З життя
Три дні без чистого посуду: як робочий день перетворився на марафон миття.
Володимир мив посуду. Три дні терпів, але вже жодної чистої чашки чи тарілки не залишилося. Тому, прийшовши з роботи, навіть не перевдягався. Одягнув фартух і взявся до справи. Ще б борщ зварити, бо вже й забув, який він на смак…
Залишки їжі присохли до тарілок так, що треба замочити. А чашок після кави штук десять. Невже не можна за собою по одній мити? Ком у горлі підступив. Хотілося їсти, а в холодильнику — пустка. І раптом так запахли Володимиру Галини пиріжки. У їхньому домі завжди пахло випічкою, бо дружина дуже любила готувати. Ледве прийде з роботи, а вже з кухні пахне корицею. Або ваніллю. Вже міксер гуде, духовка гріється…
Але це Володимир тепер так тепло згадує дружину. Тодішньому ж Володимиру здавалося, що вона, окрім кухні й дітей (робота не враховувалася), нічого не зауважує. Вічно у неї то прання, то миття вікон, то чистка килимів. А з літа до осені кухня перетворювалася на консервний цех. Володимир не встигав банки в підвал виносити.
Одного такого вечора він прийшов з роботи, на порозі кухні у Галини, як завжди, щось варилося-парилося, а вона, сидячи на краєчку столу — мала таку недобру звичку, чистила яблука і дивилася по телевізору якийсь концерт.
– Я розлучаюся з тобою, – сказав Володимир дивовижно спокійно, навіть не привітавшись.
Дружина здригнулася, але не обернулася.
– У мене інша жінка, – пояснив. – Я її люблю і більше не можу тебе обманювати.
Галина відклала ножа, повільно повернула до чоловіка своє розпарене від пари й новини обличчя і покірно, тихо сказала:
– Візьми один рулет, бо ми стільки не з’їмо.
Володимир, звісно, того рулета не взяв, хоча й дуже любив: з маком та горіхами… Він зібрав найнеобхідніші речі й пішов до жінки, яка була зовсім не схожа на його Галину. Вона ніколи не носила, як Галина, джинси — тільки короткі сукні й спіднички. Ніколи не взувала кросівки, лише туфлі на підборах. Вона могла сказати, що йде до салону краси, таким тоном, ніби на важливу ділову зустріч. І весь світ повинен почекати.
А Галина ніколи не ходила до салонів. Не любила гуляти по магазинах, базарах. Якщо треба було щось придбати, складала список, йшла і за недовгий час поверталася з торбами. Вона не читала глянцевих жіночих журналів, не пила каву, не фарбувала волосся, не займалася фітнесом. Але завжди була гарною, доглянутою, стрункою. Вузькі джинси і короткі кофтинки, з косою-«колоском» виглядала як старшокласниця.
Володимиру ж хотілося бачити поруч справжню жінку. От і знайшов собі Лесю. Тепер сам прасує сорочки, варить їжу, миє посуд. І сняться йому ночами Галинівські рулети й ватрушки. І пахнуть ці сни ваніллю, і дзвенять у голові Галинівським сміхом…
Привівши на кухні лад, Володимир пішов до кімнати. На дивані лежала обута Леся, граційно спершись на лікті. Перед нею лежав журнал, а на столику поруч стояло ще три чашки з-під кави.
– Який же ти молодець, мій зайчику. І що б я без тебе робила? – защебетала жінка, протягуючи до чоловіка руки. – А я щойно від манікюрниці. Так втомилася! Дивись: класні нігті? Як свої, правда? Іди, мій пупсику, я тебе обійму…
Володимира почало нудити. «Напевно, від голоду», – подумав він і пішов на кухню чистити картоплю.
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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