“What kind of shameless behavior is this? No one met us at the station, the table isn’t set!” the guests complained indignantly.
Raisa stepped off the bus that had brought her and her husband from their village into the city. She looked around and then took a few steps with pleasure, stretching her legs stiff from the trip. Right after her, her husband Vasily tumbled out from the warm bus into the frosty air.
He had dozed the entire way, and now he was shivering from the cold. His wife’s idea of visiting relatives in the city was not something he liked. He would much rather spend his day off at home—steam in the sauna and then, unhurriedly, enjoy a beer with dried fish.
And afterwards, he could have some hot dumplings, the way his Raechka cooked them—so delicious. Then lie down on his favorite couch after a hearty dinner and watch an old, soulful movie on the new big TV. Paradise!
But his restless wife insisted on going to the city. She had been prodding him all her life—there was no peace for Vasily with such a wife.
“We’ll visit my nephew tomorrow. Anton. Let him host us together with his young wife. We’ll see what kind of lady she is, and what kind of homemaker. Last time she visited us, she seemed a bit too lively. And what she’s like in real life—no one knows.”
“Anton’s wife is fine! Lively and cheerful,” Vasily added, remembering friendly Maya.
“Well, we’ll see if she’s really as normal as you say. And I’ll also look at some fur coats in the store!” Raisa surprised her husband.
“A fur coat? What do you need that for? Where are you going to wear it in our village? We don’t have theaters or restaurants—or mausoleums either,” Vasily summed up.
“That’s none of your business! Maybe I’ve dreamed of having one my whole life.”
Now Raisa, displeased, was looking around the parking lot near the bus station.
“I don’t see Anton here to meet us. The nephew isn’t here! Can you believe he didn’t come?”
“No, he’s not here, you’re right. Looks like they don’t want guests,” Vasily confirmed his wife’s words. “I told you to stay home, but no—she absolutely had to go visiting.”
“Stop grumbling. We’ll figure it out.”
With confident movements, Raisa took out her phone and dialed Anton. No answer.
“You try. Maybe he’ll pick up for you,” she said irritably, already beginning to get nervous.
Vasily couldn’t reach him either.
“Go catch a taxi. Why are you standing there like a lone poplar by the river?” she ordered. “Actually—no! Let me do it. I’ll get one faster.”
The guests rode a taxi to the nephew and his wife, who had already had dinner and were getting ready to go to bed.
“Could you go faster?” Raisa asked the driver irritably. “Why are you crawling like an ox on the road? Everything here is a mess. We’re paying him good money, and he can barely drive.”
The driver, hardened by countless verbal battles with unhappy passengers, chose to stay silent. He wasn’t going to break the speed limit. As for calming this nervous lady—that was her husband’s problem.
Finally, the couple arrived. After struggling with the intercom and climbing to the seventh floor where the nephew’s apartment was, they rang the doorbell.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the irritated aunt began instead of a greeting. “We had to take a taxi! Do you know how much we paid? Couldn’t you at least meet us?”
“First of all—hello,” Maya said firmly. “Second—just so you know, we didn’t invite you.”
“And third what?! Did you at least set the table for your guests? I’m starving after the trip,” Vasily rudely interrupted.
“The table? What table? Of course not! I wasn’t planning to,” the nephew’s wife replied briskly.
“So this is how you welcome guests?” the hungry uncle grumbled, glancing at the spotless clean table and the empty stove. “What, you’re not going to eat either? Just to avoid feeding us?”
Raisa, furious, was only gearing up for a fiery speech. Everything happening in her nephew’s apartment took her breath away.
“We already had dinner!” Maya said calmly. “And this is not a cafeteria for uninvited guests. Nor a hotel. Clear enough?”
“Oh, listen to her! Such bravery—hard to recognize our little quiet one!” Raisa stepped forward, shielding Vasily behind her, having finally regained her voice. “When you visited us, you were afraid to say a word. And now you’re rattling like a machine gun. Are you sure you’re the same person?”
“Exactly the same. But I won’t tolerate insolence. And in our home, only those whom we invite will be here!” Maya declared boldly, looking at her husband, seeking his support.
At that moment, her husband sat on the edge of a chair, head lowered. He felt terrible—he didn’t like any of this at all.
He felt ashamed in front of the guests—his own aunt and her husband. But he felt even more uncomfortable in front of his wife. And on top of that, Anton feared that they might start arguing because of all this, and then he would once again have to endure inconveniences—sleeping on the floor and eating dry store-bought snacks. And worst of all, he would have to forget about his marital privileges for a long time.
In just a few hours, early in the morning, the young couple was supposed to travel to a small district town, the place where Maya was born. They were going to her friend’s wedding.
During the entire week leading up to the trip, Maya had been pleasantly preoccupied with preparing for the event. She had been looking for a beautiful dress and shoes, bought Anton a new shirt that matched her outfit, and memorized a lovely poetic congratulation for the soon-to-be newlyweds.
And just when everything was ready and only a day remained until the long-awaited celebration, Anton’s relatives called and simply presented them with a fait accompli. They announced they were coming to visit.
“Anton, Vasya and I decided to drop in on you this weekend. A return visit, so to speak. You visited us last month, didn’t you? So we thought—we’ve been meaning to go to the city for a long time. We’re already on our way, we’ll be at your place by dinner. Make sure to meet us at the bus station, alright? And tell your wife to set the table!” Raisa declared in her commanding tone.
Last month, the young couple had visited Anton’s parents, who lived in the village next to the aunt. Raisa was Anton’s father’s sister. And the “visit” she mentioned over the phone was just a short stop at her house. While taking an evening walk through the picturesque village, Anton and Maya had dropped by Raisa’s home, where they spent exactly one hour.
When a stunned Anton finally recovered from the shock of his relatives’ announcement, he immediately told his wife the news.
“What? What guests?! That’s impossible! We’re leaving early Saturday morning! And I am not canceling this trip because of your tactless aunt! Call her and tell her that,” Maya said.
“Alright, I’ll call now. I wanted to tell her myself, but Aunt Raya didn’t let me get a single word in,” Anton explained, embarrassed, since he had always been a bit afraid of his loud, sharp-tongued aunt since childhood.
Raisa’s phone didn’t answer. So he tried calling Vasily. Same result. Anton guessed that they were probably already on the bus and couldn’t hear the calls.
For a moment he felt hot. He imagined what would happen if they actually showed up today. There would be a scene. And what a scene! Just what he needed right now.
“Well?” his wife demanded.
“No answer,” Anton said hopelessly. “Neither aunt nor uncle are picking up.”
“Well then, that’s their problem. No one invited them here. And you are not going to meet them. And if they call and ask why you didn’t come, tell them we already left for Svetly. We aren’t home—simple as that. Besides, it’s almost true. Less than a day left until our trip. And I am certainly not cooking for them…”
“Yes, of course, you’re right,” Anton supported his wife, though not very confidently.
“Your aunt is unbelievable! Acting like some grand lady—‘meet us, cook for us, feed us, wash us in the sauna.’ Why not ask for a massage too, or maybe order a private concert from Kirkorov?” his wife continued indignantly.
When Raisa and Vasily, after getting off the bus, didn’t see their nephew, they started calling him from both phones at once. At that moment, he and Maya were at the supermarket together. He didn’t hear the calls—or maybe he deliberately ignored them, hoping the problem would resolve itself.
And now, when they had already eaten dinner and even washed the dishes, the doorbell rang.
“They’re here,” Anton said, turning pale.
“Go open it. They’re your relatives, after all. And besides, what—are we supposed to hide from them now? We’ll just tell them to go to a hotel. No problem.”
But Maya didn’t know her husband’s aunt very well.
The situation was heating up. And judging by everything, the guests were not planning to leave.
“Don’t you understand that you can’t just burst into people’s homes without warning? It’s rude and disrespectful,” Maya said, stepping closer to her husband and poking him sharply in the side so he would finally wake up and take his wife’s side. “Anton, why are you silent? You do agree with me, don’t you?”
“What insolence are you talking about?” Raisa snapped. “Are you saying it’s insolent that Vasya and I wanted to visit our beloved nephew? That we, for once, decided to spend a couple of days with family—is that insolence? According to you, young lady, it turns out that we, his own flesh and blood, can’t even visit him?”
“Aunt Raya, I didn’t get a chance to tell you… We’re leaving ourselves. See—our bags are ready. We were invited to a wedding, my wife’s friend’s. And Maya and I need to leave very soon. That’s why we didn’t meet you, and didn’t set the table,” Anton began explaining, realizing he would indeed have to put in effort to sort out the situation.
“So some friend of your wife, a complete stranger to you, matters more than your own aunt? The one who rocked you as a baby, played with you, gave you gifts, spent her own money on you. Remember the plush rabbit? And the red dump truck with the big cab? You remember! And how I rushed to the hospital when you had your tonsils removed? And how I couldn’t sleep nights when you went off to the a.r.m.y.? And now you can’t even offer your dear aunt a cup of tea?”
Raisa spoke with such dramatic flair that Anton truly felt ashamed. His nose tingled, and for a moment he even felt like a traitor.
“Well, why… We’ll give you tea, Aunt Raya,” he muttered quietly, afraid to look at Maya. “But we really have to go… We’re in a hurry…”
“No, absolutely not! I’m repeating myself—we are not a hotel. And not a cafeteria. There’s a café right across the road, and a cheap diner next to it,” his wife cut him off sharply.
“Decent people don’t behave like this!” Vasily chimed in. “What kind of tactlessness is this? Who taught you that, Maya? In our family it’s not customary to chase away guests, just so you know.”
“And in our family it’s not customary to burst into someone’s home ruining all their plans,” Maya shot back instantly. “We did not invite you! Anton, why are you silent?”
“Yes… yes… we didn’t invite… that’s right…” he muttered reluctantly.
“And therefore I am asking you to leave our home immediately. Right now! Anton and I need to get ready for the trip. We have no time for guests.”
“Well, look at that! Just listen, Vasya, how she rattles on! Doesn’t trip over a single word, doesn’t even blink. And she’s not ashamed at all—talking like that to her husband’s relatives!” Raisa exclaimed with an insolent smirk, still not quite believing they were really being kicked out.
“That’s right, Rayečka. It’s unbelievable she’s not ashamed. And Anton can’t even say a word to his wife. Clearly, he has no authority in this house. What a decline in morals!” Vasily agreed with his wife.
“Enough of this nonsense! It’s pointless. Set the table already, let’s have dinner. I’ve worked up quite an appetite from all these nerves,” the aunt continued brazenly.
“You didn’t understand me, did you? I’ll explain one more time—you are leaving now for a hotel. There’s a nice, affordable one around the corner, by the way. You can dine there, rest there, and do whatever you want. And Anton and I are going to bed now, because tomorrow morning we’re leaving for the wedding, just as planned.”
“Oh really? Just like that? No alternatives?” Raisa persisted.
“Yes, exactly like that,” Maya replied, ignoring Raisa’s theatrics. “And if you ever decide to visit us again, please be so kind as to warn us in advance. Then we will meet you, and host you properly, and give you our time. Everything as it should be.”
With these words, the hostess walked to the front door and demonstratively flung it open.
“Well I’ll be! They didn’t even offer us tea…” Vasily muttered, stunned.
“What an insolent woman! How do you even live with her, Anton? She’s shameless! Ill-mannered! You know what? May your feet never take you back to our house again! And don’t you dare even remember that you have an aunt and uncle! I have never suffered such humiliation! Never!”
Raisa kept shouting for a long time, and even through the closed door they could hear her yelling in the hallway, disturbing the neighbors.
About ten minutes later, Anton’s mother called.
“Son, Raisa just called me. She was screaming so loudly, it was horrible! She cursed you and Maya every which way. But I told her, son, I told her you were leaving for the wedding. But can you ever convince her? No sense arguing. She listens to no one—what kind of person is that? She brought it upon herself. You and Maya don’t take it too much to heart. You know your aunt’s temperament. And tell your wife I send her my warmest regards. She’s a good girl. She’ll stand up for the two of you. A wonderful wife.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll tell her,” Anton replied, letting out a relieved sigh.
None of the relatives ever showed up unannounced again. In fact, they hardly visited at all.
