Read Online Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko - Free Book Online
Authors: Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko
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heap for a few minutes and stuck it deep inside her desk.
Then she pulled it out again. What could she have done, if this—all this!—had been her life for many months? The man who called himself Farit Kozhennikov was right: she could not get off the beaten path. She would sit and study, knowing that all her efforts were in vain, but hoping deep inside that someday it would come in handy, perhaps while learning the “special technologies…”
She found a list of places that offered higher education, a reference book for prospective students, and studied it from cover to cover. No town of Torpa, no Institute of Special Technologies.
She was not surprised.
***
All her life she had been a good student. Letting things slide during the entrance exams turned out harder than she thought.
Around her, everyone acted nervous: kids hid cheat sheets in their pockets, their mothers sucked on Valium. Dust floated around in huge echoing rooms, the air smelled of old libraries, and outside it was hot, a real scorcher. Sasha did not care. She felt translucent and indifferent, like a Christmas ornament.
The written essay was easy. Taking the oral history exam, she nearly died of shame: she confused all the dates and completely blanked out on one of the questions. She got a B. Leaving the classroom, surrounded by sweaty throngs of people, she asked herself, astonished: What am I doing here? Why do I still care about the Kulikov Battle?
Mom enquired about the grade and, having heard, was visibly disappointed.
“What do you mean, a B? In oral history, of all things? But what about the preparatory courses? You went there for an entire year…”
“There is no point in applying without a bribe,” Valentin shared a profound thought.
Mom’s eyes turned fierce.
“Without a bribe… she hasn’t opened a textbook in the last few days! As if she could care less! She skulked around somewhere from morning to night… Were you at the beach? I passed the exams without a bribe, and you did, and we all did it the first time around!”
“The times were different,” Valentin said philosophically. “And now…”
“In the worst case scenario,” Sasha said, surprising herself, “I’ll just apply someplace else.”
“What do you mean, ‘someplace else’?”
“The world is full of good colleges,” Sasha blurted out and withdrew quickly to her room.
Mom and Valentin continued talking for a long time. They were arguing.
***
Of course, she failed the entrance exams. It’s not like anyone was surprised. When the lists of the accepted students were posted, Sasha’s name was not included.
Mom was not caught off-guard. It was clear from the beginning that Sasha was not going to get a passing grade, and that her straight-A high school diploma made absolutely no difference.
“You were right,” she said to Valentin with stoical bitterness. “No matter how much you spend on a tutor… We should have bribed someone. It’s my fault. I should have. The times have changed.”
“It’s not like she has military duty,” answered Valentin with histrionic optimism. “She’s not a boy. She’ll get a job for a year, get a taste of grown-up responsibilities….”
Sasha opened her mouth and inhaled deeply—and said nothing. She decided to wait a few more days.
August came. The heat was replaced by rain. Mom took a few days off; she and Valentin had finally decided to get married.
“Just a small ceremony,” Mom said, brushing her hair in front of the mirror, her eyes sparkling. “We’ll get married, and then go to the resort for a few days. We’ve been there before, remember, they have these wooden cabins and a river very close, a forest…”
“Rain,” said Sasha
“Well, not all the time. Plus, it’s kind of nice there even in the rain. They have these canopies. And you can use the fire pits, have a barbecue.”
“Mom,” Sasha said, as if plunging into the icy waters. “I’ve been accepted to this college. It’s
Then she pulled it out again. What could she have done, if this—all this!—had been her life for many months? The man who called himself Farit Kozhennikov was right: she could not get off the beaten path. She would sit and study, knowing that all her efforts were in vain, but hoping deep inside that someday it would come in handy, perhaps while learning the “special technologies…”
She found a list of places that offered higher education, a reference book for prospective students, and studied it from cover to cover. No town of Torpa, no Institute of Special Technologies.
She was not surprised.
***
All her life she had been a good student. Letting things slide during the entrance exams turned out harder than she thought.
Around her, everyone acted nervous: kids hid cheat sheets in their pockets, their mothers sucked on Valium. Dust floated around in huge echoing rooms, the air smelled of old libraries, and outside it was hot, a real scorcher. Sasha did not care. She felt translucent and indifferent, like a Christmas ornament.
The written essay was easy. Taking the oral history exam, she nearly died of shame: she confused all the dates and completely blanked out on one of the questions. She got a B. Leaving the classroom, surrounded by sweaty throngs of people, she asked herself, astonished: What am I doing here? Why do I still care about the Kulikov Battle?
Mom enquired about the grade and, having heard, was visibly disappointed.
“What do you mean, a B? In oral history, of all things? But what about the preparatory courses? You went there for an entire year…”
“There is no point in applying without a bribe,” Valentin shared a profound thought.
Mom’s eyes turned fierce.
“Without a bribe… she hasn’t opened a textbook in the last few days! As if she could care less! She skulked around somewhere from morning to night… Were you at the beach? I passed the exams without a bribe, and you did, and we all did it the first time around!”
“The times were different,” Valentin said philosophically. “And now…”
“In the worst case scenario,” Sasha said, surprising herself, “I’ll just apply someplace else.”
“What do you mean, ‘someplace else’?”
“The world is full of good colleges,” Sasha blurted out and withdrew quickly to her room.
Mom and Valentin continued talking for a long time. They were arguing.
***
Of course, she failed the entrance exams. It’s not like anyone was surprised. When the lists of the accepted students were posted, Sasha’s name was not included.
Mom was not caught off-guard. It was clear from the beginning that Sasha was not going to get a passing grade, and that her straight-A high school diploma made absolutely no difference.
“You were right,” she said to Valentin with stoical bitterness. “No matter how much you spend on a tutor… We should have bribed someone. It’s my fault. I should have. The times have changed.”
“It’s not like she has military duty,” answered Valentin with histrionic optimism. “She’s not a boy. She’ll get a job for a year, get a taste of grown-up responsibilities….”
Sasha opened her mouth and inhaled deeply—and said nothing. She decided to wait a few more days.
August came. The heat was replaced by rain. Mom took a few days off; she and Valentin had finally decided to get married.
“Just a small ceremony,” Mom said, brushing her hair in front of the mirror, her eyes sparkling. “We’ll get married, and then go to the resort for a few days. We’ve been there before, remember, they have these wooden cabins and a river very close, a forest…”
“Rain,” said Sasha
“Well, not all the time. Plus, it’s kind of nice there even in the rain. They have these canopies. And you can use the fire pits, have a barbecue.”
“Mom,” Sasha said, as if plunging into the icy waters. “I’ve been accepted to this college. It’s
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