“Lyosha, come in,” the man commanded, pushing his ex-wife away from the door. The woman was shocked! Not only did Arkady show up uninvited, but he also brought his stepson! “You’ll stay here a few days. Aunt Oksana is, of course, a difficult woman, but we don’t have many options. Don’t worry, she’ll feed you, give you drinks, and put you to bed.”
“So, I don’t understand, what’s going on here?” the woman finally snapped out of her initial stupor and started to act. “Why on earth did you bring yourself here, and drag your kid along? And what do you mean he’s going to stay here for a couple of days?”
“Listen, stop whining, don’t ruin my mood,” the man said irritably. “My wife is in the maternity hospital, I’m finally going to be a father! Of course, I’m going to be with her for this important event! Lyosha is only ten; you can’t leave him home alone, and we don’t have grandparents. So I decided he should stay with you. Besides, you’re on vacation anyway, got nothing better to do, so try being a mother.”
“Yeah, right, like I’ll run off! Take your kid and get out of here!”
Oksana didn’t understand what was happening in her apartment. Was this some cruel prank, or had her ex really decided to dump the kid on her for a while? What kind of shameless person does that? She might have understood if the divorce had been peaceful, if they’d remained friends. But no! The divorce was settled in court, and at the hearing Arkady did nothing but smear her with mud, accusing her of being unable to give him a child, calling her an unfit woman… Does he really think Oksana will agree to babysit a complete stranger’s child?
“Well, I’ve made my decision — the boy will live with you. Don’t worry, it’s only for three or four days,” the man added mockingly, “And since you’re having money troubles, I’ll pay you for that time. Say thank you, okay?”
The woman was at a loss for words to describe such audacity! She just stood blinking, watching the man say goodbye to his stepson.
“Listen. Don’t expect any food she’s cooked, it’s disgusting. So he should order normal food. Got it?” Arkady turned to his ex. “Don’t poison my child with her inedible cooking! I’ve already made orders; a courier will bring proper food.”
“Listen, I wasn’t joking when I said I won’t tolerate this. Get out!”
“Before bed, you’ll let him play on the computer for a couple of hours,” the man acted like he didn’t hear Oksana. Or maybe he simply didn’t take her seriously. “And remember, you’re responsible for him! Okay, Lyosha, I’m off. As soon as things clear up, I’ll call you.”
The woman and the boy watched as the happy “almost father” hurried downstairs. Lyosha frowned displeased; he really didn’t like the idea of spending several days in this old apartment. Probably no air conditioning here!
“Well, where else can I go?” the boy wrinkled his nose in disdain. “I’m not thrilled either, but fine, I’ll live in this dump for a few days. But I demand respect! I want a proper room with a big bed and…”
“Stay here and don’t move from your place,” Oksana said through gritted teeth as she grabbed her phone. “If Arkasha thinks I’ll meekly agree to his demands, he’s deeply mistaken!”
Dump… How dare this kid say anything bad about her apartment? She should be the one living in that house now! Not Arkady with his new family! After all, she invested a lot of money in it, but unfortunately, she had no receipts left, so she couldn’t prove anything in court. All their former friends sided with Arkady, shaking their heads saying, “No, no, no, all the money belonged to the man!”
Initially, that house was a total disappointment. It needed a major renovation, and Oksana put her heart into turning the ugly place into a real gem! Arkady promised he’d register half the house to her. But, of course, he didn’t keep his word, and she ended up with nothing.
Oksana had no intention of dealing with the boy. At first glance, he was an extremely spoiled and capricious child. Even if he had been the most obedient and quiet, she still wouldn’t take on that responsibility! Arkady’s parents lived far away and clearly wouldn’t be able to come for their grandson (though they didn’t even consider him their grandson, as he wasn’t related by blood), and Oksana didn’t know Lena’s relatives at all. So only one option remained where the boy could be sent.
“Hello, police?” Lyosha’s eyes widened like coins, as if he realized where this was going. “Come quickly, someone dumped a kid on me… Age? Ten years old. This boy… how to say? He’s my ex-stepfather’s stepson. He brought the kid with his things to my apartment and left. I don’t even know what to do, I have nothing to do with this child!”
While the woman listened to the dispatcher’s instructions, she watched with undisguised satisfaction the panic spreading across the boy’s face. He called her apartment a dump!
“Yes, yes, I’ll wait. I hope someone from social services will come too, I don’t want problems later.”
“Hey, what are you doing?” Lyosha almost squealed, not waiting for Oksana to hang up. “What police, what social services? I’m just staying with you for a couple of days! Dad was right, you’re terrible!”
“You can tell all this to the police and the nice social worker,” Oksana smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, they won’t send you to an orphanage. They’ll find your dad quickly and make him take responsibility. There’s only one maternity hospital in our city; I’ll give them his name. Looks like you’ll spend a couple of hours in the children’s room.”
“I don’t want to. You have no right to treat me like this! I’m a kid! This is cruel treatment of children!”
“I’m not your parent or relative. I wasn’t hired to watch you. I’m not obliged to babysit. And Arkasha will think twice next time before doing such stupid things! I get it, he was ecstatic, but bringing his son to me? To me, whom he left penniless in the divorce? Did he really think I would happily agree to this?”
They waited about fifteen minutes for the police. Lyosha kept trying to jump up and run somewhere, but careful Oksana locked the door and didn’t let him out. What if he ran off? Then she’d have to answer? No way, he’ll stay here on that soft ottoman.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Oksana smiled kindly at the social worker. “Here’s the boy and his things. His father’s name is Arkady Viktorovich Bogdanov, apparently he should be at the maternity hospital now. His new wife is giving birth, and he insisted on being there.”
“Doesn’t the boy have any other relatives to trust him with? An ex-wife is a very strange choice!” Even the officials were surprised why the boy was brought to Oksana.
“I can’t answer that; I simply don’t know! Arkady’s relatives live in another city, and about his new wife…” The woman shrugged. She wasn’t lying; she’d seen that Lena only once, during the divorce hearing.
“All right, thank you for reporting, we’ll figure everything out.”
The officers left, but they practically had to drag Lyosha along. He resisted fiercely and didn’t want to go with the police. The boy screamed, demanded they let him go, pulling with his hands!
A neighbor peeked out at the noise and looked very disapprovingly at Oksana.
“Why treat the child like that? Was it so hard to watch the boy?” the old woman complained.
“And who is he to me? Why should I take responsibility for a stranger’s child? I’m not his mom or nanny,” Oksana smiled bitterly. “From my ex-husband’s side, this was just mockery. He wanted to hurt me worse. Arkady knows I can’t have kids myself, and yet he brings his son to me…”
“But the boy is not to blame!”
“He won’t suffer.”
The woman went into the apartment and closed the door, not letting the nosy neighbor continue the unpleasant topic. Then Oksana decided to send a short message to her ex-husband. Let him prepare for a visit from the authorities…