The doorbell rang at the exact moment Anna finally sat down with a cup of tea after a long day at work. She did not even bother looking through the peephole. The persistent, impatient ringing told her immediately who it was.
“Hey, sis!” Valery burst into the hallway, as usual wearing a broad smile and carrying a grocery bag. “I realized we haven’t seen each other in ages, so I thought I’d stop by.”
Anna automatically took his jacket while silently counting. This was already the third time that week.
“What’s in the bag?” she asked, nodding toward it.
“Oh, nothing much. Bread and milk. I figured that since your brother is visiting, we should put together a proper meal. It’s practically a family celebration.”
Anna smiled bitterly to herself.
A “family celebration,” according to Valery, meant showing up without warning and expecting her to produce dinner out of thin air for three people—or seven if his wife, Svetlana, arrived later with the children.
“Come in,” she said, heading toward the kitchen. “Nikolai is still at work. He should be home in about forty minutes.”
Valery had already made himself comfortable at the kitchen table and was examining what she had prepared for dinner. There were sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, a piece of cheese, apples, and grapes.
“So what’s the main course?” he asked in a businesslike tone.
“Chicken. It’s in the oven and needs another twenty minutes.” Anna opened the oven door to check whether it was browning. “Would you like tea?”
“Sure. Do you have any sausage? Or maybe some sliced meat?”
“No, Valery. Everything I have is already on the table.”
He shook his head in disappointment.
“Vegetables, fruit… Healthy, of course, but a man needs meat.”
Anna said nothing as she poured his tea. Over the past month, she had grown accustomed to his remarks about her food. Valery firmly believed that a respectable dinner table required several kinds of meat, sausage, fish, and mayonnaise-heavy salads.
Her simple evening meals clearly did not meet his standards of hospitality.
“How is the job search going?” she asked, mostly to keep the conversation moving.
“Slowly. I had an interview last week, so now I’m waiting to hear back. Honestly, I’m not in much of a hurry. Maybe leaving that factory was for the best. Management had completely lost their minds, and the working conditions were terrible.”
Anna nodded, although she privately thought that Valery had attended no more than three interviews in an entire month. The rest of the time, he was either “monitoring the job market” or sitting in her kitchen explaining how unfairly the world treated him.
Nikolai came home at exactly seven. He greeted his brother, washed his hands, and sat down at the table.
Anna took the chicken out of the oven. It was golden, fragrant, and covered with a crisp crust.
“Now that’s more like it!” Valery said, suddenly cheerful. “Not just salads and fruit.”
“It was perfectly normal food before,” Nikolai replied calmly. “This is a home, not a restaurant.”
“Why should food at home be worse?” Valery laughed. “Remember when we used to visit our parents? Mom would prepare such incredible meals that you didn’t know where to look first.”
“Mom cooked like that once a week, when we visited on Sundays,” Nikolai reminded him. “And we always told her in advance that we were coming.”
“Oh, come on. What’s the big deal? When your brother comes over, you should be happy.”
The doorbell rang again.
Valery smiled with satisfaction.
“That must be my family.”
Svetlana entered with their two children, seven-year-old Artyom and four-year-old Masha. She looked tired after work but still managed a smile.
“Hi, Anna. Sorry we didn’t warn you. Valery said you were having a family dinner.”
“Come in, of course.”
Anna began taking out extra plates. There would not be enough chicken for everyone. She would have to prepare something else.
The children sat at the table and examined the food with interest. Masha reached for the grapes, while Artyom began building a tower out of pieces of cheese.
“Be careful with the food,” Svetlana warned them. “Don’t scatter it everywhere.”
“Let them eat,” Valery said with a dismissive wave. “They’re children.”
Anna sliced more bread, took out butter, and opened a jar of jam. There truly was not enough chicken, but she had no desire to start cooking another dish.
She was exhausted, and after the guests left, she would still have to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.
“Anna, could I have some water?” Svetlana asked.
“Of course.”
Anna filled a jug and placed glasses on the table.
“See?” Valery said to his wife. “My relatives know how to treat guests. They’ll always feed you and give you something to drink.”
Nikolai gave his brother a long look but said nothing.
Dinner continued in its usual way. Valery talked about his plans for the future, Svetlana discussed work, and the children repeatedly dropped or spilled things.
Anna kept getting up to fetch napkins, pour more tea, or bring something else from the kitchen.
Closer to nine o’clock, the guests finally began getting ready to leave. As Valery put on his jacket, he turned toward Anna.
“We’ll come again on Saturday, right? It’s been a long time since the whole family got together.”
“Hmm,” Anna replied vaguely.
“And make sure there’s more meat this time, not like before,” her brother demanded. “The children are growing. They need protein.”
Anna nodded automatically.
“All right.”
“Excellent!” Valery kissed her on the cheek. “See you soon, sis.”
The door closed behind them.
Anna leaned against it and let out a heavy sigh.
“Tired?” Nikolai asked as he gathered the dishes from the table.
“You know,” she said, “I work all day, come home, cook dinner, and then I have to prepare food for unexpected guests. On top of that, they tell me what I’m supposed to cook.”
“Valery has become completely shameless,” Nikolai agreed. “He used to call first, at least occasionally.”
“He has already come three times this week. Every time, he complains about the food.”
“What do you want to do?”
Anna thought for a moment as she wiped crumbs from the table.
“Maybe it’s time to close this free restaurant. I understand that he’s having a difficult time, but he doesn’t seem to understand that I get tired too. He walks in as though this is his own home, expects to be fed, and then criticizes what I serve.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We need to teach him a lesson. Maybe then he’ll understand that hospitality has limits.”
Nikolai smiled.
“And how exactly are you planning to teach him?”
“You’ll see,” Anna said mysteriously.
At half past six on Saturday, the familiar doorbell rang.
Anna opened the door. Valery stood outside with a grocery bag and his usual wide smile.
“Hi! I decided to come early and help you prepare everything.”
“Come in,” she said. “Where are you going in your outdoor shoes? Put on slippers. I just washed the floor.”
Valery entered the kitchen and stopped dead.
On the table stood a plate of hard-boiled eggs, a bowl of oatmeal, sliced apples, and a jug of fruit compote.
“What is this?” he asked in confusion.
“Dinner,” Anna replied calmly. “Please sit down.”
“Anna, I don’t understand. Where’s the meat? Where’s the normal food?”
“Valery, I’m on a diet. I’ve decided to take my health seriously. I no longer keep unhealthy food in the house because I don’t want to tempt myself.”
“What does Nikolai eat?”
“He eats at the cafeteria at work. On weekends, we go to the café downstairs. It’s inexpensive and the food is good.”
“Are you mocking me?” Valery’s face turned red. “We had an agreement!”
“What agreement?” Anna raised her eyebrows. “You said you were coming to visit, and I said all right. I never promised you anything else.”
“What nonsense!” Valery slammed his fist against the table. “You know perfectly well what I meant!”
“I do,” Anna said with a nod. “You meant that I should rush to the store, spend my own money, stand over the stove for half the day, and then listen to you complain about the meal.”
“But we’re family!”
“That’s exactly why I’m being honest with you.”
Anna sat down opposite him.
“Valery, I’m tired of this. I’m tired of your constant raids and your demands. I work, I get exhausted, and I have my own responsibilities. You come here as though you own the place and then tell me what I should cook.”
“So this is your way of getting rid of me?”
“Yes,” Anna answered simply. “My diet will last exactly as long as you remain unemployed and continue believing that your relatives are responsible for feeding you three times a week.”
The doorbell rang.
It was Svetlana with the children.
“Hello,” she said as she entered the kitchen. “Why is the table so… modest?”
“Anna is on a diet,” Valery explained darkly. “And apparently she has decided to make the entire family eat oatmeal.”
Svetlana looked at the table, then at Anna, and finally at her husband.
“I understand,” she said. “Children, we’re going home.”
“What do you mean, home?” Valery protested. “We just arrived!”
“Valery,” Svetlana said quietly but firmly, “we’re leaving. You and I need to talk.”
“Talk about what? They’re throwing us out!”
“That is exactly why we need to talk.”
Svetlana took the children by the hands.
“Anna, I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
“Svetlana,” Anna said, “you’re always welcome here. Let’s just arrange visits in advance, all right?”
“Of course.” Svetlana nodded. “Valery, let’s go.”
Valery slowly stood up from the table.
“So that’s how things are now…”
“That’s exactly how things are,” Anna confirmed. “Find a job, and everything can return to normal. We’ll have family gatherings on holidays, everyone will contribute, and visits will be planned in advance.”
Valery opened his mouth to reply, but Svetlana took his arm.
“Come on, Valery.”
After they left, Anna cleared away the eggs and oatmeal. Then she took the meat that had been marinating since morning out of the refrigerator and placed it in the oven.
Nikolai, who had remained silent through the entire confrontation, smiled.
“That was harsh.”
“But honest,” Anna replied. “I’m tired of pretending that I enjoy preparing meals every day for people who arrive without warning.”
“Do you think he understood?”
“Svetlana understood. She’ll explain it to him.”
Nikolai put his arms around his wife.
“You know, I liked it. Direct and clear.”
“I’m simply tired of always being convenient,” Anna said. “Being relatives doesn’t give someone the right to take advantage of you.”
“What if he gets offended?”
“Then he gets offended. I didn’t ask him to quit his job and turn our kitchen into his second home.”
Svetlana called on Sunday morning.
“Anna, can we talk?”
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry about yesterday. Valery and I talked all evening. He understands that he went too far. He is just going through a difficult period and has lost his sense of direction.”
“Svetlana, I understand him. But please understand me too. I work, I get tired, and it’s unpleasant when someone comes without warning and then tells me what I should cook.”
“I understand. We discussed everything. He has one interview tomorrow morning and another in the evening. He won’t come over without calling anymore.”
“Thank you. I don’t mind seeing you. I just want us to handle visits like civilized people.”
“Absolutely. And there’s something else. He wants to speak to you.”
“Put him on.”
“Anna,” Valery’s voice sounded unusually quiet. “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t realize how much I was taking advantage of your hospitality.”
“It’s all right, Valery. Let’s simply arrange things in advance from now on.”
“We will. And thank you for the lesson. Svetlana is right. I had become completely shameless.”
“Find a job and come visit us. I’ll prepare a table full of meat,” Anna said with a smile.
“I’ll definitely find one. Bye, sis.”
Anna ended the call and thought that sometimes honesty truly was better than politeness, especially when family boundaries were involved.
Two weeks later, Valery found a new job.
The following Saturday, he called Anna.
“Anna, may we come over tomorrow? Svetlana will make a salad, and I’ll buy meat for the barbecue.”
“Of course,” Anna replied. “We’ll be happy to see you.”
For the first time in a long while, she genuinely looked forward to spending time with her relatives.