“Won’t you help your sister? She’s struggling after the divorce,” their mother chided.
The two sisters sat at the round table in their mother’s house, listening to her complaints.
“Your Tom is such a spoilt brat!” declared Susan, their mother. “Works all these shifts, yet brings home pennies!”
“Mum, isn’t sixty thousand enough for you?” asked the younger daughter, Helen, with frustration.
“It’s not about me. As long as he can support you,” their mother said, pursing her lips in discontent.
“He does provide for us,” Helen replied, frowning.
“I hardly see it! You borrowed two hundred from me just yesterday,” reminded Susan. “He can’t support you properly—get divorced! Find someone who can! And just look at him, you can tell right away he’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic.”
“Mum, that’s a bit too much,” Jenny, who’d been quiet until now, finally spoke up to defend her sister.
“Am I not speaking the truth? He’s awkward, ginger, and even has a lisp,” Susan chuckled, rolling her eyes. “You deserve better, Helen. Before it’s too late, you should consider a divorce,” she advised her younger daughter.
“Mum, Tom’s got a good heart. And looks aren’t everything,” Jenny interjected, seeing her mother press hard on Helen. “If you measure everything by material means, he has a flat, a car, and it’s obvious he loves Helen.”
Susan pursed her lips and gave her eldest daughter a scornful look, feeling she was butting into matters uninvited.
“You live alone despite being thirty, so keep your advice to yourself,” Susan dismissed Jenny with a wave of her hand. “You’ll be desperate by forty…”
Helen silently listened to her mother and sister, glancing from one to the other with indifference.
“You talk him up… His flat is just a one-bedroom, and he’s got nothing but an old British car. It’s nothing to boast about,” Susan added haughtily.
“Helen, what do you think?” Jenny turned to the sister who had been silent.
“I’m not sure, maybe Mum has a point,” mumbled Helen, who initially stood up for her husband but started to succumb to her mother’s opinion. “He said recently that I should look for a job…”
“There you go!” Susan folded her arms across her stomach. “It’s come to this. I dread to think what’s next!”
“Why shouldn’t Helen work? Not many can afford such luxury. I’m surprised Tom hasn’t pushed her to work sooner,” Jenny expressed her view.
“Why are you so keen on defending him? Charmed by him yourself?” Susan’s eyes bore into her daughter’s face.
“I’m worried you’re pressuring my sister into ruining her life,” Jenny calmly explained.
“That’s none of your business,” Susan snapped at her elder daughter. “Your advice is not needed. Helen deserves more. If he truly loved her, he’d have ensured she never suffered. And it’s not like Tom is good-looking or rich…”
Helen sat at the table with her mouth agape, absorbing her mother’s every word.
Susan’s lectures started to take their toll. Before long, Helen was confronting Tom.
“Do you think you earn enough?” she questioned her husband.
“It’s alright, why?”
“Well, I don’t think so,” Helen shook her head. “I believe you should look for another job.”
“Another one? I’m quite satisfied as it is,” Tom replied indifferently but with a hint of hesitance.
“Well, I’m not!” Helen declared decisively. “We’ve just got this small flat, an old British car… There’s nothing to brag about even to the neighbors…”
“It’s strange, you seemed happy enough before,” said Tom thoughtfully. “What’s changed?”
“Nothing’s changed, it’s just now I see things as they are. Love and emotions once clouded my judgment,” Helen justified herself to her husband.
“Alright then,” Tom answered indifferently, assuming the matter would rest there.
However, Helen, influenced by Susan, continued to press Tom.
“Honestly, your constant dissatisfaction is starting to annoy me,” Tom muttered through clenched teeth. “I hear you, but I can’t help you.”
“I need a husband who aims higher, not someone stuck in one place,” Helen said gloomily.
“Sorry, that’s not me!” Tom retorted coldly, retreating to the bedroom and opening the wardrobe containing Helen’s clothes. “Pack up!”
“Where am I supposed to go?” Helen raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Somewhere with a shiny new apartment and a foreign car,” Tom dryly stated. “I’d never forgive myself if you lived a lifetime with a loser like me. I’m sure someday you’ll find someone to shower you with gold and diamonds. Sadly, I can’t.”
Susan was the first to learn that Tom had asked Helen to leave.
“What a scoundrel! Who would’ve thought he’d do that! She shouldn’t have married him at all,” Susan bewailed, cursing her wayward son-in-law with all the maledictions under the sun for his treacherous act.
“All I did was ask him to aim higher and earn more,” Helen tearfully explained, smearing tears across her cheeks.
“What’s there to say about him? A brute is a brute. You’ll find someone better, and Tom will regret this, groveling at your feet,” Susan reassured her daughter.
Left without a home or husband, Helen moved back to her childhood bedroom at her mother’s place.
“What will you do now?” asked Jenny, who arrived at her mother’s summons.
“Nothing,” Helen replied indifferently, glued to her phone.
“Have you thought about getting a job?” Jenny suggested directly to her younger sister.
“Haven’t thought about it. Why would I need one? I’m just going to find a guy richer than Tom,” Helen replied matter-of-factly.
“Why pressure your sister? She’s been through enough stress; let her relax,” Susan defended her younger daughter.
For about two months, Susan supported her daughter, who was lounging around on the sofa.
But soon she realized the struggle was too much, so she called Jenny, demanding she visit.
After her workday, Jenny came by, thinking her mother had urgent business.
“Won’t you help your sister?” Susan asked reproachfully.
“With what?”
“Money’s tight. We can’t manage on our own,” Susan corrected her sharply.
“What made you fill Helen’s head with such ideas and push for the divorce?” Jenny challenged, shocking her mother with her unexpected declaration. “If you’d stayed out of it, everything would’ve been fine.”
“What?! How dare you speak to me that way?” Susan clutched her chest in affront. “Tom is a fool, a coward! He couldn’t handle someone like Helen, so he bailed. You know what? You better leave now! I can’t stand to see you! Instead of helping, you dare judge us!”
Susan’s shriek drew Helen from her room, and she emerged with her hands on her hips at the sight of her sister.
“Are you defending the man who betrayed me and kicked me out?”
“You’re just as guilty! Stop listening to Mum so much…”
“Are you seriously criticizing me? Think you’re all wise? Why are you single then?” Helen burst out.
Jenny shook her head, listening to the tirades of her sister and mother, and made her way to the door.
She had no desire to continue interacting with them. Nor did Helen and Susan show any inclination to reconnect either.
