Унес. ветром

Gone with the Wind" in the Soviet Union: A Parody of the Modern World
"Gone with the Wind" in the Soviet Union—a parody of both the contemporary world and the world of the Soviet past. — Azer Kamal.
In her class, Nailya was nicknamed "Scarlett O'Hara," after the heroine of *Gone with the Wind*.
Her father, Rafik Bey, ended up in prison—whether due to a scam or some other kind of shady dealing, it wasn't clear.
But this didn't faze her in the slightest. She remained bold and haughty, as if nothing had happened at all, simply declaring: "We’ll get him out of there, no matter what."
And sure enough, her mother, Elmira Khanum, sold their large apartment on Torgovaya Street and opened a big grocery store called "Ulduz," which soon attracted customers from all over the city—both from the center and beyond. Nailya worked there too, serving as both a manager and a shop assistant.
Nailya was incredibly brave and decisive—an Aries, just like her favorite character from Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Scarlett.
She was a real firecracker; once, when a class bully named Slavik hit her friend Zarifa, Nailya gave him a sound thrashing.
Later, Elmira Khanum sold another apartment, hired a lawyer, and quickly secured her husband’s release.
Once free, Rafik Bey left for Dubai, where he opened a shoe store and began sending a good amount of money back to his wife and children.
The family’s life returned to how it had been before, and after finishing the tenth grade, Nailya moved to Dubai to join her father, where she began working in his shop, helping him out. They say that later, at her father’s shop, she met a French engineer who was working there for the oil company Total.
Henri—that was the Frenchman’s name—fell so madly in love with Nailya that he immediately went to ask Rafik Bey for her hand in marriage.
Naturally, Rafik Bey threw him out on the spot. But the next day, the man returned with an interpreter named Enver, who had once lived in their own courtyard.
Enver explained that they had been working together for three years, that Henri was a true aristocrat—a highly decent and cultured man—who had often helped Enver out with money, and that he was deeply in love with Nailya.
Though still stern, Rafik Bey didn’t throw the Frenchman out—out of respect for Enver, perhaps—but instead called for Nailya.
"Do you love him?" he asked, his tone severe.
"Yes, Papa," Nailya replied firmly. "He is so cultured; he even asks for my permission before having a cigarette—I’ve never seen any of our local boys do that."
"Very well, then," said Rafik Bey, suddenly looking much older. "Just keep in mind that this is a culture entirely different from our own. If you end up getting a divorce, your mother, Elmira, will have a heart attack."
Elmira Khanum didn’t have a heart attack, and Nailya now lives with her Henri; they have two daughters.
Perhaps they, too, will appreciate it when someone asks for their permission before lighting a cigarette—after all, they are true Frenchwomen now.
I learned all of this from her friend Zarifa, who stayed in touch with her through regular correspondence.
Nailya kept inviting her to Paris, hoping to introduce her to one of Henri’s friends.
But Zarifa’s father wouldn’t let her go; instead, he married her off to a distant relative—who, as it turned out, was a drug addict. Zarifa gave birth to a boy and now lives with her parents. But Nailya keeps calling her over, and I honestly don’t know how all of this will end.
Another interesting character in our class was Jamil, whom everyone called "Tyson."
Tyson was a serious boxer; he would beat up anyone at school who dared to bother his friends.
And after our class parties, he was always the one to walk the girls home—because, as our more critical-minded girls used to say, he was the most reliable person around.
As I later found out, he was madly in love with Nailya. But the proud Nailya never gave him any encouragement. When Jamil learned that Nailya had gotten married, he spent an entire week drinking vodka. God only knows how he managed to swallow that store-bought poison without any food. At the time, I was a medical student, and I had to go to his home every week to set up IV drips—flushing his system with Hemodesis and glucose. His poor mother, Amalya-khanum, spent the whole week in tears, terrified that I wouldn’t be able to pull him through.
At the end of the week, I sat him down and, speaking like a future psychiatrist, said firmly: "Girls are like stars—if one fades out for you, hundreds of others are shining even brighter. Forget about Nailya. It’s highly unlikely she’d trade her life in Paris for you.
Find someone else; there are plenty of good girls around. If you can’t find one, I’ll find one for you."
Jamil hung his head heavily—it was clear that letting go of Nailya was difficult for him—but I told him that she simply wasn't his destiny, and he calmed down a little.
Later, he married his neighbor Nargiz, a modest student at the conservatory. They had a son, whom he eventually began teaching to box as well. Akram was the "Einstein" of our class; he could solve any problem in his head—even those in physics and mathematics that went well beyond the curriculum.
Everyone predicted that by the age of 20, he would hold a doctorate. But then his father bought a massive farm in the Massalli district, and the whole family moved there.
Angelika—the class fortune-teller and "witch"—remarked, "That’s the end of him."
I replied that everyone has their own path—that it’s written in the Torah, a sacred book that one ought to believe.
"Marilyn Monroe"—that’s what we called Jema. She was a striking blonde with large blue eyes that would stare at people without ever blinking—whether out of sheer audacity or supreme self-confidence, it was hard to say.
Everyone in class assumed Jema would become a model or a movie star—perhaps even head off to Hollywood.
But following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the events of January 20th, Jema’s mother sold their apartment and took her to Israel.



In Israel, Dzhema studied Hebrew and began to teach at school there.
She finally forgot about the movie and when we reminded her on Facebook about the career of a movie actress. She replied that she is no longer there, but maybe her daughters will choose a movie or theater.
Eldara was called Sherlock Holmes. He loved detectives and could unravel any mysteries
incidents at school. And once I found a diamond ring, which was lost by Shovkat, the daughter of the Minister of Trade.
When the whole class congratulated Shovkat on the return of the ring, she answered with a smile that her father could buy her 10 more such rings, because he is the Minister of Trade.
Sam Eldar did not become Nat Pinkerton. He contacted a bad company and went to Siberia for 10 years.
Then we found out that he contacted his old friend, who took him in after prison and lives with her in Spain.
And Shovkat became a doctor, got married, gave birth to a daughter and divorced.
Diamonds did not help him. Then she left for America with her second husband and her daughter from her first marriage and they said that her husband works as a lawyer in some firm
And she is satisfied with her life and her second marriage.
The top of the class was Sveta Tsvetkova, and everyone thought that she would enter a technical university and start a scientific career.
But Sveta spat on her studies, put her gold medal in the old sideboard
she became a seamstress, like her mother, Angelina Matfeevna.
Cveta was a classic Cancer according to the zodiac and maybe that's why, or maybe for another reason, she liked to sit at home, bake pies and sew wedding dresses.
She married a military man from Azerbaijan, who then died in Karabakh.
Her daughter Kama, who was also an excellent student, passed all exams at an international university
She left to study in Canada.
They say that after her studies she stayed there, got married and took Angelina with her, and we never heard anything about her again.
Sergei, nicknamed Deacon, who asked the whole school for 10 kopecks, somehow ended up in Africa and became the director of a diamond factory there.
Adil was a school bully. Already in the 7th grade he liked to drink and smoke cigarettes.
He went to service in Afghanistan. There he received a serious wound in the head and then
died of brain cancer.
Chingiz, the son of a professor and oilman, married early and divorced quickly. Then he got married again, went to the United States, and there he got drunk and died for unknown reasons.
When the Union fell apart, I joined a semi-criminal group headed by Farkhad. They smuggled aspirin to Vietnam, where it was very expensive. I was with Farkhad as a courier. There were 10 of us and no one knew Farkhad except me.
My task included taking a bag with medicines to the stop where a bus from Iran was coming. I gave the bag to Boris and left.
My Farhad paid me 2000 manats for every exit.
When the group was caught. Everyone was given 10 or 15 years. But Farhad managed to open up,
I paid 5 million through an influential person. He did not name me and therefore did not come for me.
He stung all the time from fear, he was treated, but the treatment did not help him much.
When he called again with an offer of cooperation, I refused because of my mother.
If my mother knew what I was doing, she would have a heart attack.
There were many people who were lost after the collapse of the Union, and I was walking to work as a doctor again and write my novels and stories. I dreamed of this since childhood, but I had no confidence. All this appeared to me after Farkhad, when I realized that there are no guarantees in life and anything can happen to any person.
It's been a long time, I was already 35 years old, and once I saw a cute, very attractive girl in the subway.
I, as always, approached her from the experience of street dating in my huge student years and offered her to sit in a cafe and drink coffee.
Looking haughtily at my appearance, he jokingly uttered it
You have an old, stale coat, moreover, made in Turkey, not even French, and my boyfriend has to earn 5000 dollars.
And here is my coat, all millionaires go to rags.
I thought about how I could tell her that I was going to the Nobel Prize, but why did I refuse.
I have always had many girls and I have never been upset because of them.
It would be better if there were fewer of them, I thought involuntarily with sadness, then it would be easier to make a choice.
And at night I dreamed of a stranger. She said that she regrets that she did not want to continue communication with me.
But I shrugged my shoulders, I don't give anyone a second chance, except for the Swedish queen,
who doesn't even know that we'll meet her soon at the banquet, and we'll watch there.?