Brian come on, finally do something! Laura shoves her sleeping husband in the side, irritated. This is unbearable!
What? he murmurs in his dream.
The shouts from the flat above dont bother Brian at all, but Laura cant get any rest.
Emilys screaming again! Cant you hear?
Brian stays mute, drifting back into sleep.
Fine, keep sleeping! Laura snaps, Ill go myself if no one else can calm this monster in the building!
She throws on a dressing gown and storms out, slamming the door loudly.
A halfasleep Brian drags himself up, curses the world in his head, and follows her.
***
Laura stands at the door of the peacedisturbers, pounding on it with all her strength.
Brian arrives just in time as Paul flings the door open.
From somewhere in the flat, a sixyearold Danny cries while Emily sobs.
What do you want? the drunken owner growls, wobbling on his feet.
Do you even know what time it is? Laura hisses. Its night out there!
What now? Paul steps forward, fists clenched.
Nothing! Brian roars, and with one swing he knocks the neighbour off his feet.
The man crashes onto the landing and falls silent.
A few minutes later a frightened Emily peeks out of the room, fresh bruises on her face. She watches her husband from a distance, terrified to get any closer.
Call the police, Brian says, his voice soft as he looks at the distraught woman. Hell be fine and start over again.
He wont, Emily whispers, hell just sleep now.
Are you sure? Laura asks.
Emily shrugs. I hope
No way, Laura snaps, refusing any pushback. I cant stand this melodramatic nonsense any longer I have work in the morning. Take your son and stay with us for the night. And tomorrow youll deal with him, she adds, casting a disgusted glance at the neighbour.
***
Latenight quarrels have become routine in this block, and nobody ever steps in.
Only Brian, obeying his wife, sighs heavily, gets dressed and climbs the stairs.
Laura grows weary of it too. She also notices that the farther she goes, the more eagerly Brian rushes to save the neighbour.
Again? Hero of the hour! she mutters after him.
But Brian doesnt hear her. He sees only Dannys frightened eyes, now clinging to his mothers lap, and Emilys pale, terrortwisted face.
After dealing with Paul, Brian habitually brings the woman and her child up to his flat away from the sin. Laura spreads a blanket for them in the living room.
The next evening Emily thanks her rescuers by bringing pies or some other homebaked treat. Thats how the neighbours become friends.
Soon Emily and Danny turn into frequent guests at Laura and Brians house.
Emily constantly offers to help Laura around the house, and Danny
He reaches out to Brian with genuine admiration, looking at the strong, calm, tobaccoscented man like a superhero.
Brian enjoys the adoration. He starts buying the boy toys, fixing his model cars, once delivering a metal building set, then a football.
***
Laura and Brian have no children. At first they plan to enjoy life together; later they simply cant make it happen.
That quiet ache is like a third resident in their flat.
One day the boys wideopen eyes stare at them
***
Laura usually keeps her displeasure to herself, but at work she lets her feelings out. Smoking breaks become her escape.
Can you believe it? Last night the neighbour showed up in tears again! she tells her coworkers, voice rising. Her husband went on a drunken binge! I dont understand women like that they have no selfrespect! Id never put up with it for a day!
Maybe she loves him, suggests Valentina, the senior member of the team. You said when hes sober hes a golden man.
A golden man? Hes useless, like a wet fish. A clueless lad! If she were in my shoes shed have left that drunk by now!
Maybe she has nowhere to go, young Ira adds. Its hard with a child alone. She just endures it.
No, thats nonsense! Laura exclaims, a puff of smoke escaping her lips. She and Paul arent even married! They live together in her flat! Its high time she sweeps him out with a filthy broom! Theres no pride left in her not a drop! Shes just a pushover!
She shouts loudly, as if trying to convince herself that shes smart, strong, independent, and a hundred times better than Emily.
When she gets home, she almost every day sees the same scene: Brian and Danny bent over that metal set, and she hears a rare, coveted sound her husbands genuine laugh.
One Saturday Laura returns from the shop with heavy bags. The door to Emilys flat is ajar. She peeks in automatically and freezes at the threshold.
They arent kissing, hugging, or doing anything scandalous.
Theyre simply together.
Brian sits on a stool, a hammer in his hand, while Danny stands beside him, solemnly handing over nails. Emily, leaning against the doorway, watches them with such serene, deep happiness that Laura feels a chill inside: they look like a single unit, a pictureperfect family she never managed to create.
What a monstrous thought, she mutters and walks away. Nonsense! Brian could never Im everything to him! And Emily foolish chicken!
***
The next time Emily comes for help, Laura stops her at the door and, louder than before so Brian can hear, says:
How many times, Emily? When will you finally use some sense? He isnt even your husband! Why tolerate that drunken beast in your own flat? Throw him out and itll be over! Or do you enjoy playing the victim? Shame on you! Your son is watching!
Her words land like poisonous seeds on prepared soil.
A week later, a slumped, pitiful Paul, suitcase in hand, leaves the block.
Laura triumphs. Finally!
Now Emily and her son will vanish from their lives forever. No more protection needed.
***
Silence settles. Saturdays no longer bring pies, and the hallway no longer echoes with childrens laughter.
At first Laura enjoys the order, the cleanliness. But the quiet soon becomes heavy, oppressive.
Brian comes home from work, eats dinner in silence, and retreats to the living room to talk to the television. He grows darker and more withdrawn.
Hes just tired, Laura tells herself, thats why he doesnt look at me at the table, why he doesnt laugh at my jokes. He even sleeps with his back to me, as if I dont exist.
Then everything flips.
One day Laura gets home early because a sudden headache forces her to leave work. She steps into the lift, absentmindedly presses the wrong button, and ends up a floor below. The door to Emilys flat is ajar
Déjà vu
She steps inside
She repeatedly asks herself why she did it, why she entered.
Seeing Brian and Emily wrapped up in each other, oblivious to everything, she freezes, says nothing, and slips out on tiptoe, quietly closing the door behind her.
Brian arrives an hour later, as if nothing happened, eats in silence, stares at the TV
Laura remains mute.
She never tells Brian anything. She decides that knowing his secret is enough to try to fix things.
She loathes Emily in that moment, and herself, for having pushed Paul out, freeing up space for her own husband. Her husband? But Brian isnt really hers. Hes asked her to marry many times, and she always declined, saying a licence isnt the point Now he could walk away from this
She wont tell Brian she knows about his affair!
What if nothing works with this chicken? Laura will wait. She will endure
***
She waits. She endures.
Brian and Emily continue their secret romance. Laura knows, but pretends not to see, not to understand.
Sometimes Emily drops by with her son and a cake, just like before.
Laura smiles, suffocated by the treats, and says nothing.
She endures. Its been years.
***
And thats how it goes. One day, calling the neighbour a pushover, Laura never imagined she was programming her own future.
Now she sits in an unenviable spot, and her silence is the loudest confession of her defeat.
Laura fears saying too much and ruining her happy family, where she plays the starring role of the victim the role of the pushover.
