От автора: Перевод довольно далек от оригинала, особенно в конце. В отличии от первого перевода, за базу были взяты все существующие версии рассказа (а не только первая), а также мои собственные идеи на тему Гриши Конова. Если кто еще не понял, Хуан-Мария Эль Пене - кивок в сторону Жан-Мари Лё Пена, выдающегося французского политика.
Килгор_Траут




Grisha Konow and the Murder in the School

So it was, after the incident with Turgen’s gang, that Grisha Konow didn’t have problems at school anymore. Nobody disturbed him, nobody attacked him and nobody tried to molest him. His fellow students learned that he had a powerful ally and wasn’t as weak as before. Everybody understood that he became more confident and didn’t hesitate to defend himself. Grisha was feeling more relaxed. He knew now that nothing menaced him and he really started to love his life. However, a terrible misfortune visited him after several months of happiness.


* * *

Once, he came to school and saw his best friend Juan-María ElPene Hao Velasquez-Liu by the entrance. His looks shocked Konow. Juan was very sad and almost cried, hardly managing to hide his tears. Grisha ran to his friend to ask what happened:

- Hao, why are you so sad? What’s going on? If you got problems in some class, just tell me and I’ll help you.

Juan looked at his friend with even more sorrow and replied:

- No, Grisha! This is not about marks, it’s something much more important…
- Well, what?
- I’ve got some very bad news, Grisha. Yesterday I learned that our family is moving and I’ll have to change school once again.

Grisha was appalled:

- El Pene! What are you saying?!

Konow became aware of his heart beating very rapidly in his chest. Then, he felt as though some cold hand gripped his body tightly. He stayed there as frozen in one place and couldn’t believe his ears. His best friend is going away and they won’t see each other again. Nevermore will they be together, having good time, helping each other and joking as they always had before. It was the worst nightmare in Grisha Konow’s life. He never even imagined that such a thing could happen, that he would lose his best friend in this manner. Juan continued:

- All the time we lived in our current apartment, we were looking for another one closer to my father’s workplace. It’s very far from here and he had to spend a lot of time just to get there, arriving late each time. You see, his boss doesn’t pay him enough so that he can get a car, but still wants him to be on time and gets very angry when he’s late. He even threatened to fire him once. What a bastard! So we searched and searched. And yesterday, we finally found an apartment very close to the workplace. We move tomorrow.

Konow was about to experience a fit of hysterics. He started to cry, refusing to believe. He gripped Juan’s left hand and muttered incoherently:

- Oh… God! B-b-but… but what the… What the fuck am I gonna do without you? I… I don’t want… I don’t wanna lose you… Please, Juan, tell me that it’s a joke! It can’t be true!

But Juan shook his head:

- No, Grisha! It is true. Well, I bid you farewell and good luck here! I’ll call you as soon as possible and will give you my number so we can stay in contact. Maybe, someday, we’ll even meet in person…

At this moment, the doors opened and the students started entering the school. Grisha never felt as bad in his life as he was during the classes and the rest of the day. He was morally devastated, he cried a lot and was desperate. It is impossible to describe the sadness that he felt throughout that day. At the end of the school day, Grisha and Juan shook hands, showing the respect for each other and for their friendship. And so, Juan was gone. Gone forever…

When he returned home, Grisha threw himself on the bed and cried for the rest of the day. His brother Gosha, who knew Juan very well and was always friendly with him, tried to console Grisha, but in vain.

With Juan’s departure, Grisha’s life entered a new period of loneliness and alienation. Once again, he didn’t have any friends and nobody understood him. Nevertheless, he continued to study with great effort and his marks were among the best in class. His existence, however, wasn’t the same without Juan, but he had to continue it anyway. It was, after all, his life and he couldn't do a thing about it.

* * *

One day, after the end of classes, Grisha was walking down the halls of the school in the direction of his locker on the first floor. The school day was finished for him and he wasn't in a hurry, so he was thinking about his life and studies as he saw his brother Gosha going in the opposite direction. He remembered that Gosha had an important mathematics exam that day and had asked Grisha to lend him his calculator, as he couldn't find his when they were preparing for school yesterday evening. Grisha waved to his brother:

- Hey, Gosha! How ya doin' there? How was your math exam?
- Good afternoon, Grisha! I am quite good, thank you. I must tell you, that examination was a tiresome puzzle. But, without undue modesty, I think that I was very fortunate and did well. Judging by my classmates' remarks, I may even get the best mark of the whole class. Of course, this feat would not have been possible without your calculator. Thank you very much for your generosity, brother.
- You're welcome, Grisha. I'm very glad that you did good. By the way, do you wanna give me that calculator right away because I might forget to ask you this evening?

Gosha nodded, got on his knees and opened his schoolbag. He started looking for Grisha's calculator, methodically opening and searching the many compartments and pockets of his bag, but couldn't find it. While Grisha was getting impatient, Gosha checked everything a second time, but without any results. Perplexed, he looked at his brother and said:

- I am sorry, Grisha, but it is not here. I must have left it at Mr. White's office in J- 210. You know Mr. White, the computer science teacher? I was in his computer room just five minutes ago and I undoubtedly forgot the calculator somewhere on his table. You see, I had to meet with him in order to discuss the current topic that we are studying in class. It is quite ambiguous and I do not really know how to approach it to understand it without error. I confess that computers are not really my strong point, although I try with all my forces to keep pace with modern times and, as you know, computers are our future and we have to...

But Grisha had no time to admire his brother' eloquence:

- Well, let’s go get my calculator then, before he leaves the school!

Ashamed, Gosha looked at his brother and replied:

- I am sorry for the second time, Grisha, but I cannot accompany you. I have to make a bee-line to my geography teacher's office, because I have an appointment with her and I am already late. You will have to go alone, brother, but I am sure you will succeed without me. Please forgive me. See you at home, Grisha!

At that point, Gosha picked up his bag and ran away. Silently cursing his little brother's incompetence, Grisha turned around and headed for the second floor. When he came to the computer room, still thinking about his brother, he heard some peculiar voice coming from behind the door. That voice was completely unknown to him. During his stay at N. N. school, Grisha came to know the voices of all the teachers, but this one belonged to someone new. And so, Grisha decided to eavesdrop. The unknown was without doubt speaking to someone on the cellular phone:

- ...Yes, boss! The mission is accomplished! The thief died like a filthy dog, but not before telling me how he stole your money with his goddamned computer and also how we can get it back... Yes, thank you, boss, but... What?! Ten thousand dollars? You gotta be shitting me... OK, OK, all right... I'll be there in ten minutes! OK! Ciao!

At that moment, Grisha's curiosity overcame his fears. He opened the door just a little to take a look at what was happening inside. What he saw there made him produce a wail of horror...

Mr. White was lying on the floor as though he decided to take a little nap. That perception was false, however, as there was a little hole in his forehead and blood was dripping from it. Next to the teacher's computer was standing a sturdy and muscled man dressed in black. In his right hand Grisha noticed a pistol with a silencer. It was a Beretta .92, just like the one Grisha saw in “Hitman”, his favorite computer game. But that was a game, something that never existed, while here the weapon was real and the situation didn't look like a game at all. The man's reaction was instantaneous. He raised the Beretta...

Grisha dropped on the floor. At the same moment, he heard two gunshots that resembled the sound produced when a bottle of champagne is being opened. The silencer was doing its job marvelously.

The bullets flew over Grisha's head and didn't wound him. However, Grisha was aware of the danger of his situation. He ran to the corridor on four legs and got up. At the same moment, the killer, moving with formidable speed, was already standing by the door. He hit Grisha across the face and Grisha fell down. The unknown man raised his Beretta a second time and said:

- I'm sorry, boy, but you know that I don't have the right to let live someone who can send me in prison for murder. So close your eyes and I will give you ten seconds for your last prayer...

During his speech, Grisha was thinking nervously. Suddenly, he found a solution. This solution was absolutely ridiculous, but it could save his life. With a loud shriek, he kicked with all his forces the man's armed hand. The pistol flew away to a distant corner... But the killer was already producing a long knife from his pocket. He raised it and Grisha Konow had nothing to do but to close his eyes and start his last prayer...

But nothing happened. He was still alive! When he opened his eyes, Konow saw a fantastic thing: two school security guards were holding the arms of the offender while he struggled to free himself.

Grisha emitted a relieved sigh. One of the guards was Claude Fortin, his long-time acquaintance who often defended him against the school gangs. The other was Marc Gagnon, a newly hired one, who was still a little uneasy with his job.

Suddenly, the killer freed one of his hands, the one that Marc was holding. He hit Marc in the face and tripped him. While the guard was falling on the ground, the criminal attacked Claude, hitting him right in the loins. Claude produced a painful grimace and was out of the game for a couple of moments, but Marc was already on his feet and ready to continue fighting.

At that moment, Grisha understood that he was once again in danger. The killer was a professional and two amateur security guards weren't nearly enough to stop his rampage. After a moment of thinking, Grisha arrived with a decision. Rapidly, he went to fetch the Beretta that was lying on the ground some distance from the fighting men. When he picked up the weapon, he saw that the situation was already out of control: the two guards were lying helplessly on the floor and the killer was advancing in the direction of Grisha in a terrible rage. Momentarily, Grisha raised the weapon and shouted:

- I advise you to raise your arms and stop moving!

But the killer didn't heed the call and proceeded to move forward. He was already very close, leaving Grisha mere seconds to act. But Grisha didn't want to become a killer himself, so he lowered the pistol and shot at the stone floor in front of the criminal, trying to stop him in that manner while not doing any physical damage.

However, Konow's plan didn't quite work as he wanted it to. The hard stone floor deflected the bullet from the pistol, and it flew right up to the killer's face. With the worst of luck, it hit him in the left eye, hurting him very much and finally staying his progress. The killer gave out a terrible roar of pain that made Grisha drop down. And when he saw a fountain of blood emerging from the man's eye and landing on the floor and on Grisha himself, he couldn't stand it anymore and lost consciousness.

* * *

When he came to, he saw the two guards gripping tightly the killer, who, surprisingly, was still alive. As it was was discovered later, the bullet didn't go into his brain and his life could be saved. When Grisha opened his eyes, he heard the killer speak to him, mixing words with painful cries:

- ...You little cocksucker! You just made a big mistake and it's gonna cost you... Aaaaaah!... It's gonna cost you your miserable fucking life... Aaaah... If I... If I survive, I'm gonna come... Aaaaaah, fuck!... I'm gonna come to your house and I'm gonna butcher your whole family before your very fucking eyes! You will be the last to die and I'm gonna... Aaaaaah... And if I don't hold, my boys are gonna molest you till ya...

At that time, Claude Fortin had enough of the man's discourse and, together with Marc Gagnon, they accompanied him downstairs and left Grisha to lie on the floor and tremble. That very day, the killer was brought to the hospital, where they took care of his lost eye, and then immediately to prison, where he was questioned extensively. At the end of the day, he cracked and revealed the whole story.

Mr. White, the computer science professor at N. N. school, had stolen a big sum of money from Mark Andrew Stone, the leader of an important criminal gang, using his hacker talents. Mark Andrew sent a killer to interrogate and terminate the hacker. And it was at that time that Grisha intervened. The whole gang and its leader Mark Andrew Stone were put in prison for long periods of time, as the killer talked a lot about their activities.

At the time of the trial, it was proved that Grisha acted in self-defense and was therefore found innocent. The police officer charged with the affair told Grisha that the killer's menaces were quite natural in such circumstances and he had nothing to fear as all the friends of the criminal were also locked in jail.

However, the whole story made Grisha feel very uneasy for a long period of time. He never pardoned himself for the mutilation of the man, even though he knew that it was the only alternative that could've saved both his and the killer's lives. But Grisha always put all the blame on himself and it greatly depressed him. In addition, there was one more thing that troubled Konow.

On that dreaded day, when the guards took the killer downstairs, Grisha got up and remembered the reason he came to the computer room in the first place. Trying not to look at the body of Mr. White, he searched the computer room for his calculator, but couldn't find it. He searched the desk, the computers and the bookcases, but it just wasn't there. That same evening, after he returned home and told the story to his parents and brother, Gosha miraculously found the calculator in his schoolbag. He explained that it slipped into a hole on the back of the bag and he had great difficulty finding it. Accepting the calculator from his brother's hands, Grisha thanked him and smiled, but a subtle feeling of suspicion entered his mind and remained there for a very long time...



Original version by Влад_Багров_Брат_3 on 30.06.2003
English translation by Килгор_Траут on 17.05.2005