The three of us lived together. Dad left us when my brother was 11 and I was 6. Mom was able to get back on her feet, got a job, bought an apartment: she never denied me and my brother anything. Except that she had a terrible temper, which made her stop communicating with her son. My brother is 5 years older than me; despite the age difference, he never hurt me, on the contrary, he was my protector. We are still on good terms, but I cut him out of my life.
When my brother was at university he met his future wife. Then he introduced my mother to Katya. Mom didn’t like the girl, and didn’t like her so much that my brother was faced with a choice: either love or family. He didn’t take much time, got up and left the apartment. – I no longer have a son. – my mother said. From that day on our lives changed.
My brother started living with Katya in a rented apartment, and my mother put all his pictures away in a distant drawer. I tried to talk to her, but it was no use. It’s been seven years, and they still haven’t reconciled. My brother already has two children that my grandmother has never seen. I communicate with his family and often help them.
They live poor and are constantly short of money, so I sometimes buy them groceries and children’s things and give them money. I can’t help them much, because I have a mortgage myself. And then recently my mother received an inheritance from a distant relative. She decided to sell the inheritance, which includes the apartment and the cottage, and give the money to me. Mom wants me to pay the mortgage and become a free man. I understand that this is not fair, because my brother is not a stranger. And he needs the money more, he’s working two jobs to feed his family. When I started talking about my brother and that we should split the money, my mother’s hair stood on end. I realized it was better not to talk about her son.
I can’t accept this gift and pay the mortgage in peace, my heart would be in over my head. But I can’t divide the money without my mother’s knowledge either. If she finds out that I gave money to my brother, she will stop communicating with me and will be left alone. I can’t let that happen. I don’t know what to do and how to be.
