— I also included the internet, television, intercom, plus the building’s maintenance fund, plus water, electricity. If you don’t like it, rent your own place.
They paid. After that, Kira was left with twenty thousand. A week later, her mother-in-law asked for another five. Supposedly, a plumber had to be called because the faucet in the bathroom was leaking.
— It’s because of you, — she said meaningfully, — you turn it too tight.
Kira paid again, although they ended up fixing the faucet themselves, and Artem spent three hundred hryvnias on parts. Zhanna Borisovna loved to shift expenses. She would buy groceries and then calculate aloud in the kitchen how much of what was eaten, hinting that it would be nice to be compensated. Kira started buying food separately and hiding it in her room. But that didn’t suit her mother-in-law either.
— Why are you scurrying around with your bags like a mouse? Are we strangers here?
— I just don’t want to be a burden, — Kira replied, a lump forming in her throat.
— Yeah, right. But the refrigerator is mine, the stove is mine, the dishes are mine, and you’re here like a tenant.
Artem said nothing. He would come home from work exhausted, lie down on the sofa, and turn on a TV series. Kira tried to talk to him, but he would brush her off:
— Later, Kir, I’m tired.
She endured. She thought, just a little longer, a couple more months, and they would save up enough to rent a place. But in November, Artem’s salary was delayed. Then again.
— The project fell through, — he said.
Kira believed him, although it was impossible to check. All the money went to utilities, food, and gas. Her forty-five thousand disappeared in two weeks. And Zhanna Borisovna continued to pressure her. She started complaining about her health and hinting that it would be nice if the young couple bought her medicine. Kira bought it. Her mother-in-law asked her to bring groceries from the market:
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