Three hundred and eighty thousand!” Inessa slammed the bank statement onto the table, watching the white sheets scatter across the surface. “Rodion, where’s the money?!”
Her husband didn’t even bother to tear his eyes away from the TV screen, continuing to flip through channels.
“What money?” he muttered indifferently.
“The very money we’ve been saving for three years for the down payment! Yesterday there was four hundred and fifty, today—seventy!”
Rodion finally looked up and shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Oh, that… Mom and Zhanna asked for help. What am I, a monster?”
“Did you ask me? That’s our joint savings!”
“Why are you getting so worked up? I’ll pay it back.”
“When? How many years from now?” Inessa braced her hands on the table, leaning toward her husband. “Rodion, we agreed—no spending from that money without discussing it first! NONE!”
“Yeah, yeah, we agreed… But when your own mother asks, am I supposed to say no?”
“And when your wife works twelve hours a day for three years, that means nothing? That’s MY money too!”
Rodion winced and buried himself in the screen again.
“Don’t exaggerate. Just a regular job.”
Six months before this conversation, Inessa sat in the office of a travel agency, carefully calculating the commission from her latest tour package sales. The numbers in the spreadsheet were pleasing—the group turned out to be large and solvent.
Her colleague Tamara peeked around the computer monitor.
“Clacking away on the calculator again? Still saving for that dream apartment?”
“One more year, a year and a half at most, and we’ll have our own place,” Inessa smiled, setting down her pen. “Rodion’s trying too—he picks up weekend side jobs at the auto shop.”
“Lucky you with your husband. Mine just keeps making promises while nothing changes.”
“Yes, I’m lucky,” Inessa agreed, though a small inner voice whispered something uneasy.
Tamara pulled her chair closer.
“How much have you saved already, if it’s not a secret?”
“Four hundred and twenty thousand. We’re so close to the coveted five hundred.”
“Nice! And where do you keep it? In the bank?”
“Of course, in a time deposit. It accrues interest, even if it’s small.”
“Smart. The main thing is not to spend it prematurely on something silly.”
Inessa nodded, but said nothing about how, over the past month, Rodion had been complaining more and more about being tired and going to his side job less often.
That evening she found her husband on the couch in front of the TV. An action movie flickered on the screen.
“Rod’, you didn’t go to the shop today?” she asked, taking off her heels in the hallway.
“I’ll go tomorrow. My back hurts.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor? Get it checked?”
“Oh come on, it’ll pass on its own.” Rodion changed the channel. “Mom called, by the way. Zhanna needs money for makeup courses.”
Inessa froze, handbag in hand.
“How much?”
“Just thirty thousand. Peanuts.”
“Just?!” she couldn’t hold back. “Rodion, that’s my monthly bonus!”
“Don’t shout the whole house down. I’m not asking to take it from our savings. I’ll give it from my next paycheck.”
“And if your paycheck isn’t enough?”
“It’ll be enough, it’ll be enough. Don’t wind yourself up.”
Inessa went to the kitchen to heat dinner, but her appetite vanished. Unpleasant thoughts kept circling about how many similar requests had come from her husband’s relatives.
Two weeks later the situation repeated itself with depressing precision. Klavdiya Petrovna, Rodion’s mother, called during dinner.
“Hello, Mom?” Rodion put the phone on speaker as he kept eating. “Yeah, I’m listening… It’s leaking? Badly?… Fifteen thousand? Okay, I’ll bring it tomorrow.”
Inessa slowly set down her fork and looked at her husband.
“Rodion, we agreed—mortgage first, everything else later.”
“What, you want our neighbors to go complain to my mother? The radiator’s dripping, it’s old. You’re so heartless!”
“I’m not heartless,” Inessa tried to keep her voice calm. “But your mother has another son, Pavel, who lives in the next building. Why can’t he help?”
“Pasha’s unemployed, you know that.”
“Unemployed? At a time like this when everyone’s hiring?”
Rodion lifted his eyes from the plate.
“Listen, don’t start your interrogations. She’s my mother, I’ll help her, period.”
“And I’m your wife,” Inessa said quietly. “Does that mean anything?”
“Of course it does. But my mother’s radiator—”
“And our future?”
“There’ll be a future. We won’t fall apart over fifteen thousand.”
A month after that conversation, Leonid Markovich, Inessa’s boss, called her into his office. He sat behind a massive desk, shuffling documents.
“Inessa, have a seat. You did an excellent job with the group of Chinese tourists. The bonus will be solid—fifty thousand.”
“Thank you,” she said, genuinely glad.
“But I noticed a trend—you take all the overtime, work weekends. Don’t burn yourself out.”
“No, I’m fine. My husband and I are saving for an apartment; every kopeck counts.”
“Commendable, of course. Just remember health is worth more than any apartment.”
Inessa nodded, but thought to herself that without her overtime they’d never save enough—the husband “loaned” money to his relatives too often.
“Leonid Markovich, are there any other extra tasks? Maybe someone wants to take a vacation?”
The boss looked at her closely.
“There are, of course. But you already work a lot.”
“It’s okay, I can handle it.”
At home, she found her husband with his friend Viktor. The two were in the kitchen with bottles of beer, laughing loudly at some joke.
“Oh, Inessa’s here!” Viktor raised his bottle in greeting. “Join us!”
“Thanks, I’m tired,” she said, heading to the fridge for water.
“Rodion told me you two are saving for an apartment. Good for you—so goal-oriented. I just can’t seem to get myself together.”
“Because you put everything into cryptocurrency,” Rodion laughed. “Hoping to get rich in a day.”
“These are long-term investments! In a year or two I’ll be rolling in it, you’ll see!”
“Yeah, sure. How many times have you already ‘struck it rich’?”
Inessa escaped to the bedroom, unable to endure their endless talk about easy money. An hour later Viktor finally left, and Rodion came in:
“What are you sulking about?”
“I worked twelve hours today, Rodion. And you’re drinking beer with your buddy.”
“Sorry my friend dropped by. I can’t even relax now?”
“You can. I’d just prefer you relaxed after work, not instead of it.”
“Here we go again.”
“When’s the last time you went to the auto shop?”
Rodion turned toward the window.
“Last week.”
“Last week you were home with a hangover after Pavel’s birthday.”
“Enough with the control! If you don’t like it—get a divorce!”
Zhanna, Rodion’s sister, showed up a week later without warning. Inessa was making dinner when she barged into the apartment.
“Hi, dear sister-in-law! Is Rodik home?”
“On the couch,” Inessa answered curtly without turning from the stove.
“Rodik!” Zhanna went into the living room and plopped down beside her brother. “I need money. Urgently!”
“Again? Zhann, I just gave you money last week for those courses.”
“This is completely different! Can you imagine, there’s an amazing chance to buy professional cosmetics at a discount! You can’t miss an opportunity like this!”
“How much?” Rodion asked, resigned.
“Only fifty thousand! But it’s an investment in my future!”
“Fifty?!” Inessa couldn’t hold back and came out of the kitchen. “Zhanna, that’s insane!”
“No one asked you!” the sister-in-law snapped. “Rodik, please! I’ll get clients and pay it all back with interest!”
“Zhann, money’s tight right now…”
“It’s always tight with you!” she jumped up. “Saving for an apartment like misers, but you can’t help your own family!”
“Zhanna, we’re not misers,” Inessa tried to explain. “We’ve been putting away every ruble for three years.”
“Oh spare me! You both work, you’ve got tons of money, you’re just too stingy to share!”
“We’re not stingy. We’re planning our future.”
“What future? An apartment isn’t a future, it’s just greed!”
After she left, a heavy silence settled over the apartment. Rodion went out to smoke on the balcony, and Inessa returned to finish cooking dinner.
Klavdiya Petrovna called an hour later:
“Rodion, how can you refuse your own sister? She’s trying, she’s developing!”
“Mom, we really don’t have extra money right now.”
“Extra?” his mother’s voice turned piercing. “Money is ‘extra’ for your own sister? Inessa is turning you against us!”
“Mom, what does Inessa have to do with it—”
“She has everything to do with it! She got married and now thinks she can boss you around! Did you forget who bore you and raised you?”
Inessa listened from the kitchen. She had poured so much effort into these savings, worked herself ragged, and now she was being painted as a greedy egoist.
The next morning in the stairwell, Inessa ran into their neighbor Eduard. He was returning from a jog, his athletic gear showing the trim figure of a middle-aged man.
“Good morning, Inessa! How are you?” Eduard smiled warmly, pulling keys from his mailbox.
“Fine, thanks,” Inessa answered, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.
“I heard you’re saving for an apartment. Smart—prices just keep rising. I spent a long time saving up to expand my place myself.”
“Yes, we’re trying. Third year of saving every penny.”
“Admirable! I’m also looking to expand—eyeing a studio next door to combine with mine. By the way, I saw your husband at the bank on Tverskaya yesterday, sitting with a manager in the credit department. Guess you’re already arranging the mortgage?”
Inessa froze mid-step, her keys dropping.
“A loan?” she repeated, bending to pick them up. “Are you sure it was Rodion?”
“Of course! Tall guy, blue jacket. We even said hello. He was signing some documents. Maybe you’re already setting up the mortgage? If so, good for you!”
“Yeah… probably…” Inessa mumbled. “Sorry, I’m late for work.”
All the way to the office she replayed the neighbor’s words. Rodion at the bank? What loan could this be? They had agreed to save the down payment first and only then take out a mortgage.
All day she couldn’t focus. The numbers blurred, her thoughts circling back to the morning conversation.
“Inessa, you’re distracted today,” Tamara noted, coming into the office with a folder. “Everything okay?”
“Just a lot of work piled up,” Inessa waved her off, pretending to study a contract.
“Want to go to a café at lunch? Take your mind off things.”
“No, thanks. I’ll eat at home.”
“As you wish. But if you need anything—tell me,” Tamara said sympathetically and left.
That evening, as soon as she crossed the threshold, Inessa took out her phone and opened the bank app. Four hundred and fifty thousand rubles. Everything in place, to the kopeck. She breathed easier. So Eduard was mistaken, or Rodion had really just consulted about the mortgage.
“How are you, dear?” Rodion asked, coming out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck.
“Good. And you? Where were you today?”
“The usual—work, then I stopped by Mom’s. Why?”
“Just asking,” Inessa studied his face, but he seemed perfectly calm.
Two weeks passed. Rodion went to his side jobs even less, citing headaches or blood pressure issues. Inessa kept quiet, only worked more, taking extra orders to do at home.
On Friday evening her friend Alla called. They’d known each other since university and stayed close.
“Iness, let’s go to a café tomorrow? Haven’t seen you in ages! I’ve got so much news!”
“I can’t, I’m working. Took an extra assignment for the weekend.”
“On Saturday? You’re crazy! When do you rest?”
“I’ll rest when we buy the apartment. We need the money now.”
“I get it, of course… Listen, about Rodion— I saw him yesterday at the ‘Evropeyskiy’ mall with his mom and sister. They were carrying huge shopping bags. Zhanna had a new fur coat, and Klavdiya Petrovna was sparkling with jewelry.”
Inessa went still, pressing the phone to her ear.
“What? When was that?”
“Yesterday around three in the afternoon. Thursday. You didn’t know? They came out of a jewelry store, then went into ‘Tsvetnoy’. I wanted to say hi, but they hurried off.”
“I knew,” Inessa lied, a bad feeling rising. “I just forgot. It was Zhanna’s birthday.”
“Oh, I see! Well, let’s catch up next week then.”
Inessa hung up and sat on the couch. Yesterday Rodion had said he’d been at work all day, then went to see his friend Viktor to discuss a possible side gig. He hadn’t mentioned shopping with his family.
She picked up her phone to check the bank app, then closed it without opening. She was afraid to see what she suspected.
Monday morning, after Rodion left for work, Inessa finally checked the account. Seventy thousand rubles. She refreshed the app several times, thinking it was a glitch. But the number stayed the same.
“Three hundred and eighty thousand!” Half an hour later she stood in front of Rodion—she’d called and made him come home—holding the printed statement. “Where’s the money?!”
“What money?” Rodion took off his jacket, avoiding her eyes.
“Don’t pretend! The very money we’ve been saving for three years for the down payment! Yesterday there was four hundred and fifty, today—seventy!”
“Oh, that…” Rodion sat on the couch, rubbing the back of his head. “Mom and Zhanna asked for help. They needed it urgently. What am I, a monster? Say no to my own mother?”
“You took our joint money without asking?!” Inessa’s voice rose. “Rodion, do you understand what you’ve done?”
“Don’t yell at me! I said I’ll pay it back. Big deal, I borrowed it for a while.”
“When?! How?! Rodion, that’s three years of hard work! We denied ourselves everything!”
“Stop panicking! Mom’s fixing the roof at the dacha—she hired workers, bought materials. Zhanna needed to top up for professional development courses—otherwise she’ll get passed over at work. Family is more important than your mortgage plans!”
“My plans?!” Inessa couldn’t believe her ears. “We dreamed about this together! We saved together!”
“Sure, ‘together,’” Rodion got up and began pacing. “You saved, counted every kopeck, and I slaved away like a dog at two jobs!”
“You’ve hardly gone to your side jobs for a month! You say your health won’t allow it!”
“Because health really is more important than money! And all you think about is savings! You’ve turned our life into one long austerity!”
Inessa sank onto a chair, her hands trembling.
“Return the money, Rodion. RIGHT now.”
“I told you—I’ll return it! Not now, but I will!”
“When exactly?”
“Well… in a month or two. Maybe three.”
“NO. Return it now. Go to your mother and sister and get it back.”
“Are you out of your mind? How can I take it back from them? They’ve already spent it!”
“How did they spend three hundred and eighty thousand in one weekend?!” Inessa stood, crushing the statement in her fist.
“None of your business what on! I told you—roof, courses…”
“The roof and courses are fifty thousand max! Where’s the REST of the money?”
“Why are you on my case! They had other needs!”
“What needs?!”
“Don’t shout! Mom’s wanted to update the kitchen for a while, Zhanna needed her car repaired…”
“It’s mine! It’s my money too! I worked no less than you!”
“I’m sick of your damned apartment!” Rodion yelled. “Mom’s right—you’ve made me a slave with your endless plans! Save here, save there!”
The next day Inessa didn’t go to work. She called her boss, Leonid Markovich, and said she wasn’t feeling well. Her voice truly sounded ill.
Rodion left early in the morning without saying goodbye. Inessa spent the whole day at home, trying to gather her thoughts. He came back in the evening, unusually cheerful.
“Iness, I’ve fixed everything!” he announced, entering the apartment with a broad smile.
“Did you return the money?” she asked quietly.
“Even better! I took out a loan at the same bank and put the full amount back into our account!”
“WHAT?!” Inessa jumped up from the couch. “What loan?”
“Well, a consumer loan. At fifteen percent per year. But our savings are back in place! Problem solved!”
“Rodion, are you an IDIOT?”
“What?!” he was taken aback by her reaction.
“You took out a loan at fifteen percent to replace money you gave away to your family—for free?!”
“Well yeah, what’s the problem? The money’s back!”
“The problem is now we OWE the bank! And have to pay interest every month! Enormous interest!”
“So what, interest. The main thing is Mom and Zhanna are happy, their problems are solved, and you should be happy too—the money’s there!”
“You don’t understand!” Inessa clutched her head. “That doesn’t solve the PROBLEM! It creates a new, even BIGGER one!”
“You’re never satisfied! Whatever I do, it’s never right for you!”
Inessa walked silently into the bedroom and locked the door. She didn’t sleep all night, staring at the ceiling and thinking.
A month after the next blow-up, Rodion came home with the usual look of a man confident he’d get what he wanted. Inessa was making dinner when she heard his steps in the hallway.
“Iness, give me thirty thousand,” he said without preamble.
Inessa turned from the stove where cutlets were frying. In recent months she had learned to read his face—when he wanted money for himself and when for his mother. Today it was the first kind.
“Why do you need that much?” she asked, turning off the burner.
“The loan payment’s due. The bank already called.”
“Then pay it yourself. You’re the one who took the loan.”
Rodion went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
“I don’t have spare cash. I helped Mom last week. She ran out of meds—very expensive—and you blocked our account from me.”
“NO, Rodion. Not this time.”
He froze with the bottle in his hand.
“What do you mean, no? Iness, you realize if I don’t pay, there’ll be penalties and late fees. We’ll end up overpaying even more.”
“Exactly—you’ll overpay,” Inessa sat at the table, folding her hands in front of her. “We’ll both overpay on a loan you took out without my knowledge. For money that went to your mother, not to our apartment.”
“Oh, that’s it!” Rodion set the bottle down so hard the foam splashed out. “So my mother is nothing to you! Helping a relative is a crime now!”
“Helping isn’t a crime. Acting unilaterally with family money is.”
“Family money?!” he laughed bitterly. “You count every kopeck! You scrutinize every ruble I make under a magnifying glass!”
“Because those rubles are earned by hard work. Mine too.”
“Then live alone with your calculations!” Rodion headed to the door. “Live alone with your money if it’s more important than your husband!”
The door slammed. Inessa remained at the kitchen table, staring at the half-drunk beer and the cutlets growing cold on the stove.
Rodion didn’t come back that evening or the next day. On the third day the phone rang.
“Hello,” Inessa said wearily, seeing her mother-in-law’s number.
“You shameless woman! Because of you my son left home! Now he’s wandering who knows where!”
“Rodion left of his own accord, Klavdiya Petrovna. I didn’t throw him out.”
“Because you drove him to the edge! Miser! Calculating! You wouldn’t give your own husband money!”
Inessa took a deep breath, hung up, and turned off the phone entirely. The silence in the apartment sounded like music.
The divorce took two months. Rodion reappeared a week after his mother’s call—unshaven, bloodshot eyes, reeking of alcohol. He threatened to take half their savings, shouting that all property was marital.
“By all means,” Inessa replied calmly and laid a folder on the table. “Here are all the receipts, all statements from my accounts, and income certificates for the last three years. You can take half of what you earned—in fact, half of your losses. In that case, you owe me quite a lot. A very large amount.”
Rodion flipped through the documents and fell silent. His salary was a third of Inessa’s, and for the last year he’d worked sporadically.
Once all the formalities were settled, Grigory—her first husband—called unexpectedly.
“Inessa? It’s Grisha. Heard through mutual friends you’re getting divorced.”
“Hello, Grigory. Yes, already divorced.”
“Sorry to hear it. You must be having a hard time.”
Inessa sat in her apartment with a cup of tea and smiled.
“No, Grish. I don’t regret what happened.”
“I understand… Inessa, remember when you left me? You said I was irresponsible, that I couldn’t plan for the future?”
“I remember, of course.”
“Well, I want to say—you were absolutely right. It took me years to understand that. I changed, started a family, learned to be accountable.”
“I’m sincerely happy for you.”
“Iness…” there was a hopeful note in his voice. “Maybe we could meet sometime? Just to talk, reminisce. I could take you to dinner…”
“No, Grigory. Thanks for the offer, but no.”
“But why? You’re free now…”
“Goodbye.”
Inessa finally bought a new apartment—one-room, but in a good neighborhood. Tamara, her colleague and only close friend, helped with the move.
“How do you like the new place?” Tamara asked, arranging books on the shelves.
“Wonderful,” Inessa said, hanging her clothes in the wardrobe. “You know what’s best? No one spends my money without asking. No one comes home drunk. No one screams on the phone with their relatives.”
“Don’t you feel sorry for Rodion? You did spend five years together.”
Inessa paused, holding a wedding photo.
“I feel sorry for the Rodion I once fell in love with. But he’s been gone a long time. As for who’s left… No, Toma, I don’t feel sorry.”
“Where is he now?”
“Lives with his mother and sister in their two-room apartment. As far as I know, he’s paying the loan. Or Klavdiya Petrovna is helping him.”
Three months passed. Inessa baked a charlotte—just because she wanted something homey and cozy. She sat in her kitchen sipping tea.
Suddenly the phone rang. An unfamiliar number.
“Yes, hello.”
“Inessa? It’s Zhanna.”
“What do you want?” Inessa’s voice went dry.
“Listen… We’ve got a tough situation. Rodion’s in bad shape. He drinks every day, lost his job a month ago. Mom nags him from morning till night. He’s climbing the walls.”
“And what do you expect me to say?”
“Maybe you could talk to him? He still loves you, maybe he’ll listen…”
“No, Zhanna.”
“What do you mean, no?! Inessa, you’re not a stranger! He was your husband!”
“He was. Past tense—was. He’s not my husband, not my person.”
“You’re heartless!” Zhanna burst out. “A man’s drinking himself to death and you don’t care!”
“Yes, I don’t care. Rodion is a grown man; he makes his own choices. Goodbye.”
Inessa hung up and immediately blocked the number.
She stood, cut another slice of fragrant charlotte, and poured herself a second cup of tea. Outside, the sunset faded, tinting the sky soft pink. Life was gradually settling into place.
At the same time, in Klavdiya Petrovna’s apartment, Rodion sat at the kitchen table. His face had grown gaunt, eyes bloodshot, hands slightly trembling.
“Drunk yourself senseless again!” his mother shouted, waving a dish towel. “What a disgrace! The neighbors are already complaining!”
“Don’t yell, my head hurts,” Rodion mumbled.
“I won’t be quiet! It all started because of your ex-wife! You got divorced and went downhill!”
“Mom, it’s not about Inessa…”
“Shut up! Don’t you dare defend her!” Klavdiya Petrovna sat down across from her son. “You should’ve married a good girl—Svetlana Popova, for example. Remember how in love with you she was? She would’ve cherished you!”
Rodion raised his head. His eyes were cloudy.
“Svetka Popova got married two years ago. Already had a baby.”
“So what? She could have waited for you if you hadn’t gotten mixed up with that—”
Zhanna walked in wearing a robe and curlers.
“Rod’, can you give me money for a manicure?” she asked, sitting at the table.
“I don’t have any money,” her brother replied grimly.
“So where are we going to get it?” Zhanna frowned.
“That loan you took is hanging over us, I’m working part-time, and you’re unemployed!” Klavdiya Petrovna fell silent, finally realizing the scale of the problem: there was no money to pay the loan, the utilities were piling up, and her son had become a burden.
At that very moment Inessa received another bonus for a successfully organized corporate tour, was planning a vacation in Europe, and thinking about buying a car—life without Rodion and his clan turned out not only calmer, but far more prosperous.