— Katya, did Sasha already tell you? — the mother-in-law rattled on. — Look! There will be forty people. So we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll come early, at six in the evening the day before.
— What? At night? — the daughter-in-law smirked. — No, I didn’t sign up for that.
— Just wait. I’m not done yet. I sent Sasha the grocery list; he promised to buy everything.
Sasha always helped his older sister Veronika. By the time she was thirty, she had married twice and divorced twice, and each time the husbands turned out to be at fault — “bad luck with men.” Their mother, Anastasia Grigorievna, had instilled in Sasha since childhood:
— You have to help your sister.
And Sasha helped. Sometimes with money when Veronika was “temporarily” unemployed, sometimes with repairs in her rented apartment, sometimes with endless moves of her belongings after yet another divorce.
Then he got married.
Katya, his wife, tolerated it at first. But when Veronika asked for the fifth time in a year to “borrow” their car for a couple of days because she was “let down again,” Katya gently but firmly said:
— Sasha, maybe enough already? We need your car this weekend too. I thought we had plans…
— Yeah? What’s the problem? Can’t you walk?
— No. Walking to my parents’ dacha is impossible. They gathered two buckets of cucumbers for us. I thought you heard me when I said this.
— Yeah… I sort of heard, but you understand, Sveta has urgent circumstances.
— What urgent circumstances does she have again?
— I’m not exactly sure, — Alexander hesitated, — but she needs it more.
— No, Sasha. Not this time! Either you refuse your sister, or you buy me a car. I’m tired of taking the trolleybus when my husband could drive me where I need to go.
For the first time, Sasha thought seriously and wanted to call his sister to refuse, but Anastasia Grigorievna quickly brought everything back to normal:
— What, you’ll abandon your sister because of your wife? She’s alone! Who will help her besides you?
And Sasha helped again, despite arguments with his wife. One time they didn’t speak for several days, and Sasha couldn’t take it:
— Why are you silent?! Are you upset?
— Really? It took you three days to realize I’m upset? — Katya was indignant.
— I just don’t understand. About what exactly?
His wife snorted in disbelief:
— Really? You don’t understand? Your little sister took you for the whole weekend because she needed to go to a friend’s countryside house. I thought you’d just take her there, but in the end, you stayed two days with her. Doesn’t that bother you?
— Why should it bother me? We had some drinks. Her ex-husband was there, and I’m on good terms with him. We had to celebrate that meeting somehow. What, would I have looked like a fool leaving? That wouldn’t be nice.
— You could’ve at least called.
— You could’ve called too, — Alexander retorted.
— I did, but your phone was off. Can you imagine? What was I supposed to think? I was nervous, not even knowing where my husband was. And he just decided to take a break from me, — Katya was angry.
— Don’t make things up, — the husband waved it off and motioned that someone was calling.
Alexander didn’t answer until he went out to the balcony. He knew well his wife wouldn’t approve of his talks with his sister.
— Hi, bro! — Veronika chirped loudly on the phone. — I have my anniversary in two weeks! Thirty years! You get it, right?
Sasha cautiously glanced at Katya, who was just serving soup onto plates.
— So… what do you want? — he asked.
— How do you understand me right away?! — Veronika laughed. — I want to celebrate it in your apartment! Your living room is big. My rented place is too cramped, and the landlady would complain, and a restaurant is expensive.
— Maybe at a café? I’ll add as much as you need.
— Are you crazy?! — Veronika exclaimed. — It’s an anniversary! Do you want me to pay for renting a hall when you have your own apartment? And anyway, you’d have to add money. I’m not a millionaire’s daughter.
— Let me talk to Katya first. It’s her apartment; maybe she has plans.
— Too late! — her sister interrupted. — I’ve already told everyone the party will be at your place. Clear the apartment for the whole day, okay? Mom said she’ll prepare everything.
Sasha sighed, covering his eyes with his hand. While trying to figure out how to turn the situation to his advantage, his phone buzzed again. This time, a message from his mother.
“Veronika asked me to make a menu. Here’s the list of dishes. We’ll also need to buy groceries. Tell Katya to help. Help with cooking wouldn’t hurt either.”
Meanwhile, Katya, unaware of Veronika’s upcoming anniversary, lounged in an armchair with her phone. She wanted to watch her favorite series. When Alexander entered the room, lowering his eyes, she immediately understood everything.
— So, what now? — she asked calmly, pausing her phone.
— Katya, listen… Veronika… She has an anniversary, you know. Thirty years. You know… It’s a milestone. She wants to celebrate.
Katya lifted her head.
— Then let her celebrate. Are we forbidding her?
Sasha scratched his head.
— That’s not the point. She wants to celebrate at our place.
— What?! — Katya raised herself in shock. — Wait. In our apartment?
— Yes, but just for one evening. She said a restaurant is too expensive, and her place is cramped…
— And you? You agreed?
— I said I’d talk to you! But… Veronika already invited everyone. And mom is making the menu…
Katya closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
— Sasha. Tell me, are you really an adult? Or just a middleman between Veronika and her wishes?
— What are you starting?
— Me? — Katya pointed ironically at the phone. — Doesn’t it bother you that no one bothered to ask me directly? This is my apartment, not a throughway for relatives with ambitions. Veronika wants to celebrate her anniversary in my home, I have to cook for her, help your mom, and not even be informed?!
At that moment Katya’s phone rang.
— Oh, here’s the cherry on top, — Katya said, — Your mom, — she waved the phone in front of her husband.
— Katya, did Sasha already tell you? — the mother-in-law rattled on. — Look! There will be forty people. So we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll come early, at six the evening before.
— What? At night? — the daughter-in-law smirked. — No, I didn’t sign up for that.
— Just wait. I’m not done yet. I sent Sasha the grocery list; he promised to buy everything.
— Suppose so… — Katya chuckled. — And money? Where are we supposed to get so much money?
— Sasha promised to help, — Tamara Vladimirovna answered shortly.
— Oh, I see. Not only do you want to turn my apartment into a restaurant, but we also have to pay for the banquet? — Katya couldn’t hold back anymore.
— Is Veronika nobody to you? Is it really so hard to help for one day, to hang out in the kitchen, cut some salads… You’re the lady of the house!
— Tamara Vladimirovna, — Katya interrupted her mother-in-law, — I just found out about the party. I did not give permission for Veronika’s birthday to be celebrated in my apartment.
— Why do you keep saying “my apartment”? You and Sasha are husband and wife. So everything is shared! — the mother-in-law snapped.
— Oh really? If the apartment belonged to Sasha, you wouldn’t say that. In that case, I’d just be a freeloader.
— Don’t talk nonsense. That’s it, conversation over. By Friday, all necessary groceries must be bought, — Tamara Vladimirovna said and hung up.
— What was that? — Katya asked her husband after hearing the short dial tone.
— Stop acting like someone special! — Sasha finally spoke up. — Everyone told you already that you’re wrong. Admit your mistake and stop resisting.
Katya was shocked by her husband’s words. She stood, went to the closet, and silently took out a large sports bag. Then she returned to the bedroom, opened the dresser, and monotonously began folding his t-shirts and jeans inside. Sasha meanwhile considered himself the winner of the situation.
He noisily opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of beer, slammed the door, and went to the living room, sitting down in front of the TV as if nothing had happened.
He thought Katya would just “cool off” and everything would go back to normal. A little grumbling, a bit of complaining — then she would calm down. Sasha even turned on the football game, expecting Katya to come into the room and call him for dinner. But he was wrong.
Half an hour later, Katya stood in the hallway with a bag in one hand and next to it, the sports bag, stuffed full of her husband’s clothes. Sasha came out of the living room to go back to the fridge but noticed his wife in the hallway.
— What is this? — he muttered. — What kind of circus have you put on?
Katya looked at him with dislike.
— This is not a circus, Sasha. This is the end. I’m no longer going to be a shadow in your life, a servant in my own apartment, and a backdrop for your mother’s and sister’s endless whims. If you want to be a good brother and son — fine. Go back to your mom. Prepare the anniversary with her. I’m sure she’ll gladly give you a corner in her living room.
— Are you serious? — he stepped toward her. — I’m not going back.
— Absolutely serious. — Katya nodded. — I don’t want you back. I tolerated so much that now I even have questions about myself. But enough is enough. If you haven’t learned to respect me in three years — it won’t get better.
— Katya… you can’t just ruin everything like that! In one moment!
— You can’t ruin what has already collapsed.
Sasha smirked, still not understanding that his wife had made her final decision.
— And yes, — Katya added, — all your shirts and jeans are here. Don’t thank me. Leave right now.
He tried to say something, but Katya opened the front door. Sasha stood there, his face flushed with anger. His cheeks burned, lips pressed tightly. He still hoped Katya would give in, but her total calm annoyed him.
— What an idiot! — he spat. — You think you’ll find someone better? People like me are nowhere to be found!
Katya smirked and took a step back:
— People like you really can’t be found. And thank God.
— You’ll regret it, got it?! — Sasha shouted, grabbing the bag. — You’ll crawl back on your knees when you realize no one will even want to talk to you! Without me, you’re nobody!
— If “nobody” is a person who lives in their own apartment, works, doesn’t serve adult relatives of her husband, and doesn’t tolerate rudeness, then I like being “nobody” very much.
Sasha left, and Katya stayed alone in the silence. She sighed heavily, went to the window, drew the curtain aside, and watched as her ex-husband got into a taxi, pushing the bag with his foot.
Several months passed.
The divorce process was unpleasant. Sasha tried to portray Katya as a greedy, mercenary woman. The main issue was the dispute over the car bought during the marriage. He claimed he paid for it all himself, and Katya allegedly just “drove it.”
— Judge, I paid the money, everything was registered in my name! — he confidently said in court. — My wife didn’t contribute a penny!
Katya, coldly flipping through the folder, laid out bank statements: transfers, copies of receipts. She even found the advance payment agreement with her signature.
— I don’t claim his share. But I’m not giving up mine either, — Katya said calmly.
The court sided with justice.
Sasha didn’t like it. The car was registered in his name and he almost considered it his. Now he had to sell it and split the proceeds. He left the courtroom with a face twisted in anger.
At home, instead of support, he was met with a barrage of accusations.
— What kind of fool are you? — Tamara Vladimirovna shouted. — You gave her everything quietly! The car! The apartment! You couldn’t even hire a decent lawyer!
Besides all that, Sasha took out a bank loan to pay for his sister’s anniversary at a restaurant because he “messed up with the apartment.” Now Sasha had a separate cozy corner with a cot in Tamara Vladimirovna’s apartment.
Meanwhile, Katya for the first time in a long time slept peacefully. She decided she was still young to cling to someone like Sasha. There are plenty of worthy men around; the main thing is to understand who is who in time.