Cigarettes & Mickey Mouse

The shout rang out across the open, snow-covered yard - out to the other side of the woodshed, where four boys stood lazily taking in the late-afternoon sunset and sharing a cigarette. Kids raised with 96 others learn quickly that to be heard above the din, one must learn to make his voice carry far distances. Sasha had learned this trick well, and now he shouted with all his lung power one of the only words in the Russian language that could bring all kids, regardless of age, running from all directions. Even before he had time to slam the door shut to keep out the cold air, the four smokers had abandoned their cigarette and were hurriedly returning to the big three-story building they called home. Stomping their boots & shaking the light dusting of snow off their coats onto the wood floor (it wasn't any of their turns to mop on Saturdays, so who cared if they left puddles?), they half-jokingly shoved each other as they raced up the stairs, past the teacher's lounge, and into the TV room, where already a formidable sized group had gathered, seated on the low, green-painted wooden benches, around the much prized, blaring television. One of the new arrivals, his voice nearly cracking as he yelled over the noise of the tv, yelled for an explanation. "What's on? Sasha said cartoons. What cartoons?" He confidently made his way to the best seat in the house, bench closest to the television, front and center, which was at the moment occupied by a very excited 3rd grader. Vacating the seat was no challenge to Timur, and with a smooth, practiced motion he wordlessly lifted the 3rd grader by his coat, gave him a small shove to the side, and occupied the space himself. Yuri the 3rd grader never blinked - he first tried to seat himself on the bench behind Timur, but was met with a growl from another of the new arrivals, Dennis, who's menacing whisper was clear even though the noise in the room was close to chaotic, and Yuri moved to the side of the room, contenting himself with a standing position near the radiators that lined the wall. At least it was warm, standing that close to the only source of heat in the building.
"Mickey Mouse is on - everyone shut up, Mickey Mouse is on!" For 7 minutes, the room was as close as it ever got to quiet - with 24 sets of eyes happily glued to the cartoon images on the screen. Occasional bursts of childish laughter broke out, and for a moment, it was forgotten that these kids weren't just like every other child in the world.
Commercial breaks occur in Russia, as well as everywhere else, and as an ad for lemon-smelling dish soap came on, there was a scramble for the washrooms as nine boys and five girls, ranging in age from 10 to 15, crammed into the small room and lit up for a quick smoke. The somewhat-overweight weekend nanny heard the movement, and for a moment, her sense of duty as their caretaker surfaced. She followed her nose to the stench coming from the washroom, the thought never occuring to her that Yuri the 3rd grader was very obviously standing guard. He frantically pounded on the door and yelled 'hurry up, you guys!' - she missed his meaning and patted him on the head, assuring him that the big kids would be done washing their hands in a moment, and he'd get his turn at the sinks.

She was about to knock on the door when it was flung open and a crowd of coughing teenagers came barreling out.
She sniffed again, leaning close to one of the boys.

"Were you smoking in there?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure? I smell cigarette smoke."

"I wasn't smoking! We were just washing our hands!"

"Why does it smell like smoke in there?"

"I don't smoke!"

"Well, alright. Turn that TV down, you'll all go deaf!"

"Yeah, well, then we wouldn't have to listen to you anymore."

"Oh, you kids. Why do I even try? Turn it down I said!"

"NO! What's it matter to you, anyway? It's our ears, not yours."

The same boy who had called them in from outside yelled from the TV room that the cartoons were back, and the conversation with the nanny was abruptly brought to a close. Scrambling once again to find their places, after a short scrap over who had been sitting where, the room was once again as silent as one could ever find it.
Sighing that her job didn't pay enough, the nanny threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and returned to the teacher's lounge, where the blaring of the kids' TV nearly drowned out her own. Turning on the electric teapot, she settled back down to continue watching the poorly-translated Brazilian soap opera she'd come to depend upon for entertainment. Something - anything to distract her from the monotony of her chosen profession. Not that she'd particularly chosen this profession - who would? It almost paid the bills, though, and didn't require any real skills.

All too soon the cartoons were over, to the chagrin and verbally uttered disappointment of most in the room. They were followed by a feature film, one which was not new to our group of bored viewers. Shouts rang out as the crowd decided whether to watch this film again, or switch to the other channel.

"We've seen this one - it's the one where the guy kills that other guy."

"Yeah, so? It's a good movie. And there's the part where the car blows up. Keep it on."

"No, I hate this movie, it's stupid."

"Nobody asked you! I wanna watch it! Leave it on."

"There's something better on the other channel, change it!"

"NO! I said leave it on! Touch that button and I'll kill you!"

"Shut up, everyone! Just watch the stupid movie!"

The interruption for dinner was welcome, but untimely. Wanting to miss as little as possible, the older kids finished in 7 minutes flat and raced back. Completely immersed in the plot of a murderous betrayal, they were quite annoyed when the nanny once again invaded their lives, flicking the light on and demanding their attention.

"I told you to turn that volume down! You'll all go deaf!"

"Quiet! We're trying to watch a movie!"

"Turn it down!"

"Fine, fine, we'll turn it down. Just go away, we're missing the best part."

"Yuri, you're sitting too close - move back."

"Quiet!"

"You know, kids, cartoons are on channel 2 right now."

"What?! Cartoons? Which ones?"

"Looney Tunes, I think."

"Right now?"

"Yes, it started 5 minutes ago."

"Turn the channel! Hey - cartoons are on the other channel! Change it!"

"But...we were watching the movie!"

"we've already seen that stupid movie. The guy dies and the murderer falls off a building and then his car blows up. Now TURN THE CHANNEL!"

Once again, happiest watching cartoons, our kids sit glued to the screen.

It's been a typical Saturday in our orphanage.