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“Mom, please, no scenes. Dad is coming with Alina. She’s his family now. It’s your anniversary, you’re fifty. Behave your age — wisely and with dignity.” My twenty-eight-year-old son, Alexey, adjusted the knot of his tie and looked at me with mild condescension. “And so what if she’s younger?” Lyosha added when he saw I … Read more

“I can’t live with a pensioner anymore.” He said it without looking at me, staring down at the plate of cutlets instead. I had just placed the second one in front of him. He always ate two. Every Saturday. For thirty-two years. “Victor, what are you talking about?” “Us, Zoya. Or rather, the fact that … Read more

The bunch of keys landed on the small hallway cabinet with a dull metallic clatter. The cramped entryway smelled heavily of cooking fumes, damp wool, and stale cigarette smoke. From the room came the monotonous drone of the television and the steady crunching of snacks. Ksenia slipped the coat from her shoulders, still damp from … Read more

“Mom, Dad, Valera and Natasha are coming on Saturday. They’ll stay with us for a month.” Kostya said it casually. He was standing by the refrigerator, drinking kefir straight from the carton and scrolling through his phone, as if he had just mentioned the weather forecast. I was holding a plate. I placed it on … Read more

“Picked you up from the garbage, you dowryless little b*tch! Washed you, let you into an apartment, gave you a family name — and now you wave promissory notes in our faces?!” Raisa Stepanovna was not shouting. She was howling, and in the narrow notary’s office in central Bratsk, that sound felt almost physical, like … Read more

“A little more sauce wouldn’t have hurt. It’s a bit dry.” Pavel’s voice was even, without any obvious reproach, yet Marina still felt something tighten inside her. With his fork, he carefully pushed aside a piece of chicken breast, as if displaying its pale, dry texture as evidence. She answered quietly, without lifting her eyes … Read more

That day was supposed to be different. Sergey and I had planned a quiet weekend at the country house — grilling shashlik, digging around in the garden beds, and simply lying in the hammock doing absolutely nothing. But those plans fell apart the moment I stepped inside. As usual, the first thing I did was … Read more

“Where’s the box with the cables that was on the bottom shelf of the rack?” Andrey stood in the middle of the living room, hands planted on his hips like a prison guard who had discovered an escape tunnel. His eyes moved around the room, searching for the smallest sign of rebellion. Evgenia, sitting in … Read more

“Eat, Zhenya. The soup will get cold. Though, judging by everything, this whole house is about to go cold.” Natalya stood by the window with her arms crossed over her chest, staring at the gray nine-story apartment block across the yard. On the kitchen table, right in front of a bowl of borscht, lay a … Read more

“Are you kidding me, Andrey?!” Anzhela stood in the middle of the kitchen, phone in hand, pale as a sheet. “You transferred one hundred and fifty thousand to her?! To your MOTHER?!” Andrey sat at the table, poking at his cold soup with a spoon, pretending not to hear her. “Don’t start screeching in my … Read more