An Uncommon Family

by Christa Polkinhorn

  Karla nodded. “I wish Anna had written something. She can be such a fuddy-duddy sometimes.” Anna’s reaction had irritated her.

  “That’s why we have to take things into our own hands,” Maja said. “It’s for their own good. Okay, so what are we going to write?”

  “Nothing gushing, please. You know, Anna is not the gushing type.” Karla rolled her eyes.

  “Hmm.” Maja put her pen in her mouth, sucking at it. She pulled it out. “What about: ‘Dear Jonas, The exhibition was great. Loved it. I hope you can come to my . . .’? What is it?”

  “A reading,” Karla said.

  “Okay. ‘I hope . . . with all my heart—”

  “No, no, that’s too much. Anna wouldn’t write that,” Karla said.

  “Okay. How about: ‘I hope you can come to my reading. Great books. Really, really miss you.’”

  “No ‘really, really.’ Come on.”

  Maja sighed. “You sure are hard to please. You’re almost as bad as your aunt. ‘Really miss you.’ That’s it. No more changes.”

  “Okay. I guess. But don’t make any spelling errors,” Karla said.

  “Jeez. Just because I made one once—”

  “Hurry up, Anna is coming home soon, and we haven’t even started our homework yet.”

  Maja carefully wrote the text and signed it, copying Anna’s signature from a piece of paper Karla had given her. “What do you think?”

  Karla nodded. “I guess it’s okay.”

  “Just okay? This is a work of art.” Maja held the paper away from her and looked at it, squinting her eyes. “Here it is.” She handed it to Karla, who slid it in an envelope and put it in her art portfolio.

  After a while of fidgeting and fiddling with books and notebooks, Karla and Maja settled down and did their homework. Karla had a composition to finish. She made it through one paragraph when she heard the door. Anna came home, carrying two grocery bags into the kitchen.

  “Hi, girls. How is homework?”

  They both moaned. “Not done yet.”

  “Oh? You must have a lot then. Well, it’ll take me a while to unpack and fix dinner, so you have some time.”

  “I better go home. It’s getting late. I’ll finish at home,” Maja said. She stuffed her books into her backpack and gathered her things. She said good-bye to Anna and winked at Karla. “See ya.”

  “’Kay,” Karla murmured, trying to concentrate again on her composition. Her mind, however, kept straying back to the note in her portfolio. It didn’t feel right. This is the very last time I’ll do something like this, she promised herself.

  Chapter 46

  Jonas put down the newspaper after skimming an article about his exhibition and smiled. He had received some favorable reviews of his new paintings. He got up and checked on the weather. It was cool but no longer raining. The turning leaves on the trees along the river gave the city its last burst of color before it sank into the bland grayish November gloom.

  Jonas went into the kitchen and poured a cup of tea. He took a sip, savoring the smoky taste of Lapsang Souchong and thinking of the successful exhibition. He realized that aside from all the praise he received, it was above all Anna’s visit that made him happy.

  “I’m an old fool,” he said with a grin, then became serious. Perhaps he once again began to hope for something that may turn out to be an illusion. However, he couldn’t help it; the announcement of Anna’s reading raised his expectations. Her personal message made it clear that she really wanted him to attend, that she even missed him. That and her coming to the opening showed him that she seemed to have the desire to renew their friendship. He didn’t dare to hope for more, not yet.

  On the way to his studio, he picked up the invitation again. The message had surprised him at first. It was more personal than anything he had received from her, at least since their falling-out. Something bothered him, though. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but the language Anna had used seemed unfamiliar. Jonas shook his head. The phone rang. Jonas put the card down and got up.

  “Just the person I was thinking about,” Jonas said when he heard Anna’s voice.

  “Well, I hope good thoughts,” Anna said.

  “Of course, only the best. You should know that by now,” Jonas said jokingly.

  “I just wanted to let you know that Karla will be a little late. She missed her regular train. She said she almost forgot that it was the day of her art lesson. Unbelievable, that’s the first time ever. She’s been very absentminded lately. Anyway, sorry about that.”

  “No problem,” Jonas said. “We changed the schedule, so it’s possible.” Since Karla was too busy in school during the week, they had decided to have her art lessons on the weekend. “Or perhaps she’s in love,” he added with a chuckle.

  “I don’t know, she didn’t say anything, but she hasn’t exactly been communicative lately.”

  “Well, Anna, she’s growing up. She’s getting into the teen years when confiding in her friends is a lot more interesting than talking to her elders. I remember that time very well with my kids.”

  “Well, let’s hope that’s what it is.”

  “Anyway, thanks for the invitation to the reading,” Jonas continued, “and for the kind words on the announcement. I’d love to come.”

  There was a pause. “What words?”

  “You know, the personal note.”

  “Personal note?”

  “Didn’t you write something on the announcement?”

  Another pause. “Not that I remember. No, I’m sure I didn’t. In fact, Karla asked me to write something, but I told her that all the information was on there but to let you know that I hoped you could make it . . . Jonas, what are you talking about?”

  Jonas’s mind felt like a beehive of thoughts whirring around. He swallowed. “Anna, we may have a problem. I don’t know how to tell you this, but that’s what is on the invitation.” Jonas read the short note to her.

  There was silence at the other end. “I . . . I don’t understand,” Anna finally said.

  “Well, I’m beginning to understand; at least I think I have some idea.” He told Anna about the conversations he had had with Karla, about her hope that they would become really close. He was starting to think that perhaps Karla wanted to help them along a little, so to speak.

  “But . . . Karla would never do something like this; at least I don’t think so. Oh Jonas, I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  Another pause.

  “Wait a minute, that means . . . what about the note on your invitation to the opening?” Anna’s voice sounded as if from far away.

  “There was a note on that, too?” Jonas asked.

  “Yes, wait . . . oh, I don’t have it anymore. That’s another strange thing. It suddenly disappeared. But it said . . . eh, that you missed me and really wanted me to come to the opening. I was a little surprised, and yes, there was a spelling error. I thought that perhaps you had been in a hurry.”

  “What spelling error?”

  “You wrote vernissage with one s . . . or whoever wrote it.”

  In spite of the serious implications, Jonas almost had to laugh. “I certainly would know how to spell that word, I’ve written it often enough. Didn’t you get suspicious?”

  “A little, but I thought you might have been preoccupied or in hurry or something. I just never would’ve thought . . . Jonas . . .” Anna’s voice sounded angry now. “Jonas, if that’s true, that’s incredible, unacceptable. I mean—”

  “Well, let’s try to stay calm. If Karla was the culprit, she was totally misguided but she didn’t mean any harm. The girl wants a family and—”

  “That’s no excuse.” Anna’s voice was shaking.

  “I agree and she needs to know that this is wrong, but why don’t we wait until we have a chance to talk to her? Listen, Anna, she just got here. I’ll try to talk to her and I’ll let you know, okay?”

  “Okay, but—”

  “Anna, I’ll talk to you soon
.” Jonas hung up and took a few deep breaths. He hated having to deal with this. He went to the door and opened it.

  The beautiful young girl looked at him with her large dark eyes. “Hi Jonas.”

  He motioned Karla to come in, but didn’t say anything. He picked up the invitation to the reading, held it in front of her eyes, and pointed at the personal note. “Do you know anything about this?”

  Karla faltered, her face darkened, and her eyes filled with tears. She swallowed and nodded.

  Jonas walked into the living room and slapped the card on the table. He had hoped for a different answer but at least she wasn’t lying about it. “What in heaven’s name were you thinking? You falsified someone’s handwriting and signature? This is criminal behavior.”

  “I’m sorry, I knew it was wrong all along, but Maja . . .” Karla stopped short. She didn’t want to rat on her friend.

  “Ah, so it wasn’t just you?” That explains some of it.

  “It’s my fault,” Karla said. “We thought . . . I thought that perhaps you two would make up and . . . I didn’t mean any harm. I’m sorry.”

  “Karla, I don’t know what to say. I told you not to worry about Anna and me. Don’t you see? What you did is manipulating people’s feelings and that’s just wrong. Think about it. I am . . . what if a man was in love with a woman but that woman did not return his feelings? And then someone writes a note like this and gives the man false hope, then when he finds out that it wasn’t true, he’d be very hurt. This is cruel.”

  Karla nodded. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  “Well, that may be true, but the effect is the same. You cannot manipulate people’s feelings like that. It’s cheating and lying.”

  “Don’t hate me, please. I’ll never do it again.”

  “Well, I hope so. I don’t hate you but I’m disappointed in you, Karla. I really thought you knew better.”

  A tear slid down Karla’s cheek. Jonas hated to see her unhappy but wasn’t ready to give in yet. “Stop crying, that doesn’t help either.” He didn’t mean to sound so harsh. He got up and put a box of tissues in front of her. Karla grabbed a few and blew her nose.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, trying to get ahold of herself.

  “Anyway, no class today,” Jonas said. “I need to be alone for a while. You better catch the next train and go home.”

  “Does Anna know?” Karla asked.

  “Yes, that’s why the whole thing blew up. She called to tell me you would be late, and I mentioned the note.”

  “She’s upset?”

  “Of course she’s upset, what do you expect?”

  “She’ll never forgive me.” Karla cried again.

  “Well, you should have thought of that before. This is exactly the kind of thing she’s extremely sensitive about. Misleading people, lying . . . what’s the matter?” Jonas peered at Karla, who had turned ashen and held her stomach.

  “I think I’m going to get sick.” She rushed to the bathroom. Jonas heard her throw up. Poor thing. Now you’re making me feel guilty.

  When Karla came back out, she was still pale. “I better go home.”

  “No, sit down for a while. I don’t want you to get sick on the way home. Want some tea?”

  Karla nodded. “Perhaps.”

  Jonas went into the kitchen and poured a cup of tea from the thermos. When he came back, Karla was sitting on the sofa, looking miserable. She held her head.

  “Are you coming down with something?”

  “Don’t know. My head is killing me.”

  He handed her the tea. “Here, it’s still warm.”

  “Thanks,” she whispered and took a little sip. She put the cup on the table and folded her arms in front of her. “Are you . . . are you still going to teach me?” Her voice broke again.

  “Yes,” he said in a curt tone. “Provided you’ll never do this again.”

  “I won’t . . . but Jonas, I know what I did was wrong, but I still think Anna loves you.”

  “Jesus Christ, girl, you still haven’t learned your lesson, have you? How would you know that?” Jonas shouted and threw up his hands.

  “I just feel it.”

  “Well, I don’t think I’m going to trust your feelings at this point. Karla, you believe this because you want to believe it, because you want it to be true, not because it is true. And from now on, I ask you to leave mine and Anna’s relationship up to us. You understand? This is my last warning. If you want us to remain friends, you don’t interfere anymore.”

  “I promise.” Karla nodded. “I better go home. Anna is going to kill me.”

  Jonas gave a snort. “I doubt it. She’ll forgive you . . . eventually.”

  Karla held her head again and winced. “God, it hurts.”

  Jonas wondered if she tried to make him feel sorry for her, but she did look ill and she had thrown up. He touched her forehead. “You’re burning up. You must have the flu. You can’t go home on the train. Come on, I’ll drive you.”

  “Thanks,” Karla whispered. She got up and staggered. Jonas held her. “I feel dizzy, it’s probably from the headache.” She held on to Jonas. Her face turned white and she would’ve fallen if Jonas hadn’t held her. He lowered her to the sofa. Her face felt hot, but she was shivering. Tears escaped her eyes as she held her head.

  “Since when have you been feeling bad?”

  “I didn’t feel good when I got up, but then it went away.”

  “I’m going to call Anna. You need to see a doctor. Just wait; don’t get up.” Jonas all of a sudden remembered he had read somewhere that there were cases of meningitis in the city. God, I hope it’s only the flu.

  He picked up the phone and went into the kitchen. He called Anna, who answered right away. “Well, what did she say?”

  “Yes, it was her, but Anna, let’s talk about that later. Karla is sick; she threw up and has a terrible headache and is feverish. I’m going to bring her home, but I think you should call the doctor. It’s probably just the flu, but just to be safe.”

  “Well, if it’s the flu, the doctor may not come right away. It’s the weekend. Unless it’s an emergency, he may just put some medicine in his mailbox and check her out on Monday.”

  “Anna, I don’t want to scare you but the severe headache worries me a little. I’ve heard of a few cases of . . . meningitis, and I just want to make sure—”

  “Meningitis?” Anna’s voice rose to a high pitch.

  Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything. “Don’t worry, Anna, it’s probably a false alarm, but I just think we shouldn’t take any risks.”

  “I’ll call him right away. How is she now? Can I talk to her?” Panic flooded her voice.

  “She is lying down. She had some tea. Don’t worry, Anna.” Jonas walked into the living room. Karla was sitting up but she was pale and held her jacket close. “Anna wants to talk to you.”

  Karla’s hand shook as she held the receiver. “I’m sorry, Anna,” she said and broke down crying. “I didn’t mean . . . okay, yes, Jonas is taking me home. Bye.” She gave the phone back to Jonas.

  “I’m calling the doctor right now,” Anna said, her voice trembling.

  “Anna, don’t panic. I’m an idiot; I shouldn’t have mentioned meningitis—”

  “Just bring her home, Jonas.”

  “Okay.”

  “Meningitis?” Karla stared at him.

  “Now, don’t go crazy. It’s enough that your aunt loses her nerves. I just read somewhere of a few cases. It always happens once in a while. You probably just have the flu.” He helped Karla get up.

  “But Maja said one of her relatives had it,” Karla said. Her dark eyes looked even bigger in her now-pale face.

  Jonas suppressed the bout of terror that spread from his stomach to his chest. “No need to worry. Come on, honey, let’s get you home.” He picked up Karla’s portfolio, grabbed his car keys, and took Karla by the arm. He noticed the invitation to Anna’s reading and marveled how such a big issue all of a sudd
en looked insignificant.

  Chapter 47

  “But it could be meningitis!” Anna almost screamed into the phone. The emergency assistant of the pediatrician told her to hold on. A few seconds later, the doctor answered and asked her about the symptoms. He told her to calm down, it was probably the flu, but he would be by right away.

  At first, the words calmed her down, but then she got worried again. If the doctor didn’t suspect it could be meningitis, he wouldn’t come right away, would he? Anna kept pacing the living room, then forced herself to sit down. I have to remain calm, she told herself. She kept looking at the clock. Finally, she heard a car. Thinking it was Jonas, she rushed to the door. It was the doctor.

  The young pediatrician smiled at her. “Where is she?”

  “She’s on the way home. Do you think it could be . . . meningitis?”

  The doctor shook his head. “I doubt it, but let’s wait.”

  “You know the relative of a friend of hers had it a few weeks ago.”

  “Has her friend been in contact with the sick person?”

  “I don’t . . . think so, but I don’t know. Let me call her family.” Anna grabbed the phone. At that moment, Jonas’s car arrived. Anna watched as Jonas helped Karla out of the car. She was clearly ill; her normally light-bronze skin looked grayish.

  Anna dialed the number of Maja’s family and waited impatiently. After a few rings, Maja’s aunt answered. To Anna’s relief, she told her that Maja had not been in contact with the sick relative, and it turned out that it hadn’t been meningitis after all. “Thank God,” Anna said.

  “Something wrong with Karla?” Maja’s aunt asked.

  Anna told her she was ill and had a severe headache.

  “It’s the flu,” Maja’s aunt said. “It’s going around.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s what it is. Anyway, thanks, the doctor is here. I need to hang up.”

  In the meantime, Jonas had accompanied Karla to her bedroom and the doctor was unpacking his medical bag. “I’ll wait in the living room,” Jonas said to Anna.

  She nodded. “Honey?” Anna held her hand on Karla’s forehead. It felt very warm. She helped her undress and pulled back the covers on the bed.