"THE BANISHMENT" " I'm going to call a doctor." " No." " Mark, you need a doctor." " I need you to try hard and pull it out." "Do you hear me?" "Just pull the bullet out and I'm gone." "I'll sleep for a while..." "and then..." "I'm gone." "I don't want to have your family seeing me." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "What about you?" " I'll leave in few days." " For how long?" "For a couple of months." "Robert found me a job." " Good money?" " Good enough." "I might get to buy a car." "Why don't you sell father's house?" "It's just sitting there uninhabited anyway." " I might sell it or I might not." " Would you like to go there?" " No." " I'm thirsty." " We're almost there." "Hang on." "Come here, Eva." " What is it, mom?" " Take these in your room and set them on the bed." " And come back quickly." " Yes ma'am." "Dad, where is the walnut orchard?" "Up on the hill." " Will we go there after we wash?" " We'll go." " I want a walnut from the tree." " I think they're still green" " We can eat them." " I want a walnut from the tree!" " Dad, why isn't there water in the spring?" " God knows why!" " Did it dry out?" " It seems like it." "It was flowing right through here, underneath the house." "Draining into the bluff." "Did you see that?" "I did." "Bunny, give me an apple." " My name is Eva." " I know." "I named you." "You said Bunny!" "Because you're like a little bunny." "A blond bunny..." "Like a sunbeam." "I don't want to be Bunny." "I want to be Eva." "All right Eva, give me an apple." " Would you like salad with apples in it?" " No, I don't want that." "What would you like then?" "Nothing." "I'm sorry, Mom." "I won't do it again." "Don't say that, my love." "It's not your fault." "Why did you run out?" " What happened, Vera?" " Nothing." "I see." "That's it!" "Go to sleep." " Dad, what's that smell?" " I don't know." " Go to sleep." " Good night." "Would you like a drink?" "With pleasure." "I really need a drink." "Alex..." "I'm pregnant." "It's not yours." "You want a ride?" "I know who you are." "You are Alexander." "I'm Max, Georgy's son." "Do you remember me?" "I am a mailman, in the city." " I came to your house." " I don't remember." "If you'll excuse me." "I don't feel like talking." "Mark, I'm at the train station." "We need to talk." "Which train station?" " Ok." "Let's talk..." " No, I'm coming over." "There's no more trains at this time." "I'll find a car." "I'll wait for you down at the bar." "Or at the casino." "It's right next door." "I know." " Max, can we talk for a minute?" " Yes." " Can you let me have your car tonight?" " Sure." "Where should I leave it?" "At your house?" "Leave the keys inside the glove box." "Alex..." "Be quiet." "Hello, Viktor?" "This is Alexander." "Yes." "I got here yesterday." "A week or so." "OK." "We'll do it that way." "Come over today by five." "Yes." "Of course." "OK." "See you soon." "How do you like it here?" "Does it look changed?" "Everything looks the same." "Kir!" "Eva!" "Come here!" " How long has been since you left?" "10 Years?" " Twelve." "How's Mark doing?" "Do you see your brother?" "He's fine." "What about his family?" "Is he at least seeing his children?" " I don't know." " Your father missed them a lot." " Did he ever see your children?" " No." "You can hardly get you or Mark to talk." "He comes, locks himself inside the house and lives like a monk." "People used to live different." "Everything seemed to be all right but..." "You never know what's going to happen." "Dad, I want to sit next to you." "We'll get there in 3 minutes." "You may go there." "Kir, let's go!" "I want to introduce you to somebody." " What's his name?" " He has no name." "Would you like to name him?" " May I ride him?" " Not yet." "Let him grow up more." "When is he going to be grown enough?" "Next time you come back." " You like it here, don't you?" " Yes." " Good boy." " Good boy." "Let's go to my place." "Alex..." " I was thinking..." " Why didn't you think before you did it?" "Listen." "Now that I've thought..." "I hoped that you could..." "Could what?" "Could what?" "Do you love him?" " I don't know how to explain it to you." " You don't know?" "You don't know how to explain?" "27, 28, 29, 30..." "Ready or not, here I come!" " Eva is behind the tree." " You cheated." "You peeked." " It's not true." " It's not fair." "We can't hide inside the house." "We agreed not to!" "Faina!" "Faina!" "I got here first." "Go find Flora." "Soon Flora will turn ten, Frida eleven, and Fayna is already twelve." "Mine wants no more children, but I should give him a boy." "What are your plans?" "You should have one more." "Three is the magic number." "Flora?" "Vera?" "What do we have for dinner?" "Everything is ready." "It just needs to be brought to the table." " Why don't you hide?" " I do hide." " You don't hide for real." "You went too far." " I know." " Don't you want to play?" " I do, but not always." " Shall we?" " I like it here better." " Do you like to be alone?" " Yes." "Don't you?" "Sometimes." "When I'm upset with someone." " Are you upset now?" " Yes, I am upset." " With whom?" " With my dad." "He hit Mom." "When do you like being alone?" "My dad never hits Mom." "But sometimes Mom yells at him." "A lot." " And what does he do?" " He won't talk to her for a while." " Do you know why they do that?" " I don't know." "I thought about it but I don't know." " Let's go back." " OK." " Is it hard for your dad, being alone here?" " He's not alone." "And after all He sent me to work in the city." "He always said: "Children, spread your wings and fly!"" " Is it interesting to be a mailman?" " Everything is interesting to me." "What "everything"?" "Give me an example." "Well... not everything." "What's going on?" "What are you both talking about?" "Alex, can you tell me?" " Or you, Max?" " I don't know..." "As a matter of fact, only you know what's going on..." "You and nobody else." "Me?" "No." "I don't know." "But on the other hand, I might know..." " See?" " I have always known..." " Yes, I know." " Tell me what you know, that I don't know." "I might tell you..." "If you would live here." "Just a little bit." " Dad, when are we going home?" " I don't know." "Go and play." "It's still early." " I've had enough playing." " Go and play." "What do you say about this?" "She had enough of it." "Three daughters." "It's like having three more wives..." "You mind if I have another?" " Forget about it Liza, I'll do it myself." " It doesn't bother me, Vera." "Look at her." "If she wants..." "She can stay like that all afternoon." "If she wants." " Stand up, Dad." " I will." "Everything is under control." " Stand up, Dad." " Come on kids, let's have some tea." " Hello." " Let's meet somewhere." " Where are you?" " At the train station." " Come over." " No, I don't want to." " But we have guests." " Georgy?" " Yes." "With Max and Viktor." " Take Georgy's car." "I'll be waiting for you." "OK." "I will." " Dad, who was on the phone?" " Uncle Robert." "Do you remember him?" " He's waiting." "May I take your car?" " The keys are in the ignition." " Why isn't your friend coming over?" " He doesn't know the way." " Dad, I want to go with you." " Come on." " I want to go too." " No sweetie, you stay here." "I'm going anyway!" "I've said no." "What does he want?" " Who?" " Uncle Robert." "Actually we're going to meet Uncle Mark, not Robert." " Then why did you say Uncle Robert?" " I had no other choice." " Do you like him?" " Who?" "Uncle Robert." "Of course." "We're friends and we work together." "You know that." " I hate him." " Why do you hate him?" " He came to our house." " When?" "When you went to make money." "Why didn't you tell me this before?" "I don't know." "Mom was going to take us to see the circus." "But then she changed her mind." "We went there with Nina." "He was home when we came back." " I waited all night for you." " You were gambling all night." "I didn't find a car." "So what happened?" "Vera is pregnant." "It's not my child." "She told me yesterday." " What are you going to do about it?" " I'm afraid, that I'm going to kill her." " How many months?" " I don't know." "A couple of months I think." "Oh God!" "What's going on, Mark?" "What's happening to us?" "What happens, happens." "Like a card game." "You play the hand you're dealt." "I was certain she was going to get rid of it." "But she's smiling." "Can you picture that?" "Mark, what should I do?" "You have the right to do whatever you want to do." "Kill if you want to kill." "The gun is in the upper drawer." "And that's it." "Forgive if you want to forgive." "And that's it." " You should make a decision." " What should I decide, Mark?" "I don't want to lose my children the way you did." "I can't believe this is happening to me." "I haven't lost my children." "I've just got used to the idea   that they don't exist." " But they do exist, and they are alive!" " So what?" " You don't want to know anything about them?" " And that is fair?" " That's fair." " This was my card." " I don't understand." "Then..." "Be good..." "It's easy." "Heads or tails." "We gambled until morning." "But we were waiting for you." " Take it." "You need it." " No, no..." "Are you going to your son?" "He's waiting for you." "He's melting from heat." " Are you sure..." " About what?" "Could you be fooling yourself?" "No." " And that's fair?" " That is fair." "Kir, let's go." "Are you sure that this is where you lost it?" "Well... yes." "Or maybe I left it inside." "Look." "I found it." "Mark smells the same way it smells inside the house." "And come back whenever you please... anytime." "I would be happy if you wouldn't leave." "Where else can you find" "Alexander, come and move here." " I don't think so." " Have a good evening." "Bye-bye." "Bye-bye." "I have forgotten something." " Kir, aren't you tired?" " Yes, I am tired." "Go to sleep." "I would like to talk to you, when you're ready." "I can't hear you." "The water is running." "I would like to talk to you, when you're ready." "I am afraid to talk to you." "I am afraid too, but think about it... we need to talk." "As you wish." "I know how you and your brother are." " And what Kir is going to turn into." " Vera!" "If you in your heart feel sorry for me, just a little bit..." "You should be" "Understand." "And help me to help my son and my daughter." "Let me help you." " This baby, Alex..." " I don't care about your child." "I want to know what you are going to do about this child." "We have become estranged." "You are a stranger and you always have been." " And you always will be." " What are you talking about?" "Were we always estranged?" " Will we always be two strangers?" " Vera, I don't want to yell at you." "I don't want to harm you." "I don't want to hurt you." "I just want to know what you are going to do." "Vera, you're in trouble, do you get that?" "You've become tired." "Are you really so tired?" "And you..." "What are you going to do?" "Sleep!" "Hello?" "All right, Vera, get the breakfast ready." "We'll go on." "You're going to be their mother and I'm going to be their father." " Hello?" "Talk!" " Long distance call." "Is this 321-510?" " Yes." " He hung up." " Where was this phone call from?" " From the city. 615-3018." " Hello." "Are you still on the phone?" " No." "Thank you." "Robert..." " Dad, who called?" " Mark." "Let's go." " Was Grandfather like Georgy?" " What do you mean?" " Was he as old?" " No." "He was younger." "Why did he die?" "Everybody dies." "Why is there no writing on this stone like on the others?" "I don't know." "It is probably what he wanted." "Hello?" " No, it's Frida." " This is Kir." "How are you?" " We're home doing nothing." " May I speak with Flora?" " Yes, hold on." " Flora!" "It's for you." "It's Kir." "Hello?" " Hi Flora." " Hi." " How are you?" " Mom and Dad are going out and we're staying home with Grandma." "Come over!" " Who's on the phone?" " Kir." "May he come over?" "Sure, give me the phone." " Hi Kir." " Hi." "Is your father there?" "I want to talk to him." "I'll tell him few words and then I'll let you talk with her." "Ok." "Dad, it's for you." " Hello." " Hello, Alexander." "Liza and I are going to the city." " Do you need anything?" " No, thank you." "The girls were saying that Kir and Eva might come over." "We'd like that." "I'll come get them, and bring them back tonight." "Or maybe tomorrow so you and Vera could spend some time alone?" "How about that?" "Until tomorrow?" "I don't know." " So are they coming or not?" " Hold on a minute." "Kir!" " Would you like to go see Flora?" " Yes." " Eva!" " Yes Daddy?" "Would you like to go see the girls?" " Is Kir coming?" " I'm coming, I'm coming!" " Viktor." " I heard that, I'll come pick them up." " Hello." "Please speak." " I'm sorry." "I dialed a wrong number." "You've dialed a city number." "From this phone you cannot dial long distance." "You may call long distance using the public phone located at the train station..." " Or through the operator." "Then I would like to use the operator." " Yes." "Hello?" " Robert." "It's Vera." "Good afternoon, Vera." " Is everything all right?" " Yes." "I called you today but no one answered the phone." "No one was here." " Sure that everything is all right?" " Yes." "Sure." "I don't even know why I've called you." " Vera..." " Yes?" "Take care..." " Take care of your children." " Thank you, Robert." " Good bye." " Good bye." "They will not come back soon." "Let's go for a walk." "We need to make a decision." "I don't want to talk right now about adultery." "I want to forget about all of this." "Let's get rid of the child." "We need to do it, are you listening to me?" "There are things more important than this." "Everything is going to be all right." "We'll start over." "We'll try." " Why don't you answer?" " Do whatever you want..." "Fast." "I have no regrets." "Hello?" "A phone call to the city." "643-1606." "Yes, I'll wait." "Hello." "Mark, it's me." "If you know someone that'll do it..." " bring him over today." "Can you?" "OK." "I'll wait." " Hello?" " Hi." "It's me." "I found two." "It'll take about 40 minutes." "In two days she'll be back on her feet again." " She'll forget everything in a month." " All right." " Yes?" " Hello, Dad." "Can we stay here overnight?" "It's so interesting." "Uncle Viktor could bring us back home tomorrow." " Is he back already?" " Yes, he just came back." " I want to talk to him." " Daddy, please." "He asked us." "It's all right with me, but I want to talk with Uncle Viktor." " Uncle Viktor, Dad wants to talk to you." " I'm coming right now." "Frida." "Look, read here." ""Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels"  "and have not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."" ""And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,"   "and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,"   "and have not Love, I am nothing."" ""And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned"   "and have not Love, it profith me nothing..."" ""Love suffereth long, and is kind;"" ""Love envieth not."" ""Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,"" ""doeth not behave itself unseemly." "Seeketh not her own." "Is not easily provoked."" ""Thinketh no evil." "Rejoiceth not in inequity, but rejoiceth in the truth."" ""Bareth all things." "Believeth all things." "Hopeth all things." "Endureth all things."" "She's going to wake up for a while, but she will go back to sleep." "She'll have to stay in bed until Thursday and then she'll have to rest for a month." "I left tablets for her." "One after eating but,   no more than three a day." "She can take two, but only if absolutely necessary." "There are the instructions as well." "That's all." "I'll come back soon." " Have you seen her?" " She's sleeping." "She didn't make any noise..." "Even though she couldn't stand the pain." "Of course." "She has been given pills." "Don't worry." "Don't you think that I have done what I was supposed to do?" "I definitely do." "Let's have a coffee." "I don't like the way she looks." "Calm down." "Go and see for yourself." "I don't know." "I think she's fine." " Maybe we should wake her up?" " No." "Let her sleep." "I'll stay here." "I'll be in the kitchen." "Vera..." "I am so sorry." "Don't make me feel worse." "I made a mistake." "I know." "Help me, Vera." "Help me." "She's dying." " Don't be ridiculous." " She's dying." " Who are you calling?" " A doctor from here." "A good friend of mine." " Why don't you call for an ambulance?" " Have you lost your mind?" "Don't you" " Hello, Gherman?" "It's Mark." " Damn the situation!" "I need your help." "At our place." "Yes, here." "Come as soon as you can." "A woman has had an abortion." "She might be in a coma." "A few hours ago." "I'll wait." "He's coming." " Where?" " In the bedroom." "She needs to go to the hospital." "I'll call for an ambulance." " We should take her to the hospital." " No, no." " Why?" "What is the problem?" " Believe me, it's better" "Mark, we need to talk." "She is dead." "I am going to declare it as a cardiac arrest." "I am so sorry." "My advise for you is to take care of your brother." "He is your brother, isn't he?" "Poor girl!" "Alex..." "Alex..." "Alex, calm down." " I have to tell you something." " Later." "It is important." "Nothing is important anymore." "We have to rush the formalities." "The gossip is spreading very fast around here." "Even before something happened." "I want this, " "The cheapest coffin." "The night gown she has on." "No makeup." "Don't touch her." "The funeral is tomorrow at noon." "I want to see her." "I'll take you there." "This way." "Go." "I want to stay here." "I've killed her." " I've killed my wife." " It was an accident." "What have I done?" "Let's not talk about what happened, let's talk about what should be done now." " What should be done?" " Bury Vera." "Damn you, Mark." "Go." "Mark?" "You had a heart attack." "You need to go immediately to the hospital." "Tomorrow I should stand up." "At least for few hours." "Absolutely not." "Don't call the ambulance!" "I don't go anywhere." "I don't negotiate this." "You owe me." "OK." "You're the boss." "Go call my brother." "But don't talk too much." "Mark is calling for you." "It's worse than he thinks." " Call Viktor and tell him..." " I've already called him." " How are the kids?" " They don't know anything yet." "That's true." "You need to tell them." "Calm down." "I know what I'm supposed to do." "That's good." "Why didn't you tell me anything?" "They should have seen that something was wrong with her." "I tried to tell you earlier..." "I'll tell you what I think it happened." "I believe, that she died from a different reason." "Overdose." "They were very strong." "Just few tablets are enough to make you not wake up again." " It seems that she took all of them at once." " Are you sure?" "We'll be sure only after the autopsy." " No autopsy will be made." " Yes." "Well then..." "There were a few morphological changes that could have been caused by narcotics." "What's weird is that they didn't try to resuscitate her." "They were very calm saying that she had to sleep for a while." "That means that everything went normal." "See... they did their job and woke her up to make sure she was all right." "I don't know." "One more thing." "I found this next to her." "It's a pregnancy test result." "The other side." "Will you tell him?" "No." "You're not allowed to stand up." "Give me something." "As much as I need to make it for 3 hours." " You are not allowed to stand up for any reason." " You don't understand the situation." " I just need to..." "To walk." " Then I'll go with you." " No." "It's just for us." "He might need emergency help." "I'll be here." "This is for Mark." "Please take care of him." "What are you doing here?" "Let's go inside." "Yes, I'm listening." "Vera, don't fall asleep." "Try not to fall asleep, do you hear me?" "I'll be right there." "Leave the door unlocked." "Still there?" "Do you hear me?" "I'll be right there." "Vera!" "Vera!" "It's cold." "I'll make another one." " Robert?" " Yes?" "Promise that you won't tell anybody." " Where are the children Vera?" " They're sleeping at Nina's." " Robert?" " Yes." "Promise me." "I promise." "It's dawn." " Mama, who was it?" " I have received a letter." " From Dad?" " No." " From who?" " Mom, come see, he cut open Linda's head!" " Why did you do that?" " I wanted to see what was inside." " And?" " Nothing." "What did you think that you would see?" "It's just a doll, Mom." "He said that there's no need for clowns in a circus." "Don't lie." "I said I'm not interested in clowns." "That's enough." "Go play." " Hello?" " Hi." "It's Robert." " How do you feel?" " Honestly?" "Not well." "We were supposed to go see the circus, but I felt sick." "I asked Nina to take the children to the circus." "Would you like me to come over?" " Would you come?" " Yes." "The other day, I lost the keys to my apartment." "The landlord lives on the other side of the city." "I thought that he might have a spare key." "But I couldn't remember his phone number." "It was in my notebook, inside my apartment." "I went to a bar and I had a drink." "And another drink." " And you found the keys on the bottom of the glass." " Because you're telling lies." " No." "It's true." "I remembered his phone number." "It just came to me all of a sudden." "I've never lost my keys." "I envy you." "But there's still time to lose them." " Vera, what's going on?" " Everything is fine." "I'll be ok in a minute." "Are you ok?" "Would you like some water?" "No." "I'm better now." "Stay a little bit longer if you can." "Until they come back." " I don't want to be alone." " All right." " I'll get up and make coffee." " No." "Just lay down." "I'll make the coffee." "Would you like to look at our pictures?" "You didn't see them, did you?" " No." " There they are, on the bottom shelf." "This is his father." "Here are all three of them." "Father, Alex and Mark." "This is Mark with his family." "This is my mother." "This is Eva when she was less than a year old." "And this... is me before I got married." "See, the photos are in such a mess." "We don't have time for this." "This is when Alex was taking me to the maternity ward." "Vera..." "Why did you want to do something like that yesterday?" "I feel terrible." " I can't explain anything to him." " To Alex?" " I am pregnant." " Are you pregnant?" "I'm sorry..." "But this isn't Alex's baby?" "It's his baby and it isn't." "What do you mean?" "It is his baby." "Of course it is." "Whose else?" "But it is not his, in a way that..." "... Our children are not ours." "They're actually not only ours." "The way we're not only our parents' children." "Not only theirs." "Do you understand?" "I stay awake throughout the night and I can't go to sleep." "I hear him breathing." "He loves us just for his sake." "Like objects." "God!" "I've been living like this for years." "Why do I feel so lonely?" "Why isn't he talking to me the way he used to?" "Or I thought he was talking to me..." "I wouldn't be able to explain anything to him." "I need to do something." "If he's going on like this everything will die." "I don't want to give birth to death." "We could live without dying." "There's such a possibility." " What possibility, Vera?" " I don't know, but it surely does exist." "And it's only possible together, one for another, otherwise..." "It's impossible by oneself." "There's no point." "It's a vicious circle." "How can I explain that to him?" "And make him see and understand what he's doing." "Mom, we're back." "Why is he here?" "Why isn't he home?" "Kir!" "How can you behave like that?" "Nina, I'll come right away." " I am sorry, Robert." " Don't worry about that." "I should go now." "324-311 please." "Viktor?" "It's me, Alexander." "How are you?" "I'll come today for my children." "Tell them when they wake up." "I'm calling from the city." "I'll be there soon."