Where time meets truth. Argo Järve

up you lazy maggots!” screamed the commandant and moments later he was yelling the same thing behind the next door. Young vocational students left the beds and swiftly went to the common bathroom-toilet. You snooze you loose principle applied. The bathroom was divided in 3. It was meant for eight rooms so it could fit at least eight people at a time. Luckily no one else from other rooms had come so the boys could finish their deeds quickly. They had at least one hour before the first school day began. Both were eating something from their bags. For a few minutes, you could only hear some crunching, chewing and coughing from times to times. The first festive breakfast in the dorm was finished. The hallway kept on filling with more and more noise, racket, running, ramming the doors and swearing. Rasmus and Hans looked at each other and headed for the door. The school was just a few minutes of walk from the dorm so they didn’t have to hurry and they both took a cigarette. The same moment they took a few good muffs the commandant stuck his head out of the window and started yelling. “Freaking idiots! You brats don’t smoke like this in front of the dorm, get the hell out of here!” Boys ran behind the corner blushing because of the shame. They both thought they could do what they want now. “Damn old hag. Thinks she can come and start messing with us,” said Rasmus in anger. Hans started laughing as this was only funny for him. “My parents allow me to some at home,” Rasmus kept on playing a tough guy. Hans couldn’t boast with that, as he had to do that secretly and after that, he had to chew on spruce needles to get rid of the stench of smoke. The front of the school was packed with old and new students. The first-course students kept their distance, and the older boys were showing off in front of girls and shouting. Hans and Rasmus sneaked into the school from the main door and stopped by the bulletin board, to read, if there was something useful for them. “Hans!” shouted the tall one. “Lets go to the chemistry cabinet on the second floor; there’s our course.” They walked up the stairs and were trying to find the correct door. The class was already packed, and there were only a couple of free seats left. Roommates found themselves free seats and looked around with curiosity. A few students came in from time to time and filled up all the seats. Suddenly the school bell rang and filled the air with a cutting noise; the school day had begun. In a few minutes, an older man with a moustache, a beard and who was wearing a plaid suit, entered the class and said: “Well then … I mean … khm, khm … I am your new course tutor, boys.” You could hear giggling from here and there in the classroom. “Quiet!” shouted the home room teacher and made clear a few rules to the whole class and gazed at students who were thinking about arguing. During the day the timetable was also made clear for everyone and which classroom is where. There was no studying during that day. Everyone got tonnes of different study material, and the boys were freed halfway through the day. It seemed that many of the students in this course, where local and you could also see it from their behaviour – they were different from others by their behaviour and slight arrogance. I mean, the others had intruded their territory, and they had to show who’s the boss. There were already some smaller scuffles here and there. Rasmus and Hans were walking back to the dorm along the long alley, threw the study material on the table, which they got from school and were now planning on going to the local shop. A group of older course students had gathered in front of the dorm, who were checking out and judging the new students. They didn’t bother us though, probably because of his size and height. A smaller boy who came behind them was caught by the big guys though. He was meager, with curly hair and with huge glasses. If Hans remembered correctly, he was in the room next to theirs. Hans and Rasmus stopped and watched curiously in the distance, what’s going to happen next. “Einstein, smack me,” commanded the older course students. “What do you mean?” he asked the bullies with innocent eyes. Loud laughter filled the air. “Where the hell is this idiot coming from?” asked someone and the air was filled with laughter once again. Googly eyed young Einstein was quickly reminded, how he should behave from now on. “He will have a tough time here,” Rasmus said and continued walking. There was nobody, but an older shopkeeper in the shop, all of the shelves were empty, and the room was filled with the smell of fish and laundry facilities. “We should have a couple of beers to celebrate the first of September,” offered Rasmus and looked at Hans with anticipation. Hans still had some money left he had earned in the summer so he could spend some, and besides his parents had given him some money for food. “You think they’ll give it to us?” he doubted. “Of course, just follow my lead!” whispered Rasmus, filled the basket with Žiguli3 beer, and headed towards the counter with a deadpan face. “Two packs of Rumba and matches please,” he said to the shopkeeper while trying to make his voice sound lower. The woman barely raised her sight and just put the wanted items on the counter, counted the bottles and swiftly clunked the abacus. Rasmus paid the bill and stacked everything into his backpack. Hans followed him, hands in his pockets, and a big grin on his face. His roommate did seem like a grown man already, besides he had a moustache growing already. When they got out, they lit their cigarettes and started laughing hysterically. “What did I tell you!?” cheered the tall one. The plan was to go near the lake; the weather was beautiful and quite warm for a September. In the dorm, it was made clear on the first day, that there’s no bringing alcohol there and they won’t keep drunk students there for long. Those, who get caught, will be expelled and the matter will be handed for discussion in a certain committee. Of course, the parents had to be informed as well. That’s why the boys didn’t want to break the rules right on their first day. Walking down the river, they found logs that were on the ground for sitting and a campfire spot, which was surrounded by small stones. This showed that the place was popular and that people visited this site quite often. The grass was recently trampled. “What if this is made by the locals and we could get into trouble,” Hans worried. “Ah, nobody will come here – the summer is over – and what could they do to us anyways. We’ll fight them if necessary and smash their skulls with stones,” bragged Rasmus and reached for a dusty brick in the fireplace. “Take it easy, motherfucker, lets drink some beer and enjoy our freedom!” astounded Rasmus with his English phrases and pulled out a couple of beers from his backpack. He opened both of them with ease and gave one to Hans. The boys took a comfortable seat on the logs and spoke about life for hours while enjoying their beer and smoking. The sun was setting, and it started getting colder and colder. What else to expect from September. They had finished all the beer and now they had to get back to the dorm, but before that, they decided to hide the tare near the place. For the rainy days. So they set off to get back to the dorm. As the commandant’s window was right next to the dorm’s door, then they had to scout a while to make sure, that there was no movement. Supposedly there were several commandants, but even the cruel lady right now was scary enough, that the young didn’t want to get caught. They moved swiftly along the long corridor to their room and locked the door. “Damn it, I am soo hungry,” whined the tall one. “If you’d like, I can make some soup,” said Hans. Even though cooking was prohibited in the rooms, they decided to ignore it. They didn’t have a stove in their room, but they could manage well with the immersion heater. They had to clean it later on with a brush for a while so that they wouldn’t have a weird taste in their coffee or tea in the morning. Hans had learnt those tricks early on in his life already. Some specialists were using two razors for that, but you had to switch them very often, and there was also a possibility of getting electrocuted. The lamp cord was disconnected and attached to the razor. Then you had to stick it in the water, plug the cable in, and then the razors went warm and started heating the water. It was extremely dangerous, and they wouldn’t dare to use such a weapon. There was already a line in the shared kitchen, and the older students went there to grab the food from the younger ones. They just went there with a gang, and simply took the student with his food. You were lucky if you got your pot back the next day, they had thrown them out of the window the previous day, so they were just lying in the trash. It was only the second day. Nobody had the guts do go and tell on them, nor did anyone have the strength to stand up for themselves. The unity among the students of the first course was also non-existent. Everybody was still strangers to each other. Hans pulled out some potatoes, a couple of onions and vegetables, that he had taken from home. Rasmus, on the other hand, took out a piece of smoked meat and started cutting it into big chunks. He stuffed his mouth with it and started walking around the room, while loudly chewing it. “Should we throw in some noodles as well, what do you think?” he asked and burped. “You seem to be pretty good with this,” Rasmus said and put the smoked meat under Hans’ nose. “If you need anything

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Žiguli beer – is a notable brand of Soviet (Russian) beer. The original brewery was founded in Samara in 1881 by Austrian entrepreneur Alfred von Vacano. The original brand was named “Viennese Beer” (as in beer from Vienna), but, according to legend, in 1934 it was renamed “Zhigulevskoye Beer” to get rid of its “bourgeois” name. During the Soviet era, at times it was virtually the only beer brand you could find anywhere in the country. At the peak of its popularity it was made in more than 700 breweries around the country, and it practically became a generic name for beer.