Ungrateful Daughter-in-Law
“Oh, there it is, the sour face again!” grumbled Barbara. “You could say thank you, but all you do is make faces!”
Annie looked at her mother-in-law, barely holding her tongue. She was exhausted by how Tom’s mom constantly interfered with their family.
Today, Barbara had brought a cat into the house, uninvited. A few days ago, some cockroaches had started visiting from the new neighbors upstairs. The neighbors had moved in and were cleaning a place that hadn’t been lived in for ages. They decided to clear out the pests, but some cockroaches mistakenly ended up at Annie and Tom’s, a fact he casually mentioned to his mother. But what did a cat have to do with it?
“Cockroaches aren’t mice; why do we need a cat?”
“Why? Everyone knows cats eat cockroaches!” Barbara proclaimed confidently.
“I’ve spent my whole life with cats and never seen one eat a cockroach!” Annie replied, shaking her head. “And it’s not just that – you’ve forgotten Tom is allergic to fur!”
“He’ll manage for a bit if it’s important!”
“No way, Barbara. You will return the cat to wherever it came from. If we wanted a pet, we would have gotten one ourselves!” Annie retorted.
“That’s not for you to decide! Tom will be home soon, and he’ll settle it.”
Half an hour later, Tom returned from work. Barbara spent the time chasing the cat around the house, looking for the neighbor’s cockroaches, even though Annie had gotten rid of all of them yesterday and had laid traps to prevent their return.
Barbara didn’t find a single cockroach but insisted to herself and Annie that they were just hiding and would come out at night. That’s when ‘Smudge’ would be useful. She had even named the cat.
Tom didn’t notice the new addition right away. He took off his coat and headed to the bathroom to wash his hands, when he stepped into something wet with his sock.
“Annie, did you spill something in the bathroom?” he called out, turning on the water.
His wife ran over. Seeing the puddle, she instantly realized who’d made it.
“No, your mother did!”
“What?” he chuckled. “The toilet is right there!”
“Oh, she has a brand-new way of making our lives difficult!” complained Annie.
“What’s happened now?”
“She’ll tell you soon enough. Take your socks off and burn them!”
“Burn them?”
Tom looked at his wife puzzled. After washing his hands, he removed a sock and sniffed it. The scent was familiar but unpleasant… Ugh!
He tossed a rag over the puddle, washed his hands again, washed his feet with soap, and went to the kitchen. His mother was seated, scratching behind the ear of a grey cat, its face appearing grumpy.
“Mum?”
“Son, let me explain! Remember you mentioned the cockroaches? Smudge will catch all of them! I guarantee!”
Tom listened blankly, blinking rapidly until he suddenly sneezed, then again and again.
“Well, while your Smudge is eating cockroaches, your son will suffocate from allergies!” Annie said sarcastically. “There’s a reason we don’t keep pets!”
“He’ll just have to manage!” protested Barbara again.
Tom sneezed repeatedly, unable to take it anymore.
“Mum, get the cat out of here! Now!”
“But what about the cockroaches?”
“I said, out! Immediately!”
Barbara clicked her tongue in annoyance and headed to the door. She placed the cat in the hallway and returned to the kitchen.
“Well, don’t complain later when you have more cockroaches than dust!”
“We don’t have dust!” Annie pointed out.
“You should be silent! You don’t appreciate my help!” snapped her mother-in-law.
“And where did you find that cat? It might get lost! It obviously has a home!”
“Oh, it was just sitting by the door!” Barbara replied crossly. “I simply… borrowed it.”
Annie said nothing, though inside she was fuming. That was typical of Barbara, grabbing a stranger’s cat and dragging it into their home. She was a strange woman, to put it lightly.
“Mum, maybe it’s time to stop helping us so much?” Tom suggested.
Annie had often complained about Tom’s mum. She had a talent for ruffling feathers. Not long ago, they went away for a weekend, and Barbara stopped by their house and decided to defrost and clean the fridge. She claimed Annie never did it, so someone had to. Only she forgot they had a frost-free fridge.
So, she turned it off and watched TV. She removed all the shelves to speed things up.
She watched TV, dozed off, and was awakened by her husband calling, asking her to make pasties for dinner. She decided the fridge could wait, ran home, cooked for her husband, and got so tired, she planned to return to Tom’s apartment the next day.
Annie and Tom got back a few hours ahead of schedule. Barbara hadn’t finished her dirty work. That morning she’d also had a splitting headache. Anyway, they walked into a house that reeked. The food had spoiled overnight.
The worst part was that just recently, Annie’s mum visited and brought two kilos of smoked salmon. It wasn’t something they could devour at once, so they decided to freeze it. It was better than letting it go to waste. Plus, Annie’s mum assured them it would be fine in the freezer. After all, they did it themselves.
Annie hailed from Cornwall, and her parents still lived there, often visiting with various delicacies from the coast. And now, thanks to Barbara, they had to throw out those precious gifts and some other goodies. Such a waste!
Annie nearly cried, realizing that all Barbara brought were losses. Her mum went through so much trouble, and what for?
Barbara, of course, found a thousand excuses for herself and never apologized. Afterward, Tom, without asking, took the keys to their apartment back, but that didn’t stop Barbara from making her so-called helpful gestures out in the open.
One time, she bought some mackerel on sale at the local market, knowing Tom loved it, and he nearly finished the whole tin before Annie noticed it was past its use-by date. They hoped for the best, but of course, Tom spent three days ill in bed, even having to call the doctor once.
A couple of weeks back, Barbara asked if she could come over for a bath. Their hot water was out, and she wanted a proper soak. Tom had recently installed a water heater. Naturally, they let her in. Who would have guessed this lady could be so squeamish as to bring her own bathroom cleaner?
So, she locked herself in and decided to scrub the bath before washing. She didn’t realize something went awry until it was too late. Then she pretended it wasn’t her fault, but Annie immediately knew who’d ruined their acrylic bathtub.
“Why did you mess with it?” Annie asked, frustrated. “I had cleaned it before you came!”
“Oh, I know how well you clean! You only spread the dirt!”
Tom was disappointed too, but what was the point of forcing his mother to buy a new one? So, they lived with the damaged bath, waiting for the next paycheck to buy a new one. Now there was the cockroach problem, followed by a cat. Annie had had enough.
“Barbara, maybe it’s best if you stop helping us?” she asked seriously. “Tom and I aren’t children. We know what we’re doing!”
“There you go! An ungrateful daughter-in-law! You should be thanking me! Instead, you grimace!”
“Thank you for what? For the salmon you made us toss away? For the destroyed bathtub? For poisoning your son with expired mackerel? And that isn’t even the half of it! Maybe it’s time to stop?”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t visit anymore?” Barbara snapped, visibly offended.
“Well, that’s actually a decent idea. Maybe we can come to you instead?”
“Yes, Mum, I like that idea too!”
“Oh, you too?” Barbara glared at Tom. “Wow, son! I didn’t expect this from you! Fine, you won’t see me here again!”
Barbara stood up and rushed to the hallway, hoping someone might try to stop her, maybe even apologize, but no one moved to see her out.
When the door closed behind her, the couple sighed in relief. Tom sneezed all evening, they found another puddle under the bed, and Annie had a lot to clean up. And yet, Barbara was upset with them. Let her be. At least she was upset at her own place this time.
