The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,141
you’re about to shit your pants.’
Gustaf opens the door. His hair is still wet from his shower. It’s a few shades darker and frames his face, making his eyes light up even more clearly. ‘Hi!’ he says. ‘Come in!’
She takes off her shoes and places them on a newspaper that’s spread on the floor.
‘I’m just making us something to eat,’ Gustaf says, and disappears into the kitchen. ‘Do you like tuna?’
Minoo hates tuna. It’s cat food. Hopefully, she won’t have to eat all that much. ‘Yeah, of course!’ she shouts back.
She glances at the closed door. Somewhere over there Vanessa is removing her shoes and putting them in a plastic bag. Suddenly one falls onto the floor and becomes visible.
‘Everything all right?’
Minoo turns. Gustaf is standing in the doorway.
‘I dropped my shoe,’ Minoo answers, and probes his face for any sign of suspicion. She doesn’t detect any. ‘I’ll be right with you,’ she says, and he disappears back into the kitchen.
Minoo turns in time to see the shoe vanish into thin air. She raises an admonishing eyebrow in Vanessa’s direction, then heads into the kitchen.
Gustaf is setting the table. His father is folding away his newspaper and getting up from the table when Minoo enters.
Minoo curses inwardly. It would have been much easier if Gustaf had been alone at home. But she smiles at Gustaf’s father, holds out her hand and introduces herself.
‘I’m Lage,’ he says.
Lage is quite old, but she can see he was every bit as good-looking as Gustaf when he was young. He is tall and erect, and has a fine head of silvery hair. His handshake is firm and warm. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you,’ he says and it feels as if his right hand swallows up Minoo’s when they greet each other.
Minoo fumbles for an answer, but fear leaves her at a loss for words. She just smiles and hopes she’ll come across as shy rather than rude. Lage smoothes out a few crinkles in his folded newspaper – a copy of today’s Engelsfors Herald – and raises it to his forehead in feigned salute. ‘I’ll leave you two in peace,’ he says. ‘I’ll be in the basement working on the new track if you need me.’
‘“The new track”?’ Minoo asks, once he’s disappeared.
‘He’s got a model railway,’ Gustaf says, and puts out two glasses. ‘It’s pretty cool. He’s built a model of old Engelsfors and laid the tracks along the same route as the actual ones. There are lots of stretches of track around here that haven’t been used since the mine and steel works closed down.’
‘That sounds … cool,’ Minoo says.
Gustaf laughs and pours cola for them. ‘Okay, maybe that was the wrong word,’ he says. ‘Sit down.’
She sinks on to a chair and Gustaf is immediately wolfing down his food. Minoo picks cautiously at her tuna. She wonders where Vanessa has positioned herself in the kitchen. Has she already poured the serum over Gustaf’s food? Will he be able to taste it? How will it affect him? Is there a non-human part of him that will realise and react? Does he already know what they’re planning?
Minoo aims at a lettuce leaf. She folds it laboriously with her knife and fork, then stabs the fork through the little green package. She raises it to her mouth, opens and then, as she’d known it would, the lettuce leaf unravels and vinaigrette dribbles down her chin.
She’s sure she hears Vanessa stifle a giggle, and Gustaf grins at her. ‘I always do that,’ Minoo says.
‘I’m the same,’ Gustaf says. ‘You should see me eating tacos.’
She wonders if he’s lying to make her feel better. She’s never seen Gustaf do anything clumsy. ‘But tacos don’t count,’ she says. ‘That’s a dish with built-in humiliation.’
Gustaf laughs. ‘Rebecka said you were funny.’
And then she sees an ever so faint ripple appear on Gustaf’s cola. Vanessa has poured in the serum.
‘I was so happy when you said you wanted to meet,’ Gustaf says. ‘You and I knew Rebecka better than anyone. It somehow feels important that we keep in touch. You know what I mean?’
‘Yes,’ Minoo answers. She has to force herself not to stare at Gustaf’s glass.
‘She often talked about you,’ he says.
He raises his glass to his mouth and takes a few sips. Minoo forces herself to drink a little from her own. Don’t stare, she thinks. Don’t give yourself away by staring.
‘Do you think the cola tastes strange?’ Gustaf says.