I didn’t immediately find out that my mother-in-law had decided not to repay the money she owed us—and it was quite a substantial sum. I still held on to the hope that everything would turn out all right and that Zinaida Yevgenyevna’s conscience would eventually awaken.
One day, I discovered that my husband had given his mother the money we had been saving for something extremely important.
“Olya, there’s nothing left on the card,” Ruslan said, avoiding my eyes.
“Nothing?” I couldn’t believe what I had heard.
“Yes. I lent the money to Mom.”
“To your mother? So you thought you could just do that? Did I hear you correctly? We spent several months saving that money, looking for a rehabilitation center that would accept us, making phone calls, arranging everything, and getting all the necessary medical tests done with Danilka so that we could go there. And now you’re telling me there’s no money left on the card? Have you lost your mind?”
“Olya, you don’t know what happened,” my husband said, trying to calm me down. “Pull yourself together, don’t get worked up, and listen to me.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know!” I answered far too loudly. Then I glanced at the closed bedroom door, behind which our six-year-old son was sleeping, and lowered my voice. “Explain to me what could possibly be more important than your own child and his health.”
“You see, the thing is, Mom… She urgently needed money and asked me to lend it to her,” my husband continued, sounding much less confident now.
“Really? What astonishing news! I’m shocked! It’s not as though she’s ever asked before! Your mother has been living at our expense for years, ever since the first day of our marriage. And she doesn’t feel the slightest embarrassment or discomfort about it.”
“You’re exaggerating, Olya. Why are you doing that? Yes, Mom sometimes borrows money from us, but she pays it back,” Ruslan tried to argue. “You have to understand that her small pension simply isn’t enough to live on.”
“She pays it back? I don’t remember that. Maybe she does occasionally, and even then she doesn’t return the full amount. What did she need our money for this time? What could be so urgent that she didn’t care about her own grandson’s health? Answer me, you miserable fool! You and Zinaida Yevgenyevna both know perfectly well that we need to go to the rehabilitation center!” I said indignantly.
“Darling, please don’t shout. I’ll explain everything. Mom realized that all her health problems were caused by the fact that she sleeps on an old, sagging mattress, and her bed is terrible too. So she decided to replace them and ordered an orthopedic mattress and a new bed.”
“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. That sounds exactly like your selfish mother. As usual, she only thinks about herself. She doesn’t care about anyone else—not even her sick grandson!” I declared.
“Don’t exaggerate! Our Danilka isn’t sick, and he’s doing much better now. After the operation, his back is recovering and no longer hurts. The doctors said that, eventually, his spine should straighten completely. The most important thing is for him to keep exercising.”
“Oh, you’re absolutely right about that. Our child needs rehabilitation and expensive medication, and you gave all our money to your mother. We’re supposed to leave in two weeks! What am I supposed to use to buy the tickets?”
“I’ll find the money. What’s the big problem? Tomorrow I’ll ask the guys at work. They won’t refuse to help with something like this,” Ruslan said calmly and unperturbed, which only made me even angrier.
“You give away your own money first and then borrow someone else’s! I’d love to smack you upside the head and knock some sense into you!”
My mother-in-law, sixty-year-old Zinaida Yevgenyevna, had one peculiar habit. She preferred living at other people’s expense. She sincerely believed that her adult children were obligated to support her completely.
“I raised you all by myself and sacrificed my health for you. I denied myself even the bare necessities so that you would never go without anything. Your father turned out to be a traitor. He left on another business trip, never came back, and settled down there with the woman who stole him from me. And I was left alone with you two when you were still little,” Zinaida Yevgenyevna often reminded her son and daughter of her supposed heroic sacrifice.
“Thank you very much, Mom, for not sending my sister and me to an orphanage,” Ruslan, who was accustomed to such speeches, would joke.
“That’s right, I didn’t send you away, even though I could have!”
My husband’s older sister, Nadezhda, reacted more reservedly to her mother’s self-pitying stories. A couple of years earlier, she herself had been left alone with two children after her husband left her for a younger, childless colleague. He paid child support regularly, but because his new partner worked in accounting, Nadezhda’s children received next to nothing.
“Oh, Mom, stop it! Half the country lives like this nowadays. Men aren’t exactly eager to raise their own children. They’re always looking for an opportunity to run away somewhere. We’re lucky Ruslan is such a decent man. Another man would already have started looking elsewhere,” the daughter would tell her mother irritably.
“Yes, my son is a very good man, because I raised him that way,” Zinaida Yevgenyevna would reply proudly.
I knew that while Nadezhda had still been living with her husband, my mother-in-law had occasionally borrowed money from them for various needs. I didn’t know whether she ever repaid her daughter. But after Nadezhda’s divorce left her alone, her mother could no longer take advantage of her finances. From then on, she directed all her financial demands toward her son.
Everything that had happened before this latest incident had annoyed me, of course, but it had been tolerable. Zinaida Yevgenyevna did sometimes repay the money, especially when I reminded her about it.
But this latest incident was outrageous. My mother-in-law knew perfectly well that my son and I would soon have to travel to the regional center for rehabilitation. Nevertheless, she still managed to get the money from her son for another ridiculous whim.
The following day, Ruslan really did find the money. His colleagues were understanding. When a child was ill, how could anyone refuse to help? My husband happily announced the news when he returned home that evening.
“That’s it, Olya. You can buy the tickets for yourself and Danilka. The guys collected a lot. You’ll even have some money to take with you.”
“Wonderful! At least complete strangers cared about us, since the child’s father and my husband is such an idiot. Tell your mother that she must repay the money before we return. I don’t intend to come home and suffer because we’re broke. You’re the one who will have to repay your colleagues anyway,” I told my husband sternly.
“Mom will repay it! As soon as she receives her pension, she’ll give it back,” Ruslan replied carelessly.
“Oh, don’t give me that nonsense! She’ll repay it, will she? You shouldn’t trust her promises so blindly. What will she live on if she gives us her entire pension? Nadezhda refused to support her a long time ago. You and I are the only obedient cows she keeps milking with remarkable regularity.”
When my son and I returned home after his rehabilitation, I was furious to discover that Zinaida Yevgenyevna had still not repaid the money. I decided to take action myself without putting it off any longer.
I firmly dialed my mother-in-law’s number, but she did not answer. She had probably already guessed why I was calling, even though I had only just returned home.
“All right, then. We’re not too proud to go ourselves, are we, sweetheart? We’ll visit your grandmother. At the same time, we can have a look at the new purchase for which she took all our money,” I said aloud.
We got ready and went to my husband’s mother’s home.
Zinaida Yevgenyevna looked extremely surprised when she opened the door.
“Oh, you’re back already? Well, imagine that! I didn’t think you’d return so soon. For some reason, I thought you would stay there longer,” my confused mother-in-law rambled. “Well, come in, since you decided to visit Grandma. I’m afraid I have nothing to offer you. I wasn’t expecting guests, and some urgent matters have come up.”
I immediately noticed that furniture assemblers were working in the bedroom, putting together the new bed. In the hallway, against the wall, stood a large, still-unwrapped orthopedic mattress—the one my mother-in-law had dreamed about.
“Well, should we congratulate you on your new purchases?” I asked grimly, remembering the argument my husband and I had had because of his mother’s impulsive purchase.
“Yes, they finally delivered everything. I could hardly wait. I paid for it ages ago, but it was only delivered today. Now I’ll finally be able to feel like a human being. My back will stop hurting immediately, and I’ll sleep soundly,” Zinaida Yevgenyevna said. “Do you like Grandma’s new bed, my little grandson?”
“Yes, I do,” Danilka replied. “Now you’ll be like a queen, Grandma.”
“That’s all very nice, of course. Who could argue with that? Your healthy back and your wonderful sleep are both excellent. But what about the debt?” I asked my mother-in-law directly, with no intention of beating around the bush.
“Debt? What debt?” she asked, pretending to be confused and blinking rapidly.
“Your debt, Zinaida Yevgenyevna. I want to know when you intend to return the money you took from our family to buy this luxurious bed and expensive mattress.” I raised my voice so that my mother-in-law would understand that I had not come there to joke around.
“Olechka, this is all very strange. You must have misunderstood something, or perhaps there’s something you don’t know,” Ruslan’s mother continued with an overly sweet smile. “But I don’t owe my son anything.”
“What do you mean, you don’t owe him anything? Don’t try to confuse me! Did you take our money? Yes, you did! Did you buy the bed and mattress? They’re standing right here! So what kind of performance are you putting on? Because of your whims, my son nearly went without treatment! My husband had to borrow money from his colleagues, and now you’re telling me that you don’t owe us anything!”
I did not like the way my mother-in-law was behaving at all. Everything about it was strange and promised nothing good. Had a miracle occurred? Had she already returned the money to Ruslan? But then why didn’t I know anything about it?
“Yes, Olya, that’s correct. My son gave me the money for this purchase because he actually cares about how his own mother feels. Ruslan worries about my health because I’m an elderly woman. I should be treated differently now, with greater care and consideration…”
“Wonderful. So what about the debt?” I interrupted sharply. Her performance was already getting on my nerves.
“There is no debt, Olya. My son gave me that money as a gift for my birthday. Have you forgotten that my birthday is in two weeks? My son hasn’t forgotten!” Zinaida Yevgenyevna said with an air of magnificent superiority.
There was not a trace of embarrassment on her satisfied face.
“A gift?” I said, stunned. “For your birthday? Aren’t you confusing something? Did Ruslan personally tell you that?” I was genuinely surprised by this turn of events.
“Yes, Olya, he did. And it is a suitable gift for a mother who devoted her entire life to raising a decent man—a man who, incidentally, ended up becoming your husband!”
“I will certainly discuss this with my husband. But don’t you think this is an extremely expensive gift, Zinaida Yevgenyevna?” I was still struggling to process what I had heard.
“That is for my son to decide. If he believes his mother deserves such a gift, then so be it. You simply have to accept his decision and come to terms with it, Olya.”
I realized it was time to clarify the situation. After leaving my mother-in-law, whom I could no longer stand to look at, I immediately called my husband.
“Ruslan, explain to me why your mother is claiming that you gave her the money for the bed and mattress as a gift. What kind of royal generosity is this, and what was the occasion? We’re not talking about a few thousand that we can simply forget about!” I practically screamed into the phone. “And how exactly are you planning to repay your debt to your colleagues?”
“Stop shouting. I didn’t understand anything! Mom said I gave her the money as a gift?” Ruslan asked.
“Yes, that’s exactly what she said! Can you explain anything to me? Don’t try to wriggle out of this, please. And if you really did give it to her, then just say so!” I was furious and spoke loudly and emotionally.
“All right, I’m going to call Mom myself right now and find out why she suddenly decided it was a gift. I swear I never told her anything like that,” my husband said defensively, astonished by what I had told him. “There was never any mention of a gift. Honestly, Mom!”
But when Ruslan called his mother, he became even more surprised.
“Listen, son, it’s very strange that you’re asking me the same question your wife asked. I could expect something like that from her, but from you? You’ve surprised and disappointed me. I thought it went without saying that your mother deserved such a gift.”
“Mom, what are you talking about? Don’t you know what our situation is? Our son’s treatment costs a great deal of money, and now you come along with your mattresses. A new, comfortable bed is certainly a useful purchase, but it shouldn’t be bought at our expense.”
“I never expected this from you,” Zinaida Yevgenyevna said, attempting to cry. “I thought you would agree with me and say that it was a gift. How can you behave like this?”
“I can, Mom. If you loved your grandson—our son—you would be helping us financially instead,” Ruslan replied. “His treatment costs us a fortune, and you’re always standing there with your hand out.”
“What a thing to say! Where am I supposed to get the money to help you? I barely survive on bread and water as it is. With a pension like mine, I’ll soon have to beg outside a church,” his mother said, either truly crying or pretending in an attempt to make her son feel sorry for her.
“You chose this life yourself. Look around. All your friends are still working, or at least doing occasional jobs, while you’ve simply sat down and folded your hands. Do you really enjoy constantly begging Nadezhda and me for money for one thing after another? Yes, your pension is small, I agree. But you’re capable of earning money yourself! My sister and I already have more than enough problems of our own. You need to understand that.”
“My God, Ruslan, you’re completely heartless!” his mother said before hanging up.
After telling me about the conversation, my husband explained that his mother had invented the entire story and that he would certainly demand his money back.
“I don’t know… It’s going to be difficult to recover that debt from your mother. Once she has decided it was a gift, there’s no hope. She won’t return it,” I said doubtfully, knowing Zinaida Yevgenyevna’s personality.
And I was right. We never received the money from my mother-in-law.
From that day onward, I stopped communicating with my husband’s shameless mother. I told her directly over the phone that when she repaid the debt, I would allow our son to speak to her again. If she refused, then so be it. She could forget about her grandson as well.
Ruslan still visits his mother occasionally. But he is also extremely unhappy that she practically deceived him.
Unfortunately, mothers like that really do exist. They believe that the truth is always on their side.
