Not a child, but a complete punishment! You’ll grow up just like your mother and then you’ll go on to vex some poor woman’s nerves just like your mother vexes mine!» Elizabeth Viktorovna grumbled at her daughter-in-law Oksana’s daughter.
The girl sat at the table, staring at her plate where a spoonful of mashed potatoes was spread, no more. Was this supposed to be lunch? How could one be full with that? And Elizabeth Viktorovna had even fried meat patties. Yulia had seen it with her own eyes! And the smell was still appetizing.
Yulia was already nine, and she could clearly distinguish right from wrong. She understood that Elizabeth Viktorovna was speaking ill of both Yulia and her mother. Her mother had told her to ignore the woman’s grumbling, but it was hard to endure such treatment. Children are sincere beings, and it’s harder for them to pretend, to act as if they don’t notice the aggression.
«Elizabeth Viktorovna, could I at least have a meat patty? Or some more mashed potatoes? You’ve put too little, and it’s not enough,» the girl complained.
«Not enough for you! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror at all? You weigh more than a hippo! That’s enough for you! Lose some weight!»
«But mom said I should speak up if I need something. I need more, and I would like a meat patty.»
«You wanted a meat patty? You’ll get your meat patty! Get up from the table and go to your room. I see you’re full if you have time to chat! Do you know whose money all this food was bought with? My son’s money! I cooked the meat patties for him, not for you. My son is not obliged to feed someone else’s child!»
Grabbing Yulia by the hand, she roughly pulled her away from the table, and it was only short of a kick that Elizabeth Viktorovna didn’t give to make the girl disappear into her room faster. Frightened by Elizabeth Viktorovna’s aggressive demeanor, Yulia locked herself in her room, climbed onto the bed, and only when she wanted to message her mother did she realize she had forgotten her phone on the kitchen table. However, returning for it was too frightening. Who knows what might come into that wicked woman’s mind? She was grinding her teeth and looked ready to tear and throw things around. Yulia had never seen such angry people before. The girl felt a deep longing for her grandmother, Natalia. Her paternal grandmother was always kind to her. She gave more food than asked for and even joked sometimes that if her granddaughter’s cheeks got slimmer, she would have to eat twice as much. Elizabeth Viktorovna was the complete opposite. Staying with her was unbearable. Yulia knew that evil people existed, and now she saw it firsthand and understood how terrifying it was.
The girl spent the whole day in her room. She was glad that she didn’t feel the need to go to the bathroom, as she was afraid to encounter the enraged Elizabeth Viktorovna. It was just like in the cartoon «The Kid and Carlson,» a real home tyrant. Except in the cartoon, the woman turned out to actually be kind, whereas here it was unlikely «Grandma Liza» would ever thaw. She immediately forbade being called ‘grandma,’ claiming she wasn’t that old yet. Although she was already gray-haired and had retired earlier than others because of work with chemicals. Maybe it was those chemicals that affected her and made her so harsh?
Oksana came back from work worried, as her daughter had not answered her messages all day. But she couldn’t even make it to Yulia’s room.
«Elizabeth Viktorovna, is everything okay with Yulia? She hasn’t answered me all day.»
«Everything’s fine with your Yulia. She vexed my nerves, said she wouldn’t eat my mashed potatoes, and locked herself in her room. You need to be stricter with her. You’ve spoiled the child, and now others have to suffer because of it.»
At that moment, Dmitry came back from work. The man hurried to find out what had happened, and Elizabeth Viktorovna began to complain to him that Yulia was a complete punishment, an unruly child, and it was very hard to look after her. She seasoned her words with sighs and even shed a tear for effect.
«You’re saying some strange things, mom. Yulia has always been calm,» Dmitry shrugged.
Oksana knocked on her daughter’s room. The girl opened it and immediately threw herself into her mother’s arms. Her stomach painfully growled from hunger. She wanted to eat and sleep. Yulia was tired of sitting on the bed all day staring at one spot in front of her. For this reason, the day dragged on unbearably long.
«Sweetheart, why did you refuse to eat?» asked Oksana, sitting on the bed with her daughter.
Elizabeth Viktorovna entered the room, stood with her hands on her hips, and glared menacingly at the girl. She silently threatened: dare to say something against me, and you will fully taste my wrath.
Yulia didn’t want to lie to her mother. However, she was afraid of Elizabeth Viktorovna’s anger. Would anyone believe her if she told the truth?
«I didn’t refuse,» the girl said with a trembling voice. Fear is a bad thing. Granny Natalia always said so. It’s important to speak up and share your feelings.
«Look at her! Lying and not even blushing. What else have you come up with?»
«I didn’t make up anything. I just asked for more mashed potatoes and to add a meat patty.»
Yulia honestly recounted what had happened, repeating Elizabeth Viktorovna’s words.
«Well, look at her! What a liar! Not even a hint of blush! You’ll make a great actress, you know! Didn’t adults ever tell you that in the past they used to cut off tongues for lying?»
Yulia was no longer afraid of Elizabeth Viktorovna. She felt that her mother believed her only daughter. Support emanated from Oksana, although she had not yet intervened in the conversation and listened to both sides.
«Then you would be without one, and I have nothing to be ashamed of because I’m telling the truth!» Yulia declared.
Elizabeth Viktorovna theatrically clutched her heart, approached her son sobbing, and demanded immediate help, claiming she would have a fit because of such a child.
Oksana and Yulia were left alone.
«Sweetie, did she really say that?» Oksana cautiously asked her daughter. The girl just nodded in response.
A bruise remained on her wrist from her mother-in-law’s rough grip. Oksana understood that her daughter wasn’t lying and couldn’t leave her with Elizabeth Viktorovna any longer.
«I’ll talk to Dmitry. I have a day off tomorrow, so I’ll be with you, and then your favorite grandma will return. Are you happy?»
Yulia nodded. She could have stayed home alone, as she already knew a lot, but with the recent increase in apartment break-ins in the city, Oksana was worried about her daughter. Since it was summer vacation, she had arranged with her former mother-in-law to watch over her granddaughter, but Dmitry insisted that his mother would be better. It turns out his mother wasn’t eager to help at all. Although the spouses had promised to pay her for her time, Natalia helped for free and said she would never take money for it. Elizabeth Viktorovna did not refuse the payment but behaved too ignorantly.
After feeding her daughter and putting her to sleep, Oksana took a shower. She waited for her husband, but he came into the room late. He said his mother felt too ill, and he had to look after her.
«Your daughter should apologize for her behavior. Mom would never say such words to her, she understands that she’s grown up and can tell us everything,» Dmitry concluded.
«Are you serious? Do you think my daughter has any reason to lie about this, and your mom doesn’t have the slightest reason? Dmitry, this is beyond belief! Yulia has a bruise on her wrist. That’s not normal.»
«And mom having a heart attack – you think that’s normal?»
Oksana clenched her teeth. She wanted to say that Elizabeth Viktorovna was pretending for the first time, but suddenly all words were lost. She had no desire to prove her point. The woman just wanted one thing – to protect her daughter.
«Dmitry, let your mom go back to her place. They don’t get along, that’s a fact. It’s better for Natalia Andreevna to continue watching over our daughter.»
«No!» Dmitry cut her off coldly. «I don’t need a stranger in my apartment. Do you still love your deceased husband? Is that why you lean towards his mother and jump around her, while you constantly offend mine? It won’t happen. Natalia Andreevna will never cross the threshold of this apartment again. This is my final word! I’ll sleep in the folding chair to monitor mom’s condition.»
The husband left the room, and Oksana stared at the door, not understanding what had happened. He was so jealous that he had turned into a blind man? And his blind faith in his mother. What heart attack? It was clear she was pretending.
She couldn’t properly fall asleep.
In the morning, Dmitry told Oksana that he was not going to change his decision, so she shouldn’t even hope that he would act differently. Only his mom would look after Yulia, or let her stay alone.
Dmitry was also cold towards Yulia, and Oksana realized that her daughter was unwanted in this house. And if Yulia was unwanted, then she, Oksana, should not stay either. But where to go, the young woman didn’t know. She didn’t have her own housing. After her father’s death, the entire inheritance was grabbed by her older sister, leaving Oksana with nothing. She and her husband had planned to buy housing on a mortgage, but they didn’t manage to do so before the tragedy, and her beloved died. Yulia had lived at her mother-in-law’s for a while until the daughter grew a bit and became stronger, then she rented an apartment, and two years ago met Dmitry and married him. She rushed into it. Only now did Oksana realize this. She wasn’t going to tolerate such treatment towards herself and her daughter. And she understood that it was time to put a definitive end where she always left an ellipsis, hoping that something would change.
«Mom, why are you packing?» Yulia asked, seeing the suitcase into which Oksana was packing clothes.
«We’re leaving here, sweetheart.»
«Where?» the girl was surprised.
«I don’t know. Maybe to Grandma Natasha’s? And then we’ll see. It’s time to get our own apartment.»
«And what about Dima? Don’t you love him anymore?»
Oksana couldn’t love Dmitry. She respected the man, felt sympathy towards him, felt a strong shoulder next to her, but she couldn’t love him as she had once loved, and that was even better because he also didn’t love her. They shouldn’t have entered this marriage at all.
Elizabeth Viktorovna stayed in her room, pretending to be ill. She darted to the kitchen a couple of times, thinking no one could hear, and that made Oksana feel even more disgusted. Such an unprofessional performance for the public.
«Dima doesn’t love us, sweetheart. That means we should no longer stay close to him,» Oksana whispered.
Dmitry called his wife and demanded that she feed his mother lunch.
«You don’t look in on her all day, and she doesn’t even have a glass of water. What kind of attitude is that, Oksana? You’d be jumping through hoops for your former mother-in-law, right?»
Oksana simply hung up the call and hurried to pack her things as quickly as possible. She wasn’t going to argue with Dmitry any further.
Arriving at Natalia Andreevna’s, Oksana told her about what had happened.
«My girl, you did the right thing coming to me. After Sergey’s death, it’s just you and Yulia left for me. Let’s have you calm down a bit, think everything over, and if you definitely decide to divorce Dmitry, we’ll think about what to do next. We have an old summer cottage that Sergey’s father loved to visit, and now it’s empty. We could sell it, sell this apartment and buy me a studio, and something more spacious for you and Yulia. Not a mansion, of course, but it will still be your own place, and I will of course help you. I enjoy spending time with Yulia. You know how much I love you both.»
They say all mother-in-laws are bad, but Oksana saw a sharp contrast in front of her. She even wondered if she had behaved badly towards Elizabeth Viktorovna? But no… The woman simply told her son from the beginning that he had found himself a woman with a child, complained, and now had driven them out.
Learning that his wife had left him, Dmitry agreed to give her a divorce. He claimed that his mother was right, calling Oksana his biggest mistake in life. Oksana was not offended. She just wanted to get a divorce and move on.
Elizabeth Viktorovna finally moved in with her son, and she rented out her apartment. She claimed that living on a pension alone was hard, so her son should support her. However, she was greatly surprised because Dmitry was paying off a car loan and couldn’t bring much money home. If before Elizabeth Viktorovna thought it was he who stocked the fridge to the brim, now she realized whose effort it was. Living lavishly wasn’t going to happen.
Natalia Andreevna insisted on selling the apartment, but Oksana decided that it was better for them to live together for now – it would ensure someone was watching over Yulia, there would be no need to constantly pull the former mother-in-law, and they could save some money, and then they would definitely buy something. For now, she wanted to rest after getting out of the burdensome relationship, and then think about the future. One thing Oksana knew for sure – she wouldn’t give up on her personal life, but next time she would carefully observe not only the man but also his relationship with his mother. It was important to understand how much the future mother-in-law had tied her son to herself, to avoid getting burned again.
