15October2025 Late night, the phone rang at three in the morning.
Victor, Mum and I are on our way to you! Natalie shouted through the receiver, her voice edged with fatigue.
Dont bother, I replied, half asleep, were still in bed.
Her tone hardened. This isnt a joke, Victor. Get a bed for Mum and find a cot for me, will you?
We dont keep cots, and every spare mattress in the flat is taken, I yawned, stretching a stray sigh into the night air.
Are you mocking us? Natalie snapped.
Sister, why are you barging into my house at this hour? You have your own flatgo back to it and sleep there!
Victor! Natalie snapped, a sharp edge to her words. You have to let us stay for the night. We have nowhere else to go!
Whats happened? I asked innocently, nudging my wife, Anna, aside. I covered the handset with my hand and whispered, Anna, Mum and Natalie are at the door. Theyre desperate to crash here.
Anna, still halfasleep, murmured, Couldnt you have called at a more sensible hour?
Im glad were on the same page, I grinned, trying to smooth the tension.
Natalie kept babbling, punctuated by sighs and the occasional exclamation.
Alright, make it simple, I said, trying to herd the conversation.
Victor, the front door is stuck!
How badly? I asked.
It jammed on the lock, then the hinges went crooked and refused to close. When I tried to push it back, it seized completely. The lock wont turn at all! She began to hiccup with each word. Mum and I were in our nightrobes on the doorstep, and you know how nosy the neighbours are!
Interesting, I said with a broad smile. Looks like the payback door finally caught up with you!
My wife, who had been listening, shook her head theatrically, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. She wanted to burst out laughing, but didnt want to interrupt me.
Victor, well have to wait until morning and then call a locksmith. Order a taxi and pay by card, will you? We have cash in the flat.
So, are you staying or are you leaving? I pressed.
Dont be daft! Natalie shouted. Were stuck here like two chickens under this cursed door!
In my mind I reflected on how, in childhood, parents tend to love all their children equally, giving what they can. As the kids grow, favourites appearsome get more attention, others get the leftovers. The same happens with care.
When I decided to get married, Natalie immediately raised the issue of whether I should keep the younger sister in our shared flat.
Victor, shes my sister, not a guest. I live in my own house and I want to run my life the way I see fit!
Whos stopping you? I asked, genuinely surprised.
The very presence of another adult in my space makes me uncomfortable, she said, quoting something shed read online.
What kind of discomfort? I frowned. Anna and I are at work during the day. In the mornings you and Mum are still asleep, and in the evenings were home, eating dinner, then heading to our room.
Exactly! And you wont even use the toilet, will you? I might be at the gym doing yoga at that hour!
Believe me, theres nothing exciting for us here, I remarked. And who would even watch you?
Natalie howled and then put Mum on the line. Tell him! Why do we need an outsider in the house?
Nat, listen, Margaretour motherintervened, shes my sons wife, and youre the daughterinlaw. Thats practically family.
This is distant countryside kin, but by law shes a stranger! Mum, I dont want to live like were in a council flat!
Margaret, who had always leaned toward her daughter, favoured her because my son reminded her of a former husband who had walked out on her with their two kids. She spoke delicately:
Victor, we love you, but we barely know Anna. Well meet her, but moving in together right away feels wrong. After all, youre a husbanddont sit on Mums lap forever. Kids will come, and Natalies still young. If you throw a party at night, the kids will be there toofamily fights, you know?
Everythings clear, I sighed, theyre kicking me out of my own house!
Nobodys kicking you out, Mum said gently. We just dont want avoidable problems.
You can live without a wife, Natalie added, but with a wife, you should go your own way.
Anna sensed something was off between me, Mum, and Natalie. After the wedding we had planned to stay with them for a while to save for a house deposit. Three weeks before the ceremony I moved my belongings into a rented flat and brought Anna there.
Anna understood the situation but didnt intervene. She wasnt thrilled about sharing a roof with my family, yet she was willing to endure it for my sake.
Dont get involved in that mess, Anna, my friend Katie warned. Itll eat at your brain, but youll stay healthier!
Ill manage, but Victors really struggling, she replied. Thats what a wife is forto support him. Were now a family, and theyre just relatives.
I tried to be accommodating, but the debts piled up. Anna gave birth to our son, Tom, and later another boy, Harry.
Theres nowhere else to go, I said sadly. We cant save much together; well just be scraping by.
I agree, Anna said. When the mortgage payment comes, you cant dodge it.
We took out a thirtyyear mortgage on a modest terraced house, originally hoping for a twentyyear term, but the longer stretch meant fewer holidays.
Four years after Toms birth, the joy faded. Harrys arrival was announced with a cheerful cry.
Nothing to worry about, I told myself. Well get through it.
Of course, love, Anna replied, where shall we go?
When our younger son turned five, I managed to book two tickets to a seaside resort. We rarely vacation, usually just visiting Annas family in a Yorkshire village, and the garden work feels hardly a holiday.
Anna, theres a spa with a pool, treatments, a disco for the overthirties, and five meals a daypractically royal treatment!
What about the kids?
For a small extra fee we can take them, or we could leave them at home.
Should we lock them in a room with a TV or send them to my mums village? I joked. Neither of us would actually abandon them; wed just keep an eye on them while we relaxed.
I called Mum. Can I bring the kids over for a week while Anna and I go away?
Natalie, never missing a chance to complain, snapped, Where are you going?
To the sanatorium outside town, I answered. We havent proper rest for eight years.
So were sending you off and we have to look after our bandits? Natalie huffed. Brilliant plan!
Mum, theyre wellbehaved boys. Feed them, check theyre dressed properly, put them to bed on time, and thats about it, I reassured her.
Margaret seemed to contemplate.
Natalie, dear, weve just renovated, new furniturecost a fortune! she protested. What if the kids wreck everything? And you know I sometimes have a man over; the house is already short of space!
Dad, were really out of luck, I sighed, losing hope.
Its a fresh renovation, Natalie, and Im sorting my own life. You and Anna are a family, sort your own problems!
Thanks, Mum! I said, each syllable a relief.
We went to the sanatorium with the boys, and for a while I didnt think of the family back home. Then the inevitable happened: our salaries were delayed, and the mortgage instalment loomed.
Mum, Natalie, Annas been shortchanged at work. We need a loan for three or four days, please!
Im not sure we have spare cash, Margaret said, eyeing her daughter.
We do, Natalie clapped Mums hand. Dont worry!
Youve saved me! I exhaled, gratitude flooding me.
No, Natalie snapped. Youll have to rescue yourself. Weve set aside money for a new front door, the installer arrives next week. We need a deposit for that, plus the work fees!
Why are you, Natalie, paying for it? I asked, bewildered. Im only asking for four days.
Its still unclear how youll pay back! I need to give someone money in a week, and in five days the door will be fittedfull payment required!
Youll sort it out, Natalie! I retorted, frustration rising. Were in an emergency; the loan must be paid tomorrow, but the salary arrives the day after. Ill bring the cash or transfer it straight away!
You can talk nicely, but I wont be the one lugging the doors around! she replied. If they hold you up more, what will I do?
Lets go to the solicitor now and sort the paperwork, even draw up a thousandpercent penalty if needed!
Ill wait for your fines, but the door promotion will end before I get the cash!
Fine, brother, off you go then, dont cough!
I managed to swing the money to the solicitor earlier than required, but Mum and Natalie promptly blacklisted my number. I told Anna everything; she quoted a line shed once read: A wise person does not seek revenge; they wait for life to settle the score.
The waiting didnt last long.
Heres the cardno money left! I shouted, and I have no desire to hunt down help for relatives.
Youve gone mad! Were your family! Natalie yelled.
And the doors! I added. Those doors were the final nail in the coffin of my patience.
Dont you feel ashamed, son, stooping so low? Mums voice rang.
Im not seeking revenge, I replied. Im finally paying back the debts I owed.
You never took anything from us, did you? Natalie asked, puzzled.
I took your love, your care, the kindness you gave me, I said. Now Im returning it in equal measure.
The call ended, the line went silent. It wasnt vengeance; it was a settled debt.
Lesson learned: holding grudges only fuels a cycle of debtboth financial and emotional. Letting go and repaying what you owe, even with humility, frees you from the weight of resentment.
