The Boy From Sweden

by Craig Smith

other rooms, one for James and Mary and one for Amy. Amy’s door seemed to be locked. After the rooms he was shown the lounge and dining room. The lounge was big and spacious with a decent sized TV and the dining room had an 8-seater table. It was all very neat and tidy. Outside there was a large backyard. It was half grassed and half paved. There was a medium sized pool in the paved area. Gunter felt very warm outside and the cool clear water looked very inviting.

  There was a second floor to the house. Gunter felt a little more tired going up the stairs, but he pushed on. He had to build his strength up again. The second floor of the house consisted of just one open room.

  “This is the games room,” said Fred. “My dad built it before he met our mother.”

  “It looks very nice.” In the room there was a pool table, a pinball machine, a bar to one side and a small sitting area by the big windows that looked out over the swimming pool, the garden and the surrounding neighbourhood.

  “Would you like a game?” asked Fred going over to the pool table.

  Gunter felt weak, but he thought that it would be rude to decline the offer. “If you don’t mind me taking a rest halfway?”

  “Sure, anytime you like,” said Fred getting a little concerned. “You don’t have to play.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Gunter going over and picking up a cue. “I would love to play”

  Within moments Fred had the game set up and Gunter was first to play.

  Gunter broke for the first game. After sinking a few balls Gunter’s pain was long forgotten, and he really enjoy himself. Halfway through Fred offered him an energy drink from the bar. Fred won the first game; Gunter gained some of his strength back and felt more confident as he went along and won the next.

  When they were just about to set up a sudden death game rematch James, Mary and Amy came up the stairs.

  “Hello, Gunter,” they all said.

  “Hi, everyone” Gunter got ready for a shot.

  “I hope Fred here hasn’t been tiring you out too much?” asked James, who went over to the bar, got a beer and joined them by the table.

  “Yes,” said Mary, “are you sure you’re not overdoing it there a bit?” Mary looked a little concerned. Even though it wasn’t his fault Gunter still felt a little guilty that he had caused them so much concern. Hopefully soon they will put the whole thing behind them and be happy again.

  “I did have a long nap earlier, I feel a lot better thank you.”

  “That is great to hear,” said Amy, she was in her school uniform still. The uniform made Gunter wonder about school. Was he ready to go? Would the Johnsons let him go?

  “After this match, how about a friendly family game?” asked James putting his beer on a side table close by. Gunter found it a little strange that James would drink alcohol while not eating a meal or toasting a special occasion. Of course James would drink at a different time of the day or when not having a meal, this was a different country and different countries had different cultures and practices. Besides James most probably had a long day and needed something to take the edge off.

  “I’m game.” His side was paining a little, but he he had enough left in him for another game.

  Mary smiled. “You guys keep yourselves entertained while I see to dinner.”

  After Gunter had won the game against Fred by an advantage of one ball, Amy and James played a game against Gunter and Fred. James and Amy were surprisingly good and managed to just beat Gunter and Fred on the 8 ball.

  “Wow, you guys are good,” said Gunter.

  “We know,” replied Amy with a smile.

  “Rematch tomorrow?” asked James.

  “Yes!” said Gunter and Fred together.

  They went down for dinner. Gunter was pleasantly surprised to a see a lavish meal set out before them. After playing pool for so long Gunter had worked up quite an appetite, and was more than eager to get stuck into his food.

  Amy said Grace, bowls of food were handed around and they dished up their food. There was a lot of new things that Gunter hadn’t tried before and he put a little of everything on his plate. He just hoped that he could finish it all. It was bad manners in Sweden to not finish all the food you were given.

  “So,” said James after everyone had eaten a few mouthfuls. “Besides the horrible incident when you arrived here what do you think of South Africa?”

  The others sort off stopped eating and waited for Gunter’s reply. He had to finish a hot potato before he could say a word. “So far of what I’ve seen, the country is very diverse and I look forward to getting to know the place better.”

  “You’re crazy,” said Amy.

  “Amy!” Mary looked on disapprovingly.

  “She’s right, anyone in their right mind would want to go home after going through such a horrible thing.”

  “James!”

  “They’re right,” said Gunter. “I do very much want to go home, but my family has never been people who give up so easily. I have come to South Africa to learn about you and your people and I’m not going to give up because of something I had no control over. It was a terrible thing I would never want to go through again, but I’m not going to let it stop me from doing what I came here to do.”

  “If more people had the attitude you have then this country and world would be a much better place,” said James, leaning over and giving Gunter a pat on the back.

  “Would it be alight if I stay here?”

  “Of course, Gunter!” said Mary as if the mere notion of the opposite was totally ludicrous.

  “That settles that,” declared Gunter. “I can’t wait to get started at school here,” he added after eating a slice of roast beef.

  “I’m sure you will enjoy it, and you if you’re up to it you can start on Monday.”

  “I would like to go tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow!?” blurted out Mary with that familiar look of concern on her face.

  Gunter just smiled.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  “You remind me of my mom,” laughed Gunter. “The last time she gave me a look like that was when I came home from school covered in mud and one of my shoes was missing.”

  “How on earth did that happen?” asked Amy with raised eyebrows.

  “I thought I saw our pet dog on the way home from school loose in a field, and I ran after him and not looking where I was going I slipped on some wet grass and fell in huge mud puddle. The mud was about knee deep. The dog, which turned out not to be our dog, came running, and because I looked like a friendly face and I was hopelessly stuck in the mud, it licked my face.”

  “Ewww!”

  “I know,” he replied with a grimace.

  “Then what happened?”

  “After some frantic thrashing I managed to find some solid ground and pull myself up. I was relieved to be out, but worried to see that my shoe was missing. I spent the next half hour fishing about for it but it was gone.”

  Amy laughed. “I hope that never happens to me.”

  “I hope it happens to me though,” said Fred. Fred waited until everyone was looking at him before he added. “I need some new shoes.”

  Everyone burst out laughing, even Mary who would most probably have reprimanded Fred for such a comment. The mood lightened up tremendously and pretty soon after that they were trading stories and jokes for almost an hour after the food was finished. Gunter felt so much more relaxed and relieved. It was good to see the Johnsons smile again.

  That night when he went to bed he felt calm and relaxed. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  Friday 22nd March 6:45am

  There was a loud bang in the distance. Siswe half opened his eyes. His mother came into his tiny room and put some hot tea on the side table next to his bed.

  “Good morning, Siswe.”

  “Good morning, Mother.”

  “Time to get ready for school.”

  “I know, Mom,” said Siswe with a smile. She said the same thi
ng every morning, it was as if he was going to suddenly forget that he had to go to school. He didn’t mind. It meant that she cared a lot about him. He didn’t know what he would do without his mother.

  “Good, get started!”

  Siswe jumped out of bed, drank his tea, ate his breakfast of eggs and toast, and finished a little homework he didn’t get a chance to do the previous night. By 7:15 he was all clean and ready to go. He heard a car hooter outside. It was his uncle Ellis, he dropped Siswe off at school every morning. Siswe grabbed his goods, gave his mom a quick kiss on the cheek and ran outside.

  His uncle was waiting for him on the other side of the street. Siswe ran across and jumped in the passenger’s side of the white Toyota minibus.

  “Siswe!” His uncle had a big gap-toothed grin on his face. The old man was always happy to see him.

  “Hey, Uncle!”

  The taxi had one other passenger in it. It was Melody, a girl that also went to Siswe’s school. Siswe found her very attractive, but she wasn’t interested and hardly ever spoke to him. He had tried to break through the cold silences, but she resisted every attempt and got more and more sarcastic with her replies. He had given up on her a long time ago and hardly ever said hello to her anymore.

  “I see you seem a lot more cheerful today.” Uncle Ellis’s English was the best in the family, during the years the British were in control of the country he had been the head mail clerk at one of the big newspapers and would on many occasions write down letters the editor of the newspaper would dictate to him. His uncle was proud of his past and would tell pretty much anyone who used his taxi.

  “I am.”

  “Are you