Владимир Коваленко – Life bumps, how to correct (страница 4)

It was quiet and dark in the matrimonial bedroom. Mary was already asleep, and that pleased him. Maybe he had done wrong by not talking to her, but now he didn’t want to see her tears and hear her reproaches again. Robert lay quietly beside her and fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.

Chapter 2 – Conflicts to conflict

A week had passed since that altercation. Robert reconciled with his wife, but his relationship with his mother-in-law still left a lot to be desired, and there was still a residue from the words spoken that night. It seemed to everyone that the evening was somehow strange, incomprehensible to anyone and a turning point. Something was gradually dying away, like fog with the first rays of the sun. His love, tenderness, affection for Alice, for Mary, his wife, the mother of his child, was gradually receding into the background. The daily grind at work, the routine of his relationships became a burden that hung like a weight, preventing, as it seemed to Robert, to lift his spirits. From time to time it occurred to me that perhaps the family was the factor that not only killed Robert’s desire to change something in his life, but also fueled his despondency.

Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself, tried not to succumb to them, didn’t want to believe that any of it could be true. But the thoughts, like tectonic magma, were breaking through and would one day have to come out with a deafening force and roar. But right now it was easier for him to get away from thinking and immerse himself in the endless routine of work and family affairs.

“Beloved” mother-in-law, an uncompromising old woman, both after the scandalous evening and on this Thursday morning as if nothing had happened, came to help her daughter around the house. When she saw that the borscht had been left on the stove uneaten by anyone, she burst into a storm of emotions, expressed her displeasure to her daughter by telephone, and, since dinner was ready for the evening, she began to sweep and scrub the floors in her daughter’s apartment. Elizabeth perceived cooking and cleaning her son-in-law’s and daughter’s apartment as her immediate duty, not realizing that by doing so she was interfering with normal family life, not only for her daughter, but also for her young husband.

Everything was as usual. The scandal was just background noise that had no effect on what was going on. The mother-in-law would come to their apartment, cook dinner, help with the cleaning, give instructions about her granddaughter’s upbringing, and babysit her. And then she would take Alice to vocals or art school and then go back to sit in the kitchen until her favorite son-in-law arrived. It may even have seemed that there was a second wife in the house – a kind of caring altruist. But no. Every night in the kitchen sat not a kind angel, but an old, nervous madam, which more and more irritated Robert. But he could not cope with her negative influence.

All week Robert came home from work, listened to the conversations of his mother-in-law and could not be alone with his wife. After leaving Elizabeth, there were only a few minutes to have a few phrases with his wife about the upcoming plans, take a shower and sink into a sound sleep. Robert even began to think that it could not be otherwise. The routine of family life had brought the man to automatic behavior. Sometimes his emotions ran high, and sometimes his wife even thought he was hugging her, but he was hugging her, rather unconsciously, in his sleep. She, too, was no longer expecting anything, and seemed to be guided by a sense of duty – after all, they had a child and responsibilities. The relationship had become a kind of quintessential mutual obligation.

Yes, and the job is just as strange, but even more ridiculous routine, which was even more annoying than the old mother-in-law. The head teacher of the school was a “shitwork”. Robert was constantly making the other teachers do the work that, in his own opinion, was not really good for a teacher. Every day filled a lot of papers: reports, curricula, documents for preparation for contests, examinations, attestations. Paperwork, work with scholarly tables, schedules, checking and rechecking teachers’ reports, calls, letters, administrative duties, trips to meetings, and all that stuff had long ceased to be activities that brought satisfaction. It became obvious that this kind of work was disappointing to the young principal, and was gradually killing off the fervor of his idealism. Where had his desire to change the school system, to put it on a normal human footing, gone?

What struck Robert the most was his colleagues’ indifference to his innovations. Recently they had been asked to convert most of the teachers’ documentation into electronic form. But to do that they had to literally force all teachers to work in the electronic system. Young teachers had no problem accepting the innovation. But older colleagues reacted skeptically. Oil in the fire poured and the principal, who not only didn’t want to help Robert, but sometimes even interfered, played a double game, thus undermining the authority of the head teacher in the school community.

Recently an unfortunate incident happened at work, which not only caused a storm of indignation in Robert, but in general, as it seemed at the time, exposed the hopelessness of the system of education in the school.

Everything happened, as always, unexpectedly. Robert’s daughter Alice, a creative person, began to take her studies more than responsibly in first grade. On the one hand, it was influenced by the fact that her father worked as head teacher at school, but on the other hand, the girl understood with all seriousness the importance of learning, which she liked it. One thing only hindered her from school: the girl had certain problems with the teacher about her appearance. Alice always dressed like a creative person. Even at the age of six, she learned how to make herself fashionable hairstyles, was interested in extravagant skirts, colorful T-shirts, etc. Not to say that the girl’s appearance was excessively flamboyant, but caused some attention not only from teachers, but also from classmates. But Alice liked to be special, and most importantly, her father supported her desire to be a person, to show her individuality, to develop a sense of love for her desires, hobbies, and values.

One day after a meeting at the principal’s office, when Robert was left to deal with other tasks with the supervisor, Alice’s teacher walked into the office and arrogantly said:

– Oh, how good of you to be here! I would like to talk about your daughter’s appearance. This is unacceptable!

– What is unacceptable? – Robert clarified calmly.

– The way she dresses. You as head teacher understand us perfectly well, – she stressed the word “us” defiantly. “What did she mean? Us, the teachers, or me and the principal?” – flashed through Robert’s mind.

– I see nothing wrong here, my daughter’s appearance does not interfere with her studies, on the contrary, it reflects her creative personality. She is the most responsible student in the class, and you have never made any remarks about her.

– What do you mean – it wasn’t? I had comments about her appearance all the time. Back in kindergarten I brought her hair and clothes to your attention. Children in the class and their parents wondered if others could dress the same way. And if they follow her example? – the teacher continued indignantly, glancing at the principal, who at that moment had definitely chosen the side of the indignant teacher, but was waiting for the right moment to make her final word.

– They won’t dress like my daughter, the parents don’t have the will, and the children don’t have the intelligence or imagination. Now they just have to accept my girl for who she is. I’m not going to forbid her to dress the way she wants, – answered Robert confidently, turning away from the principal toward the teacher standing by the door.

– Mr. Robert, I don’t like the way your daughter dresses either. This is an educational institution, not a brothel. We have white tops and black bottoms. Your daughter should understand that and dress according to the school charter, – said the principal, leaning on the table with her elbows. Her decisive word was more than offensive and unfair and inexorably led to an increase in the degree of scandal. Robert had to defend his principles and the honor of his daughter.

– In the brothel, too, they can dress in school uniforms. The only difference: it isn’t children who work there. My daughter has been dressing like this since kindergarten, she has a taste for all things creative, she plays skits, sings beautifully, draws constantly and is engaged in modeling new dresses. I find it useful and I’m not going to change anything! – was the adamant response.

The disagreement with the principal’s opinion caused misunderstanding on the part of both the principal and the elementary school teacher. However, Robert had a strange desire to rebel against his superiors, as well as the educational system as a whole.