When I was twelve... or thirteen, but that doesn't matter. I approached my father.
- Dad, what the hell. All of my friends already have motor bikes, and I, like a goof, drive an eaglet. Could you fit this thing for me? They just brought it to the Riga-11 store! You're making good money. - Oops! That's what I thought at the time. The kid recently asked for an iPhone, and from his words it was inspired. But in fact, I said, - Dad, I really want a motorbike. - And dad looked at me very carefully.
-Yes, maybe it's time. You are an adult and tall guy, and the girls will have something to ride on. I will think. - I hardly slept that night. A shiny motorbike seemed to me now at one end of the room, then at the other. It even smelled of gasoline when I filled it up. - When do you have winter holidays? Well, right after New Years. That's when we decide, - coming home from work, he remembered our conversation, dad.
And I didn't sleep for a few more nights. Or rather, he slept, but the dream was confused because of the motorbike, it either started up or not. In general, any crap with feelings. Before I had time to gobble up New Year's gifts, the holidays came. I looked closely at my father.
- Yes, yes, son, I remember. Everything has already been decided. Went. - In general, I thought to go to the store, but it turned out to be in a kindergarten. I didn’t understand where the motorbikes came from, even when we opened the gate and proceeded to the manager. - Well, show me! - saying hello, dad turned to her. And she led us to the boiler room. I have never seen so many birch chocks anywhere else, so I tried in vain to see a motorbike behind them.
“These ones, which are in six parts, which are in four,” the manager carried some kind of blizzard. And yes, it was windy outside.
- Well, I understand, - said the father and looked after the manager for a long time. Now I understand that there was something to see off. But then he was distracted and asked me - did you understand everything? - Of course, I didn’t understand shit, but in order not to get a cuff, I mumbled something indistinctly just in case. - Well, nothing, now I'll show you everything and explain. Wait here. - and dad went to the boiler room. He returned with pieces of iron, but not from a motorbike. It is difficult to confuse an iron wedge, a sledgehammer and a cleaver with a vehicle.
In general, I screwed up there for two full weeks, one might say without straightening my back. By the end of the second, he just carried the chocks to pieces. I crawled home myself. Dad patted me on the shoulder and comforted me.
- Well, nothing, nothing. Don't forget you have to work at eight tomorrow. - Under these words, I fell asleep.
But on the last day of vacation, Dad rummaged in his pocket and pulled out one hundred and forty-five rubles. That's how much a motorbike cost then. And don't argue with me. This amount was imprinted on my hands in the form of corns.
Good things are forgotten quickly, especially in summer and on a motorbike. On a new motorbike. Therefore, one day, having driven up to the house, I saw Batya on the porch.
-Well, how are you, son? he asked. I nodded my head in the affirmative, - and you roll girls? I shrugged incomprehensibly. Even then I felt some kind of catch here, but so far I did not understand where and therefore I did not open my mouth once again. - I wanted to ask you something, here Nikolai, well, you know him, he brought a Sony tape recorder from Japan, he offers. Do we need him? - And then I, like that crow with cheese, yelled YES!
It was a trap or a trick, I never fully figured it out. And when? From morning until late at night, I rode my motorbike to new houses, which I carefully upholstered from the inside with shingles for plaster. Five semi-detached three-room houses, along with hallways and kitchens. They stood up and settled down, and I beat them, no matter what. All summer. Cursing all Japanese firms, including Sony. Until she played in my room. It was hard not to appreciate the purity of the sound. I listened to either the Beatles or Credence and was almost happy, if not for the broken "Change". This is a camera, if anyone does not know.
“Of course,” I thought, picking the shutter blades with my finger, “this is not a FED, and even more so it’s not a Zenith, that you can take a picture with such. My thoughts were interrupted by my father.
Do you want to take photography seriously? - coming up and muffling the tape recorder, he asked. But I was already experienced.
-Not at all! Well, nafig, he suffered with this. That's not mine.
- Well, yes, yes, - he chuckled, - and we wanted to give you Zenit for the new year. Or maybe even earlier. But no, there is no judgment.
-Eh, so this is ... Well, if Zenith, it could be of course, - realizing that I again flew like plywood over Paris, I tried to correct the situation, - in principle, I don’t mind.
- Well, we agreed, so we'll give you a Zenith, only this, the autumn holidays are short, but I'll pick something up for you. For a photo enlarger, baths, a glossizer, you yourself will probably earn money?
I also told the kid that I would think about the iPhone. I wonder whether to tell him that by the age of fifteen I had everything that a kid could dream of at that time.