Family is sacred. People usually say that phrase with such reverence, as if it were a reinforced-concrete excuse for any kind of cruelty. For a long time, I believed it too. I believed that for the sake of those famous “blood ties,” you had to endure, smooth things over, and tighten your belt. But with … Read more
“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