A Docile Wife: Reality and Appearances in Family Life
“Denis will stay with us for a couple of days, you don’t mind, right?” Vitya asked his wife. She shrugged nonchalantly and replied, “If he really has to, it’s fine.”
“Prepare a bed on the sofa and something to eat,” ordered Vitya, making a gesture as if freeing her from the obligation.
Lilya left the room impassively. Denis, amazed, exclaimed:
“What a crazy training!”
Vitya, with a satisfied look, answered:
“Experience teaches you to keep everything under control! In this house, my rules are the law, period! I’m the boss!”
Then, joking but firm, he continued:
“If someone acts like a bully, I throw them out in a flash, no arguments.”
Denis, curious, asked if it often happened to send someone away. Vitya recalled only one occasion in winter, remembering how nervous he had been, and that since then Lilya had learned to respect him.
“You’re really tough!” commented Denis.
Vitya smiled with a hint of pride:
“You can’t put people in line right away, otherwise they’ll gang up against you. In eight years of marriage, Lilya has contradicted me only once, after which she learned well.”
Lilya came back to say she had prepared the bed and was about to start frying the potatoes. She asked if with onion or garlic. Denis showed surprise at the second option, but Lilya explained that adding garlic juice at the end creates a special aroma, more complex than simple onion. Vitya enthusiastically confirmed that garlic enriches the dish.
Denis, looking at his brother with a touch of envy, confessed:
“Now this is a good life! But what about smoking? Does she say nothing about that?”
Vitya explained that he didn’t overdo it; in fact, it was Lilya who bought the cigarettes and then brought them to him in front of the TV. He then reflected with satisfaction:
“A well-mannered wife doesn’t ruin anyone’s life!”
He encouraged Denis to learn, because as long as he’s alive, he’ll always have someone to stay with without problems.
Denis was surprised when told to stay a few days, as he had come only for dinner; Vitya explained he wanted to show how to manage family when there’s a guest; Lilya hadn’t made a fuss, she prepared the bed without complaints; Denis appreciated the situation and said he could take refuge there if he got kicked out for lack of work; Vitya concluded that the hospitality would be comfortable.
But then Vitya, decisively, called Lilya telling her to remove the bed because Denis wouldn’t stay after all. Lilya replied it would only take a couple of minutes. Denis decided to stay for dinner, curious to try the garlic potatoes. Vitya assured they’d dine together without needing to drive, and Lilya prepared a bottle to accompany the meal.
The dinner scene passed smoothly, the brothers sat at the table while Lilya gave them their space and retired to the kitchen. Denis was speechless at the transformation of his sister-in-law and the “domestication” performed by Vitya. The latter claimed domestic supremacy and proclaimed the rules of cohabitation.
Once Denis left, Vitya reflected deeply:
“Luckily, he never met Lilya before. It’s been good that one studied in another city and often went out to have fun, so he didn’t notice how things go here in the family. Moreover, Lilya is so submissive and calm that it wasn’t necessary to teach her much. Always agreeable, calm, and diligent: a perfect wife.”
He fell asleep with these thoughts but was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp back pain that prevented him from moving.
If one had to name the calmest person, it would undoubtedly be Lilya. Her classmates said it was easier to make a stone angry than to make her lose her calm. Even as a teenager, she was unshakable. For this reason, Vitya chose her as his wife after a previous experience with a very different character that had drained his energy and grayed his hair.
Their relationship was stable, without shocks, and they had overcome wedding preparations without tensions. Vitya’s parents tried to test Lilya, but she faced reasonable criticism and ignored the absurd ones, leaving the mother-in-law puzzled who thought something was wrong with her.
Lilya responded with politeness and serenity, defusing every attempt at argument. This confused the relatives who expected a more emotional behavior.
Vitya, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease and had never hidden his wife, though he avoided flaunting her, attending few social events. When asked how he had “trained” such a calm wife, he invented a fanciful story of “domestication” and “disciplining,” boasting about his control over the marriage.
Lilya, hearing these rumors, smiled distractedly, thinking that maybe it was easier for him to live with that lie. But when Vitya put on that little show in front of Denis, she realized he had crossed the line.
In the middle of all this, Vitya screamed in pain after a jolt in his back. The light came on and he found Lilya in front of him holding an army belt, ready to defend herself. When he asked what she was doing, she calmly replied asking when he had ever started training her.
There was a brief struggle that ended with Vitya exhausted and on the bed, mentally noting how hard the mattress was. He tried to get up again but fell to the floor, appreciating at that moment the softness of the ground. He got up with difficulty while Lilya reminded him that next time it would be much worse.
He lay panting with a wet cloth on his head when he whispered to Lilya what had happened. She answered serenely that she loved him but couldn’t stand his lies, especially when he told those stories to his brother, people he cared about and wanted to protect with a good image.
From that moment, Lilya’s behavior didn’t change: she remained the patient, calm, and steady wife. But Vitya had understood that behind that apparent quietness there was an unexpected strength and preferred not to challenge her.
In summary, this is the story of a family where an apparently submissive wife hides a firm determination. A marriage that rests on subtle balances, between appearance and reality, where calmness may be the strongest expression of all.
