З життя
«Мамо, за п’ятнадцять років спільного життя ми могли б утриматися від народження третини дітей» — саме такі слова я почула від свого сина…
“Мамо, ми прожили разом п’ятнадцять років, але, мабуть, не варто було народжувати трьох дітей…” — такі слова почула вона від свого сина.
Коли Ганна Степанівна почула ці слова від свого тридцятишестирічного сина Богдана, у ній все обірвалося. Як таке взагалі можливо? Як її син, гордість усього життя, її опора й радість, може вимовити таке? Вона добре пам’ятала, як у юності він страждав через Маріанну — ту саму дівчисько, яка ще в школі труїла йому життя, підставляла, сміялася, розпускала плітки. А тепер він збирається через неї зруйнувати все — сім’ю, дітей, роки, все життя.
Ганна пам’ятала кожну дрібницю. Як Маріанна в школі знущалася над її сином, як він терпів, хоч займався самбо і міби дати відсіч. Але він був вихованим хлопцем, чесним. Навіть тоді, коли сама Ганна ламала руки, хотіла йти до директора, просити перевести його в іншу школу — Богдан лише відмахнувся. Мовчав.
Коли школа залишилася позаду, Богдан ніби ожив. Зі золотою медаллю закінчив, вступив до університету, вчився, працював, будував майбутнє. Він виріс у сильного, розумного чоловіка, поважного фахівця. А потім… потім на порозі їхнього дому з’явилася Вона. Маріанна. Та сама. Ніби із кошмарного сну повернулася, щоб почати руйнувати все знову. І син, немов зачарований, простягнув до неї руки. Закохався, пробачив усе, з чим колись мучився, навіть почав будувати з нею стосунки. І попри зраду, коли вона втекла до іншого напередодні весілля — він не озлобився. Зламаний, але не переможений.
Після тієї драми Богдан почав зустрічатися з Софійкою — дівчиною з доброї родини, дочкою подруги Ганни Степанівни. Все йшло якнайкраще: вони одружилися, народили трьох дітей, купили квартиру. Ганна допомагала, як могла. Софійка — господарська, добра, турботлива мати. Не кричить, не свариться, тягне на собі все господарство заради сім’ї. Здавалося, життя нарешті налагодилося.
Але одного дня все перевернулося з ніг на голову. До Києва приїхала Маріанна. Вона знову увірвалася в життя її сина, як вихор, як пекло, від якого не сховаєшся. Випадково зустрілися, обмінялися кількома фразами — і все. Богдан став іншим. Почав говорити, що не кохає Софійку, що ніколи не кохав. Що вони зійшлися лише через розпач після втрати Маріанни. Що діти — помилка, наслідок того болю. Він говорив це спокійно, холодно. Наче йшлося не про життя, не про дітей, не про дружину, яка пройшла з ним крізь усе. А про похибку в розрахунках.
Ганна не вірила власним вуГанна стиснула кулаки, бо знала — вона не дозволить, щоб минуле знову забрало майбутнє її родини.
Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
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