All she has is high class, her own place, best supplies, at a time when I’m renting a nook at my auntie’s. I spend all my free time watching her, I’m all eyes on this window across, on that beautiful hottie. At her place there is always bright light every night; and her doorman told me for a bottle of vodka: that she has two film stars whom she often invites, and a popular actor who plays in Tagánka. With my contacts established, I got back on track, I discovered a lot about her, to my sorrow: that her brother’s a striker who plays for Sparták, and her dad is an aide at the government bureau. I will say that I always attend every game, then some praise for Spartak football club and her brother; I’ll refer to the minister by his first name, then I’ll mention I played with the MKHAT troupe and others. But she has a geranium pot on a plate, and she has fancy curtains with flowers and feathers. And I have - I have zilch on my window of late, only dust, only layers of dust on my dressers. It’s all good, I do not feel depressed and concerned, I’m planning to buy me a lottery ticket. Even though there’s no justice at all in this world, I’m expecting to win a GAZ car any minute.
© Kirill Tolmachev. Translation, 2023