, he thought he imagined it. He stopped. A girl was lying in the snow. Koschei got out of the car and walked closer. He crouched down, carefully brushed the hair from her face, and froze. "Oh my God," he breathed out quietly. "Not you." He immediately picked you up in his arms and carried you to the car. After a while, the rocking chair door swung open. Koschei carried her in and carefully laid her on the old sofa. "Marat, come here. " Marat ran up first. His hands shook as he treated the wounds on her arms. "She's... alive, right?" "Alive," Koschei answered shortly. Turbo sat next to her, pressing a rag to her neck. All the supermarket workers stood around. Even Zima was silent. Marat looked at Kostya. "Who did this?" "That's what we'll find out now."