Andrei Rozanov

Andrei Rozanov is Ilya Rozanov’s brother, introduced through a late-night call that turns Ilya’s anger over a hockey loss into a different kind of family tension. Andrei’s request for money, his evasions about their father, and Ilya’s reluctant agreement establish a relationship marked by obligation, suspicion, and resentment; the scene offers no resolution to the financial problem or the wider family strain.

Identity and Introduction

Andrei calls Ilya in Montreal after Ilya has lost his first match against Shane Hollander. Ilya is already furious with himself when the phone rings, and he answers without the usual courtesies because he assumes Andrei has a reason beyond catching up. The call presents Andrei not through an independent account of his life but through Ilya’s impatient, wary response to him.

Ilya’s first concern is their father. When Andrei falls quiet, Ilya asks whether something has happened; Andrei says their father is fine. Ilya does not believe him, judging that it is increasingly obvious something is wrong, but sets that suspicion aside for the moment. The exchange leaves the father’s condition unresolved while showing how little reassurance Andrei’s answer provides.

The Request for Money

Andrei asks Ilya for twenty thousand dollars. His explanation is vague: he invokes life and what it is like where he is, without specifying what the money is for. The request follows an earlier loan of ten thousand dollars that Ilya says he gave Andrei only two months before. When Ilya asks where that money went, Andrei repeats his general appeal to life rather than accounting for it.

Ilya imagines several possibilities, including a bad investment or gambling, but the narration presents these as his suspicions, not as established facts. It does identify Andrei as a police officer, making Ilya’s speculation about conduct a police officer should not engage in part of his frustration. The scene does not confirm what Andrei has done with either sum or why he needs more.

Family Obligation and Aftermath

Ilya believes he could refuse, and feels he owes Andrei nothing. Yet refusal would, in his expectation, bring a lecture from their father about family and being a good son. His decision is therefore shaped not only by his relationship with Andrei but also by the family obligation he anticipates their father would enforce. Ilya resents the request and the pressure around it, while still acknowledging that Andrei is his brother.

He agrees to send the money, but declares that Andrei must not ask again. Andrei then asks whether Ilya can send it immediately; Ilya refuses, says he will send it the next day, and ends the conversation by telling him to go to hell and saying he is going to bed. The call closes with a boundary asserted but not a settled break: Ilya gives in to this request while insisting it will be the last. No later outcome for the promised payment or the brothers’ dispute is established here.