I Stripped to Keep My Boyfriend in School, and He Sold Me to the Man My Brother Died Owing novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Sunday Table

We did not stop him, because by midnight we knew we could not.

Matti had walked out of the boat shed before dawn and taken the shore road to Two Harbors.

He took a bus from there in a borrowed coat and my father's old fur hat.

He went to my mother's house, and she opened the door, and he stood on the porch and said, "Ma."

I know because she told me.

She told me in her kitchen at six on Sunday morning, with her cardigan over her church dress and flour on her hands.

Her face looked ten years younger and also very tired.

"He ate three eggs," my mother said. "He ate them standing up."

"Ma," I said.

"I did not cry. I said, 'You need a haircut.' Then I held him until the eggs went cold."

I put my arms around her.

She was so small.

"He wants to do it today," she said. "At the table. The stewards will all be there. He says he can't wait another week, because Lars knows Tobias knows."

"I know," I said.

"He's right."

"I know he's right, Ma," I said.

"Are you afraid?" my mother said.

"I'm terrified."

"Good," Helmi said. "Then you'll do it properly."

Toby drove us.

He did not come in.

He parked at the corner of the church lot and stayed behind the wheel with the engine running, because I had told him to.

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