At a family gathering celebrating my grandmother’s birthday, held at my brother Sergei’s apartment, I already felt like I didn’t belong.

January 6, 2026 by yassine

I decided that if I was going to grow up, it would be somewhere people didn’t laugh when someone else was humiliated.

By evening, my phone began to ring.

First, Larisa. Her voice shook as she spoke. She said I’d misunderstood everything. That it had only been a stupid joke. That kids were “just like that.”

Then Sergey called. His voice cracked as he begged me to stop. He said I would ruin his son’s life, that what I was doing was cruel, that family should come before pride.

Finally, my grandmother called — the very woman the celebration had been for. She cried softly and said she never wanted things to go this far, that “the boy just said the wrong thing,” and that I needed to fix it.

I listened quietly to every word.

“Please,” Larisa begged through the phone. “Take it back. We’ll do anything. He’ll apologize. We’ll make him apologize.”

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