Mom had six husbands (real and common-law). Not that it’s a very impressive number, but Tanya’s friends’ mothers had one marriage, two at most. And here there are six! Mom happily told Tanya about each of them and even showed her old faded photographs. Sometimes Tanya wondered what her life would be like if Mom had decided to give birth to a child from husband number two, a therapist at the local hospital, or, for example, from husband number four, a lock picking specialist. Each of them had their own shortcomings, but Tanya’s father was perfect. At least, that’s what her mother thought.
He was fifteen years older than my mother, a successful businessman and philanthropist, leading a healthy and, most importantly, “correct” lifestyle. He was married twice: from his first marriage he had a daughter, whom Tanya’s mother once taught, from his second marriage he had a son, who died in early childhood from a heart defect.
According to the mother, the father spoiled his eldest daughter so much that the girl only had time to think about something, and she already had it. He went to all the school meetings, knew the teachers by name and personally talked to each one, he spoke to his daughter softly but decisively. He and his mother had already started meeting from time to time for lovemaking, but they never planned anything serious. And then she asked him to become a father. Considering that the father never had an heir, he agreed. And when Tanya was born, he said disappointedly:
– We’ve seen this before.
He wasn’t a bad father, but he wasn’t a good one either. He came once a week, brought cheap toys, made Tanya read aloud. Mom hoped that such a rich man would provide the girl with a future, she remembered how he treated her eldest daughter, but they didn’t see any money from him.
Tanya didn’t need money, she needed love. Her father was old, practically from another era, they had no common topics for conversation: she didn’t understand her, he didn’t understand her. But Tanya still desperately tried to earn his attention: she got straight A’s, won Olympiads, read Kant and Remarque, whom he respected. Once, when she was sixteen, she asked:
– Why don’t you love me?
Dad was confused.
– What do you mean I don’t love? I love.
– But you don’t notice me at all!
He chewed his lips (Tanya couldn’t stand this habit of his) and said:
– If you were a boy, it would be easier. I don’t know how to deal with girls.
This was not true. He had an older daughter, Marianna, a femme fatale who was swimming in money. Tanya followed her page, although there had been virtually no updates lately.
Tanya solved the problem with her father differently: love can be found elsewhere. She began dating older guys, often much older, convincing herself that she was no worse than others, and maybe even better.
When, despite all the A’s in her school report, she didn’t get into the business department, where she applied because of her dad, in order to be like him, her mother asked him for money for the first time.
Dad chewed his lips again and said:
– Tanya is my heir along with Marianne. I’ll die, and let them divide my money. But for now I want to be a father, not a moneybag.
Then Tanya was very offended by him. She imagined her father in a mahogany coffin, certainly in an Armani suit with a white wax face and felt nothing at all. From then on, she began to call herself the heiress of a rich old man who would soon kick the bucket. There were many hunters for someone else’s inheritance and for her youthful beauty, however, upon learning that Tanya’s father was in good health and ran marathons, most of the suitors disappeared as quickly as they appeared. One of them gave Tanya a venereal disease, and another – toxicosis.
———————————————-
Tanya gave birth to a girl. Her father did not even hide his disappointment, but gave her a stroller – unheard of generosity! Living on benefits and her mother’s salary was not easy, Tanya went to work, persuaded her mother to retire. She got a job in the catering industry, quickly climbed the career ladder. She studied management by correspondence, her career went even better. Tanya worked a lot, almost never saw her daughter, but adored her and swore to herself that the girl would not need anything. Two years later, she bought a car, five years later, she took out a mortgage. When her daughter went to school, Tanya met Andrey. She did not tell him nonsense about the inheritance, but Andrey, it seems, did not need it. He loved Tanya as she was, regardless of money, the presence of children and the history of past relationships. And at the very moment when Tanya became happy, her father died.
Just as she had imagined, he was lying in a mahogany coffin and wearing an Armani suit. His mother had not gone to the funeral, she was very angry with him. Tanya looked for her sister, whom she had never met, but could not find her. When a thin woman with ulcers on her face approached her, she recoiled. She smiled with a toothless mouth and said:
– Don’t be afraid, it’s not contagious.
Marianne’s life was no better, one might even say worse.
“First it was alcohol,” she admitted. “Then something heavier. When you have everything, it’s hard to want anything, life is unbearably boring. He stopped giving me money, but it was too late.
And at that moment Tanya realized that her father still loved her. When Tanya approached her father to say goodbye, she touched his cheek with her lips and whispered, “Thank you, dad.”
Her father left her so much money that Tanya didn’t know what to do with it. The image of her sister was firmly entrenched in her head. She and her husband decided to buy an apartment for their daughter and open an account in her name. They sent part of the money to charity, and simply left the rest in the account. Tanya only bought perfume for herself, which she dreamed about in school, but was never able to afford.
Two years later, Marianna came to her, it is unclear how she found out the address. She asked to borrow money.
“Did you spend it all?” Tanya was horrified.
She shrugged. Tanya gave her money, her sister said it was for medicine.
She came often, then disappeared again. Once she brought an unusual doll for her niece, and another time a remote-controlled car for the twins that Tanya gave birth to for Andrey.
“It’s a pity that dad didn’t live to see his grandchildren,” she said.
When Marianna came for the obvious time, Tanya, out of habit, went for the money.
“No need,” her sister stopped her. “I’m going to say goodbye.”
They hugged. Marianna cried. Tanya too.
They buried my sister next to my father. Tanya went to clean the graves, taking her children with her. Each of them had an apartment in the center and a bank account. But they didn’t know about it.
