«Oksana, please don’t take this the wrong way, but Mom has decided to leave the dacha to Romka.»
Svetlana said this while still standing in the entryway, as Oksana was struggling to take off her boot without getting her tights on the wet doormat. She spoke quietly, with that special smile she always used right before dropping bad news, then immediately turned toward the mirror and started fixing her hair.
«And am I supposed to be upset?» Oksana asked.
«Who knows! These days, everyone seems to get offended so easily.»
Tamara Ivanovna’s voice called out from the other room:
«Are you two coming or not? The duck is getting cold!»
Svetlana grabbed her bag and headed for the table first. Oksana lingered in the hallway for a few seconds, still holding her second boot. Romain was already in the living room with their mother, loudly telling her how he went to three different stores this morning before finally finding a proper cake.
He hadn’t mentioned anything to her about the dacha.
«Mom, I told you I’d bring a good one,» Romain said as he cut open the cake box with a knife. «And you were worried I’d just grab any old thing.»
«I wasn’t worried. I know you,» answered Tamara Ivanovna. «Whenever you take care of something, you always do it right.»
Svetlana nodded, as if that statement applied not just to the cake, but to her brother’s whole life.
Oksana sat down next to Romain. He slid a plate toward her, bumped her arm with his elbow, and quietly asked:
«Why were you taking so long out there?»
«My boot wouldn’t come off.»
«You should have called me to help.»
She glanced at him, but he had already turned to their mother and was suggesting they open the champagne.
They didn’t talk about the dacha right away. First, they discussed Tamara Ivanovna’s health, the new manager at her clinic, and how the neighbor upstairs was smoking in the hallway again. Svetlana spoke the loudest, kept interrupting their mother, and even started searching her phone several times to show photos of the renovations she was planning for the spring.
Romain ate heartily and kept piling more duck onto Oksana’s plate, even after she twice said she didn’t want any more.
«Why are you so quiet today?» he asked.
«I’m fine.»
«Glad to hear it.»
He said it with relief, like he’d just checked a light bulb to make sure it was still working.
After the main course, Tamara Ivanovna pushed the salad bowls to the edge of the table and took out a blue folder from the cabinet. She laid it in front of her, smoothed the cover with her hand, and for some reason adjusted the tablecloth.
«I didn’t bring you all together today for nothing,» she said. «It’s my birthday and all, but there are some things we need to sort out in advance.»
Romain stopped chewing. Svetlana immediately sat up straighter and glanced over at Oksana.
«Mom, can we maybe talk about this later?» Romain asked.
«Later? Why? You’re both here, and Svetlana’s here too. I’m not planning on dying tomorrow, don’t look at me like that. I just want to make sure no one argues later on.»
Tamara Ivanovna opened the folder. Oksana saw a copy of the dacha deed, an old plot plan, and several pages covered in her mother-in-law’s handwriting.
«I’ve decided to put the dacha in Romain’s name,» she said. «Svetlana already got the apartment from her father; she has her own place. But Romain is a man, he loves taking care of things, keeps everything in order.»
«Mom, do we really have to talk about this now?» Romain reached for the folder, but his mother pressed her hand firmly on top of it.
– Because I made that decision. You’re reliable, Rom. You bought your own apartment, upgraded your car, and you provide for your wife. I’ll have peace of mind knowing the dacha will be in good hands.
Oksana turned to look at her husband. He was staring into his plate, scraping his fork over the baked crust.
Svetlana noticed Oksana watching.
– What? she asked. – I think it’s only fair. Roma was always good at managing money. You were able to buy your apartment thanks to him—and look how nice your place is!
– Thanks to him? Oksana repeated, nearly choking.
Roman quickly slid the bread basket over to her.
– Oksan, have some bread.
She didn’t touch the basket.
– Svet, why do you say thanks to him?
– Because he pulled together the first payment. You had just started at your new job back then. Or am I remembering wrong?
Svetlana turned to her brother, waiting for him to confirm. Roman grabbed his water glass, took a sip, and set it back down a little too close to the table’s edge.
– Svet, let’s not get into accounting, he said. – It’s Mom’s birthday after all!
– What’s so wrong? I’m just saying something nice about my brother!
– Who told you about the first payment? Oksana said sharply.
Svetlana shrugged.
– Roma did. Ages ago.
Roman sharply pushed his plate away.
– That’s not what I said.
– Then what did you say? Oksana asked.
– I don’t even remember anymore, it was ages ago.
– It was five years ago.
– See, you remember and I don’t.
He tried to smile, but no one else did. Tamara Ivanovna kept her fingers on top of the open folder, looking first at her son, then at Oksana.
– So what’s wrong with the first payment? she asked.
– Nothing’s wrong, Mom, Roman said quickly. – Don’t start!
– I’m not starting anything. I just asked.
Svetlana rolled her eyes and grabbed her wine glass.
– Oh for god’s sake, now a simple comment is turning into a drama. Does it even matter who paid what? They’re a family.
– Then why did you just say that Roma bought the apartment? Oksana asked.
– Because he handled the mortgage, ran between banks, did all the paperwork.
– I handled the mortgage!
– Maybe you did it together.
– Sveta, where are you getting all this from?
– Getting what?
– That I had just started a new job, that Roman supposedly collected the down payment. That he was the one running around to the banks??
Svetlana glanced at her brother, and that quick look was enough for Oksana.
Roman reached for the bottle, misjudged the movement and knocked over his glass. Water spilled across the tablecloth and trickled toward the folder. Tamara Ivanovna gasped, grabbing the papers, while Svetlana started blotting up the water with napkins.
– Here we go, Roman said irritably. – Couldn’t even have a peaceful meal.
– You’re the one who told her that?! Oksana asked.
– Told her what?
– That you bought the apartment?
– I never said that!
– You did, Svetlana interrupted. – You said you handled everything on your own, that Oksana wasn’t really earning yet.
Roman looked at his sister as if she’d suddenly switched sides.
– I didn’t say she wasn’t earning.
– Rom, you said you had to juggle everything yourself. I also remember Mom worrying about the big mortgage you took on.
– That never happened.
– It did, Tamara Ivanovna said quietly. – You told me Oksana was still settling into her job, so you’d be paying by yourself.
Oksana ran her finger along the edge of the table where some water had spilled. Roman grabbed a napkin and started wiping the area, even though it was already dry.
«Maybe I didn’t say it right,» he said. «Back then I was in a terrible state, I didn’t even have a decent job.»
«You didn’t have a job for four months,» Oksana replied. «But we bought the apartment a year later.»
«So what? Are you going to start checking dates now?»
«I’m just trying to figure out how long you’ve been telling this story!»
«I never told any story. I just mentioned something one time to Mom and she misunderstood.»
Tamara Ivanovna placed the salvaged papers on the windowsill.
«I understood perfectly well, Roma. You told me you were buying the apartment yourself, and Oksana would help out however she could for now.»
«Mom, come on now…»
«What about me?» Her voice softened. «I tell all my friends how proud I am of my son.»
Svetlana threw the wet napkins into an empty plate.
«Why is everyone ganging up on him? So he told his mother he’s managing. What did you want him to say—that his wife pays for everything?»
«Pays for him?» Oksana turned to her. «Why does it have to be for him?»
«Because it just sounds better when a man is the provider for the family. It doesn’t look great if the wife whips out a calculator in front of everyone later, does it?»
«I haven’t taken anything out just yet!»
«Exactly,» said Roman. «So let’s just drop it.»
He reached for the folder and began gathering the papers, as if his mother’s decision now required his immediate input. Oksana put her hand over one of the sheets.
«Wait.»
«What now?»
«Did you also buy the car by yourself?»
Roman jerked his hand.
«What’s the car got to do with anything?»
«Svea was saying at the dacha this summer that you finally treated yourself to a nice car. I thought she just worded it like that… but now I get it!»
«So he treated himself, big deal,» said Svetlana. «You two live together!»
«But it was my money!»
«Here we go again,» Roman leaned back in his chair. «Mine, yours. You’re always the one who said everything’s shared between us.»
«Shared.»
«Then what’s the difference?»
«It’s a big difference if you told your family you did it all alone. That’s not true!»
«I didn’t say that!»
«Roma,» his mother interrupted, «You told me you sold the old car, added your savings, and bought a new one.»
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
«Mom, I wasn’t about to report back to you where the money came from.»
«But you did report back,» Oksana said quietly. «You just lied.»
«Why do you say it was a lie? The car is part of the family. I drive it. What difference does it make who made the transfer?»
«Then why didn’t you say it was my money?»
Roman opened his mouth to respond, but Svetlana spoke first.
«Because it’s humiliating…»
Tamara Ivanovna turned to her daughter.
«What’s humiliating?»
«When a man has no money and the wife pays for everything. Why are you all acting like you don’t get it?»
Oksana looked at Roman. He didn’t contradict his sister and reached for his glass again, though it was almost empty.
«So, that was humiliating,» Oksana said. «But letting people think I was living off you—like some freeloader—that’s not humiliating?»
«Nobody said you lived off me!»
«Mom just said you supported me!»
«That’s what Mom said.»
«Because you told her that!»
«Oksana, stop going around in circles. I already said maybe I didn’t express myself the right way.»
«How many times? Tell me!»
He stood up abruptly. The chair hit the wall, making Tamara Ivanovna flinch.
«How should I know how many times!» Roman exclaimed. «What do you want to hear right now? That I’m some sort of villain? That I stole your apartment?»
«I want to hear why you did it. Why??»
«I didn’t do anything on purpose!»
«Then correct it now.»
Roman froze, holding onto the back of the chair.
«Correct what?»
«Everything. Tell your mother who made the first payment, who paid off your loan, who bought the car…»
«Are you seriously going to sit here and list all this out at Mom’s birthday party?»
«I’m not the one who started listing your achievements!»
Sveta straightened up.
«Now it’s all clear! You were just waiting for a chance to humiliate him.»
«Sveta, stay out of this,» said Roman.
«No, I’m going to say it. Mom wants to put the family cottage in his name, and suddenly all this starts. My apartment, my car, my money. Talk about timing!»
Oksana stared at her for several seconds, not recognizing the meaning of what she heard.
«You think this is about the cottage?»
«What else would it be? Five years you said nothing, and now you see the papers and start talking.»
«What papers?» Oksana let out a short laugh. «I don’t want your cottage.»
«Everyone says they don’t want it at first.»
«Sveta, enough already!» Tamara Ivanovna snapped.
Her daughter turned to her with a hurt expression.
«Mom, I’m defending you. You’ll sign over your property and then it will turn out Oksana wants a piece, because she’s the one supporting everyone here.»
«I’m not claiming anything,» said Oksana. «And you can register the cottage tomorrow if you want, without me.»
«How noble of you.»
«Sveta, I said that’s enough!» Roman raised his voice and slapped the back of the chair with his palm. «Why are you even bringing this up?»
«Me? She’s the one throwing dirt at you!»
«I’m just asking him questions,» Oksana replied.
«In front of his mother. On her birthday.»
«Because it was in front of his mother that he lied!»
Svetlana jumped up.
«A normal wife wouldn’t humiliate her husband like this!»
Oksana looked at Roman. He stood between the table and the window, red-faced, the top button of his shirt undone.
«And a normal husband wouldn’t go around for years claiming his wife just depended on him. Is that normal for you all?»
«I never said that!» he shouted again.
«Show us,» said Tamara Ivanovna.
Everyone turned to her.
«Show what?» Roman asked.
«Who paid. If you’re not listening to each other, show it on paper and be done with it.»
«Mom, are you crazy? This isn’t a courtroom.»
«I wasn’t talking to you, Roma.»
Tamara Ivanovna looked at Oksana. Her voice wasn’t accusing, just confused, like someone desperately wanting to find a simple mistake and bring the conversation back to where her son was still reliable and doing everything right.
Oksana took out her phone.
«There it is,» Roman said with a bitter smile. «Perfect. Time for the report.»
She didn’t answer. She opened her banking app, scrolled through saved statements, and found the money transfer for the deal. The amount for the first payment nearly filled the whole line.
She handed the phone to Tamara Ivanovna.
«This is the first payment. The date is shown there.»
Her mother-in-law put on her glasses and brought the screen closer to her face.
– That’s your last name right here.
– Because I was the one who made the transfer.
– Maybe it was from the joint account, – Svetlana quickly suggested.
– It was from my personal account, there wasn’t even a joint account back then…
***
Oksana grabbed her phone, opened the photo folder, and found a picture of an electronic bank statement she’d saved for insurance purposes. On the screen were the apartment address, registration date, and names of the owners.
– The apartment is registered to both of us, – she said. – That’s how we agreed. I’ve never argued about that.
She opened the app again and showed the loan payment for Roman. Then she pulled up the car payment, which the bank had saved as a separate transaction.
The phone sat in front of their mother. Svetlana stretched her neck, trying to zoom in with her fingers, but Tamara Ivanovna pulled the screen away from her.
– Roma, – she asked, – why did you lie to us?
He sat back down but missed the edge of the chair and had to adjust it with his hand.
– I wasn’t lying… I just didn’t share all the details.
– You said you bought the apartment by yourself. You said that for years…
– Because we’re family! What difference does it make who sent the money?
– Then why didn’t you say it was her money, Oksana’s? – their mother asked.
– Because I didn’t want you to worry.
– Worry about what?
Roman looked at his sister, then at Oksana, and sighed…
– I was having trouble at work back then, every phone call made your blood pressure spike, remember?
– My blood pressure never spiked because of the truth!
– Mom, can you please not start right now?
– I’m not starting. For five years I told everyone you bought the apartment yourself… So that means I’ve been lying too.
– Did I ever ask you to tell everyone?
Svetlana scooted closer to the table.
– Alright, so he lied once. What now, are we going to shoot him? He was ashamed. A man lost his job, his wife made more money. You can understand that.
– I do understand, – said Oksana. – I understood even back then.
– Then just keep on understanding! What’s the problem now?
– But later he got a job again and still kept telling everyone he bought everything himself.
– Because you let him!
Roman’s head snapped up.
– Sveta!
– What about Sveta? She kept silent for five years. She was fine with it, until the moment the dacha was going to be registered to you.
Oksana put her phone back in her bag.
– You’re right about one thing. I did stay silent.
– Exactly.
– Because I thought you came up with that story yourselves, I figured you just got used to seeing Roma as more successful than he really is. I didn’t know he was giving you all the details.
– What details? – Roman asked.
– About the old car you supposedly sold. About the down payment you supposedly saved up. About my job, where allegedly I was just getting started.
– Maybe I only said that once!
– Three different stories in one go?
– Oh my god, Oksana, how much more of this?
– I’d like to know that too.
He looked at her and immediately glanced away.
Tamara Ivanovna closed the folder with the dacha documents.
– I’m not going to finalize anything for now.
– Mom, the dacha has nothing to do with this, – Roman said.
– I know. That’s why I’m not going to.
She took the folder and put it in the cabinet where the old photo albums and a box of Christmas ornaments were kept. Svetlana watched her mother, then turned to Oksana.
– Well, you got what you wanted. Are you happy now?
«Svet, shut your mouth already!» Roman snapped.
«No, let her answer! She showed up, ruined the birthday, upset Mom, and made you look bad. Are you happy now?»
Oksana stood up from the table.
«I didn’t know that I could break anything here just by telling the truth about the transfers…»
«There you go again, acting so smart.»
«Svet, that’s enough,» Tamara Ivanovna called out from the other room. «Go help clean up.»
«I’m not cleaning anything up.»
«Then go home.»
Svetlana turned pale.
«You’re kicking me out?»
«I’m not kicking anyone out, just enough yelling already.»
«I’m defending your son!»
«From whom?»
Svetlana looked over at her brother. Roman was sitting with slumped shoulders, nervously fiddling with the edge of the tablecloth.
«I see how it is,» she said. «Everyone’s against me.»
She snatched her bag, bumped a nearby empty wine glass with her elbow and caught it right at the edge of the table. She set it back, muttered a curse under her breath, and walked into the hallway.
Roman didn’t go after her.
A few seconds later, the front door slammed shut.
***
Tamara Ivanovna started gathering the plates. She moved quickly, stacking one on top of the other without checking if there was still food on them.
«Let me do it,» Oksana said.
«Don’t.»
«Tamara Ivanovna…»
«Don’t, Oksan. Just go home and talk things over.»
Roman finally got up.
«Mom, I’ll call you tomorrow.»
«Go on.»
She picked up the stack of plates and headed for the kitchen. A fork slid off, fell to the floor, but Tamara Ivanovna didn’t even turn around.
In the hallway, Roman struggled for a long time to get his arm into his jacket sleeve. Oksana stood by the door while he tugged at the fabric, cursing the lining.
«You didn’t have to show the phone,» he said.
«I didn’t.»
«Mom would have calmed down.»
«Maybe.»
«Do you realize she doesn’t trust me at all now?»
Oksana opened the door.
He walked out to the landing first and pressed the elevator button several times in a row.
In the car, Roman started the engine to let it warm up.
«I need to understand what you want from me!»
«Right now, nothing, Rom.»
«You caused this scene in front of everyone, and now you want nothing?»
«I asked a question.»
«And you pulled out the bank statements.»
«Because you kept lying!»
«I got flustered!»
«You’ve been flustered for five years?»
He slapped his hand on the steering wheel.
«How could I tell my mom I’m living off your money!»
Oksana unbuckled her seat belt, even though the car hadn’t moved yet.
«Now that was honest.»
«I was ashamed of myself.»
«So that’s why you made me seem helpless in their eyes… and told them you were the one taking care of me.»
«Because it was easier to explain it to them that way!»
He pulled out of the parking spot abruptly and immediately braked when a garbage truck passed by.
They drove home in silence. Roman put on the turn signal too early several times, once missed their entrance and had to circle back through a neighboring street.
At their building, Oksana got out first and her husband caught up with her by the door.
«Are you going to tell everyone about this now?»
She held her key to the intercom.
«Everyone who?»
«Our friends. Colleagues. I don’t know…»
«You still think this was a conversation about money, Rom?»
«So what was it about then?»
The door opened. Oksana held it with her hand.
«It was about the fact that you needed to make me look like I was living off you, just to feel okay about yourself…»
At home, she took off her earrings and set them on the hall shelf. On the wall hung a photo from their housewarming: Roman holding the new apartment keys, Tamara Ivanovna hugging his shoulders, Svetlana standing beside a champagne bottle. Oksana was off to the side, holding a bag from the hardware store. Everyone in that photo looked so happy…
Oksana walked into the bedroom, took a small travel bag out of the closet, and placed it on the bed.
Roman stopped in the doorway.
«Where are you going?»
«I’m going to Lena’s for a couple of days.»
«Is this because of what happened?»
She opened a drawer and started packing her things.
«It’s because of these five years, Rom.»
«So now we’re going to divorce just because I said the wrong thing to my mom? Are you serious right now?»
«I never mentioned divorce. I just don’t want to sleep next to you tonight.»
«Come on, I already apologized.»
«No.»
«Alright. I’m sorry.»
She zipped up her bag.
«For what?»
Roman froze, his hand resting on the wardrobe door.
«For making you uncomfortable.»
«I wasn’t just uncomfortable.»
«Then tell me how I should say it.»
«Figure it out yourself. You’re good at coming up with stories.»
He released the wardrobe door.
«So you’re going to throw my words back at me all night now?»
«Tonight, I will.»
Oksana picked up her bag and headed to the hallway. Roman followed her.
«I never meant to hurt you.»
«That doesn’t make me feel any better…»
She put on her jacket. Her phone vibrated in her pocket; Tamara Ivanovna’s name flashed on the screen, but Oksana declined the call.
«It’s Mom,» Roman said.
«You call her back yourself.»
«She’s calling you.»
«Let her call you now.»
«Will you come back?»
Oksana opened the door.
«When you can explain all of this without using the word ‘accident’, Rom.»
He didn’t say anything.
Oksana stepped into the hallway and pressed the elevator button; the doors opened almost immediately. Before going in, she took the second set of keys out of her pocket, removed the little key to Tamara Ivanovna’s apartment from the ring, and left it on the hallway table.
«Give this to your mom,» she said and stepped into the elevator.
