And immediately he threw an empty shot glass at her, but missed.
«Stop hitting me!» Oleg exclaimed irritably, addressing his wife, Irina. «I’m not a wooden stick, I’m a living person! If you want to keep going like this, you better go get some air! And stop raising your voice at me! Otherwise, you’ll regret it!»
«Me regret it?!» Irina responded angrily, barely holding back a scream. «Look at you, you’ve made yourself a paradise here! You’ve been drinking since December 28th, and you want me to live like this too? Maybe, finally, you’ll tear yourself away from the bottle and help me around the house, just once, after two weeks?!»
«That’s your job! And by the way, the apartment is also yours! So you can handle everything yourself! Don’t drag me into this! You didn’t want my relatives to come for New Year’s! My brother and sister still don’t understand what they did wrong to you!»
«And you don’t understand this either?»
«Of course, I do! We weren’t even home; you could have let them come over, throw a party! They’re normal, reasonable people! Not like your brother, who has no sense of moderation!»
«Whether it’s my brother or your brother and sister, Oleg, it doesn’t matter to me! They’re all underage! And I won’t allow parties in our home! Someone might do something stupid, or worse… And we’ll be the ones responsible! Or rather, as you reminded me, I will be, because it’s my apartment! I’m the owner!»
«What would they even do? Break a couple of vases, no more! And it wouldn’t be their fault, but their friends’! As if you, at their age, never did anything like that!»
«Believe it or not, I didn’t! If we ever planned something, we never broke anything! At best, we pooled money with friends to rent an apartment for the holidays, and then we cleaned it up to get our deposit back! And here, an empty apartment, no responsibility! Underage! Great! Someone will bring something forbidden, someone will get poisoned, someone will fall off the balcony! And that’s it!»
«Oh, don’t compare mine with yours! There’s no one in my group who would go for that! They’re good people!»
«Good?! Your brother lived with some friend for almost a week, and you were picking him up in an insane state! Is that normal to you?!»
«It only happened once! And your brother…»
«Why are you picking on Sergey?!» Irina cried out. «He doesn’t ask me for anything like that! He knows I won’t leave him alone in the house for even five minutes because I know he might steal something! And you’re telling me that if he…»
«You’re just picking on mine!» Oleg interrupted her.
«I’m not picking on anyone! I just won’t allow some teenagers to make a mess in our house! Period! No matter what you say to me! And no matter how many halos you put over them!»
«Just like your mother always says about you!» he smirked. «You’re so selfish!»
«Does your mother think that about me?!» Irina was outraged. «Did I give her any reason for that? Or maybe…»
«You don’t want to make me a co-owner of the apartment! Even though I helped you pay the mortgage and did the repairs!»
«What did you do?!» Irina laughed bitterly, practically shouting. «Repairs?! You put together a couple of cabinets and replaced the faucet in the bathroom! That’s it! And about the mortgage… You’ve only been helping me pay it off for the last four months, and how long have you been living here? Two years! Two!»
«But I pay for the apartment!»
«Yes, you do! Just like me! Now calculate how much you would’ve paid for a rented apartment in this time, and compare it to how much you’ve spent here! The difference will surprise you!»
«Listen, Ira, I don’t care about your difference! I’m your husband, and I have just as many rights here as you! But you…»
«What rights do you think you have here that are equal to mine?» Irina asked cautiously, sincerely not understanding what he meant.
«I’m your husband…»
«And?»
«This is what I keep saying, Ira! You don’t consider me at all! I’m like a pet to you! And you complain about why I drink so much? Because you don’t let me feel like a man! I should be the master here! That’s it! End of story!»
«Wait, darling… Won’t your responsibilities crack you open?»
«It’s your arrogance that’s going to crack, Ira!» Oleg said resentfully and angrily, then left the kitchen.
When Irina was left alone, thoughts began to visit her again, the ones she had tried to push away for the last year. These thoughts first appeared when her husband started drinking almost every day. And, of course, they were thoughts about divorce. She couldn’t stand this life anymore. Oleg started drinking after he got fired, but his wife quickly helped him find a new job, even a better one. But he didn’t stop drinking; instead, his evening doses just increased.
In the arguments with his wife, he blamed her for everything. He said that because of her, he no longer felt like a man, and that she was the one to blame. She found him a job, he lived in her apartment, and she made all the decisions. But she made those decisions because, in the evenings, her husband wasn’t capable of doing it. So he didn’t leave her any choice.
As for everything else, work and the apartment, Irina suggested options to her husband to change the situation, but they didn’t suit him. She suggested they get a new apartment together so he could also be a co-owner. She suggested he look for another job while keeping the one he had. But why bother doing all that when everything was fine as it was? Moreover, if he did all that, he wouldn’t be able to justify his drinking anymore, and he wouldn’t be able to blame her, who, in fact, was doing everything for him. So he wasn’t in a hurry to change his life for the better.
Now, he decided to complain about the fact that Irina didn’t let his younger brother and sister throw a New Year’s party at their house while they were away at friends’ for the holidays.
The day after the fight, Irina had to go to her friend, with whom they had celebrated New Year’s. She had promised to help take down the New Year’s decorations at the country house because leaving them up for several months wasn’t ideal.
It was a wealthy family, and they often went away, leaving Irina and her husband to take care of the house. But lately, only Irina had been doing it because Oleg was no longer trusted. Especially since the house had a large bar, which Oleg could help himself to. He had already given her friend’s husband a bottle of expensive cognac, which turned out to be strong tea, so no one wanted to risk it anymore.
Irina packed her things, went to the hallway to put on her shoes, but her husband stopped her:
«Are you going to your Svetlana’s again?» he asked, displeased, already having drunk in the morning.
«You know why, why ask?» Irina replied, not wanting to argue again.
«Maybe you’ll just stay there?»
«What do you mean?» she didn’t understand.
«It’s simple! You always want to run away from home! New Year’s was your idea to celebrate somewhere else! Now you’re leaving me alone! That means, you don’t belong here!»
«I don’t belong in my own apartment, Oleg?! Did you get something mixed up? Or do you think you’ll live here with someone else?»
«What does anyone else have to do with it? I already told you, this apartment is more mine than yours! I’m always here, from work to home, from my parents’ to home, always home! Not wandering around to friends like you do! And you…»
«Buy yourself your own apartment and be the master there! Don’t covet something that will never be yours! Got it? Don’t ask me for anything again! Don’t complain that I won’t let your relatives come here and party! Enough!!!»
«I already live in my own apartment and won’t ask for permission! Now it’s your turn to ask me for something!» he proudly responded.
«Is that so?» Irina asked again and, without waiting for an answer, added: «Well, well!»
«You just don’t appreciate what you have, like I do! That’s why you’ll end up with nothing! That’s it! Now go to your friend and… If you want, come back, if not, don’t! I’m not going to fight for our family anymore!» Oleg said, walking to the kitchen and drinking another shot of something brown.
«Do you even realize what you’re saying? What do you mean, ‘fighting for our family’? Have you drunk all your brains away or is it…?»
«GET OUT OF HERE!!!» he shouted.
And immediately threw the empty shot glass at her, but missed. That was enough for Irina. She was already putting on her shoes, just needed to get dressed and leave, but she couldn’t do it; fear overtook her. She grabbed her coat, bag, and ran out into the hallway to avoid getting hurt.
Out of the building, Irina immediately dialed the police, explained in detail what had happened in her apartment, and waited for the officers to arrive in her car. She also contacted her friend, explaining that she couldn’t come today and help as promised, despite her wish to do so. Her friend showed understanding and wasn’t upset, even offering to help or provide moral support, but Irina declined the offer.
Now, she only had one goal – to finally deal with her husband, Oleg. She was sick of his constant drunkenness, complaints, and aggression, which had only increased recently. The conclusion was clear: she needed to get rid of him. Do everything to make him disappear from her life. And of course, take away his housing and job, the one she got for him. If he wants to be an independent «man,» as he keeps saying, let him be one, but without her involvement. She had had enough!
When the police arrived, Irina informed them about what happened again. When they reached the apartment door, she tried to open it but found that Oleg had locked himself inside, and the only option was to break down the door. Irina hesitated for a few seconds but agreed because she no longer wanted to live in constant fear. Although she only started fearing Oleg today when he started throwing dishes at her.
Oleg started yelling at everyone, continuing to throw everything he could at Irina and the police officers, but they quickly subdued him, sat him in the car, and took him away. His attempt to hit one of the officers with his head against their helmet failed since he just wore himself out in their hands. A drunken head, hitting a helmet with all its force – that’s no easy task, and he quickly exhausted himself. But for the next few days, he had secured himself a place to stay.
Irina still called her friend, as she couldn’t stay in the apartment alone – the door was broken, and it was impossible to close it. She urgently needed help until everything was repaired.
And while her friends were still in the city, they offered all kinds of support, as she was looking after their house when they went away. Irina managed to file for divorce, write complaints to the police about Oleg, repair the door by changing the locks, and even worked for a few days while Oleg was on «vacation.»
In the end, just as he wanted, he would have to do everything himself. Look for a new job, rent a place to live, deal with his relatives who almost cursed him for losing such a good match due to his stupidity. But now he would do everything on his own since he was a «man»…
