– Who are you, exactly, and what are you doing on my property? – Nina Petrovna stood frozen at the wide-open gate as the heavy shopping bags slipped from her hands.
The sight before her eyes looked like a scene from a surreal film.
On her beloved veranda – which she had personally painted a soft, pale blue just a month earlier – a large woman sat enthroned in a gaudy robe, leisurely sipping tea from Nina’s favorite porcelain cup with a gold rim.
Beside her, sprawled in a wicker chair, a man dozed in a sleeveless undershirt, while two unfamiliar children ran across the neatly trimmed lawn, trampling the petunias planted only a week ago.
The woman on the veranda slowly set down her cup, gave Nina a measured, possessive look, then loudly called toward the house:
– Vadik! Some woman came here, she’s yelling!
From the house, lazily scratching his belly, stepped out Nina Petrovna’s son-in-law, Vadim.
He was wearing only beach shorts and holding a half-eaten apple. When he saw his mother-in-law, he didn’t look embarrassed in the slightest – on the contrary, a wide, confident, almost proprietorial smile spread across his face.
– Oh, Nina Petrovna! We were only expecting you in the evening. What happened, did the bus arrive early?
– Vadim – Nina’s voice trembled with the outrage boiling inside her – who are these people? And why are they acting as if my house belongs to them? I don’t recall giving permission for this chaos.
– Oh, come on, no need to be so harsh, calling it chaos – Vadim grimaced as he stepped down from the veranda. – Let me introduce them: these are my parents, Tamara Ivanovna and Nikolai Stepanovich.
They came from the village to visit. And these are my nephews, Sasha and Pasha. We thought it would be more fun together in nature. It’s summer, it’s hot – why should they sit in a stuffy apartment? Here there’s fresh air, the river’s nearby… paradise!
– And it didn’t occur to you to ask me? – Nina stepped forward, nearly pressing up against her son-in-law. – This is my summer house. Mine! I come here to rest, to enjoy peace and quiet. Not to serve your wandering gypsy camp.
– What camp? We’re family! – Tamara Ivanovna cut in, heavily stepping down from the veranda. She moved like an icebreaker – unstoppable, utterly convinced of her own rightness.
– We’re one family. Vadik said the dacha is shared. We’re not strangers! And we didn’t come empty-handed. We brought jam, pickles.
Nina Petrovna felt her temple begin to throb. “Shared dacha.” So that was it.
– Where is Olya? – she asked sharply.
– Inside, cutting salad – Vadim waved his hand. – We’re having a get-to-know-you barbecue. By the way, did you bring meat? We miscalculated a bit, there are a lot of people.
Without a word, Nina picked up the bags and walked past Vadim into the house. Chaos reigned in the kitchen.
Dirty dishes were piled high, onion skins littered the floor, and Olya nervously chopped tomatoes into a huge enamel basin. When she saw her mother, she instinctively shrank.
– Hi, Mom… please don’t be angry. Vadik said you’d be happy.
– Happy? – Nina set the bags down with such force that her daughter flinched. – Olya, are you out of your mind? I come to my own home and find a nomad camp here. Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you warn me?
– Vadik said it would be a surprise – Olya whispered, lowering her head. – They’re his parents… it would’ve been awkward to say no. Just for a week…
– A week?! – Nina turned pale. – Olya, I have two weeks of vacation. I planned to tend my roses, read books in the hammock, drink tea in silence. And now I’m supposed to endure strangers for a week, cook for them, listen to shouting?
– But they’re relatives… – Olya tried weakly.
At that moment, Vadim poked his head into the kitchen.
– So, ladies, is the food ready? Dad’s already lighting the grill. Nina Petrovna, don’t be upset. Better take out that homemade liqueur you keep in the cupboard. We need to celebrate the meeting!
This went beyond all limits. Nina took a deep breath. She knew that making a scene right away would be too exhausting after the trip. She decided to endure the evening and issue an ultimatum in the morning.
But the evening turned into pure torture. The in-laws behaved as if they were the masters of the estate, while Nina was merely a seasonal servant.
– This fence is pretty flimsy – Nikolai Stepanovich lectured, stuffing his mouth with shashlik, which, incidentally, was made from meat Nina had bought the previous weekend and left in the freezer.
– It should be covered with corrugated metal. Vadik, take care of it. It feels like we’re sitting in an aquarium.
– We’ll take care of it, Dad! – Vadim replied cheerfully, pouring vodka. – There’s a lot that needs changing here anyway.
The house is old, the layout is inconvenient. Olya and I were thinking about expanding the veranda and building a sauna where Nina Petrovna has those useless bushes.
– Those are not useless bushes, they’re cultivated honeysuckle! – Nina snapped. – And there will be no sauna there. This is my land.
– Oh, come on, dear sister-in-law – Tamara Ivanovna waved her hand, wiping her greasy lips on the edge of the tablecloth. – The young ones know better. They’ll be living here, raising children.
You’ve lived your life already, better think about your soul instead of bushes. Vadik is so handy, so capable. He just doesn’t have room to unfold.
Nina choked on her tea.
– What do you mean, they’ll live here? They have their own apartment. This is my summer house. I built it, I paid for it, when Vadik was still running under the table.
– Everything will go to the children anyway – Tamara declared in an unquestionable tone. – And Vadik is the husband. He’s the head of the house. That’s how it’s done in our family: the man is in charge, the woman keeps quiet.
Olya is a good, gentle girl. You, on the other hand… strong-willed. Must be hard being alone, without a man.
That hit deep. Nina had been a widow for five years, and the pain instantly turned into icy fury.
– Olya, clear the table – she said coldly as she stood up. – I’m going to bed. I want silence after eleven.
She went up to her room but couldn’t sleep. Drunken laughter, clattering dishes, and blaring radio sounds came from downstairs. Staring at the ceiling, she wondered where she had gone wrong.
She knew Vadim was insolent, but Olya had asked her not to interfere. And now this was the result: Vadim believed he had married not only Olya, but her property as well.
In the morning, she woke to the sound of an axe striking wood. Looking out the window, she froze: Vadim and his father stood by her beloved old apple tree, measuring the thick lower branches.
– What are you doing?! – Nina shouted, running out in her nightgown.
– Oh, the mother-in-law’s awake! – Nikolai laughed. – The branches are in the way, scratching the car. We’re expanding the parking. Vadik wants to buy a jeep.
– Step away from the tree immediately! – Nina rushed forward, ready to shield the apple tree with her body. – It’s an Antonovka, thirty years old! What parking?!
– Nina Petrovna, don’t make a fuss – Vadim lazily twirled the axe. – It’s an old tree, no use, just gives shade. We need space. My nephew and his wife are coming tomorrow too. And anyway… we thought, maybe you could move to the summer kitchen for a while? No one’s there, and your room is big, the kids would fit.
The world went dark before Nina’s eyes. This was an occupation.
– To the summer kitchen? – she asked quietly. – Where there’s no heating and only a rickety sofa?
– It’s summer! – Vadim shrugged. – We’re family. Sacrifices are necessary.
Nina looked at Olya, who stood on the veranda, terrified.
– Do you hear this, Olya? Your husband wants me, the owner of this house, to move into a shed.
Olya burst into tears.
– Vadik, please…
– Quiet! – Vadim snapped. – Don’t meddle in men’s business!
At that moment, something clicked inside Nina Petrovna. She turned, went into the house, took out the documents and her phone. She was calm.
– Hello, Sergei Pavlovich? This is Nina Petrovna, your neighbor. Yes, you’re the local district officer. There’s an emergency. Strangers have entered my property, are damaging it and threatening me. Yes, I have the ownership documents. I’ll be waiting.
She hung up, changed clothes, then returned to the veranda.
– You have thirty minutes to leave my property – she said calmly.
They laughed… until they heard the sound of the police car engine.
After that, there was only scrambling, anger, and defeat.
When silence finally fell, Nina sat down next to Olya.
– Boundaries must be set immediately, my dear – she said softly. – Anyone who truly loves you respects them.
Two weeks later, the garden was peaceful again. The apple tree stood. The flowers bloomed. And Nina Petrovna knew:
This was her home. Her fortress. And she would give the key only to those who truly deserved it.
