The Assistant by Kjell Ola Dahl

Author:Kjell Ola Dahl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orenda Books Ltd
Published: 2021-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

V

It is many years since Jack has been to Arvid Bjerke’s depot in Sagene. Now he notices that the company has a new name: Ingeniør A. Bjerkes Buss Centrale. Jack stops outside the wall, under the sign, gets off his bike and pushes it onto the stand, then walks in through the broad gates as he takes off his leather helmet and goggles.

There have been changes here. The depot is larger, the buses are more modern. They all look the same now – green – but the duty office is the same. The light is on, but there is no one inside. Jack carries on in, between two buses towering side by side. Soon he hears a familiar voice. A couple of legs are protruding from under a bus. It is a mechanic lying on a car creeper. A strong man in a dark suit is talking to the mechanic.

Bjerke is so unchanged that Jack is almost moved by seeing him again: the white smile, the rascally expression and the big fist pumping his hand.

The booming voice is also the same. ‘What are you doing here, Jack? Looking for a job?’

Jack shakes his head. ‘I was in the area, then I saw your big sign. Hell, I thought, I spent my younger days in this place. Perhaps I should have a word with Arvid and rediscover my youth.’

‘We’ve grown, Jack, expanded.’

Jack nods and looks around feigning that he is impressed. Bjerke has expanded too. His stomach is big, his double chin wobbles, and his thighs are so fat he has to find his sea-legs when he walks.

‘Those were the days, Jack.’

‘All gone.’

‘Do you remember driving the model T across the railway bridge? A T-Ford lorry?’

Bjerke talks to the mechanic under the bus. Bjerke kicks the creeper. ‘Bjarne, this guy drove over the railway bridge in Minnesund in a bloody T-Ford.’

The man on the board wriggles out. He is wearing a Standard cap and oil is streaked across his cheek. He dries his hands on some cotton waste.

‘Today you can drive over Minnesund in a car beside the railway track,’ Bjerke says. ‘That wasn’t there when this guy crossed on the rails.’

‘Must’ve been hairy,’ the mechanic says.

‘Johan was with me,’ Jack says.

‘Johan?’ Bjerke is lost.

‘Amalie’s brother.’

‘Oh, Christ, yes, Amalie. Do you remember her, Jack?’

Bjerke wraps an arm around his shoulder and leads him to the office.

‘The girl with one blue and one brown eye,’ Jack says.

Bjerke grins. ‘Amalie. The best lay I’ve had in my life, but don’t say that to the old girl.’

‘What happened to her, to Amalie?’

‘She moved to Germany.’

‘Ah, of course, I knew. I saw her off on the train.’

‘She got married in Germany,’ Bjerke says. ‘To a German who speaks Norwegian.’

Now, as in the old days, there is a pallet in front of the door as a step. They go in. The same low sofa is there by the wall. The same worn chairs on the other side of the table. The gas stove on the corner table is new.

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