– Mistress, will you give me salt? I forgot to buy some, – a smiling man stood on the threshold.
Bella silently went to the kitchen and poured salt into his jar. She returned, and he was standing next to her.
– And you have nothing. Cozy, – he looked around.
Bella didn’t like it:
– Did I invite you into the house? No, you didn’t. Take the salt and go away!
He shook his head:
– How inhospitable you are. We are supposed to be neighbors.
Bella walked past him and opened the door wider:
– Go away. We’ve had enough of you!
This two-apartment house used to be the property of Bella’s grandfather. And when he passed away, his illegitimate daughter suddenly appeared. She turned out to be a smart woman. She brought the evidence and took two rooms through the court. And as if she was going to live there herself, she sold them to an unknown man. The rooms were fenced off, a separate entrance was made. Because of all this fuss, the grandmother also did not stay in this world.
All this happened when Bella was already fifteen. So all this happened before her eyes. Since then, she felt dislike towards her neighbor. Although he was not the root cause of all their troubles, but she could not help herself. Bella’s mother, when her parents died, immediately married some man with an apartment where the entrance for Bella was closed.
And all because Bella had problems since childhood. A huge birthmark decorated the right side of her face. What nicknames she did not have in childhood. So her stepfather did not need her.
– She scares all the neighbors with her face, – Bella once overheard, and since then she saw her mother when she came to visit her.
She was not afraid of people, she just did not show herself to them once again. And when her belly rounded and her son was born, everyone was shocked. Who was? And no one knew how she persuaded her classmate Paul to make her a baby. He agreed to it only for a certain amount of money. And no one knew about it. It was not profitable for Paul to brag, and for Bella a son was important.
And when the son was five years old, the neighbor died. But a new one appeared. Either a nephew or someone else. He began to equip his half. He put the device, water, gas. Bella endured all this through gritted teeth. Drilling and nailing. And even the son started running there. He would sit aside and drive a nail into a board. Bella understood that he missed his father, but she did not encourage this friendship either.
She tried to talk to her neighbor about it, but as his son called him, Uncle David just told her:
– Let him get used to men’s work. My father gave me a small hammer when I was three years old. And do not worry, I will look after him. My brothers grew up with me in their arms, so I’m used to it.
Bella tried not to let her son in, but he took offense like an adult. He would sit in the corner and keep silent. Bella would get angry and let him go. His eyes would immediately light up and he would shout:
– Uncle David, I’m coming to help.
Bella was also annoyed that the neighbor often came to her to borrow something. Salt, matches, sugar. However, he would return it later, but in packages. Bella did not take it at first, and then spat it out. Anyway, he left everything on the porch. Well, if a person has nothing to do with money, it will be useful in the household.
And one day she unwittingly overheard a conversation between her son and David.
The son asked:
– My mother is beautiful, but my father is not. And I want to have one. After all, you can’t tell your mother everything.
Bella held her breath waiting for her neighbor’s answer.
– Yes, your mom is beautiful. But she is too independent and does not let anyone near her
The son said thoughtfully:
– I had a quarrel with my friend. He said that mom has a wart on her face, like a witch.
David laughed:
– A witch indeed. I wanted to sell this… inheritance, but when I saw your mother, I decided not to go there.
Bella didn’t listen any further and exclaimed:
– Son, dinner!
He ran to his mother:
– Can Uncle David have dinner with us?
Bella looked into the pleading eyes of her son and answered through her teeth:
– You can!
The son fell asleep at the table and David carefully carried him to bed. Bella covered him with a blanket. And then she asked David:
– Tea or going home?
He turned to her:
– Tea and this, – and kissed her.
Bella was dizzy, but she pulled herself together:
– What do you think you’re doing?
David smiled:
– You’re like a prickly hedgehog, what if the needles were removed?
Bella smiled:
– And this is not embarrassing, – and pointed to her face.
– And I don’t notice it. I like your stubbornness, your tenderness. And this? Now, if it embarrasses you, just take it off.
Bella suddenly burst into tears:
– Do you understand how it’s been bothering me all my life? I work remotely so that no one would look at me and God forbid pity me.
He pressed her to him:
– It’s better if this is the most innocent problem in our lives.
She looked at him:
– In ours?
He said firmly:
– Yes. And it seems to me that it is time for us to unite our houses. I will start tomorrow.
And Bella finally breathed a sigh of relief, finally with a real man next to her. Even the stain does not bother her anymore. After all, it is not the beauty of the face, but the depth of the soul.
