Ilia Chernousov was as black as it was allowed by modern physics. It was an unusually big cat for European standards. In St. Petersburg however the size limits within which an animal could still be defined as a domestic cat were somewhat extended. Hard climatic conditions simply forced smaller cats to loose the battle for survival. Ilia's partner (people who knew both of them and studied their relationship for years would hardly call him Ilia's "owner") Ildar Vasilievich enjoyed the infreequent moments when he could do nothing. In times like that he usually sat in the armchair and held Ilia Czernousov on his knees. They both would drift away into the abyss of tranquility. In case of emergency that usually came in the form of complaints from his other half (he would not use the term "better" in moments like that) stating discontent about him doing nothing, he would defend himself explaining preventive therapy that he applied to his nees with the help of Ilia Czernousov who's very presence had these medicinal qualities known to mankind since Sumerian times. It usually helped. The only negative result was that they would temporarily loose control over TV. It was usually turned off or what was much worse, it was switched to his wife's favourite soap opera. Ildar vasilievich would turn his head towards the window and Ilia Czernousov often turned around to show his evident disrespect to this form of programing and pointed the appropriate bodypart in the direction of the TV. Then he continued the jurney into tranquility with his green eyes half closed, with his face expressing botomless indifference. Such gestures were not appreciated by Nina Fiodorovna who's attitude towards the soap operas was almost religious.

Ildar vasilievicz was having a hard time lately. Nina Fiodorovna was getting americanized as he saw it. For the last two years she never missed a single episode of this universally favourite soap opera show. She even started to dress differently. At the beginning everyone else would give her funny looks in the kitchen, but later on Aleg's wife followed and she also started wearing american hairstyles. At least she believed they were american in style. True, it made both of them look different. It helped in getting attention at work too. In a way Ildar liked it. Since "freeing herself from the traditional appearance" as she put it, she started enjoying their evening walks around the park much more than before. All of the sudden in her sixties she remembered how nice it was to draw attention. Ten years ago Ildar Vasilievicz would be faithful to his oriental roots and probably throw a fit or make an unpleasant scene so everyone in the flat could hear. Now he looked at it differently since his friend Alexei Nikolaievicz asked him where did he meet his new wife. Not that Nikolaievicz was known to be the most perceptive man in Peter, but still Ildar Vasilievicz felt flattered. Indeed it was a bit like having an affair with a new woman. He even started to wear his better coat when taking Nina to the park. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, in all of these changes he participated passively. It was not his innitiative.

Nina Fiodorovna was becoming a different person. Once every two weeks she would visit a specialist to take care of her hands and feet. It was not hard to see the change. Well kempt hands and shaven legs came as the reward for not seeing her at home twice a month. Ildar Vasilievich did not think it was an even trade. He would rather deal with her hairy legs (she never shaved legs since the day she was born) as long as she was around. At first he would stay at home and watch TV till she came back around eleven. That was not pleasant but would be bearable if the neighbours did not keep asking "where is Nina". His mouth always produced the answer "at the manicurist" his eyes however did not radiate any confidence in that statement. People felt that and apparently felt sorry for him being left alone. Irina Salomonovna even started offering him her famous uha and kotliet po kievski. It was hard to bear the obvious mercy. Ilia Chernousov was the only one that was not changing. His indifference was a universal, unreformable quality of his being. Ildar Vasilievich loved him dearly for that.It was so funny when Nina found out that Irina Salomonovna was feeding Ildar. She became a bit weary. Afterall Irina was divorced and remarried three times and two cases out of the glorious three happened in this very flat. She moved out from Andrei's room and moved in with Sergei. Then she dumped Sergei and moved in with Siemion. True, Siemion's room was located right across the kitchen, on the other hand it was much smaller. The most important fact was that Siemion was younger than her by eight years. That age difference proved her to be especially dangerous. Everyone knew that Siemion and her were not doing so well and it warried Nina Fiodorovna that this tall, thin woman with cascades of red hair (that is nowadays, it was blond once, then dark with some not well enough concealled gray streeks) may be interested in Ildar. So they had a little talk and cleared the situation. Convinced of the honest feeling of mercy from Irina's side Nina felt relaxed and did not take any further steps. An ice cold look at Ildar (as she came back from the diplomatic negotiations with Irina) was just a profilactic measure. It was not that look that made him refuse the delicacies and leave the house at the evenings when she was out. It was the mercy of others that depressed him the most. Only the cat was still behaving as he always did. Ildar started to see his grand daughter when Nina had her beauty sessions. In case of his granddaughter the process of westernization run much faster. She was young, had no exceptional will power to think independently and her stepfather had tons of money to satisfy her teenage needs. It was better for that bastard to make sure that Sveta practically lives in discoteques and sleeps till three in the afternoon. Ildar Vasilievicz never liked him. Nina was always joking that he envied his son in law for all the money that the kid had. Ildar defended himself that it was not the money that was a problem as much as the fact that he has not earned it himself. What difference does it make - was what he always heard in return and usually considered the conversation to be closed. Sveta's real father was not good enough either. What good could come out from a dancer. It took an unusual effort in the field of patience and persistance to break up his daughter's first marriage. He dreamed of his daughter marrying wisely and having a good material life instead a good love life. The second marriage was a miracle! His daughter had no love life, relatively unlimited free time and financial resources, she gained weight, an expertise in winetasting and she became wise like an owl. All Ildars dreams came true somehow so he should have been grateful to God for being especially attentive. The price he paid for what was his last show of manhood was that his daughter would never talk to him again. He was lucky his grand daughter still would. Even the contact with her was getting fogier with time. Ildar had nothing to offer her. His values seemed outdated and he had nothing to show to prove that they were actually valuable at all.

According to the calendar it was the beginning of spring and the most capricious weather was doing her worst. The occasional disappearances of Ilia Chernousov never were a surprise. This season he was behaving strangely however. He disappeared for a few days which would not raise Ildars' eyebrow if not for Ilia's immaculate condition as he came back. It was the brotherhood in arms that always gave Ildar special enthusiasm in attending to Ilia's wounds. Ildar was proud of him. Ilia would loose a lot of weight during that time. He would come back with his fur sticky with blood. Sometimes his ears were torn, but still there was that special spark in Ilia's eye that Ildar would give his own arm for.
This year Ilia disappeared for two days and came back as if nothing happened. He seemed to have gained weight and Ildar Vasilievich failed to find the former spark of character in the cat's eyes. His eyes were "empty". They became the mere organs for a cat organism to recognize physical obstacles to be omitted on the randomly chosen path. Ilia was behaving as if he was absent from the mortal shell that could still be defined as a cat. He was not very interested in providing profilactic antirheumatic therapy to his partner. Ofcourse he would comply if it was suggested by Ildar by placing him on his knees. He would not be able to drift into tranquility anymore and would immediately react to the sound of his bowl being filled. Never before Ilia would run for dinner. He considered it degrading and always approached his dish after everyone present acknowledged his indifference to earthly needs. Ildar Vasilievich noticed the changes but could not put the pieces together. He was thinking about his grand daughter that he just parted with after having a long conversation that he clasified as an exercise in futility. These excercises happened much often since Nina Fiodorovna had her beauty maintenance sessions a few times a week now.

That night she came back much later than usual. Apparently from the manicurist she went to the hairdresser. She sat on the bed facing him and was tauching her hair that she cut short for the first time in her life. She was looking at Ildar with her eyes much colder than ever. He saw that with the corner of his eye. He continued watching TV from the depth of his armchair. After a while he could not resist anymore and he looked at her. Their eyes met for a moment that seemed eternal. She tilted her head slightly in a slow motion. Her hands continued playing with her hair cut short.
With her eyes framed in a new makeup that made them look wider than usual she said with an ironic smile that froze his heart as he was beginning to understand - "how do you like it like that my dear…?"