Владимир Коваленко – Life bumps, how to correct (страница 3)

– Good evening. We are here! – confidently said Robert.

– We can see, – muttered the mother-in-law haughtily. – Why are you so late? It is already dark outside, my granddaughter has to eat, to do homework, and to rest after school. You are a teacher, and you should know that.

His wife was quite, as usual. You could assume that she was afraid of her mother. But having lived with her, Robert could clearly see that she was only using her to keep herself from saying what she was thinking. And now they were probably thinking the same thing.

– I have a lot of things to do at work, today was the faculty meeting. I picked Alice up, and we went to a pizza place. I wanted to relax with my daughter, – Robert made excuses.

He knew that this passage would add additional fuel to the fire. Going to cafes and other leisure activities had an effect on the mother-in-law, like a red flag to a bull. That’s why he said it, to drive her out of her mind. Robert didn’t care anymore. However, his behavior was contradictory. He was not ready for a scandal, he didn’t want it, but the anticipation of a future quarrel, which was inevitable, gave him strength, and, despite his fatigue, he was ready to attack first.

– He fed the child outside again, – my mother-in-law said in her usual indignant voice.

That phrase was already standard in this situation. “He fed the child outside…". Even if he took the whole family to a restaurant and served a fancy dish, she would still consider it the street.

– I made you borsch, there is goulash, mashed potatoes, meatballs. Here’s the salad I chopped, and you have interrupted the child’s appetite. We have been telling you all along that she should eat at home, not outside. Why are you doing this?

A scandal was inevitable. Sometimes words and the energy they carry overflow the cup of patience, and even the kindest and relatively calm person who does not like to quarrel and always tries to compromise, can explode and respond. Robert felt that now or never, he had to show these women who was the boss here. And it was too late to compromise, or he just didn’t want to, or he didn’t know any other more effective way.

– I’m doing what I think is right, – I said, my throat feeling treacherously dry. There was a pause.

– Do you think we don’t know anything? – my mother-in-law shrieked unnaturally loudly.

– Robert, again you … You’re doing it again, – said the wife as she rolled her eyes and leaned her right hand on the tabletop.

“Playing the show again…", Robert’s mind raced. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his daughter close the door to her room tighter. Here we go.

In the same breath his wife blurted out, still covering her eyes and trembling finely:

– You’re always away at work, you don’t answer my messages or phone calls, you don’t listen to our advice, it’s like you’re in your own world. And here we are asking you twice a week to pick up Alice from the studio, and you can’t even do that… there are those words again… You’re being arbitrary again, unforgivable, – she suddenly broke into a high-pitched falsetto, but she has not yet burst into tears, which was to be expected.

This hail of completely undeserved accusations made Robert shudder: “I must, I must, I must… Once again, I… I… I…”

The mother-in-law didn’t interfere so far, looking now and then at him and at her daughter with a troubled look and a disgruntled frown. Meanwhile, Mary, continuing to get more and more wound up, said:

– I have a lot of work every day, and you can’t rely on anything at all. I have no strength anymore,” tears came to her eyes.

Mary looked at her mother demandingly. The mother-in-law all tensed up and prepared for a decisive “throw”.

– Mother… why don’t you say something! – cried at last.

“A forbidden trick,” – thought Robert sadly, but there was nothing he could do about it. Almost always all scandals ended this way, especially with the participation of the “esteemed” Elizabeth. His wife would wail and accuse him without letting him speak, then she would turn to her mother and begin to cry, and then…

– What a poor man he is now, – immediately and harshly, as if at the command, gave out his mother-in-law. – Thee isn’t any support in the family, but only a burden. And Mary cries again, Alice’s lessons aren’t studied again, and it’s very late, and soon it will be bedtime. But what, I … I will not interfere, but you, Robert, think about what you do!

She shook her hands in frustration and, pretending not to interfere, backed away, but very slowly, toward the exit of the kitchen. Nevertheless, Robert knew that she was anxious to continue, and if either of them said one more word, the scandal would surely drag on. But on this occasion, apart from a sense of guilt, there was no harm done to him. Robert, whether from fatigue or frustration didn’t want to say anything, and Mary, suddenly sobbing convulsively, slipped out of the kitchen, even slightly pushing her mother. What happened stopped the “fury” and really made her go home at last. But she didn’t fail to zip up her coat and sting one last time:

– All families are like families, living palsy-walsy… Ah, and yours… I didn’t expect that yours – who goes to the woods, who gets the wood, everyone is on his own.

Robert was frozen in perplexity, not knowing what to answer. Anger was boiling in him and he could not find anything better to say:

– You’d better go to rest, Mom.

And, of course, that phrase was a mistake. Elizabeth, theatrically sighed: “Ah!” And, slamming the door loudly, left. She would not speak to him now for a few days, but would come, of course.

It was quiet in the apartment. He stood in the middle of the corridor, listening to the silence. It was as if time had stopped. A few minutes passed like that before Robert regained his composure and the realization that he needed to end this day somehow and finally cut off the tangle of problems.

He slowly walked to the bathroom, undressed, and stood on the cold plates of the bath, pulled the curtain, and turned on the water. It was cold, and now and then Robert shuddered, but he had no desire to change the temperature, he didn’t want to relax. On the contrary, the cold shower brought him back to reality. And as he dressed again, stepped out of the bathroom, and proceeded to his usual spot, the chair on the balcony overlooking the kitchen, everything that had happened during the day flashed through his mind. An exhausting meeting, dinner with his daughter, a conversation with a friend, an altercation with his wife and mother-in-law, hurtful words spoken during an argument, his usual fatigue, anger, and impotence.

It’s the first quarter past twelve on the clock. The time flew by so quickly, and tomorrow is a new day. And again everything is the same, the familiar script, everything is tasteless and boring, incomprehensible and, characteristically, unsolvable. Outwardly, everything seems fine: there is an apartment with an almost paid mortgage, a wife, a healthy and intelligent daughter, and in general terms, a stable job. But there were gaps in this puzzle: the lack of progress in his career, annoying and stupid management, endless quarrels at home, lack of time for the child, his wife’s problems at work and constant fatigue. Suddenly Robert caught himself thinking that for about ten minutes he had been mindlessly reviewing the list of contacts in his phone. Yes… It was obvious that he wanted to speak out, to tell about all his worries and dedicate someone to his thoughts, maybe together in a conversation to find a way out. But who would he talk to? George – he is, of course, very perceptive, but still a man isn’t family and is unlikely to understand his problems. Mrs. Laura is one of the head teachers at school, the only one of his colleagues with whom he had a warm, trusting relationship, always advised him the same thing: divorce, take your daughter and go to Moscow. But he knew that was not the answer. Mom… No, calling his mother in the middle of the night and talking to her about what was on his mind was out of the question. Margaret, who from the very beginning had been against his going to the countryside and had only visited her twice in all the years he had lived here (the rest of the time he visited her in the capital himself), naturally would have reacted emotionally. And so Robert didn’t want to disturb her.

He fumbled for the lock button, turned off the phone screen, and thought again, “It really was a good idea to talk. Suddenly it hit him”. Turning on the phone screen again, he typed in the search box the name that he remembered well after the conversation in the cafe: " Jessica Highlander. Yes, she was a well-known psychotherapist, motivational psychologist, practicing Gestalt techniques, five years of experience, author of scientific articles and the acclaimed book “Through Life with a Smile” with a circulation of more than a million copies. The book was presented a year earlier, and the book was sold out.

Rising from his chair, Robert, without turning on the light, proceeded to the hallway, fumbled for his briefcase, took out his wallet and business card with an invitation, and then hastily put it behind the phone cover, so as not to lose it. And smiled to himself. He reminded himself of a schoolboy, who is hiding some secret from everyone in the dark. He felt better. Robert looked into his daughter’s room, she was already asleep. Mary, despite the rift that had occurred, still took care of her daughter, as usual. Kissing Alice on the forehead goodnight, Robert thought of his wife: “She’s a good girl, after all, I’m just confused and don’t know what to do, don’t know how to fix the situation.”