“Hello! I’m here about the room for rent!”
At the door of the apartment where Jeanne Elderly lived, stood a real “wallflower”: dressed in some worn-out jeans, a washed-out t-shirt, and her sneakers were clearly well-used. She was holding a rather unimpressive bag. Her light, wavy hair was gathered into a simple ponytail. Not a hint of makeup on her face. The only thing that could draw attention to this “pale shadow” was her eyes—huge, blue, and clear.
After giving the girl a thorough look, Jeanne Elderly nodded her head: “Come in!”
“So, my dear, don’t waste electricity, don’t use too much water, be economical, got it?! Keep it clean! And no guests! Any questions?”
The girl smiled and nodded: “Yes, alright!”
“Agreeable,” thought Jeanne. “A rarity these days… Clearly, she must be from the countryside.”
Further conversation revealed that the girl’s name was Eliza and she had indeed come from a village where her family owned a farm, and she had come to study veterinary medicine.
“I see! You’ll be treating pigs!” Jeanne Elderly concluded.
Eliza showed no sign of offense, only smiled: “Pigs, cows, horses, as well as cats and dogs—all of them! Animals get sick too.”
“Well, sure, sure! Because there’s no one to treat people here, but pigs, yes!” the woman expressed, genuinely outraged.
***
Overall, the tenant made a pleasant impression on Jeanne: modest, not cheeky, quiet, obedient, neat, she would tidy up the apartment, cook her own meals, and even treat her landlady.
Eliza’s pancakes, especially, were exquisite: appetizing, thin as tissue paper, bubbly and golden brown. Jeanne’s hand instinctively reached for such a treat! These pancakes were a culinary wonder: they melted in the mouth before they could reach the stomach.
Jeanne Elderly and Eliza, you might say, even became friends and sometimes spent evenings chatting over tea.
And perhaps everything would have been fine, with Eliza peacefully finishing her college, living in Jeanne Elderly’s rented apartment. But then, after six months away in the North, Jeanne’s son Michael returned. A sturdy young man, quite the handsome fellow (“takes after his father,” his mother would sigh).
Jeanne Elderly liked to call her beloved son the French-sounding “Michael” instead of the usual Mike. The young man would wince at this as if in pain, but he endured it because “it’s mother, after all.”
It must be said that she raised her son on her own, and presumably for that reason, she saw him as her own property.
Perhaps that’s why the fact that her Michael was having a cozy chat with the tenant in the kitchen and devouring her pancakes with gusto shocked Jeanne. And it wasn’t just the pancakes! This “rascal” was also devouring this “country girl” with his eyes. Jeanne was so shocked by this discovery that she went white.
“My son has absolutely no taste!” the awful thought flashed through the mom-in-charge’s mind.
***
From that moment on, Jeanne hated her tenant: the girl now cleaned the floors wrong, spoke wrong, and even the pancakes seemed less tasty to Jeanne. But mostly, Jeanne was frightened by the loving look with which her son, her flesh and blood, looked at this “pale pest,” this “girl from the barn”…
“He never looked at me, his only close person, like that!” she thought outraged, suffocating with tears into her pillow at night.
“I’ve harbored a snake in my bosom!” she cried into the phone, sharing the ordeal with her close friend, an equally lonely woman of age, Irma Victoria.
“I thought Michael wouldn’t even glance at this pale pest! That’s why I let her in! And she’s drawn him in with those big eyes, let her hair down, and is enticing him with pancakes!” Irma listened to her friend, sighed, expressed concern, and shared her authoritative opinion:
“Oh, Jeanne, be careful, she doesn’t put a spell on your son!” These words poured fuel onto the fire of hatred and misunderstanding, pushing Jeanne almost to a heart attack.
Not that Jeanne believed in such things as spells and charms… she called all that nonsense and savagery. But just the thought of another woman capturing her son’s attention was driving her mad.
She spent entire days now puzzling over what to do and how to turn her son away from this “country girl.” But, of course, she didn’t intend to show herself as rude and throw the girl out. At least not right then. For it would make her look bad in her son’s eyes, and worse, he might leave her.
“No! I have to be smarter, find some way to make her look bad, so he turns away from her.”
***
Jeanne Elderly spent several more days pondering how to separate her son from the tenant.
Meanwhile, Eliza went about as if nothing had happened, baking her pancakes, cooking stews, and pretending not to notice Jeanne’s piercing stare. Once she even asked:
“Jeanne Elderly, you’re not feeling unwell, are you? You seem a bit gloomy and pale… You’re not eating anything…”
“Everything is fine!” Jeanne muttered under her breath and disappeared into her room to think further about a plan to take down the “rascal.” Various thoughts swirled in her head… The idea to poison the cheeky girl even surfaced. But Jeanne immediately crossed herself: “Forgive me, Lord! What a sin to have come into my head.”
While Jeanne Elderly was thinking, one day Michael returned home with a ring and flowers and proposed to Eliza! Jeanne Elderly completely lost her control, flying off the handle.
“He didn’t even care about his mother, the rascal!” she cried into her pillow all night. “He doesn’t respect me! He loves only this girl!”
Jeanne angrily wiped her tears and approached the window… turned around, and suddenly her eyes fell on the bedside table. There lay her emerald earrings. Old, valuable earrings. They had been passed down to her from her mother, and from her mother before that… She remembered how Eliza had always looked at the earrings with admiration, praised their beauty.
“I’ll show you!” Jeanne hissed maliciously, firmly grabbing the earrings, wrapping them in a handkerchief, and hiding them in her bag.
In truth, she didn’t really understand what she was doing or how she would proceed further.
***
In the morning, Jeanne awoke in a good mood, intending to throw this country girl out of the house. For good.
She came to breakfast, overly sweet-smiling… and while spreading butter on her bread, turned to her son: “Michael, you didn’t happen to take my emerald earrings, did you? I can’t find them anywhere…”
“Mom, why would I need those? Am I a pretty girl or something?” Michael responded with surprise.
Then Jeanne Elderly, with a sneer, turned to Eliza: “Did you see my earrings?”
Eliza blushed deeply; the mere thought of being accused of theft made her panic, look away, and burst into tears.
“I didn’t take anything,” Eliza said quietly, choking on tears.
“See, what did I tell you?! It was her! She pocketed my earrings and sent them to her poor relatives in the village…”
“But my relatives aren’t poor at all,” the girl protested, “And we never took what wasn’t ours! Why would you say that?”
“Why did you do that? Give me back my earrings and get out of here.”
“I don’t have any of your things… You can even call the police!”
“Calling them is pointless; they’ve probably already reached your family!”
Jeanne had completely lost control, spiraling like a snowball, unable to stop the nasty torrent of words directed at the girl.
“Mom, what are you saying? Eliza wouldn’t do something like that! You probably just misplaced them.”
All three of them searched the apartment thoroughly, until Michael accidentally bumped into his mother’s bag, causing the handkerchief with the earrings to fall out.
The man froze, holding what he had found.
“How could you, mom?” was all he could manage to say, looking at her with eyes full of disappointment.
“I just made a mistake, son, you see, I forgot!” Jeanne Elderly tried to deceive.
“Mom, I saw everything! You were awful! Eliza and I are leaving to find an apartment to rent,” declared Michael.
“Wait, you’ll regret being with this girl!” Jeanne Elderly cried through tears.
Michael silently left the room, took Eliza’s hand, and led her out from Jeanne Elderly’s home.
They rented an apartment, got married, and found happiness together. One day, Michael received a call from Irma Victoria.
“Michael, your mother is in the hospital! She had a heart attack. She’s crying, wants to see you…”
Upon learning that her mother-in-law was unwell, Eliza quickly got ready, prepared steamed cutlets for her, made chicken broth with pastries, and bought fruits along the way…
Michael didn’t visit his mother, citing being busy.
***
When Eliza appeared at the door of her room, Jeanne Elderly burst into tears. She had hoped to see her son, but it was this hated girl, who had ruined her life, taken away what was most precious to her.
“Why did you fall ill, mom? Here, have some broth, these pastries…” Eliza said. “Would you like me to spoon-feed you while it’s hot?”
“And why didn’t Michael come?” Jeanne asked quietly, with disappointment.
“Michael is really busy at work…”
Jeanne Elderly nodded in understanding and cried…
“Forgive me, Eliza, for I have wronged you… Please come back home, I feel so lonely without you both.”
“No need to talk like this, mom, you did nothing wrong, just made a mistake and got upset! Everything will be alright.”
When Eliza left, a neighbor in the room said to Jeanne Elderly, “You’ve got a good daughter-in-law! Beautiful, kind, and attentive!”
Jeanne smiled, “Yes, she is good!”
When Jeanne Elderly was well enough to be discharged, Michael and Eliza were the ones to pick her up from the hospital. They continued living together in Jeanne Elderly’s apartment until Eliza finished her studies. Then, they all moved to Eliza’s parents’ farm. The house was large, full of space… and extra helping hands were welcome.
Jeanne Elderly enjoyed the farm life so much she didn’t want to hear about the city anymore. Moreover, the young couple had a baby boy, Alex, whom they all adored. While Eliza’s parents managed the farm, Eliza treated the animals, and Michael ran the farm store, Jeanne Elderly devoted all her attention to little Alex.
Now, she often says, “The divine sent me such a wonderful lodger then!” Such is life!”
