— Marin, I’m going to the Kopeykin’s. They asked me to help move some furniture, — Vasya reported to his wife as he pulled on his jeans, having just received a call from his longtime friend Ivan Kopeykin.
Ivan seemed not to care about the time — it was still very early on a weekend morning. But his furniture couldn’t wait. So Vasya, without even having breakfast, rushed to help his friend.
— Alright, say hi to them for me, — his wife replied sleepily and went back to sleep.
Vasya only returned in the evening. Tired and hungry.
— Didn’t they even feed you there? — Marina gasped, watching her husband devour macaroni with cheese.
— Marish, when would they have fed me? First, we moved the furniture, then I helped fix their electrical work. The previous specialists did such a mess that you wouldn’t figure it out without a bottle.
— Looks like you managed fine without a bottle, — Marina sniffed, but didn’t smell any alcohol on Vasya.
— There was no time to drink. After the electrical work, I helped Ivan hang a shelf in the bathroom, and then evening was already upon us, — Vasya said cheerfully. — I hurried home. Missed you!
— Did you say hi? — Marina stroked her husband’s head.
— Of course! The Kopeykins promised to visit us sometime, — Vasya set down his empty plate. — Ninka baked chicken today and promised to share the recipe.
— She could’ve at least fed you that chicken, — his wife shook her head.
— She said the bird wasn’t ready yet when I was leaving, — Vasya waved it off.
A week later the Kopeykins showed up at Vasya and Marina’s without warning.
— Hosts, welcome your guests! — cheerful and a little excited, Ivan and Nina appeared at the doorstep.
— Why do you look so pleased? — Marina and Vasya looked suspiciously at the Kopeykins, noticing their joyful mood.
— Oh! — Nina rolled her eyes mysteriously. — Let’s go to the kitchen, we’ll tell you everything! Put the kettle on. Get something for tea too, we’re broke right now.
Over tea, the guests shared joyful news:
— We bought a car! — Nina finally announced. — We put our last pennies into it. That’s why we’re out of money now. Look, it’s parked right outside!
Marina and Vasya rushed to the window. Near the entrance stood a brand-new foreign car, shining like the yolk of a raw egg.
— Wow! That’s impressive! — Vasya gave a thumbs up, happy for his friends. Now we can all go to the dacha together by car, instead of shaking in the commuter train and then walking two kilometers.
— Oh, I don’t know, — Nina made a worried face, — it has low clearance. Vanya, tell them!
— Well, if you don’t overload it too much, you can get there. But you’ll have to chip in for gas. You bought tickets for the train anyway, — Nina’s husband shrugged while popping the last cookie into his mouth.
After sitting a bit more, the guests got ready to leave.
— Oh, Vanya, can you give me a lift to the city center? You’re going that way, right? I want to visit my mom, — Marina suddenly remembered, to which Nina replied:
— Marish, we’d love to, but we’re going the other way today, right, Vanya?
Ivan looked at his wife in surprise: they had no other plans today except to brag about the car to friends. But seeing his wife’s wink, Vanya nodded.
— Well, I’ll get there myself, — Marina was a little upset.
Somewhere midweek, Marina couldn’t reach Ivan by phone. It was nearly midnight, and her husband still wasn’t home; his phone was out of reach.
She paced the apartment like a trapped lioness, thinking where her husband could be. Just as she was about to call the hospitals, she heard the front door open.
— Vasya! Where have you been? — she rushed to him, not hiding her worry. — I don’t know what to think anymore!
— Marish, sorry, I was at the Kopeykins. My phone died. I asked them to call you so you wouldn’t worry, but their phone plan is expensive for calls to other operators, — Vasya apologized, hugging Marina.
— What were you doing there? — she asked. — You have work tomorrow.
— Yeah, Vanya’s car was acting up. He asked me to check it out.
— But you’re not a mechanic! Why didn’t they take their old jalopy to a service? — Marina began to get angry.
— You know how expensive it is in repair shops! — Vasya’s eyes widened. — So we did it all for free.
— Did he at least give you a ride home? — his wife inquired.
— No, their daughter had some problem. Nina asked me to go home quickly. I took a taxi.
— I think they’re just using you, — Marina pondered, recalling all the situations involving that family. — And you’re such a sucker for it. Just wait, when you need help yourself, I doubt you’ll see them among the first to assist.
— You think badly of people, — Vasya shook his head. — We’re friends!
— Sure, sure, — Marina smirked. — We’ll see!
But Vasya was an optimist and believed in friendship. He kept helping Ivan and Nina, but they always somehow had urgent things to do. When Vasya asked Ivan to help bring tools to the dacha, Ivan declined:
— Vasya, no offense! I have a doctor’s appointment that can’t be canceled, sorry, friend!
Vasya would’ve believed that, but almost at the same time Nina was bragging to Marina on the phone that they and their kids were planning a car trip to the river.
— Maybe you misunderstood something? — Vasya frowned when his wife told him the interesting news.
— No, I understood perfectly, Vasya! And you just can’t get it! They use you like free Wi-Fi: you’re useful while you work, but once you disconnect, complaints start, just you wait!
Still, Vasya couldn’t believe his wife was right. But several more times urgent, indispensable things came up at the Kopeykins. Vasya managed, but it left a bad taste.
And then at the dacha, Vasya decided to do some cosmetic repairs. Nothing complicated, but moving the furniture alone was uncomfortable, and he wouldn’t let his wife do heavy work, so he called Ivan.
— Hi, Kopeykin! Listen, I need your help. I started a small repair at the dacha. Nothing serious. But the wardrobes and the chest of drawers are in the way. Come with Nina. Marishka will grill some shashlik, set the table, we’ll heat the sauna. You can relax a bit.
— Wow! — Nina’s voice sounded on the phone; Ivan had apparently put the call on speaker. — So, Vanya will be carrying heavy stuff for a piece of meat and an oak broom? This kind of work costs a lot! I didn’t expect you to be so stingy, Vasya. Find some suckers elsewhere!
— But I… — Vasya tried to remind her that he had helped them with much bigger problems than moving furniture, but Marina took the phone from him and ended the call.
— Well, now you get it? — she looked at her husband with sympathy, seeing his confusion.
— They said we’re mercenary cheapskates?! — he repeated, refusing to believe what he heard.
— I didn’t want to say it, but I told you so! — Marina sighed.
Vasya was downcast for a long time, but the work at the dacha distracted him, and the anger from the unfair accusations gave him strength, so the cosmetic repair smoothly turned into a major renovation. Three months later, the dacha looked more like a country house with an attic, terrace, and outbuilding.
No one expected that one day the Kopeykins would show up at the dacha uninvited, as if nothing happened.
— Hello! We were passing by our dacha, thought we’d stop by to say hi, — Ivan smiled like a Hollywood actor as he got out of the car. Nina followed.
— Show us what you’ve done here? — she smirked and, without waiting to be invited inside, entered herself. — Why so gloomy greeting? At least offer some tea.
Ivan and Nina walked around the house, looking into every corner, hiding neither admiration nor envy.
— Sorry, we weren’t expecting guests and are about to leave. Have you seen everything? — Marina didn’t even try to be polite.
— We did. Not bad, not bad, — Nina grimaced in a sarcastic smile, while Ivan silently looked away. He understood that such repairs alone, without Vasya, he could never manage, and he didn’t dare ask for help after what his wife had said.
The guests said goodbye and left empty-handed. At home, Nina complained all evening:
— Your friend turned out to be cunning: built himself such a repair, saying it would be light and cosmetic. I want one like that too! Our dacha looks more like a barn.
But Ivan just glared at her, and she understood from his look that she’d live in that barn forever.
Life teaches us not to help everyone indiscriminately, but to distinguish who really needs help and who just knows how to take it — because the true value of relationships is not in how many times you’ve reached out your hand, but in how many times your hand has been reached out to you in return.