Anna Konstantinovna spent a lot of time in her house in a small village. The house was already old – the porch was lopsided, there were holes in some places on the roof and the paint had long since peeled off all the walls, but she loved this place. This was the only privacy from the family of his son Leonid.
The son almost never showed up at home due to a lot of work and business trips, the daughter-in-law didn’t talk to Anna Konstantinovna at all, and the grandchildren loved to joke about the grandmother and her years:
– “Look how her hands are shaking!” – Senya, the youngest of the twins, said giggling.
– “So all the tea will already be on the floor and you’ll have to pour it again, and again while he’s carrying it, pour it out,” the elder Fyodor poured out.
Grandmother was not pleased to hear this, but she also did not want to quarrel with her only remaining relatives. So she just quietly went to her room and began to get ready to go back to the dacha. Karina, her son’s wife, persuaded her to wait for Lenya from work:
– “Anna Konstantinovna, where are you going to go alone with heavy bags? Soon Lenya will come and take you! He was detained at the meeting”
– “Karinochka, understand, I have to go before the sun sets, in the darkness the path is not visible at all. Don’t worry, I’ll get there quietly myself.”
“Okay, it’s up to you,” agreed the daughter-in-law. To be honest, she was a little glad to be alone for a few hours before her husband arrived.
When leaving, Anna Konstantinovna said goodbye to her family, and closing the door behind her, she met her neighbor on the landing:
– “Hello, Anna, did you go to your village again?
– “Hello, Lenochka, what should I do in the city?!” Anna Konstantinovna said sadly.
“So let’s go, I’ll pour you some tea, I bought some fresh gingerbread,” the neighbor persuaded.
“Well, let’s go in for a while,” Anna agreed.
Elena Petrovna often came to visit Anna Konstantinovna to find out about her affairs and just chat. She was 4 years younger than her, but this did not interfere with their friendship.
Elena Petrovna poured freshly brewed tea with bergamot into mugs and placed gingerbread cookies on a plate. Two girlfriends sat down at the table.
– “Anh, why are you leaving your last strength in the garden beds in this village?”
– “Why not go there? I grow everything I own there. You’ve seen the prices in stores these days for potatoes and cucumbers, but I have everything that’s natural. No pension is enough to live in the city!”
– “Doesn’t your son help? You could buy food for home and pay for utilities, your grandchildren would dig garden beds, and your daughter-in-law would plant everything for you.”
– “They have no time for me at all. Karina has conceived her own business, but her grandchildren…” she sighed heavily
“And what about Lenya? Is there any help from him either?”
– “Oh, Lenechka… I haven’t seen him for a long time. All at work, traveling. He is almost never at home, does not see his wife, and does not take care of his sons. And Krinka also has no time. Don’t know what kind of guys they’ll grow up to be?!”
Elena Petrovna heard that Lenya could not have children and after the first divorce he found himself a girlfriend with two children, but she couldn’t figure out why they didn’t love their grandmother so much.
Her children, on the contrary, were very attentive to her: they would buy food for home, they would come and clean up, they and their grandchildren would dig up all the beds, and the daughter-in-law would plant flowers. Elena Petrovna was happy with her life and did not understand at all how her friend’s life would turn out next, what the evil grandchildren and daughter-in-law would come up with for her grandmother.
The friends finished their tea party late at night. She stayed overnight with her and was able to get home only the next morning.
At night she had a dream.
“When she goes to the dacha, then we’ll throw out her things,” the old woman heard her grandchildren talking. But they still did not know what she had prepared for them
She sits alone on the platform with bags, but is not waiting for any train. The guard begins to kick her out of the station:
– “Go home! There are no trains running today!”
– “Now I have nowhere to go…”
Waking up in a cold sweat, Anna Konstantinovna tossed and turned for half the night, but could not fall asleep. She lay there and kept thinking: “What will happen to her if her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren want to kick me out? Will Lenya’s son really not stand up for me?
Lenya married a second time and was happy that he now had children, albeit wives. And in response to Anna Konstantinovna’s complaints about her daughter-in-law, he said:
– “You’re too conservative!” Karina is a very decent and modern girl. There is no need to judge her by your outdated rules. It's a new century now! People change!”
Mom had nothing to answer her son.
Around noon, Anna’s neighbor Nikolai Vadimovich, who lived in the house opposite, came to see Anna.
– “Kolya, are you here? I thought you went on a hike to the river with your son?”
– “Oh, these hikes… the mosquitoes will only eat you up at night. When I heard that you had returned, I immediately appeared! Let’s go to the forest for berries and mushrooms today.”
– “Yes, it’s too dangerous to go into the forest with you. No matter how you jump into the depths, you won’t get enough!”
After some persuasion, Anna Konstantinovna finally agreed to a walk in the forest and they hit the road.
– “I know why you’re so sad, Annushka. I, too, don’t get along well with my people, but they are like family to me,” Nikolai Vadimovich started the conversation.
After thinking for a few minutes, Anna Konstantinovna took a deep breath and decided to share her experiences with her neighbor.
– “When my husband died, he left the apartment to me and Lena. You see, his wife constantly complains to him about me, his grandchildren mock me. I’m afraid that they will kick me out of the apartment with all my things.”
– “Anh, so let’s help each other. You and I are already elderly people… I’m no longer calling you to marry, but I’m ready to support you like my own.”
Anna Konstantinovna smiled faintly and did not answer. Nikolai Vadimovich's proposal confused her a little, but at the same time made her happy. Returning from the forest, she took care of the beds, and her neighbor prepared dinner from wild mushrooms and potatoes.
We had dinner and Anna Konstantinovna got ready to go home. Nikolai Vadimovich walked her to the bus stop and reminded her: “I’m here for you! The main thing is not to be silent, say how you can help!”
“When she goes to the dacha, then we’ll throw out her things,” the old woman heard her grandchildren talking. But they still did not know what she had prepared for them
Anna Konstantinovna went home in a good mood. It was exciting for her to return home to strangers, but now she felt “invisible” support from her friend.
– “Oh, you’ve returned!? “I thought Lenya came home early from work,” Karina greeted her indifferently.
Without saying a word, Anna Konstantinovna went into her room and closed the door.
On this day, her son actually returned home earlier and went from the doorway to his mother’s room.
– “Mom, I want to talk to you about the apartment. I think you need to rewrite the second part for me. It is becoming difficult for all of us to live together under one roof. Let me help you move your things to the house in the village.”
At first Anna Konstantinovna was glad that she could live alone in peace, but she remembered that the house was registered in her son’s name and he categorically refused to register the house in her name. It seemed to her that it was not her son who was speaking, but as if the words of her daughter-in-law were coming out of Leni’s mouth.
-“No. Didn't agree I'm sorry for your scam. You throw me out of the apartment and out of the house, like I’m an unnecessary thing, and that’s the end of it.”
– “Yes, what’s wrong with you, mom? I’m trying to solve the problem so that everyone can feel good”
– “I don’t know anything. I will live in this apartment.”
Evil Leonid left the room, slamming the door behind him. He expected that he would deal with this matter today, but his mother’s stubbornness stopped him.
Frightened Anna Konstantinovna immediately dialed her neighbor Nikolai Vadimovich. He immediately picked up the phone.
– “Kneeling, my son just demanded that I transfer the apartment to him! He wants to get rid of me!”
– “Annushka, calm down, please. I'll definitely come up with something. You and I are not strangers to each other.”
-“Fine.”
– “You didn’t agree to sign the papers, did you?”
-“Of course not! Then they’ll just throw me out of the house”
– “Look what we do to you. Let's tell your family that you and I will now live together. And not just together, but also in your apartment. I don't need your apartment. I want Lenya to understand that you are not alone. And together with you we can protect ourselves from them.”
– “Oh, Kolya, what will people say around here?! We are no longer 20 years old to get together. This is somehow strange…”
– “What’s wrong with that? It's inconvenient to put pants on over your head! And you and I are defending the apartment together.”
Nikolai Vadimovich agreed with Anna Konstantinovna to meet in a few days in the village and discuss their plan. Having hung up the phone, the old woman exhaled a little and got up to go to the kitchen for water. Opening her door slightly, she heard her grandchildren’s dialogue:
– “Remember what mom told me to do?”
– “Aha!”
– “Oh, well, tell me…”
– “As soon as the granny leaves for the dacha, we collect all her things and take them to the trash heap!”
Anna Konstantinovna was taken aback by what she heard. Will her own son really allow her to be thrown out of the house with all her things?! She ran to the phone again and hastily dialed Nikolai Vadimovich’s number, but no one answered the phone.
Heart pounding in her chest, the old woman sat down on the edge of the bed. What to do? If she does not agree to Nikolai's plan, then her grandchildren will take her things from home as soon as she leaves.
The appointed day for the meeting arrived and Anna Konstantinovna packed her things and went to the village. There was no turning back now.
Returning to the village, she saw a lock hanging on the door of the house opposite. This meant that Nikolai Vadimovich was not at home, but he should have already been here.
Anna Konstantinovna felt bad. Now she was left without an apartment and without support. After waiting a little more, she went home. The dream she had recently resurfaced in her memory.
Suddenly, heavy steps and then a knock were heard outside the door.
– “Annushka, open up!” It’s me, Nikolai!”
The woman immediately opened the door and met an old friend.
– “I thought that you left me alone!”
– “Yes, I rushed to you, but my son’s car let me down. We lost a lot of time at the tire shop. Sorry for making you nervous!”
Anna Konstantinovna complained to a neighbor that her grandchildren were told to throw out her things as soon as she left the house. And that she is ready to accept any help from Nikolai. She even agreed to his crazy plan to move in together.
-“Wow! It’s disrespectful to do this to your own mother! We will do what we agreed on with you. As soon as morning comes, we will go to you, rush to them without warning and say that now we will live together in your apartment. And we will take my son for support. Well, do you agree?
“I agree,” said Anna Konstantinovna. She often watched her son Kolya and his family come to help him, so she was not against his help.
In the morning they arrived in the city, but decided to show up home in the evening without warning, when the whole family was gathered. They walked all day, chatting as if they were in their student days, when they were both young and studied at the same university.
At sunset they went to Anna Konstantinovna’s apartment. Approaching the house, they saw guys taking packages out of the entrance.
“These are my things,” Anna Konstantinovna sighed.
They entered the apartment and Nikolai Vadimovich immediately began to speak:
– “Hello, my name is Nikolai Vadimovich. I am your mother's college friend and her first love. We met again and decided to live together at Annushka’s house. I see your house is undergoing a thorough cleaning? Commendable! I demand that you return all of Anya’s things back or go buy new ones. It’s not right to do this to your mother.”
The family was shocked by this statement. Lenya tried to put together a couple of words: “What right do you have…”, “This can’t be…”, but nothing came of it. Under the formidable onslaught of Nikolai Vadimovich, his knees began to shake and his voice trembled.
Karina, Leonid and two grandchildren realized that now Anna Konstantinovna’s defender was guarding the apartment and that they would have to wait a very long time for the expansion of living conditions.
-“My son and I will arrive soon and meet you. I think he will live with us too. “Are you okay, Annushka?” Nikolai Vadimovich winked at his neighbor.
– “Yes, I’m all for it! More people, it will be more fun,” answered Anna Konstantinovna, smiling widely.
The relationship with my son and his family was completely damaged. But now Anna Konstantinovna was ready to fight for her happiness, because she had support and support next to her. Her soul felt good and calm. She understood that everything would be fine.
Thank you for your attention!
