You dont understand! I just wanted you to-
Otherwise its an excellent instrument, Axel hurries to add.
You hear the sound-dry and sharp and-
Im not saying its a bad violin, Axel continues impassively. Im only saying that theres a spot in the sound that is not alive-
Alive? This is a Bartok performer buying this violin, Robert says. Were talking about Bartok, and thats not the same thing as David Bowie.
Maybe I heard wrong, Axel responds quietly.
Robert opens his mouth to answer when theres a knock on the door. Its Roberts wife, Anette.
She opens the door and smiles when she sees Robert holding his violin.
So you were trying out the Strosser? she asks expectantly.
Yes, Robert says harshly. But Axel doesnt like it.
Thats not true, Axel says. Im sure his customer will be perfectly satisfied. What I was saying might just be a figment of my imagination-
Oh, Robert, dont listen to him, Anette says with irritation. What does he know?
Robert now just wants to leave and take his wife with him to avoid a scene, but she turns to Axel.
Confess that you just imagined a fault, she demands.
There is no fault in it. Just an adjustment of the sound post that-
And when was the last time you played? Thirty years ago? Forty? You were nothing more than a child then. You owe Robert an apology.
Let it go, Robert says.
Say youre sorry, Anette demands.
All right. Im sorry, Axel says. He feels his cheeks flush.
You dont want Robert to have the fame his new violin deserves.
Im sorry.
Axel turns his stereo back on very loud. Ziggy Stardust drops into rotation. The music sounds like two guitars that havent been tuned properly and a singer who is searching for the right note: Goodbye love, goodbye love
Anette mutters something more about Axels lack of talent, but Robert tells her to just shut up as he pulls her out of the room. Axel raises the volume even higher and the drums and bass guitar turn the music around: Didnt know what time it was and the lights were low oh oh. I leaned back on my radio oh oh.
Anette mutters something more about Axels lack of talent, but Robert tells her to just shut up as he pulls her out of the room. Axel raises the volume even higher and the drums and bass guitar turn the music around: Didnt know what time it was and the lights were low oh oh. I leaned back on my radio oh oh.
Axel shuts his eyes and feels how they burn in the dark. He is already very tired. There are times when he can sleep for half an hour and at other times he cant sleep at all, even when Beverly is in bed next to him. At those times, he wraps himself in a blanket and goes to sit on the glassed-in veranda with its view of the beautiful old trees in the garden. He will sit there until the dampened light of dawn appears. Of course, Axel understands completely what is wrong with him, and he closes his eyes and thinks back again to the day when his whole life changed.
54
Penelope and Bjorn study each other with tired, serious eyes. Through the closed door, they can hear Ossian Wallenberg singing Do You Want to See a Star? like Zarah Leander as hes rearranging the furniture.
We can take him on, Penelope whispers.
Maybe so.
Weve got to try.
And what then? Are we going to torture him to get his PIN number?
I think hell give it to us once were in control, Penelope says.
What if he doesnt?
She sways from exhaustion as she walks to the window and begins to loosen the hooks. Her fingers are tender and swollen. Her fingernails are broken and embedded with dirt and clay and scabs.
Maybe we can head farther up the beach, she says.
Good, he says. Go ahead.
Im not going to leave you behind.
I cant keep going, Penny, he says, and he doesnt look at her. My feet-I cant run anymore. At the most, maybe I could walk for another half hour.
Ill help you.
Maybe theres no one else with a phone on the whole island. We dont know. We havent the slightest idea.
I dont want to be part of his disgusting-
Penny, we have to contact the police. We have no choice: we have to use his phone.
Ossian throws open the door with a grin. Hes wearing a leopard-patterned jacket with only a loincloth beneath. Ceremoniously he leads them to an enormous sofa. The curtains are still closed and hes moved the other furniture to the side to open a big space in the living room for him to move freely. The little man steps into the spotlight formed by two floor lamps, stops, and turns.
Ladies and gentlemen! Time flies when you have fun on a Friday evening! he announces, winking. Weve reached the competition segment of our show and tonight we welcome this evenings special guest, known from her appearances on television. Shes a shitty communist and she has an underage lover. This is a truly mismatched couple, if you ask me. A hag and a young man with a well-sculptured torso.
Ossian winks again, and flexes his arm for the imaginary camera.
Everybody ready? he calls, jogging in place. Do you have your approval buttons? I present: Truth or Consequences! Ossian challenges-the Hag and the Cutie!
He spins an empty bottle on the floor. It rotates a few times and points to Bjorn.