When Father saw that Mother’s distant niece Lina was turning up the thermostat in their home, he waited for her to go back to her spot in the living room and settle into the couch, and then he turned the heating off. It was a little past nine in the morning. Father had just gotten back from his night shift and was flipping through the pages of the newspaper Respublika, drinking kvas, and avoiding coffee so he could sleep. He probably would have rested shortly had it not been for Lina loudly blaring pop songs through her iPhone and walking up and down the living room while she texted. She was wearing a loose track shirt with her shoulders and cleavage showing. Of course if she was dressed like that, she would feel cold now that it was around fifteen degrees.
Still, Father did not understand it. He knew how the homes in her hometown of Kaunas were. Most were humble dwellings built before the World Wars or during the Soviet period, made of the same wooding as the sort of house Father had grown up in. Lina should have known to save the heating only for when the winter came, and not for when it was starting to get cold, just as she should have known not to waste electricity.
He almost shouted, Do not turn on the heat when it is this cold, but the last time he confronted Lina about her habits, it had been a few days ago, when she had kept the light on in the toilet room after leaving it. Father had seen Lina constantly switch the lights on and never turn them off. He lost his temper and shouted at her quite bluntly, ,, Do not leave lights on like this. This is not a hotel. I am the one who has to pay for the electricity. And the charge is very high. “ Lina’s only response was to smile curtly and give an apology, but over the days she kept forgetting to turn them off. Father could rationalise that Lina was still young, just as Father could make up some narrative of Lina being defiant, immature, and rude.
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