Inna sighed heavily as she flipped through the newspaper yet again. Not a single job listing suitable for part-time work. Besides, she had been thinking about changing jobs for a while. Her continuous shifts left her children alone for entire days, and her salary barely covered the essentials.
The doorbell rang. Denis hurried to open it, and Inna followed him. It was already 8 PM—late for visitors.
“Hi, Inka!” Marina, her smiling friend, stood at the threshold.
Who else could show up this late? Marina confidently walked into the kitchen, carrying a bag of treats. The kids immediately followed her, and she managed to distribute sweets and ask about their school and kindergarten all at once.
“Marin, why did you?” Inna remarked reproachfully. “I’m always amazed at your ability to spend money on all sorts of nonsense.”
“It’s not for you, though there is something for you too,” Marina replied without missing a beat, placing a bottle on the table and going to wash some fruit.
“Today, my friend, we celebrate your new job!”
Inna sat down at the table in astonishment.
“What new job? Why don’t I know anything about this? Well, with you, it’s not surprising—you always know before I do,” she said with a smirk.
Ignoring her words, Marina continued to set the table. Once everything was ready, she finally sat down.
“So, let’s drink. I’ll tell you all about it now. You have tomorrow off, so relax, no frowning,” her friend added with a smile.
Inna laughed:
“Marin, no matter how long I’ve known you, I still can’t get used to it—you storm in like a typhoon and sweep everything away.”
“I just can’t do it any other way,” Marina shrugged.
A minute later, she began:
“I have an acquaintance, we rarely talk, but we happened to meet. When she told me where she works, I immediately thought of you and suggested your candidacy to her boss. Anyway, they are expecting you.”
“And what is the job? Tell me already!” Inna exclaimed impatiently.
“Taxi,” Marina said, raising her glass.
“Taxi? And what am I supposed to do there?”
“What kind of question is that? You have a car sitting idle. Soon you won’t even have money for gas, and you ask what you’re supposed to do there,” Marina almost laughed.
Inna nearly fell off her chair:
“Are you seriously suggesting I drive a taxi?”
“Yes, exactly! It finally clicked! And it’s not just a side job—you can make good money there.”
“I’m not sure…” Inna shook her head.
“They have two women working there. One also thought she’d just earn a bit on the side, but now she’s quit her main job and does this full time.”
“I don’t know, it hardly seems right for me,” Inna replied thoughtfully.
Two weeks later. Inna confidently drove into the courtyard of a high-rise building where an elderly woman was waiting at the entrance.
“Hello,” she greeted politely.
“Oh, hello, dear! First time I’ve seen a woman driving a taxi,” the grandmother exclaimed in surprise as she settled into the seat.
“What a beautiful car you have! Is it your husband’s?”
How Inna was tired of this backwardness! As if the country forbade selling cars to women. If someone’s behind the wheel, surely a man must be involved.
“It’s my car,” Inna calmly replied. “I don’t have a husband. He passed away.”
The old woman looked at her attentively:
“Well, don’t worry. This job will definitely bring you luck, you’ll see,” she said warmly.
Inna smiled in response. With each passing day, it was getting easier after Valery’s death. Although she tried to hold herself together, she felt as if she was closed off from everyone. At work, she hardly spoke to anyone, and she rarely left home. But now, every day brought new people, smiles, and it helped her to gradually start living again.
After her first day at the taxi job, Inna submitted her resignation from her old job. In one evening, she earned as much as she did in a whole week at her main job.
Today she finished her shift early because tomorrow she and her children were going to the cemetery. It had been three years since Valery had passed away. Denis, Inna’s eldest son, was the only one who truly understood that their father was gone and why they visited the cemetery. Romka did not yet attach any significance to it, and little Sveta, who was four and a half, did not understand at all. For her, the cemetery was just another walk, and she knew her father only from photographs.
“Mom, will you be home today?” Denis asked, helping his mother clean the grass around the grave.
“I’m not sure yet, son. I thought I would stay home, but I saw that Sveta’s sandals are completely worn out, and your sneakers are old too. It’s a day off today, so I think it will be busy,” Inna replied.
“Aren’t you scared?” Denis continued.
“I haven’t worked at night yet. And during the day, no, it’s not scary.”
Towards the evening, Inna called the base. They confirmed that there were many orders, but not enough cars. Deciding not to delay, she began to get ready. There was so much work that there was no time for a break. She didn’t even have time to drink her coffee. She only called Denis to find out how things were at home. Her son reassured her: Sveta was already asleep, and they with Romka would also go to bed soon.
“Alright, son. I might work until morning.”
After two o’clock in the morning, her fatigue suddenly lifted as if she caught a second wind. The number of orders decreased, and the taxi drivers began to joke among themselves on the radio when there were no passengers. Inna didn’t know anyone except the dispatchers and a few drivers she met at the base.
Just as she was free, her phone rang.
“Hello, Inna. Dispatcher Natasha gave me your number. I also work in a taxi, my name is Grigory,” a male voice said.
“Hello, Grigory.”
“I’m currently busy, out of town. Some regular clients called, asking for a ride. This passenger often travels and pays well. Maybe you’ll take his order?”
“Of course, tell me the address.”
Inna knew that experienced taxi drivers had their regular clients who preferred to call directly, bypassing the dispatch service.
She pulled up to the hotel and stopped. Grigory said the man was a visitor and always stayed at this hotel, then traveled around the city on his business. In a taxi, it was customary not to ask extra questions, and the passenger usually remained silent as well.
A minute later, a man got into the back seat.
“Good evening. Did Grigory send you?” Inna asked.
“Yes. Let’s go to Gvozdovo,” the passenger calmly replied.
Inna glanced in the rearview mirror, puzzled. She immediately remembered how she and Valery had also once gone to Gvozdovo. Back then, her husband was trying to find relatives there, but it came to nothing—almost nothing was left of the village. But before she could say anything, in the back seat sat… her Valery. The man she had recently buried.
For a moment, she thought she was about to faint. Her heart pounded wildly, and a chill of fear ran down her spine.
“Miss, are you alright?” the passenger asked with concern.
Gathering her courage, Inna managed to ask:
“Who are you?”
The man, slightly frowning, was surprised:
“Does it matter?”
“Yes,” Inna replied firmly.
Unable to bear it, she jumped out of the car and began to breathe in the fresh air greedily. The man also got out, his face showing concern.
“Are you feeling unwell?” he asked.
As dawn began to break on the horizon, Inna realized that the man standing before her was not Valera, but someone who looked astonishingly like him. He resembled him so much that she, his wife of over ten years, could not immediately tell them apart.
“I’m sorry… I’ll explain everything now,” she muttered.
“Well, you better explain, because it’s quite uncomfortable traveling with you like this,” the passenger grumbled, his voice tinged with displeasure.
Inna pulled a photograph from her wallet. The photo showed her with Valera and their children.
“Here, take a look,” she said, showing him the photo.
The passenger glanced at the picture, and his expression softened a bit.
The man took the photograph, looked at it carefully for a while, then raised his eyes to Inna:
“I assume this is your husband, right? I urgently needed to meet him. You see, I’m looking for my brother, who I presume I lost in childhood. I was adopted when I was three years old. Just before she died, my adoptive mother told me the truth. I only know that I originally came from an orphanage in this city, and that my roots are most likely from Gvozdovo. No other traces.”
“Unfortunately, meeting Valera won’t be possible… He’s passed away,” Inna said softly.
“What do you mean he’s dead? But I didn’t get to…” the man’s voice trembled with disappointment.
Inna felt sorry for him, and she smiled sadly:
“You know, Valera also said that he felt like he had a relative. He just couldn’t tell if it was a brother or sister. He said he had a strong feeling that he wasn’t born alone. But after a fire at the orphanage, no documents from those years remained. He also tried to find his roots, went to Gvozdovo, but almost no one was left there, and those who were didn’t remember anything.”
The man sighed heavily:
“So all these years of searching—were they in vain?” He looked at Inna with hope: “Can I come visit you? I’d like to get to know Valera at least through your memories. I somehow feel that he was my brother.”
“Come over in the evening,” Inna agreed.
Inna was preparing a festive dinner when Denis peered into the kitchen:
“Mom, what smells so delicious? Do we have guests coming?”
“You’re right, son, we’re having a guest. But listen carefully: a man who looks very much like your father is coming.”
“How is that possible?”
“Just very similar, I even thought at first it was your father,” Inna explained.
Denis looked at his mother with wide eyes but didn’t have time to say anything as the doorbell rang. Inna took off her apron and went to open it. The children, hearing the bell, ran to the hallway. At first, the man wasn’t visible behind a pile of packages and boxes he was carrying.
“Welcome the guests!” he said, managing to squeeze through the door and setting down the gifts on the floor.
Taken aback, Denis stepped back:
“My name is Pavel, I am your father’s brother. And you, it turns out, are my nephews! So go ahead and unpack the gifts!”
As soon as Pavel spoke, Denis felt a sense of relief. It was now clear that this was not his father, just someone incredibly similar to him. Romka shot a quick glance at his older brother, and Denis nodded, signaling that everything was fine.
Only an hour later did everyone sit down at the table. The gifts were unpacked, Sveta kissed Pavel for the beautiful doll and literally hung on him, hugging with the toy.
“Svetochka, let go of your uncle,” Inna tried to reason with her.
Pavel laughed heartily:
“It’s alright, we’re very comfortable like this. You know, it’s a strange feeling… I never had children, and here I am with three, and they all feel like my own.”
When the children finished eating and ran off to play, Pavel, watching them go, sighed heavily:
“I envy you. You lost your husband, but you still have a family—strong, united. Please tell me about Valera. Why did he leave so early?”
It was always hard for Inna to talk about her husband’s death, but she gathered her strength:
“It was just a common cold. Valera refused to get treated, didn’t even take sick leave—just kept working. A simple runny nose turned into pneumonia, and within a few days, he was gone. The doctors could do nothing. I feel guilty that I couldn’t convince him to see a doctor sooner…” Inna’s voice trailed off.
Pavel smiled sadly:
“You know, I also don’t like doctors and always put off visits until the last moment, when it’s absolutely necessary. I’m sorry to have upset you. How have you managed all these years? Did Valera spend his whole life in the orphanage?”
“He believed his adoptive parents were his real ones. After the adoption, they moved out of this city, and where we lived, no one knew he was adopted. His adoptive parents were well-to-do, and Valera never wanted for anything. His father passed away first, and his mother, who loved him dearly, lived only a year without him. Before she died, she told Valera that he had a brother in the orphanage. She regretted that they hadn’t taken both children, but in the nineties, life was different, and they were afraid they wouldn’t cope with two. She asked Valera for forgiveness. Since then, I’ve been coming to this city, hoping to find out something.”
“I’ll stay here for a week. Can I come over? I could take the kids to the circus or the zoo,” Pavel offered.
Inna, wiping away tears, quietly replied:
“We don’t have a circus or a zoo here.”
“Then we’ll find something else. And later, maybe you could visit me, we have all that.”
Pavel began pacing the kitchen, mimicking Valera’s movements when he was nervous or telling something important.
He kept his word. The children visited the circus, the zoo, and many other interesting places. Pavel convinced Inna to quit her taxi job, saying it was better for her to be with the children and he would take care of all financial worries. And he did. But his help was not just financial.
A year later, Inna and Pavel got married. The children quickly grew accustomed to him and soon started calling him dad. For them, it was as if Valera had returned from a long business trip.