“Happy now? Played yourself, didn’t you?” Viktor sneered at Tatyana. “That apartment is gone — handed over to who knows who. What a sly old woman… she let you take care of her and still didn’t leave it to you.”
“I helped her because I wanted to,” Tatyana replied, trying to stay calm. “Aunt Svetlana had become very weak. I was just looking after her like a decent neighbor would. And why are you so angry? She left us the garage, didn’t she?”
“What am I supposed to do with a rusty metal box?” Viktor snapped. “We don’t have a car, we don’t have a country house, we don’t even have jars to store there! We own nothing except this two-room apartment. I was counting on that old woman leaving us her place so we could sell it and finally buy a decent car!”
“And what exactly would you do with a ‘decent car’?” Tatyana shot back. “You don’t even know how to drive. Honestly, let’s stop this conversation. You haven’t earned a single thing in your life — not an apartment, not a car, not a summer house. Thank my parents that we even have a roof over our heads. Oh, right, you did buy one thing — that laptop you claimed was ‘for the family,’ even though it was obviously just for you. And what did you promise me when you were courting me? A wonderful life. But all I got was your endless complaining. And leave Aunt Svetlana out of this. She did what she thought was right — she gave her home to the person who truly needed it.”
Viktor hesitated.
“All right, Tanya… maybe you’ve got a point. A garage is still something. We could sell it… maybe take a nice vacation,” he said dreamily.
“We are not selling anything right now,” Tatyana answered firmly. “Have you forgotten, Mr. Vacation, that your test results are coming soon? How many times have we talked about this? If we want a child, we need to go through all the medical checks. So what matters more to you — a beach trip or having a baby?”
Tatyana had married late, at thirty-five. Viktor had come from a village and worked as a plumber. That was how they met — he had come to fix her faucet. Even later, she struggled to explain what had drawn her to him. Maybe it was his easygoing nature, the way he seemed to live only for the moment.
Her family had been the complete opposite — always saving, planning, putting money aside. That was how her parents had managed to move to a small town by the sea and buy a house there.
What Tatyana had not realized right away was just how envious Viktor was, how greedy he could be for things that belonged to other people.
But as her late Aunt Svetlana used to say, “He may not be perfect, but at least he’s yours.”
And what would happen if she threw him out? She would be alone in an empty apartment. By then, she had already gotten used to his constant grumbling. All she wanted was to have a child. Then, she thought, everything else would somehow matter less.
A month later, Aunt Svetlana’s great-nephew Sergey came to visit unexpectedly. Tatyana had only ever seen him in photographs before. He arrived with flowers and a cake, wanting to thank her for taking care of his aunt.
“You know,” he said, finishing his third cup of tea, “my mother and Aunt Svetlana hadn’t spoken in years. It was because of my father. He left Aunt Svetlana for my mother. And later he abandoned us too, when I was five. Ran off to some wealthy woman. But that doesn’t matter anymore. They’re all gone now.”
He sighed.
“I never imagined Aunt Svetlana even remembered me. And I certainly never thought she’d leave me the apartment. To be honest, I don’t really need it. I’m always traveling, always away earning money. I left my own apartment to my ex-wife and son. But old age isn’t exactly far away.”
At that moment Viktor walked into the room.
“Well, isn’t this nice,” he said sharply. “A husband comes home and finds his wife entertaining guests.”
Sergey stood up and offered his hand.
“Nice to meet you. Looks like I’m your new neighbor now.”
Viktor ignored the gesture completely.
“So now you’re going to look after him too? No way I’m allowing that,” he said suddenly.
Sergey and Tatyana exchanged puzzled glances. Neither of them understood where this was coming from.
Tatyana forced a polite smile.
“I’m sorry, Sergey. My husband didn’t mean it like that… right, Vitya? He came here to thank me, that’s all. He’s done nothing wrong.”
“I’m not apologizing,” Viktor said stubbornly. “Because of this ‘neighbor,’ that apartment slipped right through our fingers!”
Then he slammed the door and stormed into the other room.
“What was that?” Tatyana burst out after she walked Sergey to the door. “Again? Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘Don’t open your mouth for someone else’s loaf of bread’? That’s exactly about people like you. If I hear anything like that again, you’ll be the one out on the street. Understood?”
“Oh, of course,” Viktor sneered. “So now you don’t need me anymore, right? There’s a new man on the horizon. He’s probably richer than I am. You and your parents have always worshipped money!”
Tatyana grabbed a kitchen towel and lunged at him.
“Are you insane?” Viktor jumped back.
“That,” she snapped, “is for calling us greedy. And for never telling me the truth.”
“What truth? What are you talking about now?” he barked.
Tatyana pulled out a stack of papers.
“The truth that you can’t have children. The doctors said it’s been that way since childhood.”
Viktor turned the papers over in his hands.
“How was I supposed to know? Maybe something happened, maybe it didn’t — I don’t remember. So what? We can live without kids. Quietly, peacefully…”
“And why exactly would I need you then?” Tatyana flared. “To listen to your whining? I can turn on the television for that. I told you over and over that I wanted a child. You agreed. And now suddenly it doesn’t matter? Then you don’t matter to me either.”
“Fine, I get it, I get it… you’re throwing me out?” Viktor shouted while stuffing his clothes into bags. “After everything I’ve done for you? I took you in, I married you! I’m not leaving without a fight. We’ll divide everything — the apartment, the garage. Get ready!”
Tatyana made a rude gesture at him.
“See this? The apartment belongs to my parents. And the garage was left to me as a gift. You came here with nothing, and that’s exactly how you’ll leave.”
The divorce was ugly. Viktor screamed, complained, made scenes, and tried to wear everyone down, but hardly anyone listened.
And Tatyana, for the first time in years, felt free.
“Mama, Daddy’s here!” a little three-year-old boy cried happily, running into a man’s arms.
“Seryozha, careful!” Tatyana laughed.
“That’s it, my loves,” Sergey said, hugging both his wife and son. “They’ve transferred me to an office job. No more long trips. I’m staying with you from now on.”
“Hooray! Now we’ll always be together!” the child shouted joyfully.
And meanwhile, Viktor, still unsteady after the previous night’s drinking, was sweeping a courtyard. He had been fired from his plumbing job after too many residents complained about his sloppy work. In the end, he was lucky they did not throw him out completely — they kept him on as a janitor.
And naturally, in his mind, all of it was Tatyana’s fault.
She was living with another man now, with a child, wanting for nothing.
“She could at least help her ex-husband with a little money,” Viktor thought bitterly. “Was all that time with her really for nothing?”
