Read Online See You Tomorrow by Tore Renberg - Free Book Online Page B

used to think about what he did when they went to bed. It was sort of obvious. He watched TV. He tidied up. He loaded thedishwasher. He hung up clothes to dry. But now? When she says goodnight to him it’s like he has an aura of fear about him. How long does he stay up, actually? Maybe he’s sad and can’t sleep. Maybe he misses having a girlfriend. She has never had a boyfriend herself. She hasn’t been quite ready for it. But she’s not an idiot, she understands if Dad misses having one. But still. This feels like it’s about something else. That hug, for instance. She came out of her room and caught sight of Dad. He was standing in the hall with Zitha. On his way out. And then he just started acting really weird. His bashful eyes grew moist and he suddenly pulled her close, quite roughly, it was totally spooky. Not in a nice way, not in the warm, cosy way he usually does. It was rough.
    Malene fixes her eyes on the door, as if it will open merely by her doing so.
    Jesus, Tiril’s become a real pain in the ass. Fourteen, behaving like an idiot. Fine, they’ve never been very close, but she is her sister. They’ve slept in the same room, she’s borrowed toys and jewellery, they’ve taken Zitha out for walks thousands of times and Malene has looked after her since she was small. But now it’s as if she’s disappeared into some idiotic land of her own, going around scowling at everyone, smearing thick layers of emo make-up on, and thinking Evanescence is the answer to everything in the world. It’s fine that she’s got her mind on singing next Thursday. It’s great that she was picked to perform at the final performance of the International Cultural Workshop, and it’s obvious that the director has seen she has talent, it’s all good, but it’s utterly impossible to get an intelligent word out of her, and she can’t be bothered to do her homework, she just lies in bed listening to her iPhone.
    Malene puts her forefinger in her mouth, bites right down to the quick.
    That hug.
    It’s just like Sandra at school, she’s out of it at the moment. Maybe it’s something that happens to everyone, one day you’re just out of it? One day you just have to explode? It happened to Mum. Her head was blown open, and she left. Is it going to happen to Malene too? One day, she’ll be completely out of it?
    She takes a few steps forward. She feels her ankle, it’s still sore,how long will it take before she can start training again? She misses it a lot. The smell of the gym hall, the girls in the locker room, that feeling of floating through the air, the kick she gets from it.
    She opens the front door, as though to check if he’s standing there, right outside. As if she almost believes he is. Dad.
    But there’s nobody out there. Only the yellow glow of the street lights. Only a row of wheelie bins stretching all the way down to the main road. Only the stars in the night sky. Only this autumnal chill after a bright, warm day.
    Dad is forgetting things, and his eyes aren’t just dry, they’re vacant. As though at times they’re far away. He smiles all the time, he smiles when they are eating dinner, he smiles in the mornings, he smiles when he gets in from work, he smiles when he sits with the laptop in the evening and he smiles when they have visitors.
    Malene nods.
    She hurries to the kitchen, runs her hand across the hob, goes through the living room and checks no candles are burning, tries the handle on the veranda door. Out in the hallway she reaches for her shoes. Slips her feet into them, grabs the green jacket from the peg and puts it on.
    She goes out. Because there’s something wrong with that smile and she is the daughter of her father, Adidas Superstar.

13. I’M COMING NOW (SANDRA)
    Love endures all things: There’s a tingling on her tongue, as though tiny creatures were dancing across it.
    The shop has to be inviting, that’s what the manager said when she got the job. When people come