Get Out of My Flat! – Said Mum “Out,” Mum said, completely calm. Arina smirked and leaned back in her chair — she was sure Mum was talking to her friend. “Out of my flat!” Natasha turned to her daughter. “Lena, did you see the post?” her friend burst into the kitchen, not even taking off her coat. “Arina’s had her baby! Seven pounds, twenty inches long. Spitting image of his dad, same button nose. I’ve already rushed around all the shops, bought little outfits. Why do you look so down? “Congratulations, Natasha. I’m happy for you,” Lena stood to pour her friend some tea. “Come on, take your coat off at least.” “Oh, I haven’t got time to sit,” Natasha perched on the edge of her chair. “So much to do, so much to do. Arina’s done brilliantly, all on her own, worked hard. Her husband’s a real gem, they’ve just taken a flat on a mortgage, nearly done the renovations. I’m proud of my girl. I raised her right!” Lena silently placed the teacup in front of her friend. Right… If only Natasha knew… *** Exactly two years ago, Arina, Natasha’s daughter, came by unexpectedly, her eyes swollen with tears, hands shaking. “Auntie Lena, please, just don’t tell Mum. Please! If she finds out, she’ll have a heart attack,” Arina sobbed, twisting a wet tissue in her hands. “Arina, calm down. Tell me properly. What’s happened?” Lena had been genuinely scared. “I… at work…” Arina sniffed. “A colleague had money go missing from their bag. Fifty thousand.” The cameras showed me going into the office when nobody was around. I didn’t take anything, Auntie Lena! Honestly! But they said: either I return the fifty thousand by lunchtime tomorrow, or they go to the police. They have a ‘witness’ who apparently saw me hiding a wallet. It’s a stitch-up, Auntie Lena! But who’ll believe me? “Fifty thousand?” Lena frowned. “Why didn’t you go to your dad?” “I did!” Arina broke into renewed sobs. “He said it was my own fault, that he wouldn’t give me a penny if I was so useless. He said: ’Go to the police, let them teach you a lesson.’ He didn’t even let me into the flat, just shouted at me through the door. Auntie Lena, I’ve nobody else to go to. I’ve got twenty thousand saved. I just need thirty more. “What about Natasha? Why not tell her? She’s your mum.” “No! Mum will tear me to shreds. She always says I disgrace her, and now I’d be an actual thief… She’s a teacher, everyone knows her. Please, could you lend me thirty? I promise I’ll pay you back two, three thousand a week. I’ve found another job already! Please, Auntie Lena!” Back then, Lena’s heart ached for the girl. Twenty years old, just starting life, and already a mark like that. Dad refused help, turned away, mum really would rip her head off… “Who hasn’t made mistakes in life?” Lena thought. Arina wouldn’t stop crying. “Alright,” she said. “I have that money. Was meant for my teeth, but my teeth can wait.” Just promise me this is the last time. And I won’t say anything to your mum, since you’re so scared. “Thank you! Thank you, Auntie Lena! You’ve saved my life!” Arina hugged her. The first week, Arina really did bring two thousand. Came in happy, said everything was sorted, nothing about police, the new job was fine. And then… she just stopped replying to messages. A month, two, three. Lena saw her at Natasha’s parties, but Arina acted like they barely knew each other — a cold “hello” and that’s all. Lena didn’t push. She thought: “She’s young, she’s ashamed, that’s why she’s hiding.” She decided thirty thousand wasn’t worth ruining a lifelong friendship with Natasha over. She wrote off the debt and forgot about it. *** “Are you even listening to me?” Natasha waved her hand in front of Lena’s face. “What are you thinking about?” “Oh, nothing,” Lena shook her head. “Just things.” “Listen,” Natasha lowered her voice. “I bumped into Ksenia — you remember, our old neighbour? She came up to me in the shop yesterday. Seemed odd. Started asking about Arina, how she was, whether she ever paid back her debts. I didn’t really get it. I told her Arina’s independent, earning her own way. Ksenia just smirked and left. Do you know – did Arina ever borrow money off her?” Lena felt something tighten inside her. “No idea, Natasha. Maybe just a bit.” “Okay, I’ll be off. Need to stop by the chemist,” Natasha stood, pecked Lena on the cheek, and flitted away. That evening, Lena couldn’t hold out. She found Ksenia’s number and called her. “Ksyusha, hi, it’s Lena. Listen, did you see Natasha today? What was that about, debts?” She heard a heavy sigh on the other end. “Oh, Lenka… I thought you knew. You’re the closest to them. Two years ago Arina came to me. All snotty, eyes red. Said she’d been accused of stealing at work. Either pay back thirty thousand or go to jail. Begged me not to tell her mum, crying. I, fool that I am, gave her the money. She promised to return it in a month. And then she just vanished… Lena gripped her phone. “Thirty thousand? Are you sure it was thirty?” “Yeah. She said it was exactly what she needed. In the end, I got back five hundred roubles after six months and never saw her again. And then Vera from the next building told me Arina came to her with the same story. Vera lent her forty thousand. And even Galina Petrovna, their old teacher, she ‘rescued’ Arina from jail too. That one gave her fifty thousand. “Wait a sec…” Lena sat down suddenly. “Does this mean… She asked everyone for the same? With the same story?” “Looks like it,” Ksenia’s voice turned hard. “She just collected a ‘tribute’ from all of Natasha’s friends. Thirty, forty thousand from each. Made up a theft, played on our sympathy. We all love Natasha, so we kept quiet, didn’t want to upset her. And Arina apparently blew the lot. A month later she was posting Turkey holiday pictures on social media. “I gave her thirty thousand too,” Lena said quietly. “There you go,” Ksenia snorted. “We’re five or six at least. It’s a business, Lenka. Not a stupid ‘youthful mistake’ — it’s out and out fraud. And Natasha has no idea. She’s so proud of her beautiful daughter. And her daughter? A thief!” Lena hung up, her head spinning. She wasn’t even sorry about the money — she’d said goodbye to that long ago. What sickened her was how coldly and cynically a twenty-year-old girl had taken advantage of grown women’s trust. *** The next day, Lena went to see Natasha. She didn’t plan to make a scene. She just wanted to look Arina in the eye. She was staying at her mum’s while her mortgage flat was gutted for renovation after coming home with the new baby. “Oh, Auntie Lena!” Arina gave a forced smile when she answered the door. “Come in. Would you like some tea?” Natasha was bustling at the stove. “Oh, Lenka, come sit down. Why didn’t you call first?” Lena sat across the table from Arina. “Arina,” she began calmly. “I met with Ksenia. And with Vera. And with Galina Petrovna. Last night, we had quite a long chat — we even formed a kind of ‘Victims’ Support Group’.” Arina froze, turned pale, shot a fast glance at her mum’s back. “What are you talking about, Lena?” Natasha turned round. “Well, Arina knows exactly what I’m talking about,” Lena kept her eyes on the young woman. “Remember, Arina, that little story from two years ago? When you asked me for thirty thousand? And Ksenia, thirty. And Vera, forty. And Galina Petrovna, fifty. All of us ‘rescued’ you from prison. Each one believed she was the only one who knew your terrible secret.” The kettle in Natasha’s hand trembled, boiling water splashed the hob and fizzed. “What fifty thousand?” Natasha put the kettle down slowly. “Arina? What is she talking about? Did you borrow from my friends? Even Galina Petrovna?!” “Mum… it’s not like that…” Arina started to stammer. “I… I’ve paid back… almost…” “No, you haven’t, Arina,” Lena said flatly. “You brought me two grand just for show, then disappeared. You simply gathered nearly two hundred thousand from us all with a made-up story. We kept quiet out of pity for your mum. But last night, I realised we should have felt sorry for ourselves, not her.” “Arina, look at me. Did you scam my friends for money? Did you invent a story about theft and rob the people who visit my home?” “Mum, I really needed money for my move!” Arina shouted. “You never gave me anything! Dad refused me a penny, and I had to get my life started! So what? They’re not short of money, I didn’t take their last!” Lena felt sick. So that’s how it was… “I see.” Natasha, I’m sorry to dump all this on you now, but I can’t keep hiding it. I can’t keep encouraging that kind of behaviour. She treats us all like fools!” Natasha stood with her hands gripping the table. Her shoulders trembled. “Out,” she said, completely calmly. Arina sneered and leaned back — certain her mum was telling Lena to leave. “Out of my flat!” Natasha turned to her daughter. “Pack your things and go back to your husband. I don’t ever want to see you in here again!” Arina went ashen. “Mum, I have a baby! I shouldn’t get upset!” “You don’t have a mother, Arina. The girl I once called my daughter was honest. You’re a thief. Galina Petrovna… Oh God, she rang me every day to ask how I was, and never said a word… How am I supposed to face her now? How?!” Arina grabbed her bag, threw a towel to the floor. “Choke on your money!” she yelled. “You old bags! Shove off, the pair of you!” She rushed into the next room, snatched up her baby’s carrier and stormed out. Natasha slumped onto a chair, her face in her hands. Lena felt ashamed. “I’m sorry, Natasha…” “No, Lenka… you don’t need to apologise. I’m the one who should. For raising such… a thief. I really believed she’d made it on her own, and all along… God, what shame…” Lena stroked her friend’s shoulder as Natasha broke down in tears. *** A week later, Arina’s husband, pale and haggard, came round to all the ‘creditors’, apologising and never meeting their eyes. Promised to pay the money back. And, sure enough, repayments began — it was Natasha who paid Galina Petrovna fifty thousand for her daughter. Lena doesn’t feel guilty about what happened. After all, a scammer deserves to face the consequences. Right?