— Tolya! — she screamed into the phone. — Tolya, they’ve thrown us out on the street! Your son, your pregnant daughter, we’re standing in the cold!
The voice on the phone was calm, even cheerful:
— Lara, I told you when we divorced: your problems are your problems. Vitka is a grown man, let him sort it out himself. Ulka knew who she was getting involved with.
— Tolya, you’re their father!
— A father, not an ATM. I did my part, I raised them. From now on, they’re on their own. Good luck, Lar.
Short beeps. Larisa Semyonovna stared at the phone as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.
— That… bastard.
— Mom, — Viktor said quietly, — maybe you shouldn’t have called him?
— And you just keep quiet! Some protector you turned out to be!
She was the first to leave, dragging a suitcase with a broken wheel behind her, and she gave Polina a look that made the air between them spark.
Viktor stopped at the threshold.
— Polina, I really thought this was for the best. For everyone.
— You thought it was more convenient. For you all. Those are different things, Vitya.
He left, hunched over. Ulyana was the last to linger. She turned at the doorway, tears glistening in her eyes.
— I’m sorry.
The first sincere word of the entire evening. Polina nodded, not forgiving, but acknowledging. A crash and a muffled curse came from the stairs. Viktor had tripped over his mother’s bag and tumbled down the steps.
— Idiot! — came Larisa Semyonovna’s voice from below. — Be careful! You dented my cot!
Polina quietly closed the door and turned to the new owners.
— Ignat Romanovich. — She took out a set of keys. — Here is everything. For the front door, the intercom, the mailbox. The meter readings are in the folder in the kitchen.
— Thank you, Polina Timurovna. — His handshake was firm, respectful. — Do you need help, a taxi called?
— No need. Someone is waiting for me.
Viktor, who had returned for a forgotten bag, heard these words and froze in the doorway.
— Who’s waiting for you?
Polina turned to him one last time.
— My flight to Odessa, Vitya. I have a new job there. And a new life.
She left the apartment with a single travel bag, because everything important had been moved out long ago, and she didn’t look back…
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