Chapter 2 (Lítið Fólk)

We are introduced to the characters in action

14 September, 1990. I was across the street from Stefan’s pre-school, waiting for him to walk through the door, when I spotted a boy, around my age, being held close by who I presumed to be his mother. She was looking around frantically, as if waiting for something horrible to happen, and the boy looked rather irritated by her. I found it strange - I had never seen such a display from a mother, especially not when her child was so old.

As he passed by, he glanced up at me, and we made eye contact. He looked away almost immediately, clearly embarrassed, and turned the corner of the post office and was out of sight. This memory was one I would never come to forget; something about this boy and his mother touched me.

I dropped the thought and continued my wait, which lasted only a few minutes longer. When the doors finally opened, Stefan was one of the first children I spotted. When he saw me, he broke out into a smile and ran across the street - not before looking both ways, of course - and into my open arms.

“How was your day?” I asked him, and he nodded his head at me.

Stefan never was very verbal; I tried, at first, to get him to open up and speak to me more often, but he refused. Eventually I realized that as long as he could find a way to communicate non-verbally, he would be okay. I didn’t like the thought of making him uncomfortable or resentful toward me.

I picked Stefan up from under his arms and placed him on my shoulders. He gripped my dark curly hair tightly and pulled gently, which I knew was an indication that he was ready to go. I began the short walk back to Annette’s house, where she and my other brothers would be waiting. Once school let out, we would have about 2 hours left before Annette’s father returned home from work, so we would quickly eat a small portion of a meal, and get anything school-related done as fast as we could possibly manage. There were days when Lárus or Magnus would be sent to school with half or quarter-finished projects. But I still concede that it was better than nothing.

As we came upon the drive to Annette’s house, I leaned down to let Stefan crawl off of my shoulders. Before we could reach the house, the door was opening and we were greeted by Lárus, who wore a shameful look on his face.

“What is it?” I asked, pushing past him and collapsing in Annette’s father’s recliner. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the 500 kr I had earned that day helping an elderly lady around her house. Those wages added to the wages I had already accumulated was nearly enough to buy Stefan a jacket. It was starting to get cold outside again, and I didn’t want to run the risk of my youngest brother coming down with a cold or, G-d forbid, the flu.

Lárus shut the door and followed me into the front room. He seated himself on the arm of my chair and folded his hands over his knee. He would not look me in the eye.

“Out with it,” I demanded. I was far too tired to try and wrestle whatever was causing this guilt out of him.

“I got in trouble in class today,” he mumbled quietly, fidgeting with his thumbs. “They want me to stay after school tomorrow. And next time is a parent conference.”

At those words, I felt my blood run cold.

“Lárus, what did you do?”

He didn’t speak for nearly a minute, and I could see his eyes filling with tears and his ears and nose turning red. I glanced at Stefan and Annette, who were sitting on the couch, and Magnus, who was sat at the dining table finishing his schoolwork.

Deciding to pity my brother, I grabbed him gently by the arm and led him to the kitchen, where we could speak privately.

“Tell me now,” I whispered. I let go of his arm and he let out a shaky breath. As I watched him struggle to keep himself from crying, I felt a pang of empathy in my chest.

It was hard to be a parent to my little brothers. I wanted them to see me as a friend, who would help them and have fun with them, nothing more. But it just wasn’t possible. At least not the way I wanted it to be. It was a small price I had to pay to keep them by my side.

“I hit Njáll Jakobsson.”

I hung my head. Lárus had started to become more violent lately; no doubt some sort of psychological issue related to our mother leaving us. But I was no psychologist, I was only 16. In all honesty, when it came to punishing my brothers, I was at a complete loss. I tried to keep in mind how I would feel in their situation, while also ingraining the severity of the issue in their minds.

“Lárus, you do realize you have no parent to go with you to a parent conference?” I spoke to him in an even voice, despite being on edge.

He looked up at me, eyes narrowed in confusion. “Why can’t you go?”

“I’m not your father. If they find out you have no parents, they’ll separate us and you’ll have to live with a family you don’t know. Do you want that to happen?”

He shook his head.

“Good.” I relaxed, hoping that my message had gotten through to him. “So behave. Leave Njáll Jakobsson alone. Leave everyone alone if you absolutely need to.”

He nodded.

“Go finish your work upstairs. And don’t come down until it’s time to go.”

With that, he ran off. I could hear him rushing up the creaky stairs, and, after a minute, the upstairs bedroom door closing.

“Marel!” Annette called, and I walked out of the kitchen and into the front room. She had Stefan bouncing in her lap while his eyes were transfixed on the television.

“What?” I asked, sounding rather short. I winced - I hadn’t intended to sound so harsh. Annette didn’t seem fazed.

“What was that about?” she asked. I sat down next to her and sighed.

“He hit one of his classmates in the face.” Annette raised her eyebrows.

“Did he say why?”

I shook my head and looked at Magnus, who quickly looked away, clearly pretending as though he hadn’t been listening. “What time is it?”

Annette glanced at her watch. “4:11.”

About 40 minutes until we would have to leave. I stood up from the couch and climbed the stairs, heading for Annette’s bedroom.

I pulled a shoebox from underneath her bed and removed the lid, revealing the stash of money I had been saving up. I separated the funds for Stefan’s jacket from our weekly food pile. I looked down at the 500 kr I held in my hand and debated whether my brothers could handle going hungrier than usual one day. I shrugged and placed the money in Stefan’s pile. That made 2500 kr, which was more than I had expected. Enough to buy him a rather good one. I grinned and pocketed the money. I sat on the floor and thought about how best to split the money - by Thursday of last week we had already run out, and I refused to let that happen again. A fourth of a serving of Annette’s leftovers could only go so far, especially for growing boys. After a little while I managed to come up with a plan that was a little better than last week’s - although that opinion was subject to change, as it usually did.

I gently closed the door as I left the room. Downstairs, Magnus had finished his homework and Stefan had fallen asleep on Annette’s lap; she was gently petting his hair.

I sat back down. “So how was your day?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“There was a new student today,” she said. “Very strange.”

“How so?”

She pulled a face, as if she didn’t know what to say. “He was...quiet. I tried to talk to him, and he didn’t seem all that interested - and he wouldn’t look me in the eyes.”

“Maybe he’s just shy,” I said. I was fairly introverted during my time at school.

Annette shrugged. “Maybe. I had a pretty good day today, though.” She looked down at her watch. “4:47. Think you should start heading out soon?”

I nodded, and, after some gentle maneuvering of Stefan, we both stood. I followed her to the kitchen and watch her cut up an apple. She usually sent us out with a small snack to hold us over until the next day. She placed four large pieces into a small brown paper bag and handed it to me with a kiss on the cheek.

I smiled at her and left the kitchen, already buzzing with the anticipation of eating.

“Magnus, go get your brother.” He looked away as soon as our eyes met, but nodded and ran up the stairs, calling for Lárus.

I picked up Stefan and placed him on my hip. He wrapped his arms and legs around me and buried his face in my neck. Magnus and Lárus both appeared at the bottom of the stairs and followed me to the now open door. Before I left the house, I turned around and faced Annette.

“If anything interesting happens you know where to find me.”

Author's Note

This chapter is where it starts to get a little rocky as I don't like writing action or dialogue. I'm better at writing introspective/retrospective pieces. So if anyone has any suggestions as how to make it just a tiny bit more meaningful, please let me know!