‘A bottle of whisky.’
Was that all? Relief washed over him. He could easily sneak one out of the house.
‘Okay. No problem. What time should I be here?’
Erik took a couple of puffs on his cigarette. He looked so worldly wise holding that cigarette in his hand. Grown up.
‘We have to make sure that nobody bothers us. So after midnight. Shall we say twelve thirty?’
Christian felt himself nodding a bit too eagerly. ‘Okay. Twelve thirty. I’ll be here.’
‘Good,’ said Erik.
Christian hurried away. His feet felt lighter than they had in a long time. Maybe his luck would now change and he’d finally belong.
The rest of the day passed very slowly. At last it was time for bed, but he didn’t dare close his eyes for fear of oversleeping. So he lay there, wide awake, staring at the hands of the clock as they slowly moved towards midnight. At twelve fifteen he climbed out of bed and got dressed, careful not to make any noise. He slipped downstairs and went over to the drinks cabinet. There were several whisky bottles inside. He took the one that was nearly full. The bottle clinked as he took it out, and for a moment he didn’t move. But no one seemed to have heard the sound.
When he got close to Badholmen, he could hear the other boys. It sounded like they had already been there a while, like the party had started without him. For a second he considered turning around. He could just walk back to the house, slip inside, put the bottle back in the cabinet, and crawl into bed. But then he heard Erik laughing, and he wanted to join in that laughter; he wanted to be one of the boys that Erik exchanged glances with. So he kept on going, carrying the whisky bottle firmly under his arm.
‘Hey, take a look,’ said Erik, slurring his words and pointing at Christian. ‘Here comes the king of the party.’ He sniggered, and Kenneth and Magnus followed suit. Magnus looked like he’d had the most to drink. He was swaying as he sat there, and he was having a hard time focusing.
‘Did you bring the admission ticket?’ asked Erik, motioning him forward.
Feeling wary, Christian handed him the bottle. Were they going to humiliate him now? Were they going to chase him away, since he’d brought what they wanted?
But nothing happened. Erik simply opened the bottle, took a big slug of the whisky, and then handed it to Christian. He just stared. He wanted to take a drink, but he didn’t know if he dared. Erik urged him to try it, and Christian realized that he would have to do as Erik said if he wanted to be part of the group. He sat down with the bottle in his hand, and then raised it to his lips. And just about choked when he swallowed too much of the whisky.
‘So how was that, lad?’ Laughing, Erik pounded him on the back.
‘Good,’ said Christian, taking another gulp, just to prove it.
The bottle passed from hand to hand a few times, and he began to feel a pleasant warmth spreading through his body. His anxiety vanished. The whisky pushed away everything that had been keeping him awake at night lately. The eyes. The smell of rotting flesh. He took another swallow.
Magnus was lying on his back, staring up at the stars in the sky. Kenneth didn’t say much. He just agreed with everything Erik said. But Christian was enjoying being in their company. He was somebody. Part of a group.
‘Christian?’ a voice said from the doorway. He turned to look. What was she doing here? Why did she have to turn up and ruin everything? His old anger awoke.
‘Get lost,’ he snarled, and then saw her face contort in disappointment.
‘Christian?’ she repeated, her voice thick with tears.
He got up to chase her away, but Erik put his hand on Christian’s arm.
‘Let her stay,’ he said, and Christian looked at him in surprise. But he complied, and sat down again.
‘Come here!’ Erik waved for Alice to come closer.
She gave Christian an enquiring glance, but he merely shrugged.
‘Sit down,’ said Erik. ‘We’re having a party.’
‘Party!’ said Alice, her face lighting up.
‘What luck that you happened to stop by. We need some pretty girls here too.’ Erik put his arm around Alice and touched a lock of her dark hair. Alice laughed. She liked being called pretty.
‘Here. If you want to come to our party, you have to drink.’ He took the bottle away from Kenneth, who was just about to take a swig, and handed it to Alice.
Again she looked at Christian, but he didn’t care what she did. If she was going to keep following him, she’d just have to play along.
She started to cough, and Erik stroked her back. ‘There, there, what a good girl. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. You just have to try again.’
Hesitantly she raised the bottle and took another swallow. This time it went better.
‘Good. That’s the kind of girl I like. Someone who’s pretty and knows how to drink whisky,’ said Erik with a smile that made Christian’s stomach start to churn. He wanted to take Alice by the hand and lead her home. But then Kenneth sat down next to him, put an arm around his shoulder, and mumbled:
‘Shit, Christian, just think – here we are with you and your sister. I bet you never thought that would happen, did you? But we knew there was a bloody decent lad under all that flab.’ Kenneth pointed at his stomach, and Christian didn’t know whether to take his remark as a compliment or not.
‘She’s really cute, your sister,’ said Erik, moving even closer to Alice. He helped her raise the bottle again, pouring more whisky down her throat. Her eyes were shining, and she had a big smile on her face.
Christian suddenly felt everything start to spin. All of Badholmen was spinning. Around and around, like the globe. He giggled and lay down on his back next to Magnus, looking up at the stars that seemed to be whirling through the sky.
A sound from Alice made him sit up. He was having a hard time focusing, but he could see Erik and Alice. And he thought Erik had his hand inside Alice’s shirt. But he wasn’t sure, with everything spinning around him. He lay down again.
‘Shh…’ Erik’s voice and the same whimpering sound from Alice. Christian rolled on to his side and rested his head on his outstretched arm. He looked at Erik and his sister. Her shirt was gone. She had small, perfect breasts. That was the first thought that occurred to him. That she had perfect breasts. He’d never seen them before.
‘Don’t worry. I’m just going to feel them a little…’ Erik kneaded her breasts with his hands as he started breathing harder. Kenneth was staring at Alice’s bare torso.
‘Come and feel,’ said Erik, nodding to Kenneth.
Christian saw that Alice was scared, that she was trying to cover her breasts with her arms. But his head felt so heavy he couldn’t lift it.
Kenneth sat down next to Alice. After waiting for a signal from Erik, he lifted his hand and began touching her left breast. He squeezed it cautiously at first, then harder, and Christian could see the bulge in his shorts grow.
‘I wonder if the rest is just as nice?’ murmured Erik. ‘What do you say, Alice? Is your pussy just as nice as your tits?’
Her eyes were big and frightened. But she didn’t seem to know how to defend herself. Without resistance, she allowed Erik to slip off her knickers. He let her keep on her skirt, just lifting it up to show Kenneth.
‘What do you think? I doubt anyone’s been here before.’ He pushed her knees apart, and Alice numbly let him do it, incapable of protesting.
‘Shit, check this out. Magnus, wake up! You’re missing something here.’
