music up loud enough to deafen any thoughts he had inside him I’m going on Saturday in any case I said I like Grandpa And I don’t want him to be lonely Dad nodded He hadn’t heard a word 6
I used football training as my excuse I asked for my weekly allowance It would be enough for tickets Then I packed my bag with the football socks blue shorts and proper football boots I’d insisted on getting I had to think of everything If you want something to eat look in the fridge 2 7 said my mother pickled herring herrings Thanks I said I made one cheese sandwich and one with That surprised her Have you started to like
No It’s for the salt I said You sweat so much when you do training It was a shame Dad didn’t hear that He liked it when anyone was scientific But he was fully occupied with the Saturday crossword puzzle When I was alone in the kitchen I took some thing to drink as well It’s lucky we decided not to go and see Grandpa now that you have training said Dad when I said goodbye Yes it is I said I told them I’d be home a bit late because after wards I was going with one of the football kids to work on our geometry homework because I was worst in the class Dad looked up from his newspaper It’s good that you’re doing something useful instead of coming up with silly ideas He smiled Mmm I said 8
And off I went The silly ideas were waiting for me First I went a short way towards the football field because my mother was at the window waving same as always After a bit I swung off towards the subway station I bought a ticket and when the train turned up I got on I could see my face in the train window half see-through a good ghost on a forbidden mission I got off at Slussen and switched to the red bus But before that I lingered on the platform to look at what was according to Dad the city’s most beautiful neon sign a giant tube squeezing out a shining worm of toothpaste onto a yellow toothbrush It made me think of Dad And Grandpa And how different they were Dad was long and thin 9
