Punishment aka What Is Mine

The only thing that Adam Stubo could think about was that it was him who would have to talk to Lena Baardsen. His eyes were hurting. He held his breath. Slowly he removed more of the white balls; it was like digging in dry snow. An arm came into view. Sarah Baardsen was lying on her stomach with her legs slightly apart. When two of the men gently turned her over, they saw the message. It was taped to the child’s stomach, a big piece of paper with red letters.

Now you’ve got what you deserved.

“Under the table, okay? I was just getting some cash on the side!”

The driver sniffed and the tears were running.

“And could I get a tissue soon? I’ve got a damned cold, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I would advise you to calm down.”

“Calm down! I’ve been sitting here for five hours, god damn it! Five hours! With no tissues and no lawyer.”

“You don’t need a lawyer. You haven’t been arrested. You are here of your own free will to help us.”

Adam Stubo pulled out his own handkerchief and handed it to the driver.

“Help you with what?”

The man was very distressed. His eyes were red. He obviously had a temperature and had difficulty breathing.

“Listen,” he said pleadingly. “I would love to help you, but I’ve told you everything I know! I got a telephone call. On my own private cell phone.”

He blew his nose loudly and shook his head in despair.

“I was told to pick up a package. It would be in the entrance of a tenement building in Urtegate. The building was due for demolition and the entrance would be open. There’d be a note on top of the package with the delivery address, along with an envelope containing two thousand kroner. Piece of cake!”

“Ahah. And you thought that was fine.”

“Well, fine… Our jobs are supposed to go through the office and I know that…”

“I wasn’t actually thinking about that. I was thinking more that you were willing to deliver a package for someone who didn’t even say who they were, simply because they tempted you with a couple thousand kroner. That’s what I meant. I find that… quite alarming, to be honest.”

Adam Stubo smiled. The driver smiled back, confused. There was something about the policeman that didn’t quite seem to fit.

“What if there’d been a bomb in the package, for example? Or drugs?”

Adam Stubo was still smiling, even more broadly now.

“It’s never anything like that.”

“Right. Never. So this is something you do quite often?”

“No, no, no… that’s not what I meant!”

“What did you mean then?”

“Listen,” said the driver.

“I’m listening, I’m all ears.”

“Okay, so I take a couple of jobs on the side. That’s not so unusual. Everyone…”

“No, not everyone. In most courier companies, the drivers are self-employed. But not BigBil. You’re employed by them. When you take jobs on the side, you’re cheating BigBil. And me, I guess. Society at large, in a way.”

Adam Stubo let out a short laugh.

“But let’s forget that for the moment. You couldn’t see the number on your phone?”

“Can’t remember. It’s true. I just answered the phone.”

“You didn’t react to the fact that the man… it was a man, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Young or old?”

“Don’t know.”

“High voice? Deep voice? Dialect?”

“But I’ve already answered all of this! I can’t remember what his voice was like. I didn’t react to the fact that he didn’t say who he was. I needed the money! It’s as simple as that. A quick two thousand kroner. Simple.”

“Couldn’t you just take the money and leave the package?”

Adam Stubo raised his eyebrows and rubbed his chin.

“I…”

The driver sneezed. The handkerchief was already soaking. Adam Stubo looked away.

“You what?”

“If I did that, those people wouldn’t call back. With new jobs, I mean.”

He was less defensive now; his voice was more subdued.

“Precisely. So you realize that this sort of delivery is by nature a bit suspicious? You understand that no one would pay two thousand kroner to have a package delivered two miles away if they could do it for a couple of hundred through legal channels? So there’s nothing wrong with your perception?”

The policeman was no longer smiling. The driver hid his face in the hanky.

“What was in the damned package?” he snivelled. “What the hell was in that package?”

“I think you’d rather not know,” said Adam Stubo. “You can go. We’ll be in touch again later. Hope you feel better soon. Keep the handkerchief. Good-bye.”

TWENTY-NINE

Sarah just disappeared. Emilie woke up and was alone. She had a really sore head and for once it was completely dark in the room. Emilie must have gone blind. She lay still for a long time, just staring up. Opened and closed her eyes, opened and closed. There was no difference. Maybe a little lighter when her eyes were shut, if she looked really hard. But then dots swam in front of her. When she really squeezed her eyes shut, the dots turned into big bubbles, red and blue and green bubbles. Emilie laughed and was blind. She wanted to sleep some more. Her head hurt but she smiled. Wanted to sleep. Then she thought of Sarah.

“Sarah?” she called out. “Where are you?”

No one answered. There was no one lying next to her either. Good. The bed was not really big enough for both of them. And in any case, Sarah wasn’t that nice. She boasted a lot. Boasted and cried all the time. Couldn’t cope when the man appeared. Screamed and pressed herself against the wall. Just didn’t get it. Didn’t understand that the man made sure that they had enough air. When Emilie poured her tomato soup down the toilet so the man wouldn’t be upset that she didn’t like his food, Sarah threatened to tell on her.

“Sarah? Sarahsarahsarahsarah!”

No, she wasn’t there.

The light came on like a huge explosion. It threw itself at her from the ceiling. Emilie groaned and curled up in a ball with her arms over her head. The light was like arrows piercing her face and her eyes were trying to creep into her head and disappear.

“Emilie?”

The man was shouting to her. She wanted to answer but couldn’t open her mouth. The light was too strong. The room was bright white, all white and silver and gold. Glitter that cut her skin.

“Emilie, are you sleeping?”

“Nssssnoshh…”

“I just thought it might be good for you to have some dark for a change. You’ve been fast asleep.”

His voice was not by the bed. It was in the doorway, by the cold door. He was frightened that it would close behind him. It was nearly always like that. He seldom came in. Emilie slowly let her arms sink down to the mattress. Breathe. In. Out. Open your eyes. The glitter hit her. She tried again. She was no longer blind. When