Shadow

by Karin Alvtegen

  Torgny stubbed out his cigarette in a filthy ashtray and handed the book to Kristoffer.

  He read the cover: The Wind Whispers Your Name. A picture of a woman turned away.

  He turned over the book and read the blurb on the back cover.

  George is a bitter, middle-aged man who has given up hope of finding love. When he meets Sonja he is forced to re-evaluate his view of life, since this powerful love leaves him no choice. But Sonja is carrying dark memories that slowly take over their lives…

  With uncanny authenticity Torgny Wennberg depicts a man’s downfall after the end of a love affair. In the powerful portrait of George and Sonja he paints a gripping portrait of the difficult art of being human.

  ‘You can have it if you want. I know how it ends.’

  Torgny gave a little smile and raised the beer can to his lips but discovered it was empty. He crushed the can and dropped it on the floor, picking up the one he had offered to Kristoffer.

  ‘Maybe she took her own life. She threatened to do it sometimes when she was really bad.’

  Kristoffer sat in silence. Why was he the way he was? Was there any family resemblance? What had been influenced by what?

  He was getting some of the answers, but he was suddenly terrified of the questions.

  He swallowed.

  ‘What was wrong with her?’

  Torgny shrugged.

  ‘The hell if I know. When she was healthy she didn’t want to talk about it, and when she felt bad she didn’t know she was ill. But you have to understand, your mother was a fantastic woman. She couldn’t help it if she acted the way she did; it was a disease she had, and most of the time she was well. When she took her medication everything was fine, but sometimes the mare would ride her at night, as they say. I remember she used to cry out in her sleep. Then it was almost impossible to wake her and make her understand she was only dreaming. It could take hours to calm her down.’

  He sighed and lit another cigarette.

  ‘I think what she was most afraid of was being abandoned again. She had been through so much shit it’s no wonder something broke inside of her. My own crappy childhood was a luxury cruise in comparison. It’s fucking shit when you think about it.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  And so Torgny told him. That Kristoffer’s mother was Jewish and had been born in Poland in 1938. That she was sent to a concentration camp and lost her entire family. That her mother was shot, her father was probably taken to another camp, and that she never found out what happened to him. That her sister died in the camp and left her alone. Only after Torgny had been talking for a while did it dawn on Kristoffer that this was his own family he was talking about. This wasn’t someone else’s. He came from Poland instead of Sweden, and his whole family had been wiped out. The more information he heard the more confused he became, and finally he had to ask for a pen and paper so he could take notes.

  ‘Imagine yourself as a six-year-old seeing your mother’s brains blown out. She told me he’d laughed afterwards, the man who shot her mother. He’d bet another soldier that he could shoot someone in the eye. It was just random that he happened to choose her.’

  His grandmother. They were talking about his grandmother. And his mother who had been forced to watch. Kristoffer suddenly thought of Joseph Schultz. From Jan-Erik Ragnerfeldt’s lecture. Maybe there was something in him that was especially affected by that story, an inherited cry for justice.

  ‘Someone said that Halina went back to Poland, and maybe that’s what she did. She didn’t have any family left, but that’s where she was from, after all. She still spoke the language fluently, and there was nobody here to keep her. Sadly.’

  Torgny took a swig of beer.

  ‘The thing was, she never felt the same about me as I did about her. Otherwise, she would never have left me.’

  He fell silent and looked at the floor.

  ‘She seemed to retreat when I showed her how I felt, as if she didn’t think she had a right to be happy in any way. I remember that sometimes it felt as though she liked me best when I didn’t care as much; that’s when she became more loving. But then when I loved her back she would retreat again.’

  Kristoffer listened intently. Torgny spoke with ruminative pauses, and something told Kristoffer that these memories had waited a long time to be aired.

  Kristoffer looked at the book in his hands. The picture of the woman turned away.

  ‘You mustn’t believe that your mother was some sort of idiot just because she had a problem. On the contrary, she was probably the smartest person I ever met. When she was well she was like a… I don’t know, I can’t describe it.’

  Torgny smiled and looked around as if searching for a suitable description.

  ‘Damn, what great times we had when everything was good. There was no one else quite like her. I know, because I’ve looked.’

  He stopped talking and fell into a reverie.

  Torgny had been quiet for a long time. Kristoffer felt a profound weariness but he knew that the conversation was not over yet. There was more he needed to know. Yet he no longer knew what he was going to do with the information. ‘You said that it was my pappa who painted that picture.’

  He nodded towards the painting and Torgny snorted.

  ‘That brute. Luckily for him he managed to drink himself to death before I had a chance to kill him.’

  ‘So he’s dead?’

  ‘Yes, a long time ago, and you should be glad of that. Karl-Evert Pettersson was his name. An artist, but he evidently drank so heavily that nobody wanted anything to do with him. He was the sort who flies into a rage when he’s drunk and wants to fight and cause trouble. He was drunk when he did it.’

  ‘Did what?’

  ‘When he raped her.’

  Kristoffer shifted in his chair in an attempt to shake off what he was hearing. Now he didn’t want to hear any more. No more.

  ‘She was modelling for that painting, trying to make a little extra money. She wanted to be a writer but she never managed to get anything published.’

  Torgny broke off suddenly as if he’d said something he didn’t want to talk about.

  Kristoffer felt that something was starting to fall apart. His fantasies during his childhood, the dream world where hope was kept alive. The images of how happy his parents would be when they finally found him. How they would be heartbroken and had fought to get him back.

  ‘That was when we met, after she got knocked up. She was desperate because she didn’t want to… Well, I might as well tell you the truth. She had been raped, but the abortion laws were different then. The new abortion law that gave women the right to choose and all that wouldn’t be passed until a few years later, and you should be damned glad of that.’

  A feeling of nausea washed over Kristoffer.

  ‘But then, after you were born, she was happy. She was a good mother, she really was. It was only sometimes, when she wasn’t feeling well, that she could be a bit harsh.’

  Kristoffer tried to get up, holding on to the back of the chair.

  ‘She must have been ill when she left you at Skansen. She would never have done anything like that if she were feeling well.’

  With the book in his hand he managed to make it to the hall.

  ‘Kristoffer.’

  Torgny was still sitting on the bed, but Kristoffer couldn’t speak. He reached for the door handle.

  ‘Why don’t you get in touch again sometime, Kristoffer? We could see each other again, the two of us.’

  He went out to the landing and managed to pull the door shut behind him. His ears were filled with a piercing scream. His hand shook as he grasped the banister, and his legs felt stiff as if seized by cramps. He barely managed to make it down the stairs.

  Everything was in ruins.

  His hidden inner world that had always glittered like a distant oasis, enticing him with its promise of bliss. Empty and ravaged, it had dissolved and slipped away. All the endless waiting. All the lost
seconds. The hope that had driven him onwards. How could he accept that all the waiting had been in vain?

  They had never looked for him; he had never been missed.

  From the depths of his being it came surging up – the grief he had never permitted to exist. Like a howl for restitution it came flowing and knocked his feet from under him. With his back against the wall he slid down to the floor.

  He hadn’t wanted to know any of this!

  All he wanted was to get it back.

  The hope.

  The hope of one day finding an explanation that would bless him with the ability to forgive.

  24

  When the doorbell rang they were still sitting in the library. For a while now the smell of dinner had filled the house, and Gerda would soon be here to tell them it was ready. They looked at each other when they heard her footsteps moving down the hall towards the front door. Axel got up, and knew immediately who had rung the bell.

  ‘I’m looking for Axel Ragnerfeldt.’

  ‘I’m sorry, he’s not at home.’

  ‘He certainly is, I saw him through the window.’

  For a few seconds there was silence.

  ‘Unfortunately he’s busy.’

  ‘Tell him I want to talk to him. It’s for his own good.’

  Alice got up and hissed at Axel.

  ‘Go and help Gerda, for God’s sake!’

  Axel rushed out. To his consternation he realised that he was afraid. More afraid than he could ever recall being since he was a child.

  He reached the hall just in time to see Gerda trying to shut the door. Halina had squeezed herself into the doorway in an attempt to force her way inside. But the commotion stopped when she caught sight of him.

  ‘I want to talk to you.’

  He could see the desperation in Gerda’s eyes and realised it would be unfair to involve her. He nodded to her and she let go of the door. With her lips pursed, she did not deign to look at him as she walked away.

  Halina stepped into the hall.

  ‘Where’s your wife? I want her to hear this too.’

  Axel glanced over his shoulder and saw Alice standing at the other end of the hall by the living room door. He turned back to face Halina but could barely look at her. Her hair was a mess and her clothes dirty. In her eyes was that look he’d seen outside the publisher’s, the look he’d prayed to God never to see again.

  ‘I must ask you to leave. I’m not interested in what you have to say.’

  ‘Did you read my letters?’

  He took a step forward to block her path.

  ‘No, I didn’t. Now I’m going to have to ask you to go.’

  She clutched the door-frame to secure her position.

  ‘I just want to-’

  ‘I’m not interested in what you want!’

  He prised loose her fingers and with a hand on her shoulder, managed to push her onto the front steps, a little more roughly than he’d intended. His fear had faded, leaving space for a rising anger; now she had literally stepped over the line. He locked the door and she was left outside, screaming and ringing the doorbell. Maybe he should call Torgny, ask him to come and get her. But what would they do with her until then? The police were not an option; calling them would only bring more misery. His dread of scandal was even greater than his fear of the woman on the other side of the door.

  The constant ringing of the doorbell resounded through the house, and her wails penetrated the walls. Then her face appeared outside the porch window, and he backed out of sight. Alice was still standing with her arms folded in the living-room doorway.

  ‘Let her in so we can finally put an end to all this. The neighbours will hear!’

  ‘Absolutely not! She’s not setting foot in this house.’

  Alice frowned and headed for the front door with a determined look on her face.

  ‘Then I’ll do it myself.’

  ‘Listen to me, Alice! Don’t open that door!’

  ‘We have to put an end to this insanity once and for all. We can at least listen to what she wants.’

  He tried to stop her as she passed but she brushed his hands away.

  The sound of the doorbell stopped abruptly when Alice unlocked the front door. Axel had stayed a distance behind her and saw how the two women sized each other up for a few seconds.

  Then Alice opened the door wide and stepped aside.

  ‘Come in. But take off your shoes.’ Alice turned and walked down the hall. ‘Gerda, could you please serve coffee in the living room?’

  Halina stepped into the hall and pulled off her pointed boots, throwing Axel a triumphant smile.

  He watched Alice go, her back straight and her steps resolute. He knew precisely what mood she was in; with her verbal artillery she was ready to crush Halina like a troublesome insect.

  He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his temple.

  Alice was sitting on the sofa when they came into the living room. She gave a little smile, and in her kindest tone of voice she asked Halina to take a seat. Then she patted the space beside her.

  ‘Come, darling, sit here next to me.’

  Axel didn’t reply but remained where he was, leaning on the mantelpiece by the tile stove. The situation was so bizarre that a part of him still couldn’t believe it was really happening.

  Halina looked around the room. Alice followed her gaze as if wanting to confirm what she was seeing.

  ‘I’ve asked Gerda to bring in some coffee. You do drink coffee, don’t you?’

  Halina nodded.

  Alice’s superiority was palpable. With an imperturbable calm she took control of the situation, and Halina sat there dirty and mute in her armchair. Alice smiled and looked at her for a moment before she spoke again.

  ‘I understand that you’re interested in my husband. Apparently you’ve sent him a number of letters.’

  Halina said nothing. But it was obvious what she was thinking. Alice remained unmoved by what she saw blazing in Halina’s eyes.

  Gerda came in with the coffee tray, and no one said a word as she arranged the china.

  ‘I think we have some pastries we could offer, don’t we, Gerda?’

  Gerda stopped in the middle of what she was doing, then nodded and left the room.

  Axel waited for the explosion. At any moment Halina would start speaking, and he knew that he would have to choose his words carefully. The lie was so established that admitting the truth now was out of the question. Her madness was what would save him, the shield behind which he could hide no matter what she claimed.

  ‘What exactly do you do, then? Do you have a job?’

  It was Alice’s mild voice that continued the conversation. She sounded as if she were talking to a child.

  ‘I’m a writer.’

  ‘I see, so you’re a writer too. What sort of books have you written?’

  ‘Among other things, I just finished a short story that I’m going to send to Artes magazine. An erotic short story. Actually, that’s what I came here to talk about.’

  Axel swallowed. Artes was a prestigious arts journal published under the auspices of the Swedish Academy. It was highly unlikely that someone such as Halina would ever have a story published there, but it would be bad enough if the editors read what she had written. Because he knew which erotic incident it was that she had described.

  ‘What’s it about, then? Well, you know what I mean, I understand if it’s erotic, but why do you want to talk to us about it?’

  Axel closed his eyes. For the life of him he could no longer understand it. How it had happened. The power, so difficult to comprehend, of that incident. Such a tiny mistake. What had happened had been so meaningless, so utterly insignificant. But it had prompted such unprecedented consequences.

  ‘Because it’s about Axel and me.’

  He looked at Alice. She was still smiling. He was just about to deny the assertion when Alice beat him to it.

  ‘You mean about your night in Västerås?’


  For the first time Halina seemed to waver, but when Alice continued, Halina regained her equilibrium.

  ‘The one you made up,’ said Alice.

  Halina smiled and looked at Axel.

  ‘Is that what you told her? That I made it all up?’

  Axel, who hadn’t yet said a word, had to clear his throat before he spoke.

  ‘You know as well as I do that nothing happened that night in Västerås. Torgny was here, and he said that if you’d only take your medication you could get rid of all these illusions.’

  Halina leaned back and laughed.

  At the same moment Gerda returned.

  Halina put her hand in her jacket and pulled out a bundle of folded paper which she handed across the full pastry tray.

  ‘Read this, and then see which of us you believe. He likes oral, but you probably know that already, at least I hope so. And then there’s that cute birthmark on his groin, the one that looks like a little heart.’

  Afterwards Axel could remember only fragments of what followed. He remembered Alice’s face, Gerda’s footsteps that stopped short on the parquet floor, Halina enjoying her revenge. He had a vague memory that the telephone rang but that none of them made a move to pick it up. He said nothing. He could have denied everything, countered every accusation by hiding behind the alibi that Torgny had provided. But not the fact that she knew about the heart-shaped birthmark, which had once been his and Alice’s most intimate symbol of love.

  It was Halina who broke the silence. Gerda’s paralysis vanished and she disappeared back to the kitchen.

  ‘Initially I thought I would turn to Artes, but they pay very poorly. There are other magazines that pay considerably better, but I haven’t really made up my mind yet. I thought you could offer some advice and tell me what you think, which publication you think would be best.’

  Axel looked at Alice. She was sitting with her hands in her lap and her back was no longer straight. Gone was the confident aura. She looked crushed, and dropped her eyes as one last confirmation of her humiliation.

  Halina had vanquished her.

  ‘Why are you doing this?’