On the verge of the third millennium, the whole world was anxiously anticipating supernatural and terrifying events.
The atmosphere was filled with the bloodcurdling rumors that the global computer network would self destruct as well as the infrastructure and soon we would run out of fuel, food and water. Power stations would stop working, stores would be empty, no more trains or planes, satellite equipment would break, offices, plants and factories would close…We had heard pretty much everything at that time.
The closer this date came, the more terrifying stories were told. TV programs, one after another, showed a myriad of different experts, from geologists and biologists to sociologists and pastors, who, as if competing with each other, predicted all kinds of terrible doom.
Ordinary people took it all seriously and it must be said that these rumors led to massive panic. People stormed store shelves, stocked up on water, food, firewood,different types of fuel and other essential things.
Fun is fun, but the press talked about real cases of suicide caused by the fear of the coming apocalypse, which indirectly confirmed the prophetic words of the Bible during the Great Tribulation that “people will die from the fear of impending disasters”.
And that’s exactly what was going on. The disasters hadn’t arrived yet, but people were dying out of the fear for what was about to come. You can check out the suicide statistics, but nobody can say exactly how many people died from strokes, heart attacks and other stress-related diseases.
By the way, Mormon communities have an interesting tradition: every family should keep a year supply of food and water. It is done because all the members of this community want to survive the cataclysms of the Great Tribulation and don’t want to get caught up in the ongoing events and persecutions.
Until the last minute, I didn’t believe in the coming apocalypse, but a few hours before the New Year I gave in, went to the store and bought the last three gallons of water.
When the world, at full throttle, flew into the new millennium without any negative consequences, it turned out that the owners of shopping malls clapped their hands the loudest. Stores, especially the grocery stores started the 21st century with half-empty shelves.
– Phew, we dodged that bullet! The end of the world is canceled! – people thought, wiping cold sweat from their foreheads. Despite the expected apocalypse, everything remained the same. Life didn’t get worse. On the contrary, the American economy started to look up.
The very first morning of the new millennium was kind of fun. When I woke up, I cautiously walked over to the light switch and turned on the light. No explosion followed and the light came on like nothing unusual had happened. Checking the faucet was next in line. Everything was fine there as well. The water ran the same as the day before or any other day. Then we turned on the TV and it worked, quite alright. Everything was OK. New Year’s greetings, wishes and no mentioning of trains colliding, airplanes crashing, erupting volcanoes or huge traffic jams. The only change was in the calendar. It said January, 1 2000.
However, there was a controversy over the true beginning of the third millennium. For as long as a year people kept on a heated debate: when does it really start? How should you count the year 2000? As the last year of the second millennium or the first year of the third one?
People were divided into two camps. Some sincerely believed and argued that 2000 belonged to the previous century and the real third millennium started with 2001. Others firmly insisted that the 21st century had started with the year 2000. They drew diagrams, bent fingers, all to visually demonstrate how and where you should put 2000. It lasted for the whole year.
When 2001 came, the disputes subsided by themselves. Either way, the 21st century had certainly already started. Besides, the new millennium brought some more important issues: life rushed forward, paying no attention to the dates.
The beginning of the 21st century gave a serious head start to all areas of the economy. Unemployment was dropping, there was plenty of work around, and the real estate market was as bullish as never before. Banks gave loans to everyone who asked for them. Later, investigators couldn’t understand how a regular young guy of 25-30 could take loans and buy ten or more houses. The scheme was very simple. They bought one house, and since the housing prices were growing like crazy, two or three months later this house was worth more. They opened a credit line against the equity of this house. The difference in price was withdrawn and used as a down payment for the next house. Around six months later they took out the price difference from the next house and so on.
Then the first house would be put up for sale or rented out. At that crazy time, houses were being sold at an incredibly fast rate. As soon as some house appeared on the market, the agent would receive dozens of offers on that very night. The seller would choose a deal that suited them. Just two or three weeks would pass and the contract would be made…
Empty fields were being bought up and turned into subdivisions with new houses being built. To buy one of these houses a buyer may have to get in line and spend the night by the offices of construction companies. The demand was so enormous that developers started to sell new houses in batches as they were built. Every new batch was sold more expensively than the previous one, as housing prices grew so quickly that when the construction came to an end the difference between the initial and final price was several tens of thousands of dollars.
Even some shacks in residential areas were actively sold. Investors bought them cheaply, demolished them and built new houses in their place. I admit that the city started to look noticeably younger at that time.
The foundation story took place in the midst of this construction boom, that later was called “the bubble”. While this bubble was inflating, some people made a nice bit of money.
Nikolay was a very active participant in the “buy-build-sell” chain. Thorough knowledge in the construction business and a phenomenal ability to work hard made him quite successful in this field. When his crew left the construction site at the end of the working day, they could barely walk. Nikolay could build an average American house on a turn-key basis in one month. It was an absolute record that totally amazed his investors and agents.
It all started at one typical construction site in Southern Sacramento a few years before “the Great Bubble” burst. If you are familiar with Sacramento, you probably know that the population of this part of the city is poor and criminally driven. Old dilapidated houses there were sold for peanuts. But you could still earn good money by buying such a house, demolishing it and building a new one in its place.
That was exactly the case. Nikolay got permission, in a few days they demolished the old house, laid plumbing and electric and communication wires, built forms for the foundation and ordered concrete. Needless to say that this is a crucial part in building a house. The foundation must be perfectly leveled and flat.
At about eight in the morning, the first concrete truck arrived and they got right to work. Nikolay’s concrete workers were fantastic. They worked as a group of four and over the years their work became entirely automatic.
Their foreman’s name was Zhenia. He was about thirty, not very tall, rather thin, or as they say, wiry. He knew his job inside and out. His crew had been working with Nikolay for a long time. At least two or three dozen houses and plenty of other work were done by Zhenia and his crew.
On that day, everything was going well. The concrete was delivered without delay, which was very important, because if the next truck is late for some reason, it would make the finishing work far more complicated. If everything would continue to go well, at 4:30 pm they could already wash the tools and go home.
Nikolay and Zhenia took a last look at the work done and locked the metal mesh gate.
– Well done, Zhenia! Looks great! – Nikolay said with pleasure. – As always, everything’s how it should be.
They hugged each other and went to their cars.
Nikolay had to go to West Sacramento. If the traffic was good it took about thirty minutes. The rest of the day he could spend with his family. As soon as Nikolay parked his car at his house, his phone rang. The number was unfamiliar, but he got a lot of such calls for work.
Some stranger’s voice haltingly informed him that young boys ran on the damp concrete at the construction site where they had just finished work and left deep footprints in it.
Nikolay was shocked. “Little scumbags!” – he thought. “Couldn’t stay away! Anyone can see the concrete is still wet… And how did they get there anyway?…”
There was not a second to waste. Turning the car around and mentally scolding those “little angels”, Nikolay dialed the foreman’s number. He didn’t pick up. “Zhenia, Zhenia, brother, pick up! Pick up the phone! Please! Please!” – Nikolay persuaded the phone as if it was a person.
Zhenia’s phone wasn’t turned off, but he either didn’t hear it, or just didn’t want to pick up. “Zhenia, where are you? Brother!”
The problem was that the foreman had all the tools for working with concrete, that’s why Zhenia had to come back to the job site no matter what.
And then, thank God, Zhenia picked up the phone. Sometimes twenty seconds seem like an eternity to us.
– Zhenia, bro, – Nikolay gasped, trying to tell everything at once. – Where are you? Home? Listen, I have a big mess on my hands. Anyway, drop everything, grab the tools and rush to the construction site now. I’ll get a few bags of cement and be there in half an hour. Start removing the mess they made before the foundation fully hardens. Okay, see you…
– Well, thank God, we managed to do it in time. – Nikolay said while they were washing the tools from concrete for the second time that day. – Zhenia, thank you very much. You are the man. I couldn’t have done it without you, – Nikolay hugged Zhenia and added, – Let’s go and grab something to eat. We missed lunch today.
Zhenia didn’t mind and a few minutes later they were sitting at a “Chinese buffet”. Such restaurants are very common in the US, because you pay and can eat what you want and as much as you want, but you can’t take leftovers home with you when you leave.
The first half of lunch-dinner was eaten in silence. Tired and hungry, Nikolay and Zhenia made up for the whole day. The second half had a more relaxed mood. Coffee, desserts, fruit, realization that everything ended well and fatigue after a hard day’s work – all of this filled the atmosphere with peace and tranquility.
– Zhenia, I’m so grateful to you! – Nikolay looked at the foreman and leaned back in his chair, – Everything just miraculously fell in its place. I would say several miracles at the same time. First, some kind person called me and let me know. Then you picked up the phone, dropped everything, hurried to the place and we were able to handle it. Just half an hour later would have been too late. The concrete would have hardened. Thank God, things worked out fine. – Nikolay was leisurely drinking his coffee.
Zhenia was silently nodding, immersed in his thoughts. He was probably exhausted from all this hectic work and stress. Concrete work does indeed take its toll: after pouring it, guys usually sleep soundly. But what happened next astonished Nikolay even more than the issue with the foundation pour.
– Nikolay, – Zhenia lowered his eyes and after pausing for several seconds continued, – there’s another miracle that happened at the same time.
Surprised, Nikolay raised his eyebrows.
– I didn’t get it. What miracle?
Zhenia continued:
– Where do you think your call caught me? You’ll never guess. When I was finishing the pour today, it was the last job for me. I decided it was the end. I mentally said goodbye to you and all the other guys. As I came home, I immediately went to the back yard. With a rope, I made a loop and brought a ladder from the garage. I was trying to figure out what I would tie the rope to when the phone rang. At first, I didn’t pay attention to it, I didn’t care anymore. And then I thought: “Okay, they just won’t stop!” and saw your number.
– I wouldn’t have answered another call… I answered and you told me: “Zhenia, the foundation…Help me out! Hurry!” And I thought: a couple of hours earlier, or a couple of hours later – no big difference. I could help you and then finish what I started… The rest you know. If you want to see for yourself, let’s go to my place. The rope and ladder are still there.
– It’s probably not my time to go yet. You know: my wife left me and doesn’t even let me see the kids… Apparently, I’m only good for paying the bills, aren’t I? Is that what I am? I’ve been tortured by these thoughts for many days, worse and worse, until one day something broke in my soul and I decided: to hell with it all. You don’t need me? Am I that bad? Come on, go ahead… But without me.”
– Nikolay, it didn’t happen overnight. It was gradually growing inside of me. I’m not claiming to be an angel. I would sometimes drink after work, something I did right in life, something I did wrong… But Nikolay, I’m not the worst bastard in the world for her to treat me this way…
– Sometimes I felt so sorry for myself. I remember, when I was three, I got angry at my mom and deliberately jumped in a mud puddle and got wet. I was standing there, soaked, and thought: “We’ll see how mom will cry when I catch a cold and die. She’s going to be sorry, but it’ll be too late. She won’t see me anymore.” So, I was standing in that puddle, imaginingall this and crying more and more from the resentment and self-pity.”
– But back then it was easy. Mom came, comforted me, told me she loved me. And everything passed. I forgot all the wrongs I wanted to forget. Today nobody is going to tell me these words. All they need from me is for me to work like a slave and regularly supply them with cash.
– Eventually, this trial inside me had sentenced me to death. A rope is a fast solution. And then they can do what they please. I don’t deserve a place in life? So be it!
– That’s what I meant by a miracle. You probably cussed those boys out, but it seems that God sent them. The neighbor saw it and called you. Basically, he shouldn’t care what’s going on behind the fence. But he came out, drove them away and called you. Then you called me and all of this started… Just like a whole chain of miracles… You know, Nikolay, I feel better now. It means it’s not my time yet. The pendulum was on one side and swung to the other side. I feel like I did my time and was released today. I think from now on, it’ll be my second life. That’s what I call miracles, – Zhenia summed up.
To say that Nikolay was shocked by what he heard is to massively understate his feelings. With his eyes wide open, he sat there motionless, feeling a volcano of emotions inside. When you become a participant of God’s providence without even knowing it, it turns your soul around.
They kept talking till the restaurant closed and only finished in the parking lot, where hospitable Chinese people, bowing their heads, invited them to come again.
