The Matiushin Case Read Free Page B

Yakov thundered from the doorstep, and pushed his wife, who was displeased with something, into the parental home.
    Liudmila seemed to be there entirely independently, on her own account. She was a tough woman, confident in her beauty, and her radiant body was curvaceously desirable, although she wasn’t twenty yet: not even Alexandra Yakovlevna could bring herself to call her ‘daughter’. The power of love that she held over Yakov was obvious immediately. He was lovesick and never left her side, but acted as if he was in charge. In the home Liudmila respectfully kept away from Grigorii Ilich. She listened indifferently when Alexandra Yakovlevna gave them her matronly instructions about the best way for them to arrange their room and how to do the bed.
    In Liudmila’s presence Grigorii Ilich spoke only to his son, letting her know that Yakov was more important in their family, and pretending to look at the young woman in a quite ordinary way, although he felt uneasy as his glances scraped involuntarily over her breasts and thighs.
    The summer field exercises were beginning, and the father was glad to take a break and set off for somewhere well away from home.
    Everything had been arranged for the young couple – Yelsk was a deadly boring place, but every morning a little army jeep from the garrison drove up to the building and took them out of town to the river. Yakov and Liudmila started taking Vasenka with them for Alexandra Yakovlevna’s sake. For the first few days she had set out, with a childish kind of joy, to relax with her family, as she thought of them. She had her fill of joy and then grew rather weary of it, but for some reason she wanted the young couple to keep going to the river with the younger son, if not with her.
    Matiushin felt drawn to Yakov: he felt proud of having a brother like that but he also felt timid in the face of Yakov’s happiness. Yakov, who was a bit on the pudgy side, lounged on the river bank just as if he was at home and kept an eye on Liudmila, but all he wanted to do was sleep, and she wanted to swim and sunbathe. The languorous trips that the three of them made together illuminated Matiushin’s life with such joy: new openness, the faith he was regaining in himself, in his life, in the immense world that had swung wide open. Without even realising it, this unfamiliar, grown-up woman suddenly became close and dear to him, undeniably unique. He could only turn his clammy, froggy skin inside out in his eagerness to submit to her. It seemed to him that now Liudmila was going to live with them for ever – and this summer suddenly rose up so bright and clear, so earthly and unearthly at the same time, as if it had sprung from under the ground.
    Lounging on the bank, tired after swimming – and she liked to swim alone for a long time in the smooth water – Liudmila allowed him to knead and stroke her back and shoulders, which was pleasant for her and probably made her sleepy, although it set her young admirer trembling. But sometimes Yakov and Liudmila disappeared – Yakov took the little blanket and led his wife a long way away, to the tall field of maize, without saying anything to his brother, without even thinking of explaining anything. Sensing his little brother’s perplexed glances, Yakov grew more irritated by his presence, and once his irritation erupted and he reproached his wife loudly when Vasenka was giving her a massage on the river bank after her swim.
    â€˜Don’t you understand, you stupid fool, he’s groping you!’
    When they got home, Liudmila went dashing to pack her things. Yakov mocked her and flung everything out of the suitcase, and then, infuriated by her wilfulness, he suddenly lashed her across the face, as if he thought that would bring her to her senses. Little Liudmila stood there and burst into tears. Hearing her crying, Alexandra Yakovlevna ran into the room. Without a word, she flung herself at