The Shadow Girls полностью

‘Extra chairs? How many people are we talking about?’

‘Oh, around fifty, I’d say.’

Humlin really did try to open the door. The handle came off in his hand.

‘What kind of car is this?’

‘It normally does that. I’ll fix it later.’

‘How can there be fifty people coming?’

‘Leyla decided to invite a couple of her friends who also want to write,’ Törnblom said.

‘And how does that make fifty people?’

‘She has a big family. And then there are also neighbours, friends.’

‘Why all these relatives?’

‘I already told you. They have to protect the virtue of their daughters. I think you should be proud that they are so interested in this project.’

‘I came here to talk to one girl. Not with any others and not with their families. I want you to take me back to the station.’

Törnblom turned to face him.

‘Come on, it’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘When the families see that you’re a man who can be trusted, fewer people will come in the future.’

‘I don’t care how many people stop coming. I’m here to talk to one girl. That was the arrangement. Take me back to the station immediately. I mean it!’

‘There’s one other person who’s coming that I should mention.’

‘Who’s that?’

‘A reporter.’

‘How did he find out about this?’

‘I called him.’

‘Damn you, Törnblom.’

‘You can imagine what he’ll write if you don’t show. These girls have already been let down by society. And now you as well?’

Humlin sat silently with the car handle in his hand. Why does no one listen to me? he thought. Why do I have to talk to fifty people when I came to talk to one?

The traffic was finally starting to let up. The snow fell more heavily. By the time they reached Stensgården and the boxing club Humlin felt a strong inclination to cry. But he followed Törnblom into the fully packed room. People sat tightly pressed together along the walls of the room. They were of all ages and appearance. There were a few very old people and a few young children who were crying loudly. The room was filled with the smell of exotic spices that Humlin could not identify.

He stopped once he had entered the room and looked around. Leyla and her girlfriends sat at a table at the far end of the room. To his great surprise one of the friends was Tea-Bag.

He turned around, but Törnblom was blocking the exit.

There was only one way for him to go.

At a quarter past ten that evening Humlin was knocked down by a giant Finnish gypsy man by the name of Haiman. Haiman hadn’t liked the way Humlin had patted his niece Sasha on the cheek. He felt it was too intimate. Sasha was not one of Leyla’s girlfriends gathered around the table and why Humlin ever took it into his head to pat her cheek was never clarified. But the blow that struck Humlin was forceful. Haiman had been playing rugby with his friends on a field in Frölunda for many years. His fist hit the totally unprepared Humlin on the left cheek and sent him straight into the wall before he crumpled on the ground. According to Törnblom — who had seen many knockouts in his life — it was a thing of beauty.

When Humlin came to his senses about an hour later he was lying on a stretcher at the hectic emergency room at the Sahlgrenska Hospital. Törnblom was standing at his side. It took Humlin a few seconds to orient himself.

‘The doctor said that nothing’s broken. You were lucky.’

‘Lucky,’ Humlin spat. The pain shot all the way down into his throat.

‘I can’t hear you. You’ll have to speak up.’

Törnblom found a piece of paper and a pencil in his pockets. He handed them to Humlin who wrote the question: What happened?

‘It was a misunderstanding. Everyone is very sorry. There are about twenty people waiting here at the hospital to see how you are feeling. They want to come in and say hello. They’re very concerned about you.’

Humlin shook his head in horror at the thought.

‘They won’t come in unless I tell them it’s all right. It was a misunderstanding. A culture clash,’ Törnblom said.

Törnblom gave him an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder. The pain in Humlin’s cheek increased.

‘This was exactly the kind of cultural insight you were looking for, wasn’t it?’

Humlin wrote another sentence while his hand shook with fury.

I never asked to be hit in the face by a lunatic.

‘Haiman is normally a very peaceful man. He just felt you were behaving inappropriately. You shouldn’t pat the girls on the cheek. It can be misunderstood. But you were lucky. The doctors don’t think you have a concussion. Still, they want you to stay overnight.’

Humlin kept writing.

I want to go home. I’m never coming back.

‘Of course you’ll be back. You’re just a bit shaken up. Everyone thought you were wonderful. This is all going to work out.’