From the collection The Scar We Know (2021)
saxifrage ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ
a few days later
Constable S. G. Clay
returns to ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ
looks at the rings of porphyry-colored nests
steps on the red moss not knowing that it is blood
and he senses Margaret Agnes Clay drawing near
but instead of Margaret Agnes Clay Constable G. Stallworthy is walking toward him
he pauses next to a large granite stone
and waits with his head bowed
Constable S. G. Clay does not see him
Constable S. G. Clay looks at the bloody moss
Constable S. G. Clay looks at the saxifrage
all the flat earth all the moss all the stones all covered in small purple flowers
all of ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ is covered in small purple flowers
small purple flowers breaking ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ apart
into
stones
moss
wind
Hudson
porphyry-colored rings
sky
clouds
cold
the sound of waves
the body that you sense is always a body colder than stone
Constable S. G. Clay senses the body of Margaret Agnes Clay drawing near
stones stones stones stones and saxifrage breaking up the stones
saxifrage
breaks apart
the body
of Margaret
Agnes
Clay
the huskies were running by
huskies are very friendly dogs
huskies are trusting like children
no one is afraid of huskies
Margaret Agnes Clay’s dress rippled in the wind
one husky ran up and caught the hem of her dress
Margaret Agnes Clay started to laugh
and she ripped the dress from the husky’s jaws
the dog jumped
and the wind
the Hudson wind jumped at Margaret Agnes Clay
huskies can be rough in their play
unaware of their strength
like children
the dress fabric flowed around the body of Margaret Agnes Clay
a black wave rolled over her body
the husky caught at the dress
and sank its teeth into the leg of Margaret Agnes Clay,
says Constable G. Stallworthy as Constable S. G. Clay walks toward the granite stone,
but what happened next,
says Constable G. Stallworthy,
what happened next
no one knows why it happened
maybe the dogs were hungry and smelled blood
or maybe the smell of blood called up evil spirits who entered into the dogs they
I’m sorry friend your wife has died
all the people of ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ are at church now
the choir is singing
everyone is weeping
let’s go
Margaret Agnes Clay is waiting for you
waiting for you
let’s go
*
in spring
when all the snow melts
the gravestone of gray granite
with a large cross and with words carved in a semi-circle
in memory of a beloved wife
seems completely out of place in the stony land of ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ
just as Margaret Agnes Clay was out of place here
but when the saxifrage starts to bloom and summer draws near
but when the saxifrage starts to bloom and summer draws near
let’s go
Margaret Agnes Clay
let’s go
from An Illustrated History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(published in 1973): “Senior sergeant S. G. Clay, head of the local
police division, was at that time away patrolling the territories. In
the absence of Mrs. Clay’s husband, the only white men remaining
in the settlement, Constable G. Stallworthy and the local Catholic
priest, had to make the difficult decision to amputate her wounded
leg. The operation was performed brilliantly; however, Mrs. Clay
could not survive the shock of pain and blood loss and died. She
was 32 years old.”
20 September 1924
ᒪᕐᒐᕇᑕ ᐊᒡᓐᓵ ᒃᓛᔾ walks, bent low, through ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ
in a black dress trembling like darkness
and suddenly a pack of dogs attacks her
a year after the death of ᒪᕐᒐᕇᑕ ᐊᒡᓐᓵ ᒃᓛᔾ, in December, 1925,
Constable S. G. Clay went to the English town of Uxbridge to
marry Rosaleen Warner, a cousin of ᒪᕐᒐᕇᑕ ᐊᒡᓐᓵ ᒃᓛᔾ,
when speaking of ᒪᕐᒐᕇᑕ ᐊᒡᓐᓵ ᒃᓛᔾ, the constable would tell everyone: she is a saint
answering questions they had not even asked
explaining everything he did not wish to explain
Rosaleen Warner also said about Margaret Agnes Clay: she is a saint
when she said this
the Eskimo huskies would run across her bed linens
the huskies were an extension of the body of Margaret Agnes Clay
the huskies are the extension of the body of Margaret Agnes Clay
they are running around white ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ
when Constable S. G. Clay breaks the hymen of Rosaleen Warner
Rosaleen Warner is 22 years old
she has a white white body
the body of Rosaleen Warner is an extension of the body of Margaret Agnes Clay
ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᒃ in Inuktitut sounds like Igluligaarjuk
*
the dream of Margaret Agnes Clay: a winter bone
snow falls
on the porphyry granite of Nunavut
and when my name disappears
like a winter bone
the huskies running by will jangle my nerves
and allow me to sense my body
I have no children
not because
I am a virgin or barren
I left Uxbridge behind
not meaning
to become snow and to listen to the wind
radio Hudson reports
the latest news from the life of my husband
reports that
my cousin
on her wedding bed
told him that I am
a saint
calling to mind
my incorruptible body
preserved
in frozen stone
inaccessible to my nearest and dearest
Translated by Stephanie Sandler
Funkspiel
mama was laying wallpaper
I was sitting on the floor watching her
she turned sharply:
what’re you gaping at?
this was all observed by aliens
who noted:
here we have a little girl crying
blue wallpaper with silvery flowers
Lake Shapshozero lies 198 meters from the dacha
August 28, 1942 four pilots of two Sh-twos shot themselves in the lake
Piotr Alekseevich Chaikin (by other sources Chaika)
Piotr Naumovich Shulga
Pavel Nikolaevich Andreev
Andrei Ivanovich Mogut (by other sources Fyodor Motuz)
reaped in the funkspiel
maybe we should start a funkspiel with this little girl
and see how she does
when we open nonexistent doors for her
initiate her into impossible mysteries
bring her in contact with the dead men
in the sludgy lake with its swans
Translated by Ainsley Morse
One Minute
Rita asked me to sleep with Koka
he still hadn’t ever tried sex
it was a white night in 1983
he was getting shipped off to the army in two days
we drove out to some kind of projects
I’d been posing for the girl who gave us the key
I’d stand there on a rotating podium in Anikushin’s studio
and she would mold from clay my other body which I didn’t recognize
I was pregnant but that was a secret from everyone
I would stand still for so long I’d start seeing white I nearly passed out twice
she even paid me
and so then Rita who was also a student in the sculpture department
opens up some little apartment with that key on the twelfth floor
Rita’s boyfriend Vadim had come with her they were friends he and Koka
Vadim was studying graphics Koka painting
the apartment had minimal furniture a bed a sofa
we found sheets pillowcases the sofa was already laid out like a bed
we made the beds lay down under the sheets
I didn’t like Koka at all he had short legs
disproportionate to his long torso
but he thought he was handsome he had blue eyes very fair hair
Rita and Vadim right away started having sex we could hear it under the sheets though they were probably trying to do it quietly
their bed and our sofa were positioned opposite each other like in a train compartment
me and Koka kissed for a long time then he said I have to go to the bathroom
he actually had a pretty nice butt small and round
it flashed past my eyes Koka put on his underwear left
Rita stuck her golden-curled head out so how’s it going I said he can’t do it
a little earlier when we were walking down Nevsky Prospekt a silken chocolate-colored scarf was fluttering around his thick neck settling onto his straight back Koka in a pale-blue tight-fitting shirt in pressed trousers ran ahead nearly dancing while Vadim told us how earlier that day here on Nevsky they had been panhandling Koka had been acting it up pretending to have cerebral palsy hobbling around twitching jerking his arms and legs while Vadim kept saying please help me and my brother we’re poor hungry orphans we thought this was hilarious it was right here we did it said Vadim when we were walking past the “One Minute” pastry shop
he couldn’t even though we both took turns jerking at his dead dick he came back from the bathroom with wet hands cold and right away started shoving his soft cock into me and then jacking himself off but it was all in vain and I fell asleep and when I woke up Koka wasn’t around Rita said that Vadim had also left they both left early in the morning they had to be at the recruiting station early for some reason they were both getting shipped off but that was tomorrow so nothing worked out in the end asked Rita I said nope Rita said you have to come to the goodbye party tonight at Anikushin’s studio try one more time it’s really important for Koka I said OK I’ll come I understand
that night was darker than the previous one the sky above us was covered in gray stormclouds and a light rain was falling Koka and I were in the courtyard of the Arts Academy I was on my knees in front of him he was drunk I had his dead cock in my mouth Koka kept saying suck it suck it don’t stop keep sucking more more come on suck it suck it in an mean voice full of despair and impending doom eight months later he was killed in Afghanistan
Translated by Ainsley Morse
Mateyuk
me and my friend Yulia showed up at Said’s apartment on Vasilievsky Ostrov
a little boy was riding a bike down the endless hallway
he looked at me with hateful eyes
the apartment was called the reserve fund
Said was engaged in criminal activity he sewed black market jeans
he said we could stay over at his place
his room had only one bed
he said we could just sleep with him next to him like sisters he wouldn’t touch us
and we slept over at his place slept in the same bed under a blanket and he didn’t touch us
in the morning we drank coffee and ate doughnuts Said had bought and brought home
then his friend came
I forgot his name
but his last name was Mateyuk
no
we met him at the Vasilievsky Ostrov metro station
we were standing there smoking and he was sitting on a bench
it was sunny
I remember the light on his terrifying mug
later we were on some bus
and when Mateyuk turned in profile
wide streets of new building projects crawling past dirty windows
I saw that line
later I’d see it from the window of an airplane flying down into Belize City
a pile of low mountains on the horizon
the sloping forehead and brow ridges and flattened nose
beneath which the maya believed lay the realm of the dead
and he’s talking talking the whole time but I don’t remember what about
and really he’s just talking with Yulia
and I’m watching and not listening
yes
he’s the one who brought us to Said
the metro had closed
and he was the one who said
Said won’t touch you don’t worry you can sleep in the same bed with him like sisters
and then it was night
and morning with doughnuts and coffee
and once again the three of us walked around all day around the city
at eight in the evening when Yulia said she had to go home
I didn’t go with her on the tram to the metro because
across from the Cinematheque he had kissed me on the back of my head
it was early morning people were standing at the tram stop waiting for the tram
the face of one woman photographed by memory
the woman is squinting looking into the distance and for her I don’t exist
she’s in the photograph by accident
he had just raped me
morning morning freshness
because I believe in friendship
because I never abandon a friend in need
because when he said that evening
that he had to be home by eight
and that this was his final violation
the officer would come to check
but it was too late he couldn’t make it
he’d have to take the metro a long way
he’d been having such a good time with us
we were so interesting
now he’d be sent off to jail
I felt guilt and responsibility
it was his last night of freedom
at 11 in the evening we got to his grandma’s
behind the ancient door was an enormous communal apartment
there was a path between the jungles of junk and clothesracks
by the door into his grandma’s room
I would sense the sweet smell of old age
I could still distinguish it then
we could follow it through to the kitchen
where moored tables slept the dead sleep of white nights
Mateyuk pressed the black button four times and then four more times
someone probably came up to the door looked in the peephole Mateyuk said it’s me and said the name I forgot but they didn’t open up
I said come on let’s keep walking til morning
he said I know this girl here this kid we can go to her place
that’s how we ended up in an apartment on the first floor of a shitty apartment block
there were no bars on the window I could have run away when Mateyuk said take off your clothes
he left me alone and went to the bathroom I could have run away
there were no bars on the window but I was afraid to jump out the window
when we got there it turned out the kid wasn’t home
her father opened the door a puffy alcoholic with the body of a little boy
saying nothing he got back into bed and fell asleep
he was groaning in his sleep and tossing and turning and farting loudly the whole time
his bed had been made with snow white sheets
while on the wall above the bed hung a crimson carpet
if the kid had been home Mateyuk would not have raped me
bad luck
and when he came back he lay down on top of me without saying anything and we had sex I didn’t resist I just said this isn’t right I repeated this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right this isn’t right
Translated by Ainsley Morse
as well as a red-haired girl named Irina
Criminal Judgment No. 1-337/2013
VERDICT
In the name of the Russian Federation
City of Krasnogorsk, November 13, 2013
Judge A. V. Mordakhov, Krasnogorsk Municipal Court of the
Moscow Region,
with public prosecutor
and assistant of Krasnogorsk city
prosecutor D. V. Kozlov,
defendant A. A. Rodionov,
defense attorney I. A. Bykhanov,
having considered in public court proceedings the evidence
in the criminal case against
Anton Andreevich Rodionov,
accused of committing the crime stipulated in
section 1, article 105 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code,
h a v e f o u n d t h a t:
The defendant, A. A. Rodionov, committed murder,
that is, intentionally caused the death of another person.
The crime was committed under the following circumstances:
he was so drunk that at that moment he was not oriented in time
Irina invited him to go for a walk with her
after which she got up and set out in the direction away from the road
he stood and followed her
they walked for a lengthy period of time through the forest,
covering a few kilometers
Irina was wearing denim pants and a t-shirt
on her feet she wore house slippers
Irina walked to a small stream
then called to him
he got up and followed her
while noticing
that she had already
taken off her clothes
she stood on a concrete slab
which overhung the steam and asked
if he liked her
and if he wanted to have sex with her
he told Irina that he did not like her
and did not want to have sex with her
and explained that he had a wife
and a young daughter
Irina became furious
that he was refusing to have sex with her
she called him impotent
said it would have been better to come to the woods with someone else
at that he suggested that Irina get dressed
and go back for any one of his friends
after this, she grew even angrier
began to throw insults
called his wife a prostitute
insulted him in all sorts of ways and also his child
he became angry
shoved Irina away from him
and this made her lose her balance
and she fell into the water, face down
after this he got down from the slab into the stream
and when Irina’s face was in the water
he held her by the back of her head
until she stopped displaying
signs of life
then he took Irina by the arms
and dragged her about 5 meters away from the stream
threw the corpse into the bushes
after which he covered her with grass
that he had picked nearby
the court takes into account the immorality
the court takes into account the immorality of the victim’s behavior
the court takes into account the immorality and wrongfulness of the victim’s behavior
the court takes into account the positive reputation of the accused in his community
and the immorality and wrongfulness of the victim’s behavior.
the court takes into account the positive reputation of the accused in his community
and the fact that he has a young dependent,
as well as the immorality and wrongfulness of the victim’s behavior
and holds these to be mitigating circumstances
as well as a red-haired girl named Irina.
Translated by Madeline Kinkel
a story of eternal love
The father could talk endlessly
about how he worked,
how his subordinates respected him,
that he was a very important man,
that he was sent on business trips abroad.
about how he woke up one morning
went to the room of T.G. Bostanzhan
and discovered that she wasn’t there
whereupon he became afraid
that she had left him.
In 2002 her mother was diagnosed with mouth cancer.
She (T.G. Bostanzhan) took care of her,
but the mother died on her watch from loss of blood
when she (T.G. Bostanzhan) had fallen asleep.
Her father told her that she was guilty for her mother’s death.
Her father saw in her (T.G. Bostanzhan) a replacement for his departed wife,
often called her by his wife’s name
conflicts began to occur between her and her father.
Her father thought that she did not care enough for him.
She loved her father
but living with him in the same apartment was increasingly difficult.
Father told her what to do
constantly followed her around the apartment.
As a result, in 2006 she moved to a rented apartment.
She visited him 2–3 times a week,
but her father rebuked her,
said she paid him too little attention,
that she hated him,
insulted her by saying she had some kind of
genetic defect.
In spring of 2012 she decided to move back in with her father,
requested unpaid leave,
because she was very tired,
and she needed to take care of her sick father
but before she moved, she hired a caretaker—[NAME 2]
who was a good housekeeper
The father began to monitor [NAME 2]’s every step,
faulting her for every little thing,
there was an incident when the father tried to throw [NAME 2] out the window.
On approximately May 20, 2012 [NAME 2] left for her own home.
The father said that he did not need the caretaker
that she (T.G. Bostanzhan) was enough.
Towards the fall of 2012 the father again began to monitor all of her activities
She had to get his permission every time she left the house.
When she was changing her clothes
and asked her father to leave the room,
this displeased him.
When leaving her room she had to walk past her father’s room
and he would wake up from the floor creaking,
start to interrogate her,
to chat,
and this could drag on for a long time.
Because of this she ordered a portable toilet
and also bought
a microwave and refrigerator,
so that she wouldn’t have to go to the kitchen any more often than necessary.
That autumn her father left home ever more rarely.
November 19, 2012 her day passed uneventfully:
her father brought up the subject of taking pills,
she was busy with household activities,
she skyped with [NAME 12],
went to the clinic in the evening.
Around 9:00–10:00pm her father went to bed,
and she was also planning to go to bed early.
At around 10pm her father came into her room
and began to make claims
that she was indifferent to him
and had taken medicine out of his room.
November 19, 2012 around 10pm
She (T.G. Bostanzhan) was in her own room,
when her father came in
and accused her of insincerity
and of not loving him enough.
She began to reassure him,
asked him to go back to bed,
but he continued to be upset and agitated,
and said something hurtful.
She responded to him,
tried to change the topic,
suggested he try some treatment at the clinic.
But as if he did not understand her,
the father began to insult her, using uncharacteristic words,
tapped his forehead
implying that she was an idiot,
lunged at her,
tried to hit her and grab her by the hair.
grabbed her hair,
but she pulled back from him.
She thrust him away.
Then he grabbed her by her neck.
Then her father grabbed her
by the shoulders, the neck,
and began to shake her,
causing physical pain.
His eyes were wild,
she had never seen him like this before.
During this conflict her heart was pounding,
she said something emotionally charged to him,
pushed against his chest.
She was afraid,
she began to fight back,
wrestled with her father on the floor.
Meanwhile their verbal altercation continued;
she began to address him with emotionally charged language,
“everything that had built up”
She remembers being surprised
that she was talking like this
and not hearing her father answer anything.
What happened next,
she doesn’t remember
She doesn’t remember
whether she grabbed her father
by his neck.
But then she saw
her father lying on the floor,
but did not understand
what had happened.
recalling only the moment
when [NAME 7] was already lying on the floor
and not reacting to what she said.
She called to him,
pulled at him,
but he did not respond.
She did not know
what to do.
she called her boyfriend, [NAME 12],
because she was afraid.
[NAME 12] arrived soon after.
In the deceased’s bedroom, [NAME 12] saw [NAME 7], who lay on the floor on his back near the door and did not show any signs of life.
The corpse lay in the middle of the room, with his head toward the exit, on his back.
The corpse lay on the floor, on his back, head toward the door, hands stretched alongside the body.
In one of the rooms lay the corpse of a man on its back, head towards the exit.
In the second room from the entrance to the apartment lay the corpse of an elderly man.
After his wife died
all of [NAME 7]’s conversations
came back to his wife alone.
He wrote a few poems
in memory of his wife,
cherishing her image.
he gathered together his wife’s girlfriends
to celebrate her birthday.
When his wife died
he turned his apartment
into a memorial site for her,
the whole kitchen was covered with pictures of her.
It was a story of eternal love
Translated by Madeline Kinkel
Patchwork Quilt
Vorobyov
In [YEAR] … he and T. at … o’ clock in the morning set out to his sister’s [3] for potatoes.
Upon returning from his sister’s house around … o’ clock.
Sveta said that A. had gone to play in the yard.
He assumed that A. had gone to play with the neighbor children.
There was no sign of him throughout the day.
He, T. and S. thought that A. was playing outside somewhere.
In the evening, when it got dark, close to … o’ clock, they began to worry that A. still wasn’t home,
and started looking for him.
They walked along the road to the end of the village, A. was nowhere.
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
Returning home, they went to bed.
went to bed
went to bed
where the lilac grows
by a large lilac bush
on the other side of the lilac
of a small lilac bush
beneath a large lilac bush
his eyes had been pecked out by birds
dogs and foxes wander around the cemetery, crows fly
grave on a grave
human bones were sticking out
grave on a grave
human bones were sticking out
[12] lived across from the store; a small boy left from her place
and ran off up the road.
an unfamiliar boy from the village came to her,
she fed him,
and he stole a carton of milk from her.
[Witness 4]
Saw A. for the last time when he was walking from the village of … toward the village of …
[Witness 15] testified
a boy by the name of A. had come over to play
someone told her that he disappeared the same day that she played with him
[Witness 16] testified
The rumors in the village were
that the boy left home,
then he was seen in the vill. …
but the next day he was seen in …
His testimony was given in a state of intoxication
[Witness 7] testified
She knew that a boy had disappeared
whom she might have seen in the winter sometime and on a Saturday
when they deliver groceries to Lezhebokovo
[Witness 20] testified
sometime in November or December, doesn’t remember what year,
he ran into a little boy.
This boy had been walking toward the vill. of … and was dragging a stick through the snow
[Witness 12] testified
this boy came by and, taking
two cartons of milk,
left.
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
they dug deeper
and discovered the skeleton of a woman—
there was a large skull, as well as a smaller skull.
At the necks of these skeletons
wooden crosses were discovered.
One skull was large,
and there was a small skull with it—
it was a mother and child.
The grave had neither marker nor fence.
the burial could be dated roughly to 50 years ago.
When the snow was shoveled away, the grave looked fresh.
In the morning on the next day
he and S. again went to look for A.
Stopping by [the neighbor’s] house, they asked [4] “was A. here at all,”
[4] answered that A. had not been at their house,
but that he had seen him in the village of … the day before
He, S., T. and K. (S.’s daughter) set off on horseback
to look for A. in the village.
Where they stopped at [5]’s house, who answered that A. had been there,
and had set off toward the … highway
Then they went to [7], who said that she had also seen A.
walking toward the highway.
a little boy set out
an unfamiliar boy
a boy to play
a boy a boy
a boy disappeared
met a little boy
this boy this boy
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
On … they returned to …
Using the cell phone of [6] they called the police station.
[6] spoke with the police over the phone
and told them that their boy had disappeared.
the child walked off and disappeared
The police officers responded to the call and drove to the vill. of …
The police asked what A. had been wearing,
took a copy of his photograph and left.
Around two days later a detective arrived from the city of …
Interrogated them, said they were searching for the missing boy
and recommended they also continue to search for him.
The next day, in … [YEAR], using [6]’s car, he and S. drove out to search for A. around … o’ clock.
They searched for him all over the city,
checked at the bus station,
but did not find A.
He asked residents of the village about the boy,
but no one else had seen A.
the child walked off and disappeared
S. called in to the TV program “Wait for Me,”
they answered
that if he was found
she would be notified
After that, the mother stopped looking for her son.
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
The child was never found.
So they went on living.
[Witness 8]
worked as the deputy administrator for …
at the office of investigation
and, in connection with his official duties, was bound
to investigate all of the cold cases
that had been under investigation and remained unsolved.
In considering the criminal case of missing person A.,
he noted the fact that this case raised many questions
many questions
Usually when a small child disappears
every normal parent
would “sound all the alarms,”
petition everywhere possible
about how the law enforcement agencies
were not working, not searching, and so on
If worst came to worst, the interested parties would turn to psychics,
and the … district is famous for its psychics and faith healers
Meanwhile, S. herself did not take any initiative.
She wrote one statement
and over the course of five years
kept repeating the same thing,
as if by rote—
“the child walked off and disappeared.”
the district is famous for its psychics and faith healers.
he engaged a polygraph examiner.
And unexpectedly for everyone
the minor A.
seven-year-old A.
to the minor A.
with seven-year-old A.
that A.
that A.
that A.
searching for A.
nowhere A.
searching for A.
that A.
searching for A.
that A
she saw A.
searching for A.
but A.
the search for A.
A. had
to A.
A. had
to A.
the child walked off and disappeared
he was tormented by constant headaches.
Meanwhile the boy was always
being naughty and crying loudly
naughty naughty, crying crying
headaches
constantly crying
constantly crying
the district is famous for its psychics and faith healers.
he engaged a polygraph examiner.
And unexpectedly for everyone
after the polygraph test
some things cleared up in the case.
Everyone was in shock
[Witness 10]
in January of [YEAR] as a polygraph examiner
was engaged to conduct a psycho-physiological investigation
and test for non-involvement
non-involvement
test for non-involvement
in the disappearance of the child
on the following individuals:
Vorobyov T. and S.,
that is, explicitly
for non-involvement
using a device (polygraph)
However, during S.’s first test
the opposite happened.
During the post-testing interviews
S. began to offer an explanation
of how she was involved with her son’s disappearance
and began explaining everything.
In accordance with the RF Criminal Code, he did not have the right
to collect information that could be used as evidence,
so after listening to her
called in [Witness 8]
The next day he stayed in the city of …
and went to the place
that she had initially indicated.
He had doubts
that she was capable
of having perpetrated this
Upon his return,
Vorobyov was interviewed
It had to be determined
whether she was perjuring herself.
However, Vorobyov
also began to give testimony
he confessed because he was tired of living with such a heavy burden.
she implicated herself
because she was pregnant
and thought that she would “get” a suspended sentence
After listening to him, he also invited the detective.
Everyone was in shock,
because the sincere confessions
kept on going for two straight days.
Next A.’s grandmother T. was called in
who also clearly pointed to Vorobyov.
They carried the boy to the cemetery, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
they carried him together, he took the head, and she held the legs.
S. and Vorobyov wrapped him in a blanket and left the house
Vorobyov carried A.
he and S. together carried
A. off to the cemetery
They carried
A. together.
They wrapped him in some sort of homemade quilt.
a patchwork quilt
He and S. hid
the child in snow
by a large lilac bush.
beneath a large lilac bush.
They left A. by the fence in the cemetery,
covered him up with snow and left.
buried him in the snow,
by a bush next to the entrance of the cemetery
the clothing that A. had been wearing,
his sweatpants and shirt, they took off.
A. was left lying in his underwear.
He returned home that day around 21:00 in the evening.
Meanwhile A. was lying there where he fell,
that is, on the floor near the front door of the house.
Meanwhile A. was completely undressed,
he was left in only sweatpants and a shirt.
When he returned, he opened the door into the entryway,
saw A. lying on the floor of the entryway,
he was lying on his back, in the same clothes
A. was lying with his head towards the doorway
on his back, face up
His outerwear:
jacket, boots, and hat
were lying inside the house
on the floor by the doorway.
A. was lying on the floor in the entryway and not moving.
His eyes were closed.
then came the blizzards
It was a very snowy winter that year,
so much snow,
the blizzards came
A. was a naughty boy,
complained of headaches,
cried often.
he was often seriously ill,
and he was tormented by constant headaches.
Meanwhile the boy was always naughty
and cried hard.
When they began to eat lunch
S. complained about A.,
she said that she was fed up with his naughtiness
that A.’s behavior exasperated her,
his constant crying.
that she could kill him.
Then sometime in April S. went to the cemetery
and said that A. was already becoming visible.
When the snow began to melt, at the end of March [YEAR] he went to the cemetery,
A. was not visible.
After which Vorobyov went inside and said that A. was dead.
She went into the entryway with S. and saw that A. was lying there with his head facing the doorway
under and around his head there was blood
She and her daughter turned him away from the doorway towards the woodpile.
She went into the house to get hot water
S. remained in the entryway and undressed A.
Vorobyov was in the house then
K. was also at home
She went out into the entryway with the hot water
and started to wipe up the bloodstains with a rag
there wasn’t much blood
S. put A.’s things by the stove.
Vorobyov sat in the entryway and was silent,
they were afraid to ask him anything.
a patchwork quilt
using the device (polygraph)
Everyone was in shock
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
the child walked off and disappeared
a patchwork quilt
Artyom
Svetlana’s account of how Artyom
when the snow melted away, they went to the cemetery, to the lilac
and found
she tried not to look closely
specifically the head, ribs, and one gnawed hand
dogs and other animals
eyes were pecked out by birds
dogs and foxes wander around, crows fly
on the other side of the lilac
of animals’ teeth and birds’ beaks
they buried
People don’t go to the cemetery,
and no one saw them.
A. was already visible.
After this together
they went to the cemetery
taking a shovel along
A. was lying there where they had left him.
Dug a hole around one meter deep.
He went to dig a grave beneath a large lilac bush.
A. was lying there where they had left him.
on the other side of the lilac
S. carried A.’s body over and they buried him.
After this they went home.
So they went on living.
A. went off to play and did not return home.
They came to the cemetery
and filmed it all on video camera.
Vorobyov indicated the spot
where he had buried A.’s corpse.
Then they started to dig up the grave there.
When the snow was removed and the grave dug up,
they discovered three corpses.
The bones of two of them lay evenly spaced
and had crosses at their necks.
But the other corpse’s skeleton
was above the two others
and seemed to be lying separately.
Two of the corpses were lying as in normal burial,
but the third didn’t match up
One skull was large,
there was a small skull with it—
this was a mother and child.
another small skull was lying separately—
the skull of a boy.
All of this was dug up
and placed in a box.
Around 12 o’ clock Vorobyov and T. returned,
bringing potatoes and homemade vodka.
the three of them started to drink the homemade vodka.
Meanwhile, A. started to act up, cry,
asking to go outside.
The boy was in the kitchen and wanted to go play outside.
at that moment A. started to act up, asking to go outside,
but S. said no, did not allow him to go outside.
A. did not listen to her, insisted, started to get dressed.
the minor A., having dressed, began asking
to be let outside to play
A. screamed something and ran out into the entryway.
Vorobyov went after him
taking as a weapon
a wooden log
from the veranda floor of the above-mentioned house
he struck A. on the head with the log
Angry with the boy,
he took a log from the woodpile in the entryway
and struck A. on the head with it
A. ran out to the entryway of the house,
he went after him
seized a log
and struck A. on the head with it,
the boy fell from the blow.
A. cried out from the blow and fell on his back on the floor.
the minor A. suffered bodily harm
in the form of a skull fracture
in the form of a prolapse of the left-side squama occipitalis
which caused the death of the victim at the scene
the court decrees the following
VERDICT:
A. N. Vorobyov is found guilty of the crime defined in article 105 (p. “C” sec. 2) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code, and given a sentence for his crime in the form of imprisonment for 12 (twelve) years in a high-security facility, beginning on 01.24.2009.
Material evidence: a patchwork quilt—to be destroyed when the verdict comes into effect.
Translated by Madeline Kinkel
Lida Yusupova, The Scar We Know
New York, NY: Cicada Press, 2020
ISBN 978-0-9910420-8-1
Distributed by SPD/Small Press Distribution
Published under the license Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.o Unported