‘Nina…’ said Oleg, and he put a hand on her wrist, but she pushed it angrily away.
Sheremetev shrugged. ‘Maybe that’s my failing.’
‘Oh, so righteous!’
‘Nina!’
‘What, Oleg? The only man in Russia who’s never taken a commission, and he happens to be your brother. Tell me, is that something to be proud of?’
‘I don’t mean to say I’m proud of it,’ said Sheremetev. ‘I’m not a businessman. I wouldn’t even know how to start.’
‘How hard is it to know how to steal?’
Sheremetev bit his tongue, telling himself again that he had to make allowances for Nina’s distress.
‘No, not you. Not brother Kolya. Such a man of principle. A man who’d prefer to let his brother do the dirty work for him.’
‘Nina!’
‘A man who’d let his wife die before—’
‘Nina!’
Nina stopped.
‘Before what?’ said Sheremetev. ‘What are you talking about? Let my wife die before what?’
Nina and Oleg exchanged a glance. ‘Nothing,’ muttered Nina.
There was silence. It persisted, heavy, tense.
‘Come on,’ said Oleg. ‘Let’s have lunch.’
Nina produced cold cuts, cheese and bread. Oleg opened a bottle of wine.
No one had anything to say.
‘Do you see Vasya much?’ asked Oleg eventually.
‘Not much,’ said Sheremetev.
There was silence again. Only the sound of sipping and chewing, but little enough of that. No one seemed to have much of an appetite.
‘How can you bear to look after him?’ demanded Nina suddenly.
Sheremetev frowned at the question. ‘Vladimir Vladimirovich? He’s an old man, Nina.’
‘Don’t you ever stop to think about what he did to this country?’
‘I’ve looked after him for six years. You’ve never said anything before.’
‘I’m saying it now! Pasha did – why shouldn’t I? Look at what he did to us! Look at what we are!’
The truth was, Sheremetev had begun to think about that since Pasha was thrown into jail, and the conversation with Goroviev the previous day had made the questions in his mind even more acute. But he knew that was a dangerous path to go down for someone in his profession, and he tried to stop himself. ‘I’m a nurse, Nina, and he’s an old, demented man who needs care. That’s all I’ve ever thought about. All my life I’ve looked after people who need help, and I’ve never asked what they’ve done or haven’t done in their lives. Vladimir Vladimirovich is no different.’
‘If it wasn’t for him, Pasha wouldn’t be in jail.’
‘He wasn’t the one who had Pasha arrested.’
‘Are you defending him?’
‘I’m sure Kolya’s not defending him,’ said Oleg.
‘Then let him say what he thinks! Well, Kolya? Are you defending him?’
Sheremetev thought of Goroviev. The gardener’s attitude puzzled him. It seemed that he still blamed the ex-president, still hated him, and yet his hatred was directed to someone – or something – that no longer existed, and the physical shell of the man who had been Vladimir Vladimirovich, president of Russia, that part of him that still did exist, was no longer worth hating.
‘I’m not defending or accusing him,’ said Sheremetev eventually. ‘I’m a nurse, Nina, not a politician.’
‘And you’re a man! You’re an uncle!’
‘Look, Nina, whatever you think of what he did to Russia, he’s not the same man.’
‘He’s always the same man, Kolya. Anything else is an excuse!’
Sheremetev shook his head. ‘No. He’s old and sick and confused. Doesn’t he deserve the care that anyone else would have?’
‘I don’t know what he deserves! It’s a judge who should decide that, and I’m not a judge. But even if he does deserve the same care as anyone else, you don’t have to be the one giving it to him.’
‘I don’t discriminate between those who deserve more or less. I give as one needs. That’s my duty.’
‘So righteous!’ sneered Nina. ‘What was your duty to your wife, Kolya? Can you tell me that? Did you give as one needed when it came to Karinka? Did you do everything you—’
‘Nina, please!’ cried Oleg despairingly. ‘Please stop! How does this help? It has nothing to do with Karinka.’
‘No? Kolya should think about what he’s doing when he looks after that monster!’
Oleg took a deep breath. ‘Nina, will it help Pasha if Kolya stops looking after Vladimir Vladimirovich?’
‘He should at least think about it!’
‘It’s not up to us to tell Kolya what to think.’
‘Maybe I should go,’ said Sheremetev.
Oleg shook his head.
Nina folded her arms and remained pointedly silent, not asking him to stay.
Sheremetev left soon after. Oleg walked with him to the metro. They stopped at the entrance. For a moment they just looked at each other.
‘I’m sorry I haven’t got any money,’ said Sheremetev. ‘All around me, all my life, people have been taking.’ He shrugged despondently. ‘I never did.’
‘Nina had no right to say the things she said, especially about Karinka. We both know the kind of man you are. We know you have your principles.’
‘Are you any different? I didn’t take from people who wanted to bribe me to favour their relatives. I tried to give care to everyone according to their need. What’s so special about that? What kind of a country do we live in if that’s so remarkable? Come on, Olik! Would you take from people who want to cheat to get a better grade for their child? If a pupil came to you with a bribe and asked you to bump up his score, would you do it? I mean even a big bribe, a lot of money? Of course not!’
Oleg looked at his feet.
‘Olik?’
Oleg was silent a moment longer. Suddenly he looked up at his brother. ‘Would I do it if my sister-in-law was dying and that was the only way I could get the money for her? Would I do it when she was gone and I was in debt because of everything I had given for her?’
Sheremetev stared at him. ‘Olik…’ he murmured in disbelief.
‘What?’
‘You took money…’
‘Yes! Yes, I took money! I took money!’ He shook his head miserably. ‘Do you think I’m proud of it? What a mess! What a fucking mess this whole country is in.’ Oleg paused again and took a deep breath, unable to look his brother in the eye. ‘Look, I’m sorry Nina said those things, anyway.’
‘I won’t hold it against her,’ murmured Sheremetev, still stunned at what he had just learned.
People came and went around the two brothers standing at the entrance to the metro station.
‘So what’s going to happen?’ asked Sheremetev eventually.
‘I don’t know. I don’t see a way out of this.’ Suddenly Oleg put his face in his hands. ‘They might put him away for years.’
Sheremetev didn’t know what to say. He put his arms around his brother. Oleg buried his face against his shoulder.
For a moment they stood together like a rock balanced precariously against the tide, against the shameless, grasping bureaucracy of Russia, in danger of being knocked over and submerged.
Sheremetev straightened up. ‘We’ll solve this, Oleg.’
Oleg nodded, but not with any show of belief. He took a deep breath and stepped back, wiping at the tears on his cheeks. Then he turned and walked way.
Sheremetev watched his brother leave, his head bowed, his pace barely more than a shuffle.
BY THE TIME HE got back, Vera, the stand-in nurse, had heard about Pasha from someone in the house. Sheremetev shrugged helplessly when she asked if they would be able to get him out.
‘You look upset about it, Kolya,’ she said.