“Would you like flowers? Apart from the wreaths and so on? Many people think it lends atmosphere. I have a small selection here if you would like to see …”
He passed Yngve another sheet of paper. Yngve pointed to one option, glanced at me and I nodded.
“That’s that then,” the funeral director said. “That leaves the coffin … We have a variety of pictures here …”
Another piece of paper crossed the desk.
“White,” I said. “Is that okay with you? That one.”
“Fine by me,” Yngve said.
The funeral director retrieved the sheet and made a note. Then he peered up at us.
“You requested a viewing today, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Yngve said. “Preferably this afternoon, if that’s possible.”
“That’s fine, of course. But … erm, you are aware of the circumstances he died in, aren’t you? That his death was … alcohol-related?”
We nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just as well to be prepared for what might await one in such situations.”
He shuffled his papers and tapped them on the table.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to receive you myself this afternoon, but my colleague will be there. At the chapel by Oddernes Church. Do you know where it is?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Four o’clock. Is that convenient?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“So let’s say that then. Four o’clock at the chapel by Oddernes Church. And if there’s anything else that occurs to you, or if you wish to change anything, just ring me. You have my number, don’t you?”
“Yes, we do,” Yngve said.
“Fine. Oh, there is one more matter. Would you like a funeral announcement in the newspaper?”
“I suppose we would, wouldn’t we?” I said, looking at Yngve.
“Yes,” he said. “We’ve got to do that.”
“But it might be best to spend a bit of time on it,” I said. “To decide what we should say and what names we should mention and all that …”
“No problem,” said the funeral director. “You can just drop by or give a call when you’ve given it some thought. But don’t leave it too late. The newspaper usually needs a couple of days’ notice.”
“I can call you tomorrow,” I said. “Is that alright?”
“Excellent,” he said, standing up with another sheet of paper in his hand. “Here’s our telephone number and the priest’s address. Which of you would like to hold on to it?”
“I will,” I said.
Standing outside on the pavement, Yngve produced a packet of cigarettes and offered me one. I nodded and took it. Actually the thought of smoking was repugnant, as it always was the day after drinking because the smoke, not so much the taste or smell as what it stood for, created a connection between the present day and the previous one, a kind of sensory bridge across which all kinds of things streamed so that everything around me, the grayish-black tarmac, the light gray curbstones, the gray sky, the birds flying beneath it, the black windows in the rows of houses, the red car we were standing beside, Yngve’s distracted figure, were permeated by terrifying internal images; at the same time there was something in the sense of destruction and desolation that the smoke in my lungs gave me that I needed, or wanted.
“That went well,” I said.
“There are a few things we still have to sort out,” he said.
“Or rather you will have to sort out. Like the funeral announcement, for example. But you can just call me while I’m heading back.”
“Mm,” I said.
“Did you notice the word he used, by the way?” Yngve commented. “Viewing?”
I smiled.
“Yes, but then there is something estate agent — like about this industry. Their job is to make things look as good as possible and pocket as much as they can. Did you see how much the coffins cost?”
Yngve nodded.
“Hm, and you can’t exactly be a tightwad when you’re sitting there,” he said.
“It’s a bit like buying wine in a restaurant,” I said. “If you’re not a connoisseur, I mean. If you’ve got a lot of money you take the second-most expensive. If you haven’t, you take the second-cheapest. Never the most expensive, nor the cheapest. That’s probably the way it is with coffins as well.”
“By the way, you expressed a very firm opinion there,” Yngve said. “The coffin having to be white, I mean.”
I shrugged and threw the glowing cigarette onto the road.
“Purity,” I said. “I suppose that was what I must have been thinking.” Yngve dropped his cigarette on the ground, stepped on it, opened the car door, and got in. I followed.
“I’m dreading seeing him,” Yngve said. He buckled the seat belt with one hand while putting the key in the ignition and twisting with the other. “Are you?”
“Yes. But I have to do it. Unless I do I will never comprehend that he’s really dead.”
“Same here,” Yngve said, checking the mirror. Then he signaled and drove off.
“Shall we go home now?” he asked.
“The machines,” I said. “The carpet cleaner and the lawn mower. Would be great if we could get them before you leave.”
“Do you know where the shop is?”
“No, that’s just it,” I said. “Gunnar said there was a place to rent them in Grim, but I don’t know the precise address.”
“Okay,” Yngve said. “We’ll have to find a telephone directory. Do you know if there’s a phone booth nearby?”
I shook my head.
“But there’s a gas station at the end of Elvegata, we can try there.”
“That’s a good idea,” Yngve said. “I have to fill up before I go tonight anyway.”
A minute later we pulled up under the roof of a gas station. Yngve parked beside the pump and while he filled I went into the shop. There was a pay-phone on the wall and below it three boxed directories. After finding the address of the rental firm and memorizing it I went to the till to buy some tobacco. The man ahead of me in the queue turned around as I went up.
“Karl Ove?” he said. “Is it you?”
I recognized him. We had been at gymnas together. But I couldn’t remember his name.
“Hello, it’s been a long time,” I said. “How’s it going?”
“Great!” he said. “How are you?”
I was surprised by the genuine tone. During the prom period I had had a party at home and he had come, turned nasty, and kicked a hole in our bathroom door. Afterward he had refused to pay and there had been nothing I could do. Another time he had been driving a prom bus, with Bjørn I think it must have been and me sitting on the roof, we were going to the recreation center, and all of a sudden, on the hill after the Timenes intersection, he stamped on the accelerator and we had to spreadeagle and hold on tight to the bars, he was doing at least seventy, probably eighty, and just laughed when we arrived, even when we gave him a hard time.
So why the friendly overtures now?
I met his gaze. His face was perhaps a bit more fleshy, otherwise he hadn’t changed at all. But there was something stiff about his features, a kind of fixedness, which the smile reinforced rather than softened.
“What are you doing now?” I asked.
“Working in the North Sea.”
“Ah,” I said. “So you’re earning tons of money!”
“Yep. And I get lots of time off. So that’s good. And you?”
While he was talking to me he looked at the shop assistant and pointed to a grilled sausage and hoisted one finger in the air.
“Still studying,” I said.
“What subject?”
“Literature.”
“Mm, you always did like that,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “Do you see anything of Espen? Or Trond? Or Gisle?”