Excerpt: Dogs of Pompeii

Chapter 6: Language Lessons

Maja tugged on her hair, sticking a corner in her mouth. She wasn't surprised that Peder wasn't going to make it. Again. She was just disappointed. It was no use being disappointed with Peder, it was always a surprise when he did show up for something they'd planned. She was disappointed in herself for allowing the hope that this time would be different to even lodge in her mind. She knew better.

She spit out her hair, and looked down at her cell again. The briefly apologetic text mocking her from the screen. She closed it, and flipped the phone shut. At least this time she thought to invite Berit and Caren along. Granted, she would have to give them some time alone, as all new couples seemed to crave.

But Caren had work until 3:00, so they wouldn't be able to come until that night. Maja sighed, and hauled herself off of the bench. Might as well go check at the hostel, see if she could put her stuff away.

It was a short walk to the hostel, and she was pleased to find that not only could she check in, but that there was also a locked luggage room, so she could go walk around until Berit and Caren showed up around dinnertime. She had already taken her portfolio and wheel case to the gallery, she doubted Peder even remembered why this weekend trip to Stockholm was especially important to her. She was told by the owner she would be allowed in the gallery in the morning to set up her works.

After locking up her pack, Maja headed to the community kitchen. A group of boys had just come in, their packs flung on the floor. One was limping, still making his way slowly to a chair, but the other two were already seated.

"Maybe you could ask her," said the curly haired one as he finally got to his chair.
The other two, one with light brown hair, the other with a dirty-blonde crew cut, turned to face her.

"Um, do you speak English?" said the one with light brown hair.

Maja nodded slowly.

"And Swedish?"

She raised one eyebrow, and nodded again. A look of relief washed over the other's face. The boy with the light brown hair continued.

"It's a medical term. We need to replace his medicine, for a bee sting. We went to the pharmacy on the corner, but they've never seen the brand before, and the only person there doesn't speak English."

"First person I've met who doesn't, it seems," chimed in the one with the limp.

"What is it?" she asked, ignoring the comment. She knew from Peder's tricks it was meant to provoke, and knew better than to rise to it, no matter how cute the would-be agitator might be.

The one with the crew cut stood and pulled a needle plunger from his pocket. He handed it to her. She looked at it, and at the angry red spot on his arm.

"Allergic reaction?" she asked.

The guy with the crew cut nodded. The one with the limp leaned forward and said, "He got so bad, he couldn't breath right. We'd hate for it to happen again and us to have to explain to his parents what happened."

Maja looked again at the plunger, and wondered vaguely if the hostel had a Swedish/English dictionary.

"If you could maybe write down what it is, we could take it back to the pharmacy."

"Oh, and crutch" said the guy with the crew cut. "I'm tired of listening to him complain."

Well, she had been looking for something to do, perhaps helping these Americans would kill some time.

"I'll help. First, what is your names?"

"I'm Tim," said the cute one with the curly hair and sure grin.

"Donovan," was the one with the crew cut.

"Neal."

"I'm Maja. I'm going to take Neal and Donavan back to the pharmacy. It will be easier if I am there to explain, in case the pharmacist has questions. I can translate."

"What about me?" Tim asked, his eyes going wide, and a pout forming on his lips.

She sighed, and tapped his right foot with hers. He drew in a sharp breath. "Better you stay here. I think there is ice in the freezer."

Neal got up and found the ice, putting some in one of the kitchen towels.

"We will not be long."

The trip ended up taking almost an hour. The pharmacist seemed to be willfully misunderstanding Maja as she translated what Donovan was looking for. It wasn't until she mentioned, in an off-handed way, that she would contact Peder's father, who happened to be a minor official in the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs that he was suddenly able to produce an exact duplicate to the empty plunger they were asking after, a high quality bandage and foot brace and a crutch. Finally, she thought, Peder was good for something.

When they finally got back to the hostel, Tim was sprawled out across the table, the towel of ice a damp cloth on his foot. He looked up without moving his head, totally dejected. "Finally," he said. "Oh, is that for me?"

"Yeah," Neal said. "You owe Donovan – he paid for it."

"Figured it was the least I could do for the bastard," Donovan said with a grin. "Oh, hey, you should get Maja to speak to you. Ask her to translate something. Swedish is so cool."

Maja was taken aback, but loved the grin that played across Tim's face at the suggestion.

"How do you say 'Are you hungry?'"

Maja translated it for him.

"What's for dinner?"

"Do you know any good restaurants?"

She translated them one after another, and Donovan and Tim barraged her with questions like "What's fun to do in Stockholm? Where are you from? Do you want to eat?"

She faithfully translated them all, smiling as they tried to repeat.

"Wait, what's that sound?"

Maja repeated the vowel. "You don't have it in English, it is harder to learn once you grow up. For me it is easy."

Again they tried to repeat it.

"No, more at the back of the throat."

Neal, who had sat quietly for most of it tried to duplicate the sound.

"Close, very close," Maja said, surprised. "But the… back of your throat, it needs to be closed more."

Neal tried again, but just couldn't duplicate the sound.

"You know what," Tim said, slapping his hand on the table. "It's not fair."

"What isn't?" Maja said.

"We've been asking all these questions," he said, his eyes glinting, "And trying in your natural tongue, sounding like fools, and you haven't answered one of them."

Maja felt her cheeks darken, and suddenly found she couldn't meet Tim's eye. Donovan chuckled, then started clamoring that it wasn't fair, and she really should start answering them.

"What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

Maja looked up at the familiar voice, and ran over to give Caren a hug. A set of quick introductions, and Tim was complaining again "I'm hungry. Do you ladies want to join us for dinner?"

Berit said she was starved, but Caren put a hand on her arm. She gave an apologetic smile to Maja. "We're trying to save money – we are only going to say one night, leave after your show opening. We'll help you set up. But we need to cook, not go out. Restaurants here are so expensive."

Berit bit her lip and nodded in agreement. "That's why we picked this place – cheap rooms and a kitchen."

Tim and Donovan were starting to sound disappointed when Neal spoke up, his voice soft. "I can cook, if someone helps me with the shopping? Maybe a little help cleaning up?"

Berit and Caren looked at Maja, who gave a small shrug. She knew they were asking if these boys were okay. She looked over the battered and bruised trio, and smiled. She gave a nod. "That sounds good."

"But you," Tim said, putting his hand on Maja's arm; it was surprisingly warm. "Have to stay here. It was so boring last time."

Maja met his smile with her own, ignoring the look that passed between Berit and Caren. She looked up at them, and Caren said, "I'll go. Berit, you can stay here and help them learn their vowels."

Maja flushed as she realized that her friends had heard more of the conversation than they had first let on. She sat back down, next to Tim, and started to work on pronunciation of sound that had him pursing his lips in a funny way. Berit humored her by teaching Donovan a few phrases.

As Neal and Caren left, Maja debated inviting the boys to her art show the next day, and decided she would – and she didn't even bother to wonder what Peder would think. Berit and Caren always said she could do better, and watching Tim try so hard to impress her, she knew they were right.