Chapter - 1

- Let it go, don't mess with it…

- All right, Nadia, we'll decide, - Grisha leaned out of the window. – Fuck off, asshole, hey?

- Grish…

The pretty brown-haired woman did not finish. A trolley for transporting products from all over the place drove into the "Kalina". Glass rattled, the front left headlight splintered.

Grisha clenched his fists, was about to jump out of the car, but his wife hung on his shoulder.

- Please! Let's get out of here before it's too late!

It's not too late, then. Dick asshole showed him the middle finger, smashed the car… The windows of the "Kalina" mockingly slowly crept up, the central lock clicked.

The driver's trembling hand gropes for the maggot. Ignition, the starter is spinning. The car starts, but Grisha presses on the key - the plastic case cracks. Reverse gear, gas pedal "to the floor", the arrow on the tachometer up. Grisha does not have time to move, the car stalls.

- We have arrived…

"What's wrong, honey?" Nadia screamed.

The guy waved it away.

- Shut up!

- Bumpers, right? You forgot!

What answer did she want to hear? Has he forgotten? Forgot about the bumpers? Then she will ask how Grisha could forget about the rule. Grisha, aren't you stupid by any chance... if you forget such things?

- Remind me what color is the bracelet on your wrist? he snapped.

You'll forget, yeah. An electric pulse passed through the arm. They got the signal, they'll be here soon.

- What now?

- Don't fuck with my brains

Rude? Effectively – the chain building up in the head collapses. He rubs his temples. Calm down! It's not Nadia's fault. My head is pounding as if old Ian Pace has chosen Grisha's cerebellum as the starting point of a new world tour.

The next blow hit the left mirror and uprooted the part from the Lada body.

- I'm going to give this asshole a pussy, - teeth gritted with anger

- Don't you dare!

A reckless driver in a tracksuit was smashing up a car. Grisha looked at his wife warily, Nadia looked pale and scared. His wife's forehead was covered with perspiration.

- Are you okay? - he asked.

She did not hear, and when Grisha touched her hand, she shuddered, recoiled to the door of the Lada.

- All right, everything is fine… What should I do, Grish? "Stop it!" she screamed. There was a note of panic in her voice.

There was a thud from the driver's door, the glass slowly spread out in a web of small cracks.

A madman in a tracksuit grabbed a boulder from the ground.

- Get away from the car, freak! Grisha hissed. - Step back to whom I say.

The stranger did not hear. It was worth the effort to overcome myself, not to get into a fight. The parking lot around the mall was empty… Grisha wiped his wet palms on his knees.

Why are you asking? Why are you asking if I'm okay or not? Grisha, are you starting to ask your stupid questions again?

Nadia stared at her husband. Eyes full of tears, the verge of hysteria.

He didn't answer. He turned around and took out a black leather bag from the back seat, from there a packed syringe and an ampoule. He filled the syringe with medicine, flushed the air and looked sternly at his wife.

- I am very sorry that we had to stay, but you know that otherwise we would have been left without food and water, and most importantly...

Grisha did not have time to continue, as Nadia knocked the syringe out of his hands. The medicine rolled under the driver's seat. Nadia laughed, pressed her shoulder against the door of the Lada. Start from the beginning. Every day, every single day, everything was repeated. It was worth getting used to the idea that nothing would change until she got help. He himself had been unable to help her since Nadia became different. It was worth getting used to this idea.

"Get used to it and do my job every evening when the sun sinks below the horizon, if I want Nadia to wear a white bracelet."

- Please calm down. You know I'm doing this for us.

The words sounded as if from the outside, seemed unconvincing, stupid.

- One small injection, Nadia. You don't want the bracelet to turn red, do you?

- Don't you dare! - she was trembling all over, her eyes were fixed on the ampoule lying between the gas and clutch pedals.

There was a ringing silence. The madman outside, walking around the hood of the Lada with a cobblestone, suddenly froze. He lowered the stone, then threw it on the asphalt altogether. He stared at the couple, trying to figure out why the people in the car weren't paying attention to him. He rested on the wing and began to rock the car. Betraying a careless car owner, the rear duster creaked in time with the stagger. Now this sound was especially annoying and alarming.

- Don't you dare... - Nadia burned her husband with a look.

"You have to do what I'm talking about.

- Grisha, look at me! the girl screamed. – You're not like that! I know you're not like that! Don't you dare!

Grisha caught his eye in the rearview mirror, lowered his eyes. For some reason, I felt ashamed. He straightened the passenger seat covers. In the place where the seat belt fastening began, a strong leather belt was installed, tied with a loop. The other end of the belt, also with a loop, was visible from the opposite side of the seat.

"Please give me your hand," Grisha asked.

Nadia shook her head, began to pull the handle on the door, trying to open it.

"Leave me alone, you madman! she screamed.

- Give me your hand, to whom I say! – Grisha pulled his wife back.

It sucked unpleasantly in the pit of my stomach. The hand raised to strike dropped.

"Don't, this is an extreme, this should not be done in any case"

The fist unclenched.

Huge purple bags appeared out of nowhere under Nadia's eyes. Capillaries burst, a trickle of saliva flowed from the corner of his mouth. She began to repeat a set of unrelated words. She laughed, burst into tears, suddenly fell silent.

"The case is rubbish"

Grisha reached for the syringe with one hand, grabbed his wife's shoulder with the other, and leaned on her. With a flourish, he drove a needle into his wife's shoulder and injected her. Nadia screamed, Grisha shook – the drug did not work immediately, as usual. Several agonizing seconds passed before the convulsions of the spouse stopped. She was exhausted, closed her eyes, went limp.