Confronting Unexpected Houseguests
Serega parked his car near the apartment and was taken aback. Right by the entrance were various bags and suitcases. What on earth is happening? Is someone moving in? But wait a moment. That battered suitcase looked familiar, and the checkered wheeled bag too…
“What on earth…” he murmured as he climbed the stairs.
Upon unlocking the door, he sensed something was amiss. A strange silence filled the air, which was unusual. The TV normally blared in the background, and Tania would be clattering dishes in the kitchen—yet now, silence reigned.
“Tania!” he shouted, taking off his coat. “I’m home!”
His wife emerged from the kitchen with a stone-faced expression and tightly pressed lips, nervously wiping her hands on a dishcloth. Something was definitely off…
“Oh, you’re back,” Tania said in a tone that gave Serega chills. “Do you see the baggage outside?”
“I do… What is that?” he asked cautiously.
“I’m sending your relatives away. Unhappy about your stuff sitting there?” she articulated firmly.
Serega nearly collapsed onto the hallway stool. Relatives? What nonsense was this?
“Tania, what are you talking about? What relatives? What’s going on?”
“Stop pretending to be naive!” Tania exploded. “Your lovely sister and her family have been crashing here for a month! I’m done!”
Oh, that’s what this was about… Lenka, her husband, and their child. Indeed, they had been living with them for quite some time after being evicted from their rented place for non-payment. But Serega never thought it bothered anyone…
“But it’s only temporary…” he began.
“Temporary?! A month counts as temporary?” Tania jumped up. “They’ve taken over the kids’ room like they’re in the woods! My son is sleeping on a fold-out bed in the living room! And Lenka is demanding things!”
“What kind of demands?” Serega was confused.
“Various. She complains about the milk, the bread being stale, and more… She lounges around the house while I come home from work to guests! Guests who want to eat, do laundry, and watch TV!”
Serega scratched his head. He usually didn’t get involved in household squabbles. He’d come home to eat, sleep, and watch TV, oblivious to Lenka and Tania’s disputes.
“Well… What did Lenka say? When are they moving out?”
“She said nothing!” exploded Tania. “She sits there like a cuckoo in a stranger’s nest! I drop hints, and she doesn’t get it. I tell her clearly, and she takes offense. I’m fed up with coddling her!”
“And Vityok? What about your sister’s husband?” he asked.
“Oh, Vityok is a gem! He hasn’t found work in half a year. He sits at home, drinking beer and playing video games. And he still complains! It’s cramped in the apartment, there’s little food, and life is tough…”
Serega began to understand the gravity of the situation. Tania was usually pretty laid-back, but if she had reached her limit…
“What do you suggest we do?” he asked cautiously.
“I suggest this! Let them take their bags and go wherever they want! I’ve had it with being the fool!”
Just then, Lenka entered the room, frazzled and in a bathrobe, her face swollen from tears.
“Serega!” she rushed to her brother. “Look at what’s happening! She’s kicking us out! With the kid! We have nowhere to go!”
“Nowhere?!” Tania couldn’t hold back. “Why not go to your mother? Or Aunt Galya? Or any dormitory?”
“Mom lives in a one-bedroom. She can barely fit! And Aunt Galya…” Lenka sniffed. “She won’t take us in.”
“And why should I care?!” Tania fumed. “Am I a shelter for the homeless?”
Serega sat there, shifting his gaze from his wife to his sister. What a terrible position to be in… On one hand, Lenka was family. He couldn’t just throw his sister and nephew onto the street. On the other hand, there was Tania, his wife, with whom he still had to live, and the apartment was in her name…
“Listen, ladies,” he tried to mediate, “let’s talk this through calmly…”
“What is there to talk about?” Tania cut in. “I’ve said it all! They either leave, or I leave! And I’m taking the apartment with me!”
“What do you mean—apartment?” Serega was baffled.
“Exactly what I said! It’s in my name! I can sell it or rent it! And you and your relatives will be on the street!”
This was a twist he hadn’t expected… Serega had even forgotten that the apartment was under Tania’s name due to her better credit history. Formally, she was the owner…
“Tania, come on… Don’t get heated…” he tried to reason.
“Heated?! I’ve been heated for a month! Calm and collected heated! And now—no more!” she yelled.
Lenka wailed, “Serega, where will we go? We have no money! Vityok can’t find work; I’m with Vanya… We’ll perish!”
“You won’t perish,” Tania stated firmly. “You have hands and feet—go work! If you don’t want to work, go to social services. Let them deal with you.”
“But there’s a waiting list for social housing!” Lenka sobbed. “You have to wait for years!”
“And what, I should endure for years?” Tania was relentless.
Serega felt a headache starting. This was an impossible situation. He felt sympathy for Lenka; she was his sister after all. Yet he could also understand Tania—having family members over for an extended period must have been exhausting.
“Where’s Vityok now?” he asked.
“He’s in the room,” Lenka sniffled. “He’s upset with Tania, saying she’s inhospitable.”
“Inhospitable!” Tania exploded. “Guests are people who visit for a day or two! But when people stay for a month and are still unhappy—that’s not guests; that’s freeloaders!”
Footsteps sounded from the room, and Vityok appeared—Lenka’s husband. He looked grimy, unshaven, and wore a wrinkled t-shirt.
“Oh, Serega’s here,” he said. “Maybe you could explain to your wife that you don’t just kick relatives out?”
“You don’t kick relatives out,” Tania agreed, “but freeloaders? Oh, they can certainly be shown the door!”
“We’re not freeloaders!” Vityok protested. “We’re just temporary…”
“Temporary means a week or two at most!” Tania snapped. “You’ve already settled in for a month! And there’s no end in sight!”
“I’ll find work—I will!” Vityok started to heat up. “The job market is tough right now…”
“Tough, indeed!” Tania quipped. “Especially when you’re lying on the couch and browsing the internet!”
“I’m sending resumes! I’m going to interviews!”
“Sure, you went to an interview yesterday at a store! And what? They said ‘come tomorrow!’ And you turned it down! Why? Because the salary was too low!”
“Well, it is low!” Vityok defended himself. “I can’t rent a place on that salary!”
“And why should I care about your apartment issues?!” Tania exploded again. “I’m not obliged to support you until you find a place!”
Serega sat there, realizing the gravity of their predicament. While Vityok was not the best husband—lazy and whiny—Lenka and the child had done nothing wrong. Where could they possibly go?
“Listen,” he suggested, “what if we come to an agreement? Let’s establish some deadlines…”
“Deadlines?! I’ve set a hundred deadlines!” Tania was relentless. “‘Find a place by the end of the month,’ ‘decide by the first.’ And yet nothing has changed!”
“Just give it another week,” Serega urged. “Maybe they’ll figure something out…”
“A week?! I’ve been saying ‘a week’ for six months! I’m done! Either their bags are gone today, or tomorrow I’m filing for divorce and evicting everyone!”
What a shock… Divorce. Serega hadn’t anticipated it reaching this level. Clearly, his wife had a strong character, but divorcing over relatives was unthinkable…
“Tania, please…” he stammered. “What does divorce have to do with this?”
“It has everything to do with this!” she nearly shouted. “I married you, not your sister and her husband. If you want to live with them, go ahead! Just do it without me!”
Lenka cried even louder: “What are you doing, Tania? You’re breaking up the family over what?”
“I’m breaking the family?!” Tania was furious. “You’re the ones breaking it! You’ve come like locusts, eating everything, taking over, and now you’re looking for the guilty ones!”
Vityok stood up from the couch: “That’s it! Come on, Len, let’s pack up. We’re not going to humiliate ourselves here!”
“Where will we go?” Lenka sobbed. “Where will we go with the kid?”
“We’ll go somewhere! To a hotel first, and then we’ll figure it out!”
“How will we pay for a hotel?” Lenka didn’t let up.
“We’ll find the money!” Vityok shot back.
Serega watched this family drama unfold and realized that something had to be done. And it needed to be done quickly, before they tore each other apart.
“Stop! Everyone!” he stood up. “Let’s talk this through calmly. No shouting, no hysterics.”
Everyone fell silent, fixing their eyes on him.
“Tania,” he addressed his wife, “you’re right to be worn out. A month with strangers in the house is too much. Lenka,” he turned to his sister, “you’re right that you have nowhere to go. Vityok,” he glanced at his brother-in-law, “you’re wrong to refuse a decent job.”
“I’m not refusing!” Vityok started.
“You are! Tania is right—yesterday a job was offered, and you turned it down. True, the salary isn’t great, but something is better than nothing.”
Vityok fell silent.
“Here’s the deal,” Serega continued. “I’m giving everyone three days. During these three days, Vityok will take any job he can find. Any! Whether it’s a janitor or a mover. Lenka searches for work too—it can be part-time since she has the child. Within these three days, find temporary housing—a room to rent or a corner at a friend’s house…”
“What if we don’t find anything?” Lenka asked quietly.
“You will find something,” Serega stated firmly. “Because the alternative is bags outside and a broken family. I don’t want that.”
Tania looked at her husband in surprise. Clearly, she hadn’t expected such determination from him.
“And one more thing,” Serega added. “If I find out that someone is evading or sabotaging this—you’re out, no questions asked.”
A tense silence fell as they processed his words.
“Agreed?” Serega asked.
Vityok nodded first, then Lenka. Tania remained silent.
“Tanya?” Serega looked at his wife.
“Three days,” she declared. “Not a day more.”
“Agreed,” Serega nodded. “Now take your bags back inside. And start acting.”