Natasha accidentally met her former neighbor, and she told her that her father was very ill.
Her father, after Natalia got married in spite of him, could not stand her, but since her father was ill, she decided that she had to see him. Who knows, maybe it will be the last time.
I took time off from work, arrived, rang the doorbell.
It was opened by Sashka, the younger brother, who had already turned forty-six. They smiled warily at each other, because a black cat had already run between them for a long time. And also because of my father.
Once, on some family holiday, when my mother was still alive, my father decided to stab Natalia again.
– So that’s it, children! – father took a solemn pose at the table. – I’ve decided to write a will in advance, just in case. So, I leave the apartment, the garden and my car to Alexander. For the fact that he always listens to me and respects me.
And Sasha was only in his twenties at that time, even though he had already married, and also lived separately from his parents.
– What are you doing?! – the wife looked indignantly at her husband. – And Natasha? She’s got three kids. We need to divide everything in half!
– Nothing like that! My father snapped. – She has a husband… hardworking … – the Father smiled maliciously. – So let him provide for her.
Natalia was really unlucky with her husband. Although she married him out of great love, but, as often happens, love quickly burned out, and hubby also began to take liberally on his chest. On this occasion, he was constantly kicked out of work.
“She didn’t want to go to college, she ran away from me to get married, so now let her suck her finger,” the father continued to mock his daughter. – And if you feel sorry for her, – the father looked attentively at his wife, – out, let your late parents’ house in the village rewrite itself. And goes there to live. Let her and her husband plow the land…
To be honest, Natalia did not listen to her father then, because she had long been used to his humiliations. At that moment, she was looking at Sasha, and her heart was bleeding – because of how her brother reacts to his father’s words.
Sasha was positively glowing with happiness, holding back a stupid smile. And when they met his eyes, he looked proudly at his sister, as if to say – it’s clear to you, I’ll get it all alone.
Since then, they have hardly spoken. And when Mom was gone, they
stopped dating.
And now they silently nodded to each other. Sashka only asked dully:
– How did you find out?
– I met Aunt Dasha’s neighbor. Is Father very ill?
– They refused to keep him in the hospital. They say that we should be prepared for the fact that he is… So… he’s kind of sleeping now…
When Natasha approached her father’s bed, he immediately opened his eyes, as if he was waiting for her.
– I came, after all … – he rasped in a strange voice. – And why did you come?..
“To see you,” Natalia shrugged her shoulders.
– Are you glad that I feel bad? – my father started his eternal record. – Do you think that I will change my mind and rewrite the will out of emotion that you have come?
Natalia only smiled sadly at these words and remained silent.
– Don’t even hope… – the father raised his hand with difficulty and somehow shook his index finger in the air. – I won’t rewrite anything. I left everything to Sasha. Everything to the nail… Because he respects me…
Natalia wanted to look at her brother, but for some reason she was afraid – suddenly she would see a smug smile again.
She sat by the bed for a while longer, and when her father fell asleep, she got up and called her brother into the kitchen.
– Who will be on duty near him? “What is it?” she asked.
– I made an agreement with the nurse. My brother replied. – Of course, for money.
“All right,” Natalia nodded. – We pay in half. She took several large bills out of her purse and handed them to him. – If it stays, it will come in handy later, you know what for…
– Where did you get that kind of money? my brother chuckled. – Again, probably, borrowed? I’ll pay for it myself somehow. Don’t strain yourself.
– Hey, brother! – Natalia abruptly put her hand on Sasha’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes for the first time in recent years. – Maybe you are really afraid that I will demand part of your inheritance from you? Don’t be afraid. I don’t need anything from my father. But since I’m a daughter, I have to be useful to him in some way these days. Do you understand me? All. I went. Keep me posted.
She looked into her father’s room once more and left the now-alien apartment.
That was the night my father died.
On the forty-first day Natalia got a call from her brother.
– Listen, I’ve finally taken care of the inheritance here, – he said in a kind of guilty voice.
– And? – Natasha was surprised. – Why do you need me? You know all about the will, don’t you? Mess with it yourself.
– I know, I know, but I took the will in my hands for the first time today. It was kept by our aunt. At Aunt Katya’s.
– I ask you again, why do you need me? Natasha sounded annoyed.
– Because the will was written by my father in a completely different way, as he said all the time. Father, it turns out, divided everything equally between us.
There was a long pause.
– Can you hear me? Sasha asked his sister. – Why are you silent?
– I hear … – Natalia answered. – But for some reason I’m not happy about it at all. At all…
– I understand you… only my wife and I don’t want to get our share. After all, because of this inheritance, everything was so stupid between you and me. This is wrong. And… you have a lot of children, and your husband is almost disabled… In general, I refuse the inheritance in your favor. Understand?
And again there was a pause.
– Well, why are you still silent, sister? Sashka asked again. – Why are you silent?
– I can’t talk … – somehow Natasha whispered into the phone. – I’m crying…
– Why are you crying? – my brother’s voice also trembled.
– This is the first time you’ve called me a sister in the last twenty years… That’s why…
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