Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein

Author:Silje Ulstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2022-02-18T19:05:30+00:00

I carried the bag in which I had put Nero carefully down the stairs and back into the flatshare—I could hear him hissing furious commands from inside it. I had failed him. Of course he wanted to get out, he wanted to be free and hunt and live in harmony with nature. In his mind, there should be nothing to prevent him from slithering straight out onto the grass and making his way off into the forest, even if he might freeze to death in just a day or two. There was still only the mildness of spring in the air—but he could still freeze to death at night.

The door was open; I went into the hall and kicked off my shoes. It was quiet in the apartment, no music, which probably meant that Ingvar wasn’t home. On the other hand, I could hear Egil’s voice coming from the living room. It sounded as if he was speaking on the phone.

“I should have done it ages ago,” he said. “I’ve never been so sure of anything.”

His voice sounded fervent. I stuck my head around the door, knocking lightly on the doorframe.

“I have to go,” Egil said. “I’ll call you later. We’re doing this!”

“What are we doing?” I said after he had hung up.

“The robbery. This Saturday. In three days!” He clapped his hand against his mobile. “Pappa has an important dinner with a client in town that day. He gave me access to his calendar years ago when I lived with him, so we could schedule when we would see each other.” He laughed. “That says a lot about my father. Anyway. I know where he usually parks the car, so all we have to do is wait and attack him.”

Egil pretended to punch his phone with his fist.

“Bam! Hit him from behind. When he’s flat out, we’ll steal the keys to the house. I know where the safe is, and I’ve given the code to David. Easy. You can still get in on it if you want.”

I shook my head. “I still don’t intend to go to prison.”

His eyes met mine, and he gave me a roguish grin.

“But I haven’t told you the best part. On Saturday it’ll be the first-ever football match at the new stadium. The city will be crawling with people wearing football shirts, so all we need to do to make ourselves invisible is dress as if we’re going to the game. It’ll be the perfect crime.”

“Who’s going to hit him in the head?”

He grinned.

“I’m going to do it—with pleasure.”

“If he sees you, he’s going to know who mugged him.”

“Obviously we’re going to hide our faces, and it’ll happen fast—he’ll never have a chance to recognise me.”

He smacks his own palm again. He seems overeager, almost manic.

“And you think you’ll be able to do that? Hit your own father in the head? I mean, you’re really going to need to hold your nerve.”

“What is it you want, anyway?” he said, frowning.

I set the bag on the floor and opened the zip.

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