What kind of passage yard have you built here?
– Irina Igorevna, what kind of entrance yard have you built here?
– These are my relatives from the south, passing through the city. They won’t live with you for long, about two months,” said the mother-in-law.
Marina almost suffocated with indignation. What kind of impudence is it on her part to invite strangers into their apartment, and even give them the keys?
This morning Marina woke up from loud voices in the hallway. At first I thought that my husband’s parents had arrived. And then, realizing that there were more than two voices, she got scared – were they really thieves? My husband Vasya left for work at seven o’clock, especially early to avoid the morning traffic jams. Could he have failed to close the front door, which is what the burglars took advantage of?
The girl quietly got out of bed, went to the door and carefully opened it, looking into the corridor. Five strangers stood in the hallway with suitcases.
– Where did she say our rooms? – asked the plump woman, looking from one door to another.
“Three on the right,” answered a man with glasses, thin and lanky. It seemed that with the top of his head he could reach the mezzanine. “And my son and daughter-in-law live on the far left.”
– What a labyrinth they have here, you can get lost! – exclaimed an elderly woman in a ridiculous flowery dress.
– Labyrinth! — the two boys were happy. — Is it possible to run here?
“Play for your health, run,” the woman allowed good-naturedly.
Marina could not stand this. The fear disappeared and was replaced by irritation. She jumped out of the bedroom, forgetting that she was wearing only one nightie, at least a decent one.
“There’s no need to run around here, the neighbors downstairs will swear,” she said loudly. The family turned their heads in her direction. – Who are you? How did you get into the apartment?
A plump woman stepped forward; apparently she was the head of the family.
– Are you Marinochka? Sorry for waking you up, baby. Irochka didn’t say anything about us?
“No,” Marina answered warily, folding her arms over her chest.
– We, your relatives, are like cuckoos, it turns out.
“Irina is my second cousin through my grandmother,” the man inserted.
Soon the details became clear. The Kukushkins sold their city apartment, and with the proceeds they decided to build a large house by the sea. While the house is under construction, they have nowhere to live. Renting an apartment, a dacha or renting a hotel room is not an option, it’s too expensive, and the Kukushkins have already spent a lot.
There was only one way out – to live in the capital for now, with relatives. Irina Igorevna was so kind that she offered her second four-room apartment for accommodation and handed over the keys. She even warned about the presence of neighbors – Vasya’s son and Marina’s daughter-in-law…
– Wait, what does “neighbors” mean? And where did she get the keys? – Marina interrupted. “The owner here is my husband, and not my mother-in-law.”
“We don’t know the details,” the plump woman who introduced herself as Faina shrugged indifferently. “But now you and I will live side by side.” Let's be friends.
Marina rushed to call her mother-in-law for clarification, and the uninvited guests began to put things in the rooms.
Over the phone, Irina Igorevna repeated the Kukushkins’ story. But Marina was not going to give up.
– Irina Igorevna, why are you in charge of our apartment? She belongs to Vasya.
– Did he tell you that or did you decide so yourself? – the mother-in-law snorted. – No, the apartment is mine, I inherited it several years ago. Vasya moved in just before he met you. Didn't he tell you?
Marina shook her head in shock, not realizing that her mother-in-law did not see her reaction.
— Vasya and I agreed that he would live there until he bought it from me or acquired his own. So, Marina, according to the documents, I am the owner of the apartment. By the way, please note that I do not charge you rent. You have the same rights as the Kukushkins. So live together.
Having finished the conversation, Marina sat in shock.
She was married to Vasya for only ten months. I met him in a cafe – a nice guy sat down to meet me. At first Marina was against it, she thought it was a joke. But the guy was persistent and serious, they slowly started talking. We immediately found many common interests and topics, similar views on life. They quickly became close and got married a couple of months later.
Vasya led Marina to a huge four-room apartment in a historic building almost in the center of the city. Three rooms, except for the bedroom of the young couple, were half empty. Sofas, wardrobe, one table. Marina never asked where this furniture came from. The girl excitedly ran from room to room: here will be a children's room, here is another one, in the largest one you can make a living room and hang a large TV. It will be necessary to make repairs and replace the frames.
But almost a year had passed since the wedding, and Marina and Vasya continued to live in the same room, moving only to the kitchen and bathroom. Plans for renovations were postponed, as were dreams of a child – the girl had not yet been able to get pregnant.
– Marinochka, show us the kitchen. “What can you take and what can’t,” Faina asked kindly. – Give us some shelves.
“Choose for yourself which one you like,” Marina answered sluggishly. After the conversation with her mother-in-law, it was as if all her strength had gone. It was hard to accept the fact that she ended up in this luxurious apartment on a bird's license. She wanted to tell her husband off for not warning her, but she didn’t dare bother him at work. All that was left was to wait for the evening.
– We can’t do this, you’re the mistress here!
The girl smiled sadly: “yeah, of course, mistress.”
As soon as the Kukushkins settled in their new place, they brewed tea according to the family recipe and invited Marina to the table to meet them. Faina and tall Gena, a former basketball player, were husband and wife. The boys Timofey and Zhenya are their children; in the fall they will go to fifth and third grades. And the elderly woman was Karina, she was Faina’s mother.
– Don’t worry so much! “We’ll live a little and leave,” Faina reassured. – And when our house is built, we invite you to visit. The sea is close to us, you can swim all day. And what berries grow, mmm.
The rest of the day passed quietly. The Kukushkins were tired after a long journey and went to bed. They were missing one set of bed linen and Marina, reluctantly, had to share hers with them.
My husband came home from work late. The girl watched him calmly take off his shoes in the hallway and place his street shoes next to other people’s sneakers.
– Doesn’t anything surprise you? she asked.
– What are you talking about? – Vasya didn’t understand. – Oh, shoes. Mom already told me.
– Why didn’t you say that the apartment was not yours?
– What would it change? — the husband shrugged. -Wouldn't you marry me?
– Don't talk nonsense! – Marina flared up. “It just seems to me that such things need to be discussed before the wedding, and not wait for a crowd of relatives to fall on your head.”
– Do they bother you? I can't even hear them.
– Because they are sleeping.
– It’s a pity, I wanted to talk to Uncle Gena. And the boys have already grown up…
Marina snorted loudly, like an angry cat that had eaten its own fur, and went into the room, slamming the door. There she lay down in bed, turned to the wall and quickly fell asleep, tired from a busy day.
In the morning Vasya, as always, went to work, and Marina, yawning, went to the kitchen. Leaving the bedroom, she saw boys playing in the corridor and returned to the room to change clothes. You can no longer walk around the apartment in a nightgown.
The Kukushkin family was found in the kitchen. They had breakfast and discussed plans for the day.
– Marinochka, good morning! – Faina smiled. Apparently, she was the most talkative in the family. – I slept well? We are very! Can you recommend some interesting places in the city? We want to go for a walk.
“Well, we can go to the center,” the girl thought. — Or go to the museum, if you are interested. Children will love the zoo.
– Are you off today? Would you like to join us? – asked Grandma Karina.
But Marina decided to stay away from the family, so she refused.
The Kukushkins left, Marina was left alone in the apartment and began to think.
The guests no longer seemed as terrible to her as when they first met. They didn't break into her room, didn't eat someone else's food from the refrigerator, didn't leave dirt behind in the bathroom. They are friendly, even the children do not make noise. Maybe it's not so bad? And can you live with them for a couple of months?
But who really caused concern now was Vasya. After Marina found out that the apartment did not belong to him, the girl’s attitude towards him changed a little. She was tormented by questions: why is he happy with everything, why doesn’t he do anything? He lives in his mother’s apartment, with everything ready-made and takes it for granted. Previously, this was normal, but now strangers live with them, and their spouses do not have the right to kick them out. Even my mother keeps spare keys! It could come at any moment.
Marina’s day passed in heavy thoughts.
The Kukushkins returned in the afternoon and began to share their enthusiastic impressions. They were at the zoo, then they took a long walk, and now everyone’s legs hurt. The boys ate a lot of cotton candy and refused lunch. We took a lot of photos and saw new animals. Marina listened to their conversations, sometimes laughed, and inserted her own comments. On the way, the Kukushkins bought a cake and now they all sat in the kitchen and ate it.
– Marinochka, are you okay? – Grandmother Karina addressed her sympathetically. “You’re kind of sad, and you don’t look well.”
“I’m just tired,” the girl smiled and began collecting dirty dishes from the table, intending to wash them.
– And here we are with our conversations! Go, rest, I’ll wash it,” Faina took the stack of plates from her and looked sympathetically. – A lot of work?
— I’m on vacation now. We wanted to go to the sea with Vasya, but they didn’t let him leave work, so we’re sitting in the city.
“Vasya works so much, he’s almost never home,” said grandmother Karina. “We remember him as a child; he came to us for the summer. He grew up to be a good young man: kind, attentive, responsible.
“Not independent,” Marina blurted out mechanically before realizing what she was doing. “He said that the apartment was his, but in fact it was his mother’s.” Also a liar. And I think: why doesn’t he offer to do repairs? But it turns out that he has no rights, someone else’s property!
Words poured out of her like a stream. I needed to share with someone my resentment that was stuck in my chest. Marina talked and talked, blaspheming her husband.
“Marinochka, don’t do that,” Faina muttered uncertainly. – He’s your husband, he loves you.
The girl looked up at her and noticed that she was looking towards the corridor. Gena delicately lowered his head, Grandma Faina began to collect from the table. They all saw someone whom Marina did not see.
Vasya came home from work and now stood quietly behind Marina, listening to the accusations against him. The girl, noticing him, stopped short.
– Shall we talk? – asked the husband.
Left alone in his bedroom, he sat down on a chair and suggested:
– What’s the matter, Marina?
— I’m not happy with what’s happening! – the girl began. “I thought that this was our apartment, our cozy home, a fortress in which I could feel safe.” But it turned out that this is not so!
– Marin, I didn’t tell you because I forgot about it myself. Yes, this apartment belongs to my mother, she provided it to me, I only pay for utilities. For me, this was the best option: I don’t have to live with my parents or rent.
– Vasya, you are twenty-eight years old and you don’t have your own property! We wanted to have children. Where should I give birth to them? To your mother’s apartment, which she can invite her relatives to any day or take it away altogether, kicking us out into the cold? You have a place to return to, but my parents live a thousand kilometers away from here!
– If we are kicked out of here, then I will stay with you.
– Here! – the girl exclaimed triumphantly. “You don’t even see any other option, just “they’ll kick us out.” I can not take it anymore. Let's move from here? Give this apartment back to your mother!
– Do you offer to film? – Vasya asked displeasedly. – But it will be expensive…
– Either I rent or I go to my parents! — the wife gave an ultimatum.
After this difficult conversation, Marina and Vasya came to the only right decision. Vasya talked to his mother and told her that he and his wife would be looking for rented housing and saving for a mortgage. There were enough savings.
Irina Igorevna was surprised, but did not show it. She busily asked when the couple would be ready to move out and received the answer that in the near future. Marina could no longer stay in the apartment. Let the Kukushkins live in it.
After hanging up, Irina Igorevna turned to her husband.
– I have good news. Our son has finally become an adult and can take responsibility for his decisions. He and Marina are going to rent an apartment.
“I’m sure she came up with it,” the man answered.
“So be it,” the wife easily agreed. — The Kukushkins pushed them to action; they need to send Faina a gift. I think that now I can transfer the apartment to my son.
“Our plan was a success,” the husband smiled.
***
“So give your son an apartment with such a daughter-in-law,” Olga Viktorovna sighed after listening to her friend’s story. “There are some young ladies who haven’t even taken off their bast shoes at the entrance to the city, but they’re already a young lady!”
– Well, what can you do! Okay, tell me better how your relatives are? Have you arrived? They were going on vacation, you said? So how is it?
– Ay! — the woman waved her hand. “They wanted to stay with my daughter!” So she arranged this for them! I really didn’t expect this from my own daughter…
