“Why don’t you go to hell, along with your relatives! And don’t expect any registration from me!” the wife declared
— Go to hell! — Larisa threw the passport straight into her husband’s face. — And your mother can go with you! Take your relatives too! And don’t expect any residence registration from me!
Yefim picked the document up from the floor and carefully wiped the cover with his sleeve. His movements were slow, as if a wound-up mechanism had malfunctioned. Behind his wife stood Tatyana Ivanovna — the very mother-in-law who had caused the whole scandal.
— Lara, come on… — Yefim began, but his wife cut him off sharply.
— What, come on?! — Larisa’s eyes burned as though a fire had been lit inside her. — Twenty years! I have tolerated this… this… — she pointed at her mother-in-law, — for twenty years! And now you want to register her in my apartment too!
Tatyana Ivanovna pressed her lips into a thin line. A woman who had spent her whole life giving orders — first at school, then at home — now stood there like a guilty schoolgirl. But the spark in her eyes had not gone out.
— In our apartment, — Yefim corrected quietly.
— Mine! — Larisa barked. — It was bought with my money! My night shifts at the hospital, my duty shifts! And what about you? Just an attachment to your mother!
The words hit exactly where it hurt. Yefim clenched his fists but said nothing. What could he say? Larisa was telling the truth. A nurse in intensive care — not an easy job, and the salary… Well, in the nineties everyone survived however they could.
— Larisa, dear, — Tatyana Ivanovna finally spoke, her voice thick like honey, but with bitterness underneath, — it’s only temporary. Just until I sort out my housing situation…
— Temporary?! — Larisa burst out laughing, but it was an ugly, hysterical laugh. — Like your son is temporarily living with me? We got married in 1985! And everything is temporary, temporary…
She paced around the kitchen, her heels tapping sharply and nervously on the linoleum. The apartment was small, a two-room place in a panel building, but cozy — Larisa knew how to create warmth out of nothing. Floral curtains, a ficus on the windowsill, embroidered napkins on the table. All of it was her work, her care.
— Do you know what your dear mother told me yesterday? — Larisa stopped in the middle of the kitchen and put her hands on her hips. — That apparently I’m a bad housewife! That the soup was too salty, that the house wasn’t clean enough!
— Mom… — Yefim began, but his mother interrupted him.
— I only wanted to help! — Tatyana Ivanovna protested. — To give advice on how to do things better…
— You can shove your advice… — Larisa started, but then the doorbell rang in the hallway.
All three froze. Who could it be at half past six in the evening?
— It’s Aunt Katya, — Yefim muttered, glancing at the clock. — She said she’d stop by…
— Another one! — Larisa howled. — Your relatives are rushing here like there’s a fire! What is this, some kind of tribal gathering?
The bell rang again, more insistently.
— Yefimka, open up, it’s me! — a familiar voice came from behind the door.
Aunt Katya was quite a woman — large, loud, with the manners of a market vendor. The family feared her a little, but respected her. She could give practical advice, and she could also knock sense into someone if needed.
Yefim went to open the door, while Larisa remained standing in the middle of the kitchen as if preparing for battle. Tatyana Ivanovna pressed herself into the corner, sensing that things were about to get very heated.
— Oh my, what is going on here? — Aunt Katya’s booming voice rang out from the hallway. — The whole stairwell can hear you! Larisa, sweetheart, why are you shouting?
She barged into the kitchen with a heavy bag in her hands, her sharp eyes immediately assessing everything. Yefim trailed after her, guilty and confused.
— Ah, Tanka, — she nodded to the mother-in-law. — You’re here too. What a gathering…
— Katerina Andreevna, — Tatyana Ivanovna bowed slightly. Family hierarchy was observed — Aunt Katya was older both in age and status.
— So what’s happening here? — Aunt Katya asked, dropping onto a chair. The chair creaked under her weight. — Yefimka, put the kettle on. We’ll talk like human beings.
— No tea! — Larisa snapped. — Everything has already been decided! Let your Tatyana Ivanovna find another place to register herself!
Aunt Katya slowly looked over all three of them. Yefim stood shifting from one foot to the other, Tatyana Ivanovna had curled into herself, and Larisa was steaming with anger like an overheated samovar.
— Hmm, — Aunt Katya drawled. — Interesting. All right, tell me everything from the beginning. But no shouting. And you, Larisa, sit down. No need to jump around like you’re surrounded by wolves.
Larisa wanted to snap back, but something in Aunt Katya’s tone made her sink onto a chair. Maybe exhaustion had taken over, or maybe it was simply habit — women like that could put you in your place with one look when you were a child.
— Tanka, — Aunt Katya addressed the mother-in-law, — let’s start with you. What happened?
Tatyana Ivanovna fidgeted and adjusted her glasses.
— Well… I’m having housing problems. I had to sell my apartment, and I haven’t found a new one yet. I thought I could stay with the children temporarily…
— I see, — Aunt Katya said slowly. — And you, Larisa?
— What about me? — Larisa exploded again. — I’ve lived with her in the same family for twenty years! For twenty years I’ve had to listen to how I do everything wrong! And now they want to register her in my home too!
— In our home, — Yefim repeated stubbornly.
— Shut up! — Larisa barked at him. — You keep quiet! Your mother calls, and you run! But when it comes to saying something to your wife, your tongue dries up!
Yefim turned red, but remained silent. Aunt Katya listened carefully, shaking her head.
— I see, — she finally said. — The matter is clear, which means the matter is murky. Yefimka, what do you have to say?
Yefim lifted his head, looked at his wife, then at his mother, then at his aunt.
— I… I want everyone to be happy, — he muttered.
— Oh dear, — Aunt Katya shook her head. — A diplomat. Everyone happy… And the fact that your wife is fighting with the last of her strength — does that not concern you?
— How could it not concern me?! — Yefim flared up. — Of course it does!
— Then why are you silent like a fish on ice? — Aunt Katya pressed on. — Your mother has driven your wife to the brink, and what do you do? Stand aside?
Larisa watched the scene in amazement. For the first time in all these years, someone from Yefim’s family had taken her side. She could hardly believe her ears.
— Katya, you’re wrong, — Tatyana Ivanovna spoke up. — I didn’t mean any harm…
— Didn’t mean any harm?! — Aunt Katya snorted. — Then what did you mean? Tanka, you’re an intelligent woman, you taught children your whole life. Don’t you understand that in someone else’s home you need to behave more modestly?
Tatyana Ivanovna pressed her lips together. She clearly did not like being scolded, especially in front of her daughter-in-law.
— Larisa herself… — she began.
— Larisa what? — Aunt Katya asked sharply. — Larisa is bad? Larisa doesn’t cook right? Doesn’t clean right? Tell me, dear, who bought this apartment? Who has scrubbed these floors for twenty years?
Silence fell. Only the ticking of the wall clock could be heard, and somewhere at the neighbors’ place, a television was playing.
Larisa felt something shift inside her. For the first time in many long years, someone had said aloud what she had thought but had never dared to voice. Someone had stood up for her.
— And in general, — Aunt Katya continued, — what kind of habit is this, dragging your belongings to your children’s place? Everyone has their own family, their own life.
— But I’m Yefim’s mother! — Tatyana Ivanovna could not hold back.
— So what? — Aunt Katya did not back down. — Being a mother is not a reason to hang around someone’s neck forever. Your son is grown, he has his own family. Live separately and be happy.
Yefim sat with his eyes lowered. No one knew what he was thinking, but he looked completely crushed.
— Here’s what we’ll do, — Aunt Katya said decisively. — Let’s sort this out without emotions. Tanka, you need somewhere to live?
— Well… yes.
— Then start looking. Seriously. Not just talking. And while you’re looking, you can stay with me.
— With you? — Tatyana Ivanovna was surprised.
— Yes, with me. I have a free room, there’s enough space. But one condition — no complaints about Larisa. None at all. Understood?
Larisa looked at Aunt Katya as if she were a saving angel. Could it really be resolved so simply?
— And Yefim? — Tatyana Ivanovna asked, looking at her son.
Yefim raised his head. There was something new in his eyes — either determination or despair.
— Mom, — he said quietly, — Aunt Katya is right. It’s time for all of us… it’s time to live separately.
Tatyana Ivanovna turned pale.
— Yefim! I’m your mother!
— And precisely because of that, — he suddenly said firmly, — I want you to be happy. But you’re not happy here. Larisa isn’t happy. And neither am I.
Larisa stared at her husband. Lord, who was speaking? Her Yefim, who for twenty years could not say a word against his mother?
— So that’s settled, — Aunt Katya concluded. — Tanka moves in with me and looks for a place of her own. And you two fix your family life here. And I don’t want to hear scandals like this again!
She stood up and picked up her bag.
— Tanka, get your things. Yefimka, help your mother carry them.
— Wait, — Larisa called after her. — But… why are you doing this?
Aunt Katya turned around and smirked.
— Because families must not be destroyed. But whatever destroys them has to be removed. Even if it’s your own mother.
She headed toward the exit, but stopped at the doorway.
— And one more thing, Larisa. You were right to rebel. Only a little late. You should have done it ten years ago.
When everyone left, Larisa remained alone in the kitchen. She sat at the table and lowered her head onto her hands. Silence. Real silence, which had not existed for… how many years now?
And yet everything was only beginning…
Three days passed
Three days of blessed silence, the kind Larisa had not remembered for fifteen years. Yefim moved around quieter than water and lower than grass — either tortured by guilt or simply unsure how to behave without his mother’s instructions.
On the morning of the fourth day, Aunt Katya’s neighbor called — Baba Nyura.
— Larisa, dear, — her voice was anxious, — do you know where your mother-in-law is? Katya was taken to the hospital yesterday with a heart attack, and Tatyana Ivanovna has vanished without a trace.
Everything inside Larisa went cold.
— What do you mean, a heart attack? Is it serious?
— Serious. She’s in intensive care. And your mother-in-law left the morning before yesterday and never came back. Took all her things too, didn’t even leave a note.
Larisa hung up and stared at the wall. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
— Yefim! — she shouted to her husband in the living room. — Come here!
Yefim dragged himself into the kitchen, looking guilty as always these past few days.
— Your mother has disappeared, — Larisa said shortly. — And Aunt Katya is in the hospital with a heart attack.
Yefim turned pale.
— What do you mean, disappeared?
— Exactly that. She left and never came back. Took all her things.
— Maybe she found an apartment? — Yefim suggested uncertainly.
— Really? — Larisa snorted. — Found an apartment and moved in within three days? In our times? Yefim, are you completely stupid, or just pretending?
She grabbed the phone and dialed Tatyana Ivanovna’s number. Long rings, then voicemail.
— Tatyana Ivanovna, this is Larisa. Call back immediately!
But there was no call that day. Nor the next.
— You know what, — Larisa said to Yefim over dinner, — we’re going to the hospital to see your aunt. Maybe she knows something.
Katerina Andreevna was lying in the cardiology department, connected to some kind of machine. She looked terrible — gray, gaunt cheeks, but her eyes were still alive.
— Oh, my children, — she whispered when she saw them. — You came…
— Aunt Katya, how are you? — Larisa leaned over her.
— Still alive for now. Listen, Larisa, about that Tanka of yours… — she tried to sit up, but did not have the strength. — She was acting very strangely. On the very first day, she started asking me for money. For medicine, she said.
— For medicine? — Yefim was surprised. — Does she have health problems?
— What problems! — Aunt Katya waved a hand. — She’s healthy as a horse. And she was asking for serious money — twenty thousand.
Larisa and Yefim exchanged glances.
— And also, — Aunt Katya continued, — she kept asking about your apartment. How much it was worth, how it was registered, who the owner was…
— Why? — Yefim asked blankly.
— That’s what I wanted to know too. But she moved out early the morning before yesterday. Said urgent matters had come up.
— What matters? — Larisa felt everything inside her tighten with a bad premonition.
— She didn’t say. Only when she was leaving, she was talking to someone on the phone. I heard a bit of it: “Everything is ready, the documents are in order, tomorrow we file.”
— What documents? — Yefim whispered.
Aunt Katya closed her eyes tiredly.
— I don’t know, dear. But something tells me this won’t end well.
The next day, Larisa took a day off and went to the public services center. Her soul was uneasy, and the feeling was so foul that she wanted to run wherever her eyes could see.
She stood in line at the window for two hours. Finally, her turn came.
— I need to know whether any documents have been filed regarding my apartment, — she said to the girl behind the glass and handed over her passport.
The girl clicked around on the computer and frowned.
— There is an application. Filed yesterday.
— What application? — Larisa’s throat went dry.
— For recognition of property rights. From Polyakova Tatyana Ivanovna. She states that she is the actual owner of the apartment because…
Larisa heard nothing after that. Her ears began to roar, her vision blurred. Lord, what was this?
— Miss, — she barely managed to say, — may I see the documents?
— Yes. Please wait, I’ll bring them now.
Ten minutes later, Larisa was holding copies of the documents in her hands. And what she saw there exceeded her worst expectations.
Tatyana Ivanovna claimed that the apartment had been bought with her money and had only been registered in Larisa’s name for convenience. As proof — receipts from Larisa confirming she had received money for the purchase of the apartment.
Receipts! Receipts that Larisa had never written!
— This is a forgery! — she breathed.
— What? — the girl asked.
— All of this is forged! I never wrote these receipts!
— Well, that will have to be settled in court, — the girl said indifferently. — If you believe the documents are forged, file a counterclaim.
Larisa got home as if through a fog. One thought hammered in her head: how? How could Tatyana Ivanovna have done this? Where had she gotten samples of her signature? And most importantly — why?
Yefim met her at the door.
— Lara, are you all right? You’re so pale…
— Your mother, — Larisa said slowly, — has filed a lawsuit. She wants to take the apartment.
— What? — Yefim sank onto a stool. — What do you mean, take it?
— She claims she bought it with her money. And she has receipts from me.
— What receipts? You didn’t write any!
— Of course I didn’t! But they exist! Forged, but they exist!
Yefim was silent, staring at the floor. Then, unexpectedly to Larisa, he asked:
— Where could she have gotten samples of your handwriting?
The question hit the mark. Really, where? Larisa mentally went through it: they did not write notes in the family, they did not sign documents together…
And suddenly it dawned on her.
— Greeting cards, — she whispered. — Birthday cards, New Year cards… I always wrote them by hand.
— So what?
— So for the last five years she took all the cards. Said she wanted to keep them as memories.
Yefim raised his head, understanding flashing in his eyes.
— So she… she planned this for a long time?
— Looks like it.
They sat in oppressive silence. It was beginning to get dark outside, and the kitchen clock ticked on the wall.
— Yefim, — Larisa suddenly said, — do you remember how three years ago she suggested transferring the apartment into her name? For tax benefits, she said.
— I remember. You refused.
— And I was right to refuse. Otherwise now I wouldn’t be able to prove anything at all.
Yefim got up and paced around the kitchen.
— Lara, I… I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know!
— And if you had known? — she asked harshly. — What would you have done?
Yefim stopped and looked at his wife.
— I don’t know, — he admitted honestly. — Before, I probably would have kept quiet. But now…
— And now what?
— Now I understand that my mother is a scoundrel. And that I’m an idiot who failed to protect his wife for twenty years.
Larisa looked at her husband. For the first time in all these years, he was saying what he truly thought. Without looking back at his mother, without trying to reconcile everyone.
— What are we going to do? — she asked.
— Fight, — Yefim said firmly. — To the end.
At that moment, the phone rang. A number appeared on the screen — Tatyana Ivanovna.
— Don’t answer, — Yefim said quickly.
— No, — Larisa shook her head. — I will. I’m curious what she’ll say.
She pressed the button.
— Hello.
— Larisa, dear, — her mother-in-law’s voice was sweet as molasses, — how are things? How is your health?
— Thank you, Tatyana Ivanovna. My health is fine. Unlike someone’s conscience.
A pause.
— What do you mean?
— Exactly what I said. You filed a claim in court?
Another pause, longer this time.
— Larisa, I had no choice. You understand, I need somewhere to live, and I have no money. And the apartment was bought with my money…
— You’re lying, — Larisa said calmly. — And the receipts are forged. And we will prove it.
— Prove it? — steel appeared in Tatyana Ivanovna’s voice. — We’ll see. I have a good lawyer, and all the documents are in order.
— Where did you get money for a lawyer? — Larisa suddenly asked.
— That’s none of your business.
— It very much is. You complained to me that you had no money, that you had to sell your apartment…
— Larisa, don’t try to be clever. I’ll see you in court.
The line went dead.
Larisa put down the phone and turned to her husband.
— You know what I think? Your mother didn’t sell her apartment. She’s renting it out. And has been for a long time. She came to us because she wanted to get our apartment too.
Yefim stared at her.
— So she… she was simply lying to us?
— Not to us. To me. She kept you informed.
— Lara, no! I knew nothing!
— Really? — Larisa looked at her husband carefully. — Then why did you agree to the registration so quickly? And why weren’t you surprised when she started talking about transferring the apartment?
Yefim opened his mouth, but no words came.
And Larisa suddenly understood. She understood everything at once, like a flash of lightning.
— Lord, — she whispered. — You were in on it together. You planned this from the very beginning…
Yefim turned as pale as a sheet.
— Lara, what are you saying…
— I’m saying exactly what I mean! — Larisa jumped up from the chair. — I was a fool for twenty years! I thought you were just a mama’s boy, but the two of you were playing together!
— No, I…
— Shut up! — she barked. — Everything is clear! Your mother rents out her apartment and lives comfortably, and the two of you decided to take mine too! Just in case!
Yefim said nothing, but his face showed it — she had hit the mark.
— You know what, — Larisa said, suddenly calming down, — get out. Out of my home, out of my life. Forever.
— Lara…
— There is no Lara! Tomorrow I’m filing for divorce. And let your dear mother try to sue a divorced woman for her apartment.
A month later, the court case was closed. The expert easily proved the receipts were forged — even the chemical composition of the ink did not match. Tatyana Ivanovna received a suspended sentence for fraud.
And Larisa remained alone in her apartment. For the first time in twenty years — completely alone.
And you know what?
She liked it.
