The Boy From Sweden

by Craig Smith

should stop shouting out like that. It could get him and Melody killed.

  “Shut up!”

  “Ready, Amos?” asked Jacobs

  “Aye,” replied the man at the back. By the sound of his accent he was definitely not local. Siswe guessed that he was from North East Africa somewhere.

  “Ready for what?”

  “We’re going to pay your little Swedish friend a visit.”

  Siswe’s nightmare had come true. An innocent person was going to get attacked or worse because of him. He wanted it all to end, but then he realized, how were they going to get to Gunter’s house? He didn’t know where the place was himself.

  “You don’t know where to find him.”

  “We were going to follow him home until we found out from your girlfriend here that she is friends with that girl, and has been to her house a few times.”

  Siswe had forgotten about that. Melody and Amy had been friends for quite a long time. They didn’t hang out as much as before, but they were still really good friends.

  Jacobs revved the engine and they took off. Once they were away from the school Siswe contemplated jumping out of the door and taking his chances, but there was no way he was going to leave Melody with these fiends or let Gunter and his adoptive family face serious injury or worse. He had to suck it up and be a man. He sat quietly and tried his best to calm himself down. He had to think of some way of warning Gunter and the Johnsons before it was too late.

  2:30pm

  Gunter, Amy, Fred and Mary arrived home. Mary came into the house with them.

  “I just need to fetch a few things and then I’ll leave you three in peace to do your homework. That clear, kids?”

  “Yes, Mom.” Amy and Fred replied.

  Gunter just smiled.

  They sat themselves around the kitchen table. Fred got out his homework, while Amy went to the fridge to see what was to eat. Gunter just sat there. He didn’t feel up to doing his homework just yet. Mary came past again. She had some documents in her hands. “See you guys in a few hours.”

  “Bye, Mom!”

  “See you later, sweethearts.”

  Gunter put his head in his hands. He felt tired and unsure about being in the country anymore. What connection did Siswe have with the gang? Was it the same gang who hijacked that man and shot him? He hoped not, Siswe seemed like a nice guy. He heard the gate opening, but he didn’t look outside like he normally did. He closed his eyes. He felt tired and didn’t want to think about anything. A few moments later Amy screamed. It was Mary, she was back and she wasn’t alone. There was a man holding her with a gun to her neck. Gunter couldn’t believe his eyes. Was his luck so bad that things like this would carry on happening to him? Gunter glanced out the window. There was a taxi in the driveway. Amy backed away from the man. She stood just a few paces away from where Gunter and Fred were sitting. Her hand covered her mouth and she seemed to be on the verge of bursting into tears. Mary’s face was defiant, but she didn’t say a word. The gun was held tightly against her neck.

  “What do you want?” asked Gunter, slowly getting out of his chair.

  “Everything,” said the man. He wore a dark blue mask over his head. Only his eyes and mouth could be seen. “Isn’t that right, boy?” The man looked towards the door that led from the garage to the kitchen. There was no reply. A few seconds later a figure came stumbling into the room. To everyone’s surprise it was Siswe. He stopped and looked everywhere except at Gunter and the others. Siswe looked very worried and stressed out.

  “Isn’t that right, boy?”

  “Yes,” said Siswe in a simple dry tone.

  “Put more effort into it!”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Another man emerged from the garage. He also had a gun, and Gunter noticed that he seemed to be there to keep Siswe under control. Gunter’s mind was so jumbled by the whole situation he wasn’t sure what was going on. Siswe seemed to be part of the gang, but why was he so reluctant? And why did it seem that the other two had to keep an eye on him?

  “Take me to the money.”

  Mary tried to open her mouth to say something, but the man pushed the gun harder into the bottom of her neck. “Don’t say a word just take me there.”

  Mary slowly moved forward.

  “Move!” commanded the other man with the gun; he herded Siswe and the others to follow Mary and the other gunman. Amy and Fred followed and Gunter slipped in behind them. He didn’t want to even look at Siswe. He felt so betrayed. Much to Gunter’s surprise they headed up the stairs to the games room.

  Fred was very pale and Amy was crying silent tears. Gunter controlled his body. It was shouting at him to do something to save Mary and her family, but his mind kept it under control. He knew if he tried to do something now there would be a good a chance that they would all be killed. They reached the top of the stairs.

  “What the hell is this? You better not be playing games with me.”

  Mary shook her head.

  “If you are, my friend here,” he indicated the other gunmen with a flick of his head. “He isn’t afraid to hurt little children no matter how innocent they may seem.”

  Mary shook her head more violently and murmured.

  “Good,” said the man with a big smile, like the whole thing was fun and games to him. The smile made Gunter feel even more sick. “Now, show me the money!” He shoved her forward. She stumbled and fell to the ground.

  “Please don’t hurt my children!” she cried. Tears streamed down her face. The pressure and stress of the moment was reaching boiling point.

  “Shut up and do what I say!” His gun trained on her.

  Mary awkwardly got to her feet. She stumbled to the corner where there was a cupboard. The cupboard was against the wall and the big glass windows that lined the room’s side. The others followed under the watchful eye of the two gunmen. Once she was at the cupboard she cautiously opened it. There was a large safe inside it; the safe door was locked with a keypad.

  2:45pm

  Siswe could see Mary in front of him by the safe. He couldn’t help but believe that the whole thing was his fault. Why had he trusted and helped Jacobs in the first place? Why did he even let the man near him? It was because of his brother. His older brother whom he loved; an older brother, who had taken the wrong path in life. His brother who was the leader of the gang Jacobs was in. A brother who would be mad to find out his little brother had been used to hurt innocent people.

  “Jacobs, stop this or I will tell my brother,” he said as calmly as he could. “Leave these people alone, they have done nothing to you.” Gunter looked at Siswe with a strange look on his face.

  Jacobs laughed. “You misguided fool.”

  “My brother will make you pay for this and you know it!” Siswe’s voice was getting louder. Jacobs had no right to treat his friends like this.

  “Let me tell you this, I’ve never been afraid of your brother!” spat Jacobs. He seemed to be paying more attention to Siswe than he was to Mary and he didn’t see her reach in and punch a short code into the keypad. Siswe hoped Mary had some sort of panic button in the safe.

  “You’re such a liar!”

  “He ruined my life, I never used to be like this. I used to be a good kid like you, I used to go to school, pay attention in class and do homework, but all of that stopped when your brother came along. He slowly became my friend and soon after, with his guidance, I helped rob a bottle store. We were almost killed, I felt sick afterwards, but then we went on more and more dangerous jobs. I soon developed a taste for it, and wanted to do more and more dangerous things. Even things your brother didn’t want to do. I felt alive.”

  Siswe felt he could relate about doing something you didn’t want to do, but he doubted he could ever develop a taste for doing despicable things like this. He also noticed Jacobs had dropped his gangster way of speaking.

  “In fact I should thank your brother for what he did to me. I have never felt more alive t
han I do now!” He lifted his head up, and then he lowered his face and grinned evilly at Siswe, “But it’s too late for that.”

  “What do you mean?” Siswe wasn’t liking where this was going.

  “You haven’t figured it out have you?”

  Siswe just frowned. He could feel his anger building up.

  “Your brother is dead.”

  “You lie!” Siswe’s hands were now fists by his side.

  “And you want to know the best part?”

  Siswe said nothing.

  “You helped me, that money we got from hijacking that BMW I got, I didn’t use it to free him. I used it to pay someone on the inside to kill him. Siswe, you killed your own brother!”

  Siswe dropped to his knees, the agony of losing his brother getting too much for him. He felt so used and dirty. How could his brother be gone? None of this seemed real. He wanted more than anything for it not to be real.

  2:55pm

  Gunter looked at Siswe on the floor. His friend looked like he was in so much pain. He felt so wrong for doubting him and treating him like he had. When the main gunman had mentioned the BMW hijacking, Gunter had looked at Mary. He wanted to do something but she shook her head. The man who had shot him was standing right in front of him. He never thought he would see the man again, but there was no doubting it. The way he moved and the fact that he had a limp made it clear that he was the man. Gunter was terrified, but another part of him was burning with rage. This was the man who ruined his start to his stay in the country, hurt the Johnsons and made him almost lose his friend, Siswe.