Big in Sweden by Sally Franson

Author:Sally Franson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

I’m not sure that was the conversation Tocke was hoping for when he staged that confrontation, but it was the conversation he got. Our discussion of guns and reproductive rights ended strangely, with Kevin spiraling into an existential crisis as it dawned on him that America, in Carolina’s eyes, was a backward shithole; Becki ignoring Tom’s feeble attempts at gratitude as she finished her moose; and my horror at Tom’s awfulness, coupled with the horror of my own ignorance, getting sublimated via a thorough scouring of the kitchen, which Junior, thankfully, joined. Carolina and Hans went to bed as soon as they could, looking more tired than if they’d killed and gutted a sixteen-pointer. Tocke sent the crew packing. He gestured to Tom, who was supine on the kitchen bench. “Go to bed for chrissakes.” I heard him swearing in Swedish on his way out the door.

“I’m going swimming,” Becki said after they’d left. “Anyone wanna come?”

I raised my hand, made shy by Becki’s quick thinking in a crisis and her brave admission of her abortion. I, too, had a strong urge to get out of the house and away from Tom’s emotional geysering. He had not left the bench, at Tocke’s instruction, but was double-fisting beers like some kind of Scandinavian Jabba the Hutt, his handlebar mustache drooping along with the air in the room. “Lemme just get my suit—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Paulie, who’s gonna see us?” Becki said, halfway out the door. “The moose?”

Though the water was initially shallow in the lake at the edge of Carolina’s property, it was still freezing. I yelped as I ran in to shoulder depth, covering my breasts with my hands. Becki was already swimming around like a dolphin, more at home than I’d ever seen her on land. “The Heimlich,” I panted from the cold. “Where’d you learn that?”

Becki explained she was first-aid certified, as were all her employees. “Just in case something happens on the job,” she explained matter-of-factly before she kicked off and swam away.

You never knew what talents people had, what might happen when their mettle got tested. I treaded water and contemplated the unknowability of other people, also the unknowability of myself. How could it be that I kept doing and saying things that did not make sense to the mind attached to the doings and sayings? Over time, the cool water relaxed my tense muscles and quieted these heady thoughts until all I could hear was the lapping of the water against my skin, the hum of insects, and the splashing of Becki in the water. The latter was distant at first but became less so. Until—

“Thanks for backing me up in there,” she said from right behind me. I turned around.

“Anytime,” I said, making figure eights with my hands. “Sorry Tom came at you like that.”

“I should’ve let him choke.” She laughed an uneasy laugh. “He’s really on one right now, isn’t he?”

“The mine set him off. I don’t know why he’s still here.”

“Tom’s head is so far up his ass—” Becki made figure eights with her hands too.

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