The Boss Said My Father Drowned His Brother, So He Took Me to Stand in the Water novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: What Pirjo Said
Elin's POV
The black car stopped at the foot of the cemetery road, and Pirjo Kivela got out of it by herself.
She wore her good wool coat and a black scarf over her white hair.
She carried a covered dish in both hands.
She climbed the hill through the snow without help, and no one went down to meet her.
The caretaker held his cap against his chest.
The two drivers had backed away from the grave until they stood among the dark stones, and they did not look at each other.
Stellan stood at the head of the open casket in his shirtsleeves, with his coat lying over my father's folded hands.
I stood beside him, and I did not let go of his hand.
Pirjo had brought food to a grave.
It was a plate of warm pulla under a white cloth, the way you bring bread to a house where someone has died.
She held it out in front of her like a woman who had every right to be here.
She stopped ten feet away and looked at the vault, and the lid propped against the stone, and the black coat on the box.
Her face did not change.
"Stellan," she said. "What have you done?"
"I opened it, Mother," Stellan said.
"You've dug up your brother."
"I haven't."
His voice was so quiet that the caretaker leaned to hear it.
"Come and look," he said. "Come and tell me who this is."
"I won't," Pirjo said. "I looked once, and it was enough for a lifetime."
"You looked at Tauno Lahti," Stellan said.
"I looked at my son," Pirjo said.
"There's a tag on his collar, Mother."
I felt Stellan's hand shake in mine, once, hard, and go still.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Boss Said My Father Drowned His Brother, So He Took Me to Stand in the Water are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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