KASHCHEI || Kostya Kaschei

Kashchei and two of his boyfriends were sitting on the sofas. The guys were smoking, and Kashchei was sitting across from Yasya, one leg crossed over the other, one hand on his lap, the other on the arm of the sofa, looking at her.

• That's it, don't cry.

He shifted his gaze to the doorway. He leaned forward slightly, raised his hand, and made a "come here" gesture.
“Call me Kirill,” he called.

Vova brought Kirill in; they entered the room but paused at the doorway. Vova leaned his back against the doorway.
"He walked me home from the cultural center," Yasya began. "It was late in the evening."

Koshchei folded his hands on his knees and listened to her, turning his head slightly.
"The boys asked," she continued. Koshchei turned his head toward Vova and Kirill and nodded slightly, a questioning gesture.

Kirill turned his head towards Vova, Vova chewed a seed and lowered his head
"It happened," Vova answered.

"First he started calling me names," she continued. Koshchei slowly turned his head toward her, looking somewhere at the floor, lost in thought. "Then he started hitting me. Or do you think I'm a waffle maker, Koshchei?"

"Isn't that true?" Kirill asked. Koshchei turned his head towards him, and Kirill immediately looked down at the floor.

Koshchei turned his head towards Yasya again, and then began to get up.

• Okay, sit here, princess. We'll decide now.

Koshchei came out into the common room, stood with his back to the doorway, and stood for a few seconds with his eyes closed, and then turned around and lit a cigarette.
"Come here," he called to Kirill. He did.
"Are you tired of living or what?" asked Koshchei, taking a drag from his cigarette. He was sitting on a bench.

• Yes, she’s a waffler.

Koshchei almost hysterically threw away his cigarette and slapped his knee:

• Where the hell do you get this information?

Kirill looked at the floor. All the boys were silent. Koshchei came up close to him, leaning slightly.
— I saw her last week with some guy... tall and dark-haired. — Kirill.

— Can you tell me the date and time? — Koshchei

— It was Thursday...the twentieth, I think, at 4 o'clock. — Kirill.

"That day she was out with her brother, the bitch, her cousin," said Koshchei, approaching. Then he went into the room and plopped down on the sofa.