“Clear out the master bedroom—we’re moving in!”
Diana noisily dropped an enormous travel bag right onto the mat in the hallway.
“We’ll bring the rest of Boris’s things later,” she announced in a tone that suggested she already owned the place.
She brushed an invisible speck of dust from the sleeve of her light-colored coat and carefully surveyed the apartment, as though assessing its condition.
“Come on, Nika, don’t just stand there. We need to get settled before evening.”
Veronica stood frozen in the kitchen doorway, holding a spatula. Behind her, oil crackled on the stove as the syrniki turned golden brown in the pan.
“And why exactly are you moving in?”
“Because we have to!”
Diana casually tossed her coat onto the cabinet.
“Our landlords told us to vacate the apartment we were renting. They raised the rent as though we print money. And, for your information, we still have a car loan to pay off, and Boris needs a winter coat.”
Nika stared silently at her sister, astonished by her shameless behavior.
The last time they had seen each other properly was at their mother’s funeral reception. Three years ago, when their mother became seriously ill, Veronica had not even questioned who should stay by her side. She packed her belongings, rented out her small studio apartment on the outskirts of the city, and moved into her mother’s two-bedroom apartment.
It was Nika who cared for their mother. She spoon-fed her, helped her get out of bed, and barely slept at night. Diana appeared only a few times a year, usually on holidays. She would bring a cake, sit beside their mother’s bed for about thirty minutes, talk about her own problems, and then hurry away, claiming she had urgent business to attend to.
Their mother had died six months ago.
And now Veronica’s older sister stood in the hallway, giving orders as though she had lived there all along.
“I don’t understand. Why are you still standing there?” Diana asked irritably, kicking off her shoes in the middle of the hallway. “Go and clear out the room.”
“Which room?”
“Mom’s bedroom, of course. It’s bigger. Boris and I will stay there, and you can move into the smaller room. It’s no big deal. We’ll squeeze in somehow. We’re family, after all.”
“Are you sure you haven’t confused this apartment with someone else’s?”
“Oh, don’t start,” Diana said dismissively before confidently heading toward the living room. “We’re not strangers. Why should we pay rent to some outsider and waste our money? Besides, this apartment belongs to both of us. Half of it is legally mine. Six months have already passed, so it’s time to deal with the inheritance.”
She marched resolutely toward the spacious bedroom.
“Stop.”
Nika stepped in front of her sister, blocking her path. She was still holding the spatula.
“Oh, how frightening,” Diana scoffed. “Just don’t put on a performance. I’ve come to my own home, and I have every right to be here. Once Boris receives his salary, we’ll split the utility bills in half. We’ll live perfectly well together. I’ll even help you in the kitchen.”
Diana spoke forcefully while sincerely believing that her proposal was incredibly generous. She had always lived by the same principle: whenever she needed something, everyone else was expected to make room for her and then thank her for the privilege.
Heavy footsteps sounded from the landing. The front door opened wider, and Boris appeared in the doorway. He was out of breath as he carried a cardboard box filled with winter clothes, somehow balancing an old floor lamp on top of it.
“Whew, you really live high up,” he said breathlessly. “The elevator is broken again. Honey, take this stuff. Hi, Nika. Will dinner be ready soon? I’m starving after work. It smells delicious in here.”
Boris squeezed inside, unceremoniously nudging Veronica aside with his shoulder, and placed the box directly on the freshly washed floor.
“I don’t get it.”
He looked around the hallway in confusion.
“Why haven’t you started unpacking yet? Diana, you said we were getting the larger bedroom. We were planning to order a new bed for it because our old one squeaks terribly.”
“Exactly, Borya.”
Diana planted her hands firmly on her hips.
“But our dear relative suddenly decided to show some attitude. She’s standing here arguing about her rights and refusing to let us in properly.”
Nika leaned against the doorframe.
“Both of you, get out.”
“What?” Boris stared at her in disbelief.
“Watch how you speak. It’s not as if we’ve come to a stranger’s home. What are we supposed to do now—sleep on the street?”
“You haven’t come to a stranger’s home?”
Veronica spoke calmly, although inside she was boiling with anger at the astonishing confidence with which the couple tried to take control of her life.
“Then explain where the two of you were for the last three years.”
“Oh, here we go again.” Diana demonstratively rolled her eyes. “The same old story. How long are you going to keep bringing it up?”
“No, answer me.”
Veronica pushed herself away from the doorframe.
“Where were you when Mom needed medicine every month? When expensive medication had to be purchased constantly, and I had to rent out my studio and spend almost all the income at the pharmacy?”
“But you lived with her!” Diana snapped. “It was easier for you to look after her! I had a job, and Boris had a complicated work schedule. We had plenty of our own problems.”
“Easier?”
Veronica took a step toward her sister.
“You call it easier to go several nights in a row without sleeping? To lift and turn a sick adult all by myself? I asked you to help pay for a caregiver on weekends so that I could simply get some sleep. Do you remember what you said?”
Diana looked away, but almost immediately lifted her chin defiantly.
“Our car had broken down at the time. The repairs were urgent. That was more important. Boris couldn’t get to work properly without the car.”
“But you still managed to fly away on vacation that summer.”
“We had paid for the trip in advance!” Diana immediately went on the offensive. “What were we supposed to do—lose the money? Besides, we brought groceries for Mom.”
“You brought entire bags of meat,” Nika remarked dryly. “But Boris ate most of it over the weekend while you stayed here and enjoyed everything being done for you. You never once bought the things Mom actually needed.”
Boris visibly shrank. He hated conversations like this, especially when someone mentioned his habit of eating well at other people’s expense.
“Why are you dragging up the past again, Nik?” he intervened in a conciliatory tone. “The circumstances are completely different now. We genuinely have nowhere to live. The landlady raised the rent, and the bank won’t approve us for a mortgage. That’s what relatives are for—to help one another.”
“Exactly!” Diana immediately supported her husband. “We’re family, and this apartment belongs to both of us!”
She tried once again to slip past her sister into the bedroom, as though merely crossing its threshold would be enough to claim it as her own.
Veronica blocked the doorway again.
“Get out of my way.”
Diana was now staring at her with open hostility.
“I’m entering my own home, and I intend to sleep in a proper bed. You can keep your resentment to yourself.”
“Boris is not staying here,” Veronica said distinctly. “And neither are you. Take your bags and find somewhere else to live.”
“We’ll see about that!”
Diana raised her voice.
“Do you have any idea how this looks? Don’t try to make me out to be some kind of monster. I’m the eldest daughter! Half of this apartment belongs to me! If you don’t let me in, I’ll break down the door myself. That will teach you how to speak to your relatives!”
“Go ahead.”
Veronica lowered the spatula and slipped her free hand into the pocket of her house pants.
“Do it. But I’ll have time to call the police first.”
“Then call them!” Diana shouted. “You have no conscience at all! Mom would be horrified if she saw you throwing your own sister out!”
“Mom knew perfectly well how each of us treated her.”
Nika still did not raise her voice.
“Especially during her final year, when you couldn’t even be bothered to visit her on her birthday. You only called and said you were busy at the country house.”
“We were planting potatoes!”
“You were grilling kebabs, Diana. Mom saw the photographs online.”
Red blotches spread across Diana’s face. Then the color suddenly drained away, making her unevenly applied, vivid makeup appear even more noticeable.
“She understood everything perfectly,” Veronica continued. “That’s why, a year ago, she signed the entire apartment over to me as a gift.”
Boris froze. His hands, which had been about to unzip his jacket, remained suspended in the air.
“What deed of gift?” he finally managed to ask.
“A perfectly ordinary one.”
Veronica did not look away from her sister.
“The entire apartment belongs to me. There was no need to wait six months for an inheritance. All the documents were completed long ago.”
Silence descended upon the hallway. The only sound was the loud sizzling of the forgotten syrniki in the kitchen.
“You’re lying,” Diana hissed through clenched teeth.
Her voice had become almost serpentine.
“You forced her! You deliberately made it difficult for us to visit, and then you took all her property for yourself!”
“I stopped you from visiting?”
A bitter smile appeared on Nika’s face.
“I called you and begged you to come when Mom was hospitalized with an infection. You wouldn’t even answer the phone.”
“That’s illegal!” Diana stamped her foot angrily. “I’ll prove that she didn’t understand what she was doing! You drugged her with medication!”
“Go ahead and prove it.”
Veronica calmly met her gaze.
“You can start today if you like. But right now, you’re leaving.”
She bent down, picked up the cardboard box and floor lamp Boris had brought inside, and carried them out the door without another word. She placed the box on the dusty concrete floor of the landing.
Then Nika grabbed the handles of her sister’s enormous travel bag. It was extremely heavy, but her anger gave her strength. She dragged it through the hallway and put it outside as well.
“Hey, be careful!” Diana cried in alarm. “There’s a dinner set in there!”
“They’re your belongings. Look after them yourself.”
Veronica straightened up and pointed toward the open door.
“The exit is that way. Pay for your own wishes. I’m not running a free hotel here.”
“You’ll regret this!” Diana shouted as she retreated onto the landing.
Boris was already standing outside, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. He clearly had no intention of getting involved in the quarrel. He had wanted to enjoy a peaceful meal after work, not argue with the apartment’s actual owner.
“Come on, Diana,” he called quietly to his wife. “That’s enough. We’ll find something.”
“I’m not letting this go!” Diana continued shouting as she stepped down onto the stairs. “You haven’t heard the last of me!”
Veronica did not answer. She simply shut the door in her furious sister’s face and turned the key in the lock.
For several more minutes, Diana’s angry shouting and Boris’s quiet, apologetic muttering could be heard from the stairwell. Then heavy footsteps sounded as they gradually descended the stairs and faded away.
Veronica rested her forehead against the cool metal door.
Her heart was beating fast and hard. She still felt awful inside. No matter what had happened, Diana remained her own sister.
But for the first time in three exhausting years, Veronica felt an astonishing sense of relief.
From now on, each of them would be responsible for her own life.
Suddenly, the unmistakable smell of burning food drifted in from the kitchen.
Nika flinched, instantly remembered the frying pan she had left on the stove, and hurried to rescue the syrniki.
Life went on.
