— I’ve put up with you in this house for seven years! In my house, I make the rules! — Valentina Yegorovna snapped.
Oksana slowly put down the ladle. The smell of Sunday lunch filled the kitchen, and the guests were already sitting around the large table. Her mother-in-law stood in the kitchen doorway dressed in her finest clothes, a shiny enamel dragonfly brooch sparkling on the collar of her blouse.
— The soup is getting cold, Valentina Yegorovna, — Oksana said calmly. — Shall I serve it?
— Of course, serve it! But don’t fill the plates to the top like you always do! This is my festive tablecloth!
Oksana turned back to the stove.
Over seven years, she had learned this house inside and out. She knew exactly how warm the soup should be. She knew which glass her mother-in-law preferred to drink from. She knew how to cook in a way that would leave Valentina with nothing to criticize.
There was only one thing she had never learned: how to quietly swallow humiliation.
At the table sat Valentina’s sister Nina with her husband, the downstairs neighbor, and Oksana’s husband, Tolik.
Tolik sat on the edge of his chair, wearing a new shirt, staring at the label on a bottle of mineral water as seriously as if it contained the greatest secret in the world.
— Tolya, could you help slice the bread? — Oksana called from the kitchen.
— Let him sit! He worked all week! — his mother immediately answered. — You’re younger, you can do it.
Tolik gratefully looked back at the bottle.
Oksana gave a bitter smile.
She kept track. She always kept track.
The apartment bills were several thousand rubles every month — and for seven years, she had paid them all. She bought the groceries. She paid for the renovation of the bedroom and living room. She had saved up 160,000 rubles for it while working two jobs.
When the apartment was finally renovated, Valentina had only said:
— At least you’re useful for something.
And now the same woman was telling everyone that she was the one supporting the family.
— Eat, eat! — Valentina kept telling the guests. — I carry everything on my shoulders here. My pension is small, but my family is big.
Oksana placed the soup bowl on the table and sat down at the very edge.
Nina tasted the soup.
— Very tasty. Valya, you’ve finally learned how to cook.
Valentina immediately pointed toward Oksana.
— I didn’t cook it. She did. At least she does something. But they’ve lived here for seven years getting everything handed to them, and I haven’t even heard a single thank you!
The table fell silent.
— Getting everything handed to them… — Oksana repeated quietly.
— Of course! — Valentina raised her voice. — Look at her! I’m the one giving them a roof over their heads! My house, my rules!
Tolik looked up for a moment.
— Mom… not at the table…
— Why? Isn’t it true? — the woman continued. — Oksana, remember this: in my house, I make the decisions! Don’t like it? You can leave! But where would you go? You have neither a house nor an apartment!
Then she added:
— Soon you’ll be forty-six years old, and you still haven’t even had children. Others are already raising grandchildren, and you’re still just working!
Oksana slowly put down her spoon.
— Children… — she said quietly.
She stood up and walked into the hallway.
The guests looked at each other. Valentina leaned back with satisfaction. She thought she had won.
A minute later, Oksana returned.
In her hands was a thin folder.
She placed it on the table.
— What is this? — Valentina asked uncertainly.
— The loan approval.
She opened the folder.
— A two-room apartment in a new building. The first payment has already been made. We’re moving in one month.
Silence filled the room.
— Starting from the first of the month, you will pay the utility bills for your own apartment, Valentina Yegorovna, — Oksana said calmly. — Your apartment, your bills.
Valentina went pale.
— But… eight thousand rubles a month?!
— More precisely, eight thousand two hundred last month. It increased because of the heating.
Oksana took out the bills.
— Here are all the payments from the last seven years. Look at the names. The same name is on every single one.
Her mother-in-law reached for the papers with trembling hands.
She didn’t grab the bills.
She grabbed the back of the chair.
— You did this on purpose in front of everyone? — she finally asked.
Oksana looked at her.
— No. You started this in front of everyone. I only finished it.
The guests slowly stood up.
That day, for the first time, no one defended Valentina.
Tolik just sat there, squeezing the mineral water bottle.
— You knew? — Oksana asked him.
The man lowered his eyes.
— Oksan… Mom is my mother. I thought it would somehow resolve itself.
— It did resolve itself, — Oksana replied. — In one month.
Over the next few weeks, Valentina completely changed.
At first, she tried begging.
— Oksanochka, my daughter, how will I stay alone? Who will bring me water?
— Ask for social assistance, — Oksana replied. — Or Tolik can visit you. He is your son.
Then came the anger.
— You’re leaving the renovation here too?! Who put up the wallpaper?!
— I did, — Oksana said. — But leave it. It’s a gift.
Her mother-in-law slammed the door.
A week later, Oksana overheard Valentina complaining to her friend on the phone:
— I supported them! I paid for everything! I renovated the apartment!
Oksana walked into the kitchen.
She picked up her own mug from the windowsill.
— The Finnish wallpaper cost 280 rubles per roll. I bought it from the store across the street. I glued it myself. I still have the receipt.
And she walked out.
On the first day, just as she had promised, they moved away.
In the new apartment, Oksana took out her toolbox. She attached a hook to the wall.
Exactly at the height that was comfortable for her.
Not for someone else.
Not for her mother-in-law.
But for herself.
And as she tightened the first screw into the wall, she smiled, knowing:
At last, she was living in a place where she was not a guest.
She was home.