Svetlana had always been proud of her son Igor. At sixteen he was a reserved but calm boy: he studied average, had few friends, but treated his mother with respect. In recent months she was surprised to notice that her son had a new hobby — the garden.
Every day after school Igor went out into the yard and began to dig the soil. At first the mother thought it was a temporary whim. But one day she asked:
— Son, what are you doing there?
— Oh… just want to grow flowers, — he mumbled without looking at her.
Svetlana’s heart warmed with joy. “Here it is — real growing up,” she thought. “Better to grow flowers than hang out on the street with questionable company.”
She even bought seeds of petunias and marigolds, but Igor showed no interest in them. He continued day after day to dig the same garden bed, sometimes early in the morning and sometimes late in the evening.
Svetlana admired his diligence, although she worried that her son had abandoned his schoolwork.
One evening the neighbor was walking her dog — a large Doberman named Rex. The dog had always been calm, but that day he suddenly tensed, sharply jerked the leash, and ran full-speed toward their yard.
The neighbor could barely keep up with him. Rex stopped at the freshly dug garden bed, began to bark furiously, scratch the ground with his paws, and suddenly started digging violently.
— Stop it! — Svetlana screamed, running out of the house. — My son is growing flowers here!
But the dog seemed crazed. Dirt flew in all directions, until suddenly something terrible appeared from beneath the loose soil
Continuation in the first comment
The edge of a polyethylene bag. The neighbor bent down, pulled it out of the ground and froze. Svetlana saw the contents — small bundles of white powder.
She felt her legs weakening.
— Is this… what I think it is? — she forced out with difficulty.
The neighbor turned pale, but nodded:
— Looks like illegal substances.
At that moment Igor appeared on the porch. His face was deathly gray, his eyes darting side to side.
— Mom, it’s not what you think… — he began, but his voice was trembling.
Svetlana rushed at him:
— What does this mean?! You were burying this in our yard?!!
Igor faltered, then quietly muttered:
— A guy from the group told me that I just needed to hide it. They would pay money… I didn’t know what was inside!
The neighbor shook his head:
— This is an old scheme, boy. Kids like you are used in the dark. But the responsibility is still on you.
