Fedko-brigand (Федько-халамидник англійською) - Винниченко Володимир

Tolya's papa and mom appeared from somewhere, Fedko's mother coming with them. Tolya, seeing them, began to tremble and rushed towards them with a yell and a cry. "Pappy!.. Mommy!.. That's not fault, that's not my fault!.."

But his papa and mama didn't let him finish the phrase. They grabbed him by the arms, yanked violently, and dragged him home. Fedko's mother also grabbed Fedko and shook him so hard that splashes of water fell from him.

"Go home, Herod! You'll be given a hard time at home!" She pulled him so hard again that he had to run after her. Fedko had never seen his mother so pale and furious. Ahead Tolya's parents were dragging Tolya, who was stumbling repeatedly, shouting something, and crying loudly. His parents replied something to him from time to time. They were yanking Tolya so violently that several times his beanie fell on the ground. Suddenly, they stopped and waited for Fedko and his mother.

"Has he been on ice?" Tolya's father turned menacingly to Fedko. Fedko felt very cold, his teeth didn't stop chattering, and his body hurt awfully because of his mother's yanking; but he still managed to notice that Tolya's father's saliva had hardened on his lips and his eyes were bloodshot. Tolya raised his head with horror, first to his mother, then to his father, and only said, pitifully, "That's not my fault, that's not my fault..."

"Shut up!" his father shouted to him and turned to Fedko again. " Has he been on ice?"

"He has..." said Fedko, chattering his teeth.

"That's a lie! That's a lie!" Tolya cried even more pitifully and trembled in fear. " I didn't want to go, but they dragged me to the river. And then Fedko took me and threw on the ice... Ask everyone... I'm not guilty..."

Fedko stopped shaking and glanced straight at Tolya. Fedko's mother flared up.

"Oh, my Goodness! What are you thinking, you, Luciper! Your father will skin you three times, he won't leave a living place on you. Why didn't the devil grab you there in the water, you Herod!" She hit Fedko on the head with all her might. Fedko fell to one knee and covered his head with his hands. His mother wanted to hit him again.

"Wait, Ivanykha!" Tolya's father stopped her.

"Stand up... Wait, Ivanykha..." (A note to the text: Ivanykha isn't the name of Fedko's mother. In Ukraine, women sometimes could be called by a modified form of their husbands' names. For example: Fedko's father's name is Ivan, that's why here his wife is called "Ivanykha") "I want to ask him... Fedko, I believe you, I know that you never lie, so don't lie now, either: tell me, did you drag Tolya to the river?"

Fedko shook terribly. His knees were bent and swaying in all directions. He remained silent. "Speak, scoundrel!" The mother jolted Fedko. Fedko raised his gaze at Tolya, who was looking directly at him with big eyes full of fear and longing. Tears ran down his cheeks and stopped at the corners of his mouth. Tolya mechanically licked them with his tongue and kept looking at Fedko with the expectation of something terrible.

"Well, speak, Fedko!" Tolya's father said impatiently.

Fedko took his eyes off Tolya, bent down, and said quietly, "I did..."

"Did you push him onto the ice?"

"I did..."

"What a bastard you are!" Tolya's father screamed and slapped Fedko hard on the face. Then, he turned to Fedko's mother and said, "I hope that this time your husband will punish him properly... Otherwise, you'd better leave my apartment."

Fedko's beanie fell off his head again when Tolya's father hit him. He picked it up and looked at Tolya. But Tolya snuggled up to his mother, who was already fondling and pitying him.

In the evening, when Fedko's father had to come home from work, Fedko coughed dreadfully and licked his hot lips. He felt very hot.

"Yeah, are you coughing and barking, Herod?" the mother called out from the behind the oven. "Wait, wait, you bloody well. Soon your father will come and warm you with the belt. What, are you having a fever?"

"Yeah..." Fedko answered quietly and looked closely at the strange yellow and green spots in his eyes. When the father came home and the mother started to tell him, he saw almost nothing but yellow and his head felt so awfully heavy and hot; it felt so heavy that he couldn't hold it up on his shoulders. He terribly wanted to lay the head either on the table, or on the ground, or even in the oven — just to rest it. The mother said something, but Fedko didn't even listen; he didn't remember anything. He just saw, as if in a dream, that his daddy got terribly angry for some reason; so angry that he couldn't even speak and only grabbed his throat and his belt alternately. Then, Fedko was laid on the chair and beaten up properly. But this time Fedko didn't even scream at all. Only when the father let go of his hand that he held, Fedko fell to the ground and didn't move.

"Stand u-up!!" the father yelled and grabbed his son's hand; but the hand was so hot, and the son's face was so strangely calm, that the father threw the belt away and leaned down to Fedko. Fedko didn't hear or see anything.

Three days later he lay dead. Two times he came to his senses, asked if Tolya had been beaten, muttered something and fell unconscious again. In a state of unconsciousness, he begged someone, threatened someone, and restlessly questioned Tolya about something.

His father and mother didn't leave his bed, trembled and silently fought against death. But death won.

On the fourth day, his funeral was held. Boys from all the neighboring streets came to the cemetery. Spirka, Styopka and Havryk wept bitterly. And Tolya quietly looked out the window. His mother strictly ordered him not to go out around street boys. But he was interested to see how Fedko-brigand would be buried.

When Fedko's coffin hid behind the corner of the street and no one was in sight anymore, Tolya moved away from the window, twisted on one leg, and ran to play with the siskin. He had told Fedko's mother to give him this siskin because he had won it from Fedko.