Seven, eight ... Gonna stay up late (Rebekka Franck #4) (12 page)

I was startled
to put it mildly. Sune dropped me off at my dad's without a word to me. All he
said was: "See you tomorrow." And then he was gone.

I couldn't believe him. Was it really so bad
that we couldn't even talk about it? Was this about to be so bad it could end
up coming between us? Destroying us? I picked up my backpack truly hoping it
wasn't going to. I rang the doorbell at my dad's house and stepped in.

"Dad?" I yelled. "It's me."

"Rebekka?" His voice came from
upstairs.

"Yup. I'm back from Roskilde." I put
my backpack on the floor then looked around. The place was a mess. Nothing like
it used to be. Dad came down the stairs. He looked tired, worn out.

"How are you, Dad?" I asked after we
had hugged.

He leaned heavily on his cane. "So damn
tired lately. I don't know what's going on with me. It's like I can hardly get
out of bed. I'm sorry for the mess."

"It's okay. Let me help you clean the place
up a little," I said.

"You're an angel. I'm so happy to see you.
How was Roskilde?"

I found a plastic bag in the cupboard and began
cleaning. "It was okay, I guess. We got mixed up in a big story that I am
going to follow up upon in the coming days. Kind of got to me a little, I
guess. Two young girls kidnapped."

"I heard about that on my radio just
now," he said. "The young Princess, huh? Sounds like a terrible
story."

I sighed and looked at him. I didn't want to
bother him too much or have him worry about me, so I decided not to go into too
many details. "It is," I said. "But the police are on it, they
will find them eventually."

"Let's hope so," he said. "Or
maybe you and Sune will."

"Very funny."

"Speaking of the devil," Dad said and
looked at my backpack then at me. He had that worried look in his eyes.
"Where is he?"

"We had a fight," I said and found a
sponge and started scrubbing the kitchen table.

"A bad one, huh?"

"I guess. I don't know. Maybe we just need
some time apart."

Dad pulled out a chair and sat down. Then he
pulled out another one and pointed at it. "Sit," he said.

I obeyed with a deep sigh.

"Now I want you to tell me
everything," he said.

"Really, Dad? Do you really want to hear
about our silly argument?"

"I really do. You have to remember that you
and Julie are about the only part of the real world outside this house that I
get. You're the closest I get to actually having a life, plus I don't watch
soap operas so your life is all the excitement I get."

I chuckled. Dad always had a way of making me
feel like he was the one needing me when it was in fact the other way round. I
patted his hand with a sigh. "Let me at least make us some coffee
first," I said and got up.

I didn't get to do much cleaning that day. Dad and I
talked for hours instead. It had been many months since we had last talked like
this. And since I had last inhaled that much coffee. By the time we were done
my mouth was dry and my stomach very upset with me. I looked in the cupboards
and found some pastries that we shared with a soda.

"I can't tell you I don't understand
him," Dad said while I poured orange soda in two cups.

"I know," I said. "I did tell him
I wanted to have a baby, and I really do, but ...

"But what?"

I exhaled, then took another bite of the pastry.
"But I don't want to fight this much for it. I'm too old for that. I'm
nearly forty."

Dad shrugged, then grabbed another pastry and
ate it. It left a white moustache of sugar on his upper lip. "So you want
the baby, you just don't want the work. You don't want to fight for it. Is that
it?"

"I guess. I just thought that this would be
a time in my life when I enjoyed my child, when I was done with babies and
diapers and stuff. I thought this was the time to build up my career and maybe
drink some red wine and go out to dinners and so on. Julie is finally so big
that she can do most things on her own. I feel like I have finally gotten my
life back and now I'm going to ruin it by having another child." I paused
and looked at Dad. "What?" I said. "I'm just being honest. I
know it sounds selfish, but that's how I feel, okay?"

"So what you're saying is you don't want to
have another child after all."

"No, that's not it. If I get pregnant
tomorrow, then fine, I'll be thrilled. I just think that we can be just as
happy without it. Our happiness doesn't depend on us having a child. That's why
I don't think it's necessary to make it all about the baby, to make our lives -
and our sex life - all about having a baby. I want to have fun while having
sex."

"A little more than I needed to hear,
thanks." Dad shook his head and drank his soda.

"Well you asked," I said.

Dad put his hand on top of mine. "It's not
an easy one, sweetie," he said. "You'll have to figure it out among
yourselves. And soon before anyone younger than you gets hurt."

"I know. Julie has gotten pretty attached
to Sune and Tobias."

"You'll have to make your decision soon.
You and Sune have to talk this through properly and figure out if you can stay
together without any of you getting bitter for not getting his or her
way."

I sighed. "I know you're right."

The doorbell rang and I got up. Dad looked at
me. "It's probably Julie. I texted her and told her where I was. We're
staying here tonight, if that's okay with you?"

Dad looked confused. Then he smiled.
"You're always welcome. You know that."

I kissed his forehead then ran towards the door.

Amalie felt
horrible
when she woke up. Her head was aching like
crazy and she couldn't move her hands. Something was very wrong, she thought,
still half asleep. Her body, her head, it all felt so very wrong. Slowly she
regained consciousness and suddenly she opened her eyes. When she did she tried
to scream, but she couldn't. She breathed heavily, almost panicking as she
realized something was in her mouth, something was in her throat, something
big. She moaned in fear and tried to see what it was. Then she tried to scream
again, but only a muffled sound came out of her mouth. What was this? What had
he done to her? She tried to move her arms, but they were tied up on her back
with duck-tape. She groaned and moaned trying to get free from this thing going
into her mouth and throat, this big metal pipe of some sort, which was attached
to her head with duct tape around the back of her head. She tried to turn her
head, but she was stuck.  She looked up and realized the pipe in her
throat was attached to the box's tube creating one long tube going directly
into her throat. She tried to bite down, but she couldn't. Her jaws hurt badly
from being stuck in the same position.

A face appeared outside of the box. His face,
her captor's evil eyes stared back at her. Then he knocked with a giggle.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was waiting for
you to open your eyes. Wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun, now would
we?"

All Amalie could do was groan and growl in
anger. She tried hard to speak, to yell at him, but with very little success.

The man laughed then started mumbling to
himself. Like he was trying to remember what he was to do next. Amalie tried to
turn her head just enough to be able to see Camilla. She was still in her box
staring at the spider, it had moved down towards her feet now. Their eyes met
shortly. Her look wasn't comforting nor did it fill Amalie with hope. The fear
and anxiety seemed to have won. Camilla put her hand on the side of the box and
Amalie saw a tear escape her eye. Amalie fought hard not to panic. She felt
dizzy from the lack of air and had to focus on breathing through her nose.

The man walked around still while mumbling to
himself and counting on his fingers. "Now a goose gets four pounds a day
... so with her body size she'll need what? Ten times as much? Not in the
beginning of course, it'll kill her too fast. She'll need to go to the bathroom
too. The boxes are beginning to smell of urine from both of them. I'd better
write this down. Need to clean boxes soon ..."

Amalie tried to follow him with her eyes as he
walked to the table and wrote on a piece of paper. He seemed to be calculating
something, then he returned. His face appeared outside the box once again. He
was grinning.

"You know what?" he said. "I'll
figure it out as we go along. I think we should just get started. Don't you?
You hungry?"

Amalie grunted and tried to nod. She was
extremely hungry. She hadn't eaten for days. She was dehydrated and starved.

"I thought so," the man said. "I
bet Camilla is thirsty too, am I right?" he said and turned to look at
Camilla. She nodded cautiously.

"Well I haven't been very nice to my
guests, have I? I'll get you something right away," he said and went to
Camilla's box. He screwed off the lid to the tube. He went to the corner of the
room and came back with a hose that he lowered into the tube. Then he went to
the wall and turned on the faucet. Amalie watched as Camilla opened her mouth
to receive the long-awaited water and as he turned it on, she drank the fresh
water as it sprayed all over her face. Camilla was moaning and grunting while
drinking greedily, but soon she had enough and stopped letting the water in her
mouth. It was coming in too fast. Soon the water began to rise inside of the
box and her clothes were soaking wet. Camilla began to ask him to stop the
water, but instead he turned it up and more water gushed inside of her box.
Amalie grunted and cried, trying to scream as Camilla's box slowly was filled
halfway with water. Camilla screamed and yelled. The spider ran for its life
inside the box, climbing high above the water, getting to the ceiling and as
the water kept rising, it found the hole to the tube and by crawling on top of
the hose, managed to find safety in the tube.

Camilla was sputtering and making gargling
sounds as the water reached her ears and cheeks. She was just barely holding
her nose above the surface by lifting her body up on her elbows and putting it
up against the hole leading into the tube. The man finally turned off the
water. He walked closer, still grinning, and then he pulled out the hose and
helped the Tarantula get out. It crawled on his hand; he put it carefully back
into the jar and put the lid on.

Camilla was grunting, gasping for breath barely
managing to keep her face above the water as the man looked at her through the
tube.

"I guess you're gonna stay up late tonight.
Better not fall asleep huh?" he laughed and put the lid back on the tube
and sealed it by putting screws back in with a screwdriver.

Then he turned on his heel and looked at Amalie.

"Now where were we?" he said, rubbing
his hands together. "Oh yeah. You were hungry."

I felt my
heart drop as I opened the door. Outside I saw Julie and her dad. She was in
his arms, wrapped around him like she never wanted to let go again. Peter
smiled.

"Wow," he said.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing. You just ...
well you look really great."

I stared surprised at him, then touched my
unruly hair. I wasn't even wearing make-up. "No I don't," I said.
"I've hardly slept all night and I'm exhausted after a couple of really
hard days, so I ..."

Peter put Julie down. "Well I'm sorry if I
think you look wonderful," he said and looked at Julie's face. "I'm
sorry sweetie pie, but it's time to say goodbye now. But I'll see you again
soon, right?"

Julie wept and whined slightly. "But that's
gonna take forever, Dad. I'm gonna miss you. Can't you stay a little?"
They both looked at me with pleading eyes.

"I'm sure Peter has somewhere to be,
somewhere important," I said and looked at him wanting him to help me out.

But he didn't. Instead he shook his head.
"No I don't. I really don't."

"Don't you have work tomorrow? Don't you
need to be back in Aarhus early enough to be able to get up tomorrow?"

"Actually I don't. I don't have anything
all summer. I was looking forward to spending some time with Julie, actually. I
wanted to talk to you about it, since you work all through the summer."

"Yes, but she has that camp, the riding
camp the next two weeks," I said. Then I shook my head. "We'll figure
something out."

"Does that mean that Dad stays for
dinner?" Julie asked with joy.

I shook my head. "No. No. That wasn't what
I meant."

They both looked at me with big eyes.
"Pleeease?"

I gesticulated resignedly. "Okay," I
said. "Stay for dinner. I'm sure Dad won't mind."

"The old man always liked me," Peter
said smiling.

Julie ran to me and gave me one of her warm
hugs. I closed my eyes realizing how much I had missed her.

"So how was Aarhus?" I asked when we
had walked inside. "The old house still standing?" Peter put Julie's
backpack on the floor next to mine. He stared at mine for a few seconds.

"We didn't go to our old house," Julie
said. "We went to Daddy's castle in the country. But we did go into Aarhus
almost every day; we drove in Daddy's car. Did I tell you we went to Tivoli
Friheden? We went to the beach one day too. You know close to where we used to
live. Daddy said the old house had too many bad memories, so he put it up for
sale."

I looked at him startled. "Really? Daddy
has a castle?" I asked.

Peter chuckled. "No. It's just the old
family estate outside of Aarhus by Lake Brabrand. You remember that, don't you?
It's been in the family for generations."

"Dragonsholm?" I asked.

"Yes, that's it," Julie answered.
"It was really fun. Lots of spooky places, Mommy. Great place to play hide
and seek. You should go there, Mommy. It's huuuge." Julie gestured widely
as she spoke.

I nodded. "Well that sounds like a fun
place to be," I said as we walked into the kitchen. Julie ran to my dad
and hugged him tightly. He enjoyed that and grunted contently. Julie saw the
pastries on the table and grabbed one.

"Dragonsholm, huh?" I said and looked
at Peter. "I thought you never wanted to go there again after that dispute
with your brother."

"Well things change. People change. Plus he
moved to Spain with his family, so he hardly uses it anymore. I thought I might
take advantage of that. I've been going there a lot lately. When the old house
reminds me a little too much of all the bad things that happened there, you
know. I feel like I'm stuck there sometimes, like the walls keep reminding me
of how bad a person I've been. My shrink says it’s normal. She's the one who
told me to try and sell it. You know, start over. It would give you a little
extra cash too, maybe get a place of your own down here," he said. "I
thought it was in both of our interests."

I poured coffee in two cups, then gave Peter
one. "I guess so," I said pensively.

"You think it's a bad idea?"

"No. I think it's a great idea, Peter. It’s
time for all of us to move on. Put it all behind us, you know. But it's just so
definitive, right? Like we're selling our past together. We both loved that
house, remember?"

"I know," Peter said while sipping his
coffee. Then he chuckled. "We did have some great times in that house.
It's hard to give all that up, but it's time, Rebekka."

"I know," I said. "I know. It
just takes a little time getting used to. I want to let go of all the bad
things, but the good things I want to remember."

Peter nodded. "Then let's do that. Let's
just remember the good things."

I looked at him and our eyes locked. For a
second I felt something, a sentiment I hadn't felt in years. His eyes smiled
gently like they used to. There was something in those eyes that reminded me
why I had fallen in love with him in the first place. Then I averted my eyes
and looked at Julie. "So you and Daddy had a lot of fun, huh?" Julie
had captured my phone and was playing some game on it, not paying attention to
anyone else anymore. "Well I'm glad you had such a wonderful time
together," I said and looked at Peter again.

"And how was your trip?" he asked.

I sighed deeply and rolled my eyes. "Well
that's a long story," I said. "But it was ... how do I say it ...
eventful."

"Isn't your life always eventful?"

"It tends to be," I said finishing my
coffee.

"I can't help noticing that you came here
alone? And you brought your backpack? Are you staying here tonight?" Peter
said and sipped his coffee.

"That's none of your business and you know
it," I said.

Peter shrugged. "Do I detect trouble in
paradise?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing. Just a
small bump in the road."

"If you say so."

"That is exactly what I'm saying." I
looked at my watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, then I have to go do some
grocery shopping if we're to have any dinner tonight."

Peter grabbed my hand as I stood up from the
chair. His touch stirred something in me, something I didn't want to be stirred
up.

"Let me treat you to a dinner
tonight," he said. "I'll take you all out. What do you say to
Italian? I know it's your favorite."

Julie shrieked with joy. "Say yes, Mom. Say
yes, say yes! I want pizza, I want pizza!"

I sighed. It had been months since we had been
able to afford to eat at a restaurant. Ever since I had moved out of Dad’s
place and started paying half of the rent for Sune's apartment I had been a
little short. Plus I was trying to pay off my credit card debt, so money had
been very tight lately. Peter always had enough money, coming from an extremely
rich family and he always had a way of sweeping in with his wallet and saving
the day for both me and Julie. I wasn't in the mood to cook anyway - or grocery
shop - so eating out was exactly what I needed right now.

"Please, Mom?"

I sighed resignedly. "Okay then. But I'm
not driving. I want wine with my dinner."

Peter smiled widely. "It's a deal."