Tiger Milk (28 page)
Authors: Stefanie de Velasco,
Nini and Jameelah are best friends. They’re going to be best friends forever.
As the long summer holidays stretch out before them, Berlin becomes their playground. The days all merge into one: swimming, smoking, shoplifting, and hanging out with friends from their estate. At night they descend on the red light district, impersonating the prostitutes there in order to practise for their first time, giggling to each other, tipsy on the Tiger Milk – their homemade cocktail – they’ve been sipping all day.
But then, one night, Nini and Jameelah witness a devastating crime that threatens to ruin everything.
Tiger Milk
is an explosive story of love, death and rebellion and of an extraordinary friendship.
‘Nails the undertone of an untethered, feral generation.’
Die Welt
‘A novel of rebellion, love, death, and an extraordinary friendship.’
Bucher
S
TEFANIE DE
V
ELASCO
lives and works in Berlin. In 2011, she received the Literature Prize Prenzlauer Berg for the first chapters of
Tiger Milk
and was shortlisted for the Aspekte Literature Prize for Best Debut 2013. This is her first novel.
Contact her via Twitter:
@stefdevelasco
Find out more at:
www.headofzeus.com/newvoices
T
IM
M
OHR
has translated such authors as Alina Bronsky, Charlotte Roche, and Wolfgang Herrndorf. His own writing has appeared in the
New York Times
,
Daily Beast
, and
Playboy
. Prior to starting his writing career he made his living as a club DJ in Berlin.
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The story starts here
Originally published in the German language as
Tigermilch
by Stefanie de Velasco. Copyright 2013, Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmBH & Co. KG,
Cologne/Germany (2013)
First published in the UK in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd.
Copyright © Stefanie de Velasco, 2013
Translation copyright © Tim Mohr
The translation of this work was supported by a grant from the Goethe-Institut which is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The lines from
The Modern Witch’s Spell Book
(
here
) are reproduced by kind permission.
The moral right of Stefanie de Velasco to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB) 9781781857441
ISBN (XTPB) 9781781858134
ISBN (E) 9781781857434
Head of Zeus Ltd
Clerkenwell House
45-47 Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
Table of Contents
I wouldn’t have even noticed it
It’s still the middle of the day
When Jameelah and I go shoplifting
Today is the last day of school
The next morning I ring the bell
We buy a Müller milk container
On TV people who’ve seen something bad
The birthday card with Papa’s address
Mama, I call when I unlock the door
I’m tired, the usual condition during
