Free TH02 - The Priest of Evil by Matti Joensuu

either, you fucking poof!’
    ‘You’re the…’
    ‘Jesus Christ,’ said Janne; he sounded almost amazed and started stretching his arms. Matti was so afraid that it felt as if his hands were swelling. ‘Did you hear that? This poor tosser just called me a poof.’
    ‘I heard him.’
    ‘Me too.’
    ‘I heard him call you an arse bandit too.’
    ‘Fucking hell,’ Janne said stretching his arms again. He came right up to Matti and grabbed the scruff of his jacket. He could smell the smoke on Janne’s breath. ‘Right, gay boy, you know what’s going to happen to you after school?’
    ‘Don’t, please…’
    ‘You’re dead. Next break I’ll come and see if you want to apologise. And you can say sorry by kissing my arse. But if you don’t want to…’
    At that moment someone came up behind them. It all happened so quickly that he couldn’t tell where she had come from, but she shoved them so hard that they all stumbled and fell over. For a moment he thought it might be the girls’ PE teacher, but it was Fat Leena from Year Eight. Some of the other children called her the Hammer Thrower. She had Janne by the ear and twisted it so hard that he fell to his knees.
    ‘What the fuck are you doing, you fat cow?’ Janne cried out, but this time his voice was trembling too.
    ‘Just thought I’d show you what it’s like,’ said Fat Leena. She had already stretched her hands out towards Skate, but he legged it and only stopped when he realised Fat Leena wasn’t following him. The others moved back, as though they were going to help Skate, even though they too were running away.
    ‘I’ll report you to the police!’ shouted Janne. ‘This isn’t the last you’ll hear of this, fat bitch! And you’ll pay if my phone’s broken!’
    Only when they were far enough away did Janne dare raise his middle finger at her.
    ‘Suits me fine!’ she shouted back. ‘Whenever you’re ready. But you’ll never win.’
    The bell had obviously rung, though Matti hadn’t noticed when. Everything had happened so fast, and now there was no one in the playground but the two of them. He could feel his shoulders heaving – he had learnt how to cry without making a sound. He felt bleary and ashamed, the shame thick like porridge in his head, and he felt that he simply didn’t dare go to his next lesson.
    ‘Get a move on,’ shouted Fat Leena abruptly.
    From the footsteps he could hear that Fat Leena was leaving, but he couldn’t bring himself to follow her.
    ‘Leena,’ he finally managed to say. All he could do was stare at the ground, embarrassed and bowing his head, but he could hear that Fat Leena had stopped walking.
    ‘What? Thanks?’
    ‘Yeah. And, um… Could you walk home from school with me today?’
    ‘When do you finish?’
    ‘Three.’
    ‘Me too. See you at the front door.’
    ‘Thanks a lot,’ said Matti, though he wasn’t sure whether Leena had heard him or not, because just then a medicopter appeared from behind the trees, its blades chattering, and flew low over the school. There had been an accident somewhere: perhaps a car crash, perhaps someone had been in the wrong lane and smashed into a lorry.
    Or even tried to kill themselves.
9. Murmurings
    Sinikka was warm and happy – even though she was upside down, but she didn’t know this. In any case, this was precisely the position she should have been in. She kept one of her tiny thumbs in her mouth and sucked on it. She very often did this, particularly when she heard thenow familiar murmuring: If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise …
    This murmuring made Sinikka feel better than any other. It was like a murmuring all of her own: it was so close that it caused something to flicker gently, deep within her.
    For every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because today’s …
    Ding-dong!
    That was a noise Sinikka had heard many times before, and though she hadn’t really worked out why, she knew that