by Craig Smith
but stopped himself. He was far away from his parents and he didn’t want to make them worry even more. He had to be strong. After a few heartfelt goodbyes Gunter handed back the phone.
“What did they say?” asked Amy.
Mary looked sharply at her daughter for being nosy, but Gunter didn’t mind and smiled okay.
“They’re very happy that I’m okay and they really want me to come home as soon as possible, but they said I could decide for myself once I was fully better.”
“Are you sure?” asked Mary.
“Yes, I came all this way to experience a new life and culture and even though it wasn’t the very best start in the world I’m going to see if I can make it through. I might decide differently once I’ve had more time to think about it, but at the moment I still want to make the most of my time here.”
“You’re a very brave young man.”
“Thank you.” said Gunter, suddenly feeling pretty tired again.
“The doctor says that you’re recovering very well and should be released tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds like good news to me.”
“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.” said Mary.
“Rest up nice and good, Gunter.” said Amy, as they both rose out of their chairs.
“I will. Thanks!” He suddenly wondered why Amy wasn’t at school. He closed his eyes again and fell asleep within minutes.
Wednesday 6:45pm
A bell rang and woke Gunter up in the evening. He sat up and he had a good solid meal, while watching some local television. He watched some Dutch program. He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a comedy, but he found the subtitles very funny. And he wondered why all the sets had to be so bright and colourful. He then watched some news. He was half expecting his case to be in the news, it wasn’t mentioned, but then he realized it was a couple of days after the fact and it was probably old news by now. He told himself that he would ask Mary or James when he got the chance.
After the weather came on, which said there would be more warm weather, he put the TV off and soon fell asleep again.
Thursday 8:25am
The next morning he woke up to someone running their fingers through his hair. It was Mary.
“How are you feeling? The doctor says you’re all ready to go.”
Gunter still feeling groggy smiled.
“I’m feeling good and happy to finally be out of here,” he said.
Gunter and the few clothes that the Johnsons had brought for him were bundled into the car and he was strapped into the front passenger seat of a small hatchback.
“What happened to the Volvo?” asked Gunter once Mary was in the car and they were on their way.
“The police have it and they’re going through it as part of their investigation,” said Mary. “But once we have it back we’re going to see if we can get another car.”
“Why so?” asked Gunter.
“I can’t bring myself to be in it again it would just remind me too much of the crazy incident and how you were hurt,” she said as they drove through a pretty busy town center. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that whole thing, if only we were a little more careful.”
“Don’t worry,” said Gunter. “It’s not your fault. I knew the crime was pretty bad before I came here and even a relatively safe country like Sweden has crime.”
“You’re so mature and well balanced for your age.”
“Thank you.”
“What about the police, aren’t they going to question me?”
“They wanted to, but we told them that you hadn’t seen anything, and besides you were out the last few days. We didn’t want you disturbed. Do you have any information you want to tell them?”
“I saw a tattoo on the back of the neck of the man James hit.”
“We know, you said so when you had a fitful dream a couple of nights ago. We passed it on to the police and they said they would look into it.”
“Ah, thank you.”
They drove in silence for the next ten minutes or so. Mary seemed to be thinking hard about something and Gunter didn’t want to interrupt her. Besides, he was quite interested by the shops they were passing. It seemed that some of the stores had market stall traders outside their shop fronts. It was the first time he had seen anything like it. He couldn’t wait for the chance to explore the town center and its many vibrant looking shop and stalls. He had plenty of family and friends to buy gifts for when he returned home.
A few minutes later they came to some houses and they stopped outside a huge sliding gate. Gunter recognized it as the Johnson’s house. He had seen pictures of it via email, but he saw some adjustments had been made to the place since the pictures had been taken. There seemed to be electric fencing along the top of the walls and even some razor wire.
“Home sweet home,” said Mary.
“It’s good to finally be here,” said Gunter.
“I’m really glad you’ve come.” said Mary. “Would it be alright if I help you get settled in quickly and head back to work?”
“That would be great, thank you.” said Gunter, who was feeling tired again. The big gate slid nosily to the side and they pulled into a garage that opened and then closed behind them.
They entered the house through the kitchen. The kitchen was big, white and tiled from floor to halfway up the wall. Not as big as his parent’s kitchen back home but almost as modern. There was a woman in the kitchen. She seemed to be cooking and cleaning.
“This is Sophie, our maid,” said Mary. “She comes in a few times a week to help around the house.”
“Hello, Sophie.” said Gunter, feeling like he had to sit down. His side was hurting and he could feel the bandage irritating the skin under his arm.
“Hello, Gunter.” she said and returned to work.
“Sophie will make you some lunch and show you to your room when you’re finished.”
“Thank you, Mary.”
“It’s a real pleasure, Gunter. But I must get back to work; just ask Sophie if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
“And get plenty of rest.”
“I will.”
Gunter almost collapsed into the chair by the table in the kitchen. He rested his head against his hand and looked out of the window. He watched as Mary sped away from the house. He hoped that he hadn’t taken too much time out of her work day. A plate was then placed before him. It seemed to be chicken, rice and gravy.
“Thank you.” He did feel rather hungry and anything would make a change from hospital food.
“Pleasure.” Sophie returned to the kitchen sink and started to wash the dishes she had used for making Gunter’s dinner. He had never met anyone who had a maid before.
Gunter took a few mouthfuls of rice and chicken. “This is very nice, Sophie.” His side pained him a little less and he felt stronger.
“Thank you.”
Gunter found the whole situation strange, but it was good to find out how things worked in his new country. “Mary says you work here a few times a week?”
“Yes. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and sometimes Thursdays,” she replied not looking away from the dishes.
“Do you enjoy it?” He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of a better question. Who would enjoy cleaning? On second thoughts his mother was a bit of a clean freak and often said she enjoyed having everything nice and clean.
“Sometimes I do. The Johnsons treat me very well.” Sophie turned away from the dishes and looked at him. She seemed to be in her late twenties. “It helps pay for my studies.”
“What are you studying?”
“I go to beauty school.” She seemed quite embarrassed to be talking about herself.
“That’s really interesting.”
“Once I have a degree, I’m going to work as a beauty technician, and once I have saved up I’m going to open my own beauty salon.”
Gunter smiled. “I like your ambition, Sophie.”
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br /> “Thank you.”
She showed him to the room he was going to use for the period of his stay. It looked as if he was going to be sharing it with Fred. He didn’t mind; the room was quite spacious. There was a bed for him to use, and a cupboard which seemed to have all of his clothes already hanging up in it. Next to it was a chest of draws. There was a desk there too. Gunter noticed that his laptop was next to it.
“Just call if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Gunter was almost tempted to go on the Internet and send an email to his family, but the pills he had taken with his meal had really gotten to him and he felt very tired. He plopped on the bed and promptly fell asleep.
What seemed like a while later he woke up to some noise, it sounded like gunfire and it was in the room. He feared the worse and slowly turned over, but was relieved to see that it was only Fred playing a video game on the TV. It was a war game that involved a lot of gunfire.
Fred noticed the movement. “Oh, Gunter!” he said. “I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have had it so loud!”
“Hello, Fred. Please don’t worry. I was only having a nap.”
“Oh okay.” Fred turned down the volume. “Did you sleep well? Are you feeling better?”
“I did thank you, and I still feel a little tired, but a lot better.”
“That’s really great to hear,” said Fred saving his game. “What would you like to do?”
“I’m not sure.” Gunter got off his bed and stretched, he stopped halfway when his side started to hurt. “What is there to do?”
“I can give you the grand tour if you like?”
“That would be great.” He had only seen the room and the kitchen so far.
Fred led him up and down the passage. There were two
