Natasha tensed up inside when she saw her husband’s niece, Oleska.
Without looking her in the eyes and sniffling, the girl handed over a folded sheet of checkered paper and quickly ran away.
Natasha unfolded the paper, internally expecting something like this, so the written words did not come as a strong shock.
«Natasha, I am leaving, forgive me.
Yes, I am acting like a coward, but I have no strength, I am tired, forgive me, I will not abandon the children, but I cannot live with you. I have sold the house, here is your part. Go to your mother’s. There should be enough money there for you to get by for a while.»
Natasha’s hands fell limply, and she stood quietly swaying, looking indifferently at the scattered papers.
«Natashenka… what is it?» Grandma Vera whispered, looking into Natasha’s eyes, «A telegram?»
«Everything is fine… ba… go have some tea, I need to take the cookies out, or they’ll burn.»
The smell of vanillin and burnt dough spread through the room.
She expected something like this; the house was Viktor’s, inherited from his grandmother. Lately, he often didn’t come home at night, claiming he was held up late at his brother’s place, where they were building a pigsty.
He said they had to finish before the frosts came. Natasha had heard vague rumors, Viktor’s wife, Svetlana with her shifty eyes, kept trying to tell her something, dropping hints, but Natasha either didn’t hear or didn’t want to hear.
«Mom,» ten-year-old Vanyushka peeked in from the street, «Mom, Uncle Petya, the neighbor, is asking for you.»
«Grandma, please watch Katya, I’ll be right back,» she said, throwing on a coat and stepping outside.
«So, what’s up, Natalya, hello, I came to check, uh… How is it… that thing.»
«This is the house?»
He nodded.
«Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, if not me, then someone else. And I… you live as long as you need until my Ksenka grows up, I’m doing this for her… well, it’s a neighborly thing.»
«Give me three days and I’ll move out,» she said dryly and went inside.
«Where are you going to… Natasha…»
She quietly slammed the door.
Then a flushed Vanyushka ran in from the cold.
«Mom?»
«Everything’s fine, sonny.»
«Mom, where’s dad?»
She pulled him close, hugged his skinny little body, kissed his sweaty crown, inhaled his familiar smell, and… quietly started crying, wiping away the tears.
«Mom, he’s left, hasn’t he? He’s gone?»
She nodded.
«I’ll kill him.»
«No, sonny, no need, we’re strong, we’ll manage.»
Katya started crying; she calmed her down and got the children to start their dinner. She went into the room where Grandma Vera sat by the window, quietly shivering with thin shoulders.
«Natasha, help me get into a nursing home.»
«What? Are you out of your mind?»
Grandma Vera was the real sister of her deceased grandmother Valya. Grandma Vera had two daughters, both well-off; the small settlement where Grandma Vera lived was disbanded, the elderly either taken by their children or sent to nursing homes.
Grandma Vera turned out to be unwanted, one daughter lived far beyond the Urals in a city, the other in a small town not far from where Natasha lived with her husband and children.
The second daughter asked Natasha to shelter Grandma Vera for a while, saying, «You have a big house, she can breathe fresh air, and she’ll help you with the child.»
The first daughter cut off all contact as soon as the prospect of taking their mother arose, so Grandma Vera stayed with Natasha, already the sixth year for Katya.
«Don’t be silly, come with us.»
«Where, Natashenka.»
«I don’t know yet, we’ll see.»
Natasha didn’t think Viktor was a scoundrel who left her homeless with children; she always knew the house wasn’t hers, she dreamed of building their own house with Viktor and the children, but it wasn’t meant to be.
She called her mother.
She was outraged, threatened to sue her son-in-law, and sympathized deeply.
«What are you going to do? Go to that scoundrel, let him leave you the house with the children, throw those damn money in his face.»
«No,» she said and hung up the phone.
She understood her mother, who had another family, children. Her stepfather barely tolerated her until she finished school and then kicked her out.
She met Viktor, they dated for a year, then got married. She was happy about how good he was…
Her mother called again.
«Natasha, something cut off the connection, but where will you leave Grandma Vera?»
«Well, definitely not with you.»
«Why are you like that?»
«That’s it, I don’t have time.»
She took an old notebook, found a number, went outside, and dialed.
«Hello, Aunt Natasha,» she said to the one in whose honor she was named, «I split with Viktor, I’ll bring Grandma Vera to you?»
«No, what are you, I have high blood pressure. Sit there, what are you?»
«She’s your mother, you have three rooms.»
«And what? I have high blood pressure, my grandchildren come…»
«Understood.»
They traveled in a coach car.
A slim young woman, barely more than a girl, with large sad eyes, a boy, quiet and serious, a girl with lively eyes, and a frail old woman who quietly wiped away tears.
«Hello, Dad.»
«Natasha… kids? Oh, Grandma Valya?»
«Vera…»
«What?»
«It’s Grandma Vera.»
«Come in, come in.»
«Dad, we’re not coming in, please give me the keys to my apartment, it’s still alive, right?»
«Who, darling?»
«My apartment, which Grandma Masha, your mother, willed to me.»
«Oh, yes, of course, but come in, Lyuda, Lusya… such happiness, daughter visiting with the grandkids… Lusya and with Grandma Vera, please come in, come in.»
You see, people live there.
«Well, we’ll go to a hotel then, Dad, until people find new housing.»
«What hotel,» Lyudmila smiled warmly, «what are we, strangers…»
Three days later, Natasha heard Lyudmila whispering about when the guests would move out.
«Dad, what’s with the people? When will they move out?»
Lyudmila dropped her spoon, the father choked on the soup Natasha had made.
«You see, daughter… there…»
«No, you don’t have any apartment, look at you puffing up your lips, Dad paid her alimony until she was eighteen…»
«Until sixteen.»
«What?»
«I’m saying until sixteen, remember I came to visit you, and you dragged me to write off alimony?»
Lyudmila pursed her lips.
«So what, Dad? We need to decide, tired of living like this.»
«Will you speak up? Tell her. There’s no apartment anymore, none.»
«What do you mean no, Dad?»
Doesn’t look her in the eye.
Your mother and I… we sold it, split the money… right away.
«How? She meant it for me… Grandma Masha meant it for me…»
«And what? He’s your son, be thankful for whatever money…»
«I… give me three days…»
«Darling…»
«Three days.»
«Mommy, where will we go?»
«We’ll live here, sonny, we’re strong, we’ll manage. This is my homeland. We can’t lose heart, we have Grandma Vera and Katya.»
«Yes! Will I go to school here after the holidays?»
«Yes.»
«Sorry, we don’t rent to families with children.»
«Are you sure you can pay?»
«I need three months in advance.»
«Can we make a deal? Without a man, right?»
«Well, such a room, at least it has a toilet, others go outside. Water in the pipes is warm in winter, cold water is available, shower at the neighbor’s, you’ll meet her, she’s also alone… Pay two months in advance.»
«Do you have experience?»
«We don’t take without experience.»
«Small children?»
«Sorry, you’re not suitable…»
«No experience? Well, you’ll have to learn. My name is Boris, welcome to our friendly team. Young, she’ll learn fast. Girls, take her in…»
«Newbie, three days to train, then off to work. Many apartments for rent, buying seems good now, you’ll sit in rent, learn, and start closing deals…»
Again, three days, Natasha thinks.
Grandma, children, we’re moving.
«Where?» Vanyushka looks frightened.
«You’ll see!»
«Wow! Are we going to live here?»
«Yes. This is your and Katya’s room, and we’ll be with grandma in another.»
«And the third room, Mom?»
«In the third, we’ll be hosting guests!»
«Wow, look at that…»
Grandma Vera cries.
«Am I a burden to you, child, you’ve been alone for three years, is that normal? If it weren’t for me, maybe you’d find a man, you’re such a capable girl, just send me away…»
«What are you saying? We’re family, understand! Family. Nobody needs us but you, do you hear? Only the children, thank you for looking after them, for managing everything, you’re my helper, what would I do without you? Who am I without you?»
I wanted to ask for advice. Boris Arkadievich is offering me to study, he needs a good lawyer, the firm is growing.
«Go, go, my dear, I’ll help however I can, go my sweet.»
«Mom, is it true that we’re buying an apartment?»
«Yes, Katya eavesdropped?»
«No, grandma told me secretly.»
«Yes, son, just as soon as I divorce your father.»
Vanyushka is now a teenager, they first spoke about the father. The help he promised… There was no help…
«Wow, Mom, is this ours? All ours? So huge? And me, and Vanya will have our own rooms?»
«Yes, and Grandma, and me!»
«Wow, will we host guests here?»
«Here…»
«Hello, Natasha, it’s Mom’s birthday today.»
«Seriously?»
«Yeah,» in an annoyed tone, «don’t you know? It’s the seventh of June.»
«Uh, only it’s July.»
«Really?»
«Yes. It’s been two years since Grandma’s been with us, we’re orphans now…»
«What? You scoundrel, you hid from me that my mother is gone?»
«I hid? I bombarded you with texts and calls, you hid from me, and then your daughter told me to leave you alone, so I did. Your sister knows, by the way, she asked me to send her Mom’s savings, she needs them more.»
«What savings?»
«I don’t know, you would know better. You probably thought she was living with me, carefully saving her pension for her beloved daughters.»
«So there are no savings?»
Natasha turned off the phone. Counted to three. Phew. Grandma’s memorial day, she was just there. Told her how Vanyushka graduated, found a nice girl, Katerina finished school, and it seemed she might have changes in her life.
«Ba, remember Sergey,» Natasha whispers, «remember how you convinced me he was good… I might listen to you… He gave me three days to think, said he waited too long.»
So don’t worry, I’m not alone.
The sun peeked out from behind the clouds and warmly embraced Natasha with its rays.
It’s Grandma Vera, she thought.
Good day, my dears!
I hug you tightly! We need each other more than ever now.
God is with us!
I hug you tightly.
Sending you beams of my kindness and positivity.
