the door against the frame and turned the key, leaving it in the keyhole. It was a two-room apartment, which was once furnished with only the most necessary things. The only household appliances were a refrigerator made in 1965, a used black-and-white TV and a non-working washing machine. In Aunt Barbara’s room there was a bed, next to it a bedside table with a lamp and a small wardrobe with a mirror on the door. Massimo always slept on the sofa in the living room.
He stepped over the threshold and the first thoughts in his head were related to the fact that this place had not been cleaned for a long time. Aunt Barbara has been in the hospital for a long time, and Massimo had to stay in the company of representatives of the judicial and law enforcement system. But he barely had the strength left to crawl to the sofa and collapse with incredible bliss on its soft upholstery.
Massimo was awakened by the doorbell. He turned his sleepy gaze out the window. It was already past dusk. Rubbing his face with his palms, he moved towards the front door. The second call rang. Massimo grabbed the key, turned it twice and pulled the handle.
Jorge Gomez and Pablo Inzaghi stood on the threshold. Mexican and Italian, both eighteen. Massimo had a stormy friendship with them from the very moment his aunt took him in. Pablo and Jorge were the first people Massimo met when he moved into the new house. They participated in any affray together. If one got into something, then it directly affected all three, so they received bruises in the same way as they gave to their offenders – all together. They spent every day doing something together. It is therefore not surprising that for each of them two friends had more influence than home and family. Their life views and principles coincided, and their characters were not much different, especially Massimo and Pablo. Everyone was indignant at the lack of justice: some get everything, while others get nothing. They agreed that if you belong to the lower class of society, about which the authorities do not care, then morality and ethics have the right to be revised unilaterally. Now YOU decide what is right and what is wrong; what’s good and what’s bad. The reasons for such a position in life seemed more than compelling: since someone at the top decided that it was fair to divide people into first and second class, then let these politicians wipe themselves out with their decrees and constitution. The second class will live by their own laws, since general civil rights do not apply to them.
Among them, only Jorge had a full-fledged family and had a less explosive temper, succumbing to the absolute influence of Massimo and Pablo. He lived in a typical Mexican immigrant family. In addition to him, there were four more children in the family: two brothers and two sisters. But, as is usually the case, life for immigrants was extremely difficult. Hard physical labor was poorly paid and very exhausting. So poverty was inevitable. It was especially difficult for Jorge’s parents. The father had to keep up with several jobs to feed his five children. Only later, when the eldest son began to be interested in cars and was stuck all day long at the car service station across the street, did the family get a car. Brother Jorge bought a broken sedan cheaply and began repairing it, replacing damaged parts with those found in old cars that were brought to the service as scrap metal. Jorge helped his older brother, which significantly speeded up the process. When the swallow was completed, the father of the family was moved by the gift he received for his birthday. Old painted body on the move. It was an incredible event for Sergio Gomez’s family. Although Jorge helped his brother assemble the car and watched his work, he still could not understand all this mechanics. He wanted to find something simpler. That something turned out to be a yellow farmer’s pickup truck, which he stole and took for dismantling to the first auto repair shop he saw in Little Rome. The pickup truck turned out to be old and they didn’t pay that much for it, but this was more than enough for a sharp increase in self-esteem and for Jorge to feel that he could take care of himself.
Pablo grew up in an orphanage, from which he escaped when he was barely sixteen. It was then that he committed his first robbery. Shortly before this, he tried alcohol for the first time. This happened when he got a job in one of the bars. He delivered orders, wiped dust, washed floors and dishes. He worked hard, which is why he completely gave up on school, running away from the orphanage early in the morning and returning closer to midnight. Being surrounded by drug dealers, hucksters, pimps, smugglers and other elite of Little Rome, of which there were many among visitors, he heard enough stories about how easy it is sometimes to get big money. One day he firmly decided to do something loud and risky. In the morning he boarded the subway car. It was peak hour. His thin and short body easily squeezed between the standing passengers. The eyes ran around and soon found the victim, who was a man of average height, about forty-five years old in appearance. He wore a business suit, tie, perfectly polished shoes and a solid-looking watch on his wrist. All this spoke of his high material security. And this was also indicated by the leather bag that the man held under his arm. Pablo waited until the man reached his station and began to exit the train, disappearing into the noisy stream of passengers on the platform. When the victim began to approach the escalator, Pablo quickened his pace and, before reaching the man, snatched the bag from behind his back and rushed off in the opposite direction. The robbed stranger ran after him with indignant screams, shouting: «Hold him! Thief!» Someone from the crowd grabbed Pablo’s T-shirt. Pablo fired a kick to the groin and continued to run away. It was announced: «Caution. Doors are closing». There were only a few meters left to the carriage. Pablo jumped, covering the rest of the path and dived into the carriage. The former owner of the bag loudly hit the glass in the doors with his palms, and that was the end of it. The train started moving. Pablo got off after several stations. He found enough money in the bag to rent a room and live for a while on the salary that was paid at the bar. He saw no reason to return to the orphanage. This is how his adult life began. After some time, he, Massimo and Jorge did several worthwhile things, after which Pablo left work and finally felt free.
– MASSIMO!!! – Jorge and Pablo shouted loudly and at the same time in full voice. They took turns greeting Massimo and hugging him tightly. Massimo himself instantly woke up from such a meeting. He invited his friends inside.
Pablo took a few steps, after which he turned around, spread his arms and said in bewilderment:
– What kind of clothes are these? Are you pretending to be a governor?
Having not yet recovered from the joy of such an unexpected meeting, Massimo ignored this phrase. Instead of Massimo, Jorge answered Pablo’s sarcastic question from the far end of the corridor:
– He didn’t go to prison, so he can wear anything: even a toga, even stilettos. He’s allowed.
– And that’s true – Pablo agreed pliantly. – But only without stilettos. We’re not fags.
Massimo called his friends into the kitchen, froze for a while in thought and still asked:
– You won’t throw up from coffee in this mess? I haven’t had time to clean up yet.
– No. Pour it,» Pablo continued enthusiastically. «But I’m in such a mess in my head right now that I don’t know what to ask.»
– Yes, what did those assholes tell you? – Jorge asked.
Massimo poured ground coffee into the cezve, while simultaneously saying:
– Two years condition. The judge made allowance for the fact that this was my first offense. More precisely, this is the first time the cops caught me.
– Holy shit – Jorge muttered. – And this would be my third drive.
Pablo continued, laughing slightly:
– And I would have a fourth. Suckers.
– You won – Jorge answered sarcastically.
