a little to steady himself. Now he’s sleeping it off.”
“In MY BED!” Emily exploded. “With filthy boots on! And he’s reading MY diary!”
“So what?” Katie snorted, her tone dripping with contempt. “Sheets can be washed. And a diary? Who even keeps one anymore? That’s so childish.”
Something inside Emily gave way. Some last thin thread of restraint, the one that had kept her polite for the past three weeks, snapped clean in two.
“ENOUGH!” she shouted. “The performance is over!”
She marched through the apartment and threw every window wide open.
“We are airing this place out! EVERYONE OUT! RIGHT NOW!”
Without waiting for permission, she strode into the guest room and began tossing the unwanted visitors’ belongings into a large travel bag.
“What are you doing, you maniac?” Peter yelled, lunging for his shirt.
“I’m doing what I should have done three weeks ago!” Emily fired back. “GET OUT! All of you! Every last one!”
“Emily!” Margaret’s threatening voice rang out as she appeared in the doorway. “Stop this disgraceful behavior immediately!”
“Aunt Margaret, with all due respect, you can LEAVE too,” Emily said, stuffing Katie’s cosmetics into the bag.
“Daniel!” Linda shrieked. “Do something about your hysterical wife!”
“Emily, stop it!” Daniel tried to step between them. “They’re family!”
“Wonderful!” She spun toward him, Linda’s suitcase in her hand. “Then take your precious relatives and go with them!”
“You’re throwing me out of my own home?”
“I’m giving you a choice.” She shoved another bag into the hallway. “Either you are a MAN and the master of this household, or you’re an obedient little doormat who lets his family turn his home into a bus station. You have exactly seven days to think about it.”
“Aunt Emily, you can’t kick us out!” Katie protested. “Our tickets aren’t until next week!”
“CHANGE THEM!” Emily snapped, pushing the last suitcase over the threshold. “Take a bus. Walk. I honestly don’t care.”
Then she slammed the door with finality and turned the lock twice.
“Emily! Open this door right now!” Daniel pounded from the other side. “You have no right!”
“I absolutely do! This apartment is mine. I bought it before the marriage!” she shouted through the door. “Seven days, Daniel. One week to decide what matters to you.”
“You lunatic!” Linda screamed from the hallway. “This isn’t over!”
“Oh, yes, it is. And none of you are ever setting foot in here again!” Emily answered, then deliberately turned the music up loud enough to drown them out.
The next three days were the most peaceful Emily had experienced in a month. Slowly, calmly, she put the apartment back together. She savored the silence, the freedom to eat whatever she wanted, the pleasure of watching her favorite movies without anyone commenting that she was “unfeminine” or “selfish.”
On the fourth day, her neighbor Brian called.
“Emily, is everything all right over there?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “The Kozhemyakins have been arguing by the entrance for almost two hours. Aunt Margaret is telling the whole stairwell what an ungrateful daughter-in-law you are.”
“She can tell anyone she likes, Brian,” Emily replied serenely, sipping tea with her favorite lemon cookies. “As long as she doesn’t do it inside my apartment.”
“And Daniel? Is he with them?”
“I assume so. He made his choice.”
“Well…” Brian sighed. “I never realized things had gotten that bad between you two.”
“They didn’t get bad, Brian. They ended.”
Exactly one week later, Emily received a message from Daniel.
“Emily, you were right. They’re unbearable. Linda has already fought with my mother. Katie broke Mom’s favorite vase and was rude to the neighbor. Can I come back to the apartment?”
Emily typed one word.
“No.”
“But I’m your husband! We’re a family!”
“We were a family. I’ve already left the divorce papers with my attorney. I’m filing tomorrow.”
“Emily, don’t be ridiculous. We can talk about everything. We can find a compromise.”
“That was possible three weeks ago. Now it’s too late.”
“You’ll never find another husband like me!”
“What excellent news. I’d hate to end up with another rag like that.”
A month and a half later, Brian stopped by for coffee and brought the latest gossip with him.
“Do you know what happened to your former relatives?” he asked with a grin, settling comfortably into the armchair. “Linda and her family sued Daniel. Turns out he temporarily registered them at his mother’s place to ‘show family support.’ Now he can’t get them removed. They’re demanding equivalent housing.”
“Seriously?” Emily raised her eyebrows.
“Very seriously. Aunt Margaret causes a scandal every single day and orders them to move out. They ignore her completely. Katie has already moved her boyfriend in too. The whole crowd is now packed into that two-bedroom apartment.”
“Karma is a tough woman,” Emily said, smiling as she drank coffee in her clean, quiet home.
“What?” Brian asked, not understanding.
“Nothing,” she said. “Only that sometimes justice does exist.”