З життя
Ранковий дзвінок змінив звичний ритм: Марія відклала в’язання, щоб відповісти.
Зателефонували о десятій ранку. Марія Іванівна відклала в’язання і взяла слухавку.
— Ваш онук щойно потрапив у серйозну аварію. Він винен, — поспішно пояснював незнайомець. — Розбита дорога іномарка, є постраждалі, а це від трьох до п’яти років позбавлення волі… Щоб допомогти онуку уникнути ув’язнення, доведеться заплатити!
— Скільки потрібно?
— Двісті тисяч гривень! — категорично заявили на іншому кінці дроту. — Готуйте гроші, зараз до вас приїде наш чоловік! І про цей дзвінок нікому, інакше онук точно потрапить за ґрати!
— Але вдома таких грошей немає, — схлипнула Марія Іванівна. — Треба їхати в банк, а це на іншому кінці міста.
— Виходьте на вулицю, до будинку під’їдуть сріблясті «жигулі» і відвезуть туди, куди потрібно. І пам’ятайте — нікому ні слова! Це в інтересах вашого онука.
Проїхавши пів міста і зупинившись біля банку, водій притис палець до губ.
Марія Іванівна відповіла йому так само. Вона повернулася через півгодини:
— Пін-код від картки забула, — важко зітхнула вона. — На дачу треба їхати. Він у мене там у зошиті записаний…
Дачу, що була в тридцяти кілометрах від міста, Марія Іванівна покинула з двома сумками картоплі і сіткою цибулі.
— Завантажуй у багажник і поїхали! — сказала вона хлопцеві, що почав було нудьгувати.
— У банк? — перепитав той.
— Додому, — кинула Марія Іванівна. — Не з картоплею ж в банк їхати?! А по дорозі біля супермаркету зупинись, треба хліба і молока купити…
Водій насупився, але промовчав. Темніло. Хлопець нервував, а Марія Іванівна була як ніколи спокійна.
— Чому сидиш без діла, допоміг би бабусі, — зауважила вона, виходячи з машини. І шахрай покірно поплентався за нею на п’ятий поверх. А там його вже чекали співробітники поліції.
— Як же онук?! — розгубився затриманий.
— Немає у мене ніякого онука, — спокійно відповіла не стала жертвою ошуканства. — Як, зрештою, не було і жодної аварії з людськими жертвами. Я вас одразу викрила!
— Навіщо ж тоді було в банк їхати?
— Щоб за квартиру і телефон заплатити.
— А на дачу?
— Щоб картоплю і цибулю додому перевезти, — пояснила Марія Іванівна. — Іди-іди! Я тобі не бабуся з котом, а майор поліції у відставці!
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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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