— Oh, come on! I don’t need such details. Leave the kid. Go sleep it off.
Okay, I brought chocolates there. A doll for Jess, fabric for a dress for you, and for yours — a record with that singer he asked for. Why spend, Linda? Ah, come on! — the woman would just wave her hand.
— You keep Bobby safe for me. Bobby never knew his father. Aunt Linda, laughing, often said it could be the plumber from their housing office, always drunk and with a bruise under his eye.
But all the neighbors understood that, despite the rumors, she wouldn’t sink to that level. Linda always knew how to keep up appearances. Her work with foreigners for currency was a secret only for those who preferred to turn a blind eye to reality.
The others knew the whole truth, but beyond whispers and sidelong glances, they didn’t discuss it. Behind her back, of course, they called her all sorts of things, but in person, they always met her with a smile, affectionately calling her Lindy and Beauty. Linda knew how to win over even the strictest neighbors.
She brought the old ladies on the benches real treasures — chocolate, kilogram packs of yeast, and fresh products that were either unavailable or of terrible quality in regular stores. Store yeast, if it appeared on the shelves, was only good for animal feed. Old, brittle, and completely useless.
But Linda’s was always fresh and fragrant, as if just brought from abroad. For such gifts, the old women were immensely grateful to her. They met her literally with open arms, climbing to hug and kiss at every meeting, and having received the cherished packs of yeast, they hurried to make mash.
Then they distilled it into moonshine to treat all the men in their and neighboring yards. But behind her back, it was completely different. They called Linda all possible offensive words, spat over their shoulder in contempt, discussed that she was corrupting the youth and disgracing the whole district.
And returning home, they strictly warned their children and grandchildren not to even think about bringing that woman into the house. And yet, when it came to necessity, everyone knew. For help or something rare, it’s better to turn to Linda.
She always got what seemed unattainable for ordinary mortals. — Your mom is looking for you! — yelling that the belt is already waiting for you, — Bobby began to say. — Let her just try.
— Jessica, listen. — Well, what do you want? — the girl shrugged. She knew what Bobby wanted to ask and expected this question, fearing to answer it.
Jessica was afraid to admit even to herself that it was all true. — Jessica, what are people saying? Is it all true? — I don’t even know, Bobby, maybe it really is true. But you look like Uncle Gary’s mom.
— So what? — You look like the plumber, and that doesn’t mean you’re from him! — the girl answered rudely. — Better from him! — the boy said after a pause. — You’re good, now you have two pairs of parents.
— And I only have mom! — Jessica pulled the boy’s head to her and kissed the sun-smelling nape. — It’s okay, Bobby, we’ll break through somehow. The time will come, and your father will definitely find you.
Well, or mother, as in my case. — No way, I love my mom, and I don’t need another. — Do you think I need one? — Jessica sighed.
— I love Val too, whatever she is. And Gary too. They are my parents after all.
The next day, Jessica gathered courage. She took out her best dress, habitually put on a mask of indifference, and stepped over the threshold. To that very woman who called herself her mother.
Valerie, suffering from another hangover, looked at her daughter with anxiety. Her face was tired, and her eyes wandered, finding no peace. She could barely stand on her feet but still tried to block Jessica’s way.
— Where are you going? — she asked in a trembling voice. — To her? I won’t let you; you’re underage. Jessica, without answering, calmly removed her mother’s thin hand from the door jamb.
Her movements were confident, but her heart squeezed with pain. She stepped over the threshold but immediately stopped. Hearing Valerie, no longer holding back, sob.
— You’re my daughter. Hear me? Only mine. Everything they say is stupid lies.
You’re a copy of grandma. Why do you need to go there? Jessy, don’t go, daughter. Her voice broke, and tears flowed down her cheeks.
Jessica turned, looking at her mother in confusion. — Mom, what’s wrong with you? — Jessy. Val rushed to her, grabbed her hands and face, and covered them with kisses.
— You’re mine. Hear me? Even if it’s true, if that woman really switched you, I don’t need another daughter. I need only you.
I love you. You’re my baby. You’re my life.
Only for you am I still living in this world. If you leave, there will be no reason for me to live. Jessica couldn’t tear her gaze away from her tormented face, from those eyes full of despair.
Valerie continued, as if clutching at the last thread of hope. — I dream of how you’ll grow up and get an education. And we’ll leave here far away, where we’ll start over.
I’ll quit drinking, hear me? I’ll work, get a job as a cook. We’ll go north or wherever you want. You’ll get married, and I’ll babysit your kids.
Just don’t go, Jessy. I beg you. Her words full of sincerity literally tore Jessica’s heart.
She only whispered quietly in response. — Mommy, what’s wrong with you? I have to go to school. I have practice, and I’ll be back.
I promise. Val continued to sob until Jessica, calming her, placed her palms on her face. — Okay, calm down.
Of course, I’ll come back. She added quietly and stepped over the threshold, turning once more to see her mother’s eyes filled with pain and hope. At that time, Natalie was thinking about how to talk to her daughter Emily.
— Emily, listen, sweetie, we need to talk seriously. Emily raised her light eyes, framed by black lashes, contrasting with the dark eyes of Natalie and John. — Mom, listen, I already know everything.
I need to leave, right? — Leave where, sweetie? Where do you need to go? — Well, where? — There. To those other parents. — Just kidding.
What are you saying? How can you think that? You’re my daughter, ours, mine and dad’s. You know what dad said? He said that even if it’s true, you’re his only daughter. But understand me too, my girl.
There, in that other world, is the one I carried under my heart for nine months, gave her life, and who was unfairly torn away from me. I can’t just abandon her. I want to take her and live with you together.
But it won’t work like that. It can’t, mom. You understand.
Natalie hugged her daughter. And they stood holding each other tightly. When suddenly there was a knock at the door.
A girl stood on the threshold. Emily looked into her eyes and saw an exact copy of her mother Natalie. And she looked straight into Emily’s eyes.
Just like Val, like two peas in a pod, the thought immediately flashed in Jessica’s head. «Come in, Jessica,» Natalie said to the girl. «Come in, please.
This is Emily, my daughter. Emily, meet her. This is Jessica, also my daughter.»
And Natalie cried, and the girls immediately rushed to comfort her. And then there was the court. And again colorful headlines in the yellow newspapers.
With various fictional details. If Natalie couldn’t even think of letting go of both Emily and Jessica, then Valerie, on the contrary, met her biological daughter with cold indifference. «Looks like me,» she said, quietly turning away.
«Forgive me, please, but I have one daughter, and it’s not you.» Val couldn’t find the needed warmth in herself for this skinny, amorphous girl, obviously a straight-A student and lover of reading unnecessary books, who, however, so strongly resembled her externally. Val.
Perhaps that’s why she didn’t like her, and this external similarity only repelled. That’s exactly how Valerie was in her youth, fragile and tender graduate of the orphanage, not knowing life and believing in great and bright love to Gary. Her Gary was a pampered favorite of his mother, aunt, and grandmother, an intellectual boy who also knew nothing about life.
They quickly got drunk, unnoticed but surely, and all plans just collapsed. Gary still somehow got a college degree, but Val couldn’t cope with this life, and they started drinking. First, the grandmother and husband’s mother left, then Aunt Linda got married to a widower, though not for long.
And gave birth to the same, unnecessary boy Bobby. And what else to expect, Val thought bitterly, not understanding at all who to be angry at now, except perhaps herself. And also at this fragile girl, so like herself, and at Gary, and, in fact, at her whole worthless life.
Val adored her Jessica. She saw well that the girl was growing up with character, that she was completely different, and sincerely hoped that her daughter would succeed, and not like her. In the end, it turned out that she couldn’t even give birth to a normal child; God sent another defective one, the woman thought bitterly.
I didn’t like her, Emily only sighed to Jessica a little later. The girls, to everyone’s surprise, became friends. And Jessica often came to the small town to Natalie and Emily.
In the summer, they spent a lot of time in the newly bought house. Jessica didn’t call Natalie mom, didn’t call her anything at all, but she immediately accepted John for some reason. Maybe because both had strong characters.
«Hello, Dad!» — Jessica greeted her biological father. At first, John treated his newly found daughter with caution, but then began to smile and even shake her hand firmly. «You’re my daughter, hear me? Mine, and mom’s!» — he said to Emily, without any doubts there.
«At first, of course, I doubted, didn’t recognize. Forgive me for that!» «Our dad is not young anymore!» — said straightforward Jessica. «Emily!» «He’s twenty years older than mom, and his wife is fifteen years younger than him!» — Emily replied.