Ivan Petrov turned around.
– The linden tree, you won’t cut it, right.
– If you don’t want to, we won’t. – The man smiled and three rotten teeth flashed in his mouth.
They both spread out under the tree, on the wet ground. The man rummaged through his coat and pulled out a brandy bottle.
– Take it, catch your breath.
Ivan Petrov took a sip and gritted his teeth. The homemade brandy was strong. Who knows what was in it and in whose cauldron it was cooked.
– It’s not a bad place – he remarked. – Not bad at all. It must be very peaceful here in the summer.
The man shrugged and took a drink and held out his black hand.
– Hristo. Gravedigger.
Ivan Petrov took his and squeezed it manly.
– Ivan Petrov. Pensioner.
The two sat like that for some time.
– Do you have a lot of work?
– We have, why won’t we have – the gravedigger answered vaguely. – People die, we bury them. As they like it.
Ivan Petrov did not understand the last one, but kept silent.
The black man stood up.
– Come on, I have a funeral. If you want, I can accompany you to somewhere, so you don’t get lost.
– No need. I’ll manage on my own.
– OK.
They split up at the lone excavator. Ivan Petrov remained to clean the mud off his shoes with a stick, leaning on the chain from the caterpillars. When he looked up again, the gravedigger was gone.
Two weeks later he met him there again, as if they had arranged a meeting.
– Oh, Uncle Ivan! Welcome!
Ivan Petrov felt uneasy.
– I just… Came for a little walk.
– There is nothing wrong with that – Hristo laughed. – It’s your property, it should be supervised.
– Well, I don’t know if it’s property or not… But I don’t feel like sitting at home.
– Oh, it’s property, it is. This is the property of properties. No matter what he had in life, a man without a grave is like a dog without a chain.
Ivan Petrov again did not understand the gravedigger’s comparison, but he liked it. It had to be something about the soul. In any case, it was nicely said.
This time he found the linden tree on his own. More precisely, he smelled it. It had just blossomed and when he stood under it, it seemed as if the city itself was humming over his head. A whole swarm of insects worked tirelessly around him. Only he, the pensioner, had earned the legal right to unlimited vacation.
For eternity, it occurred to him, and now that idea did not seem scary at all. On the contrary, it even became pleasant to him.
Ivan Petrov stretched under the tree and looked up. So, this is that he would look at one day, when… Or rather, he wouldn’t look at it, of course, but he, at least, wanted to know it was there. And that intoxicating smell. And the life going on and not giving a damn about him.
He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep in the soft, thick grass. With his arms carelessly crossed under his head.
August came and the children went to the sea. Ivan Petrov’s wife went with them, to take care of the grandson, so that the young people would have more time for themselves.
– You’ll ruin their vacation – he remarked. – I know how you quarrel with the daughter-in-law…
His wife took offense at him and did not speak to him until they left.
The daughter disappeared at some theatre festival.
Ivan Petrov was left alone.
Summer was in full swing. The city had not remembered such heat for a long time. Between noon and midnight the temperature did not change, only the sun did not shine, and during the day it scorched as much as ten suns. There was no way to hide, even the air conditioners were suffocating. People could only escape, if they still had somewhere to go.
Ivan Petrov was fine when he was alone. He had no need for company. Those ten days, when his family went away, were a gift from heaven. Although it was not only the heat from the outside, there was also something from the inside that seemed to press him. He measured the blood pressure several times – it was ideal, like a cosmonaut’s. He did not feel like watching TV, he did not feel like eating. After long sleepless nights he looked carefully in the mirror and it seemed to him that he was withering more and more every day. He kept telling himself that it was because of the heat, but he did not believe himself.
He was scared. Not much, just a bit.
One morning he got up early, shaved, put on a clean shirt and called a taxi to the cemetery.
By the time he reached his place, he was completely sweating. Although it was not nine o’clock yet, it was already scorching hot. Everything around was deserted, the excavator had disappeared too, so Ivan Petrov remembered it with a certain nostalgia. It was a good landmark, solid. There, in the place where it stood, there was no trace now. It did not even look like anyone was doing anything with it, but it did not matter to Ivan Petrov at all.
He sat under the linden tree, listening. Silence. The deathly noise of movement outside the fence did not disturb him. A bird was heard above him – loudly, calling, then fell silent. After some time it sounded again. Ivan Petrov did not know what kind of bird it was, but he was glad that he was not alone. More precisely, he was alone, but in the midst of other living creatures. It was not like he was stuck in the apartment all day wondering which side to take. Here he breathed differently. The air was sweet, though the lindens had long since blossomed. It became easier for him. He cheered up. He decided to move a little, but as soon as he stepped out of the shadow of the tree, he gave up.
– It’s a good thing there’s no one – he thought, and after looking around he chose a spot where the grass was miraculously still fresh, stretched out and rested his head on a stump. Well, he had a full excuse, if he liked, to spend the whole day here. Not that anyone would ask him for an explanation, but he wanted to be prepared, just in case.
– With all the stupidity of coming this far in this murderous weather – Ivan Petrov thought to himself – it would be twice as stupid to go back right now, when the heat is getting more and more terrible every moment. I’m not young, I need to take care of my health. Especially since I haven’t been feeling well lately. It happened to me that I was going home and in the middle of the way something happened to my heart! Quite satisfied with that completely reasonable, yet masterfully distorted argumentation, he sank into a blissful and well-deserved slumber.
He was awaken by the terrible feeling of someone’s presence. Dazed from sleep, he opened his eyes and indeed, a few steps away from him, a small naked Roma boy was kneeling, wearing only red shorts, looking at him curiously. Ivan Petrov was confused, but he had relaxed so nicely that he didn’t have the strength to get up. The Roma boy continued to stare at him, without the slightest shame.