When Hate Turns to Love (Parts Three & Four)
-Disclaimer: I don't own anybody in this story except Eliina's family (minus her father). I don't know Ville or HIM or anyone else in this story. Please remember that.
-Rating: R
-Summary: Eliina and Ville have a past. Ville and Eliina dated when the two of them were teenagers, him living with his parents and her living at the boarding school she was attending in the city. He broke up with her, she still loved him. What she doesn't know is why he dumped her. This is the story of their doomed love.
-Author: MissSixty-Nine (me!)
-Title: When Hate Turns to Love
-Name of Ville's love interest: Eliina Kalio, daughter of famous Finnish actor Jaako Kalio.
Chapter three
“Eliina,” Bam slurred some time later. “You are wonderful.”
“I’m feeling wonderful,” I laughed from the floor of his hotel room.
“You’re looking wonderful, too.” Bam leaned over the side of his bed and stared down at my half-naked form. “You’ve got great legs.” I had taken off my jeans as soon as we had returned to Bam’s hotel room from the pub just down the street, two hours prior. “How do you stay so golden?”
I had taken them off because one of the pub-goers had decided to vomit all over my legs. I hadn’t minded that much, but rolling around in someone else’s puke was not my idea of fun. So, as soon as we had arrived back at Bam’s suite, the jeans had gone on vacation to the bathtub, leaving me wearing nothing but my lacy, hot-pink low-rise panties.
“Golden?” I repeated, laughing. “We call this brown in Kemijärvi!”
“Fine, how do you stay so brown? It’s February.”
“I go tanning. I’m very vain and I don’t like being pale like every other person in Lapland.” I smiled drunkenly at him and he grinned back. “Let’s be friends, Bam.”
“Just friends?” He asked, suddenly serious.
“You’ve just met me, Bammi.” I said, sitting up to grab the PBR off the table next to me. “You can’t want to be more than friends now.”
“Sure I can. I know I want to have sex with you.” He was being incredibly blunt and I looked up at him.
“Sex?” I repeated, frowning. “Don’t you have a girlfriend back in Pennsylvania?”
“Yeah, but we’re on the rocks and she doesn’t have a sexy Finnish accent like you.” He smiled again. “And she doesn’t say Pennsylvania like Pencil-van-ee-uh.”
“No Bammi, I can’t.” I shook my head, taking a gulp of PBR. “I can’t.”
“Eliina,” Bam slid off the bed and stretched himself out alongside me. “I like you,”
“Oh I like you too, Bammi, but I can’t break up a relationship.” I shook my head and took another gulp of beer.
“Fine, I’ll break up a relationship.” He heaved himself off the ground and staggered to the phone on the nightstand. He punched in a few numbers, waited. “Yes, I’d like to make a collect call to Jennifer Rivell in West Chester, Pennsylvania, please.”
“Put it on speaker phone, I want to hear it to make sure you’re not lying to me.” I said, pointing at him and squinting. He rolled his eyes and dramatically pushed the speakerphone button. There was a squeak followed by a woman’s voice.
“Where did you say she was at?”
“West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States.” Bam said, sitting down on the bed violently.
“And who is calling?”
“Brandon Margera.”
“One moment please.” Here the lady clicked off and there was a buzzing silence. Seconds later, there was a dial tone. It rang four times before the woman Bam was calling answered her phone.
“Bam?”
“Jenny!” Bam shouted into the phone. “Hi!”
“Hello…” She said somewhat nervously. “What time is it in Finland?”
“Oh I don’t know, well after four!” Bam laughed, sliding onto the floor, back against the bed. “Hey, listen. I just wanted to call and tell you that we’re breaking up.”
“No, I can hear you just fine.”
“No, no. I can hear you too, but, I’m breaking up with you.” Bam leaned over and ran his fingers along the inside of my ankle. I giggled and he put his finger to his lips. I pressed a hand over my mouth and watched him as he continued to move his fingers up my bare leg.
“You’re breaking up with me?” Her voice was angry.
“Yes. I am. You don’t have a sexy Finnish accent and you say Pennsylvania normally.” Bam shouted at the phone on the nightstand.
“Oh so you found a girl in Finland, is that it?”
“I might’ve. But that’s really none of your business.” Bam’s fingers moved over the sensitive skin behind my knee. I gasped quietly, hand still pressed over my mouth.
“You’re breaking up with me for some Finnish whore? While you’re drunk?” She shouted.
“I’m not drunk! I’m pleasantly buzzed.” Bam said, emphasizing the buzz in buzzed.
“You’re wasted off your Philly ass, Bam.” Jennifer shouted. “Fine, break up with me, I don’t care. I was going to break up with you when you got back from Finland anyway!”
“So you’re going to move out while I’m gone?” Bam moved himself up high enough to press his beer-flavored lips to mine.
“Yes you dick, I will!” She hung up violently and Bam smiled down at me.
“See, now we’re free to have sex.”
“I guess we are. But, how about another time, Bammi? When we’re not drunk and can remember what happened.” I pressed a friendly kiss to his mouth before rolling out from underneath him. “Tomorrow, perhaps?”
“Tomorrow.” He pressed another kiss to my calf as I stood. “It is tomorrow Eliina.”
“Then later today. I’ll call your hotel room when I’m awake, all right?” I looked down at him and grinned when he nipped at my heel, still laying on the ground.
“That’s fine. Or you could stay here.” He pressed his face into the plush carpet and closed his eyes. “Then you wouldn’t have to get dressed.”
“Or I could stay here. But, I get the bed.” My sentence was in vain since Bam was already asleep.
* * * * *
Two months later (after numerous apologies to me for his drunken rudeness to Jennifer) and Bam and I were an item. He practically moved to Finland to be with me and we were near inseparable. I flew to Pennsylvania quite a few times to meet his family and friends, falling in love with his mother the instant I met her. Bam always asked about my parents and I always told him that they lived in Kemijärvi, in Lapland. He was always wanting to meet them, but I figured that would be sort of like solidifying our relationship and taking it to the next level.
Finally, Bam convinced me to take him to meet my parents. It was May, we had been together a month, and Lapland was still frozen over.
* * * * *
Chapter four
18 May 2000.
“I’m telling you, Bam. My parents are insane.” I said to him as we pulled up in front of my childhood home, a two story cottage in the middle of the woods. “They live in Lapland, they don’t speak English.”
“They don’t?”
“My dad not very well at least. He can only ask you where the beer is.” Bam laughed as if he thought I was joking.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, babe, I’m not. My father can only ask you where the beer is in English.”
“Holy shit.” I turned to look at him, afraid of his reaction. “That’s fucking awesome!” I rolled my eyes and knocked briskly on the door of my parents’ home.
“Stop swearing, my mother speaks better English than you do.” I plastered a smile on my face as the sound of running feet signaled my brother Johnas coming to answer the door. “And my brother is ten. Watch what you say.”
“You have a brother?” Bam had barely let the question out of his mouth when the door was flung open. “Holy shit!”
My brother Johnas was six-foot at ten years old, and lanky like a flamingo. He had a mop of blonde hair that continually grew into his eyes and over his ears. He was always running into things because he was not coordinated enough to manage his feet when he ran. I smiled brightly at him and latched my arms around his midsection.
“Eliina! Wait till you see Nukke!” Johnassaid, pulling me inside. Nukke was Johnas’ Finnish Spitz, a miniature pain in the ass if you asked me. The dog was always under foot and yapping like a psycho. She was a light golden color with what I liked to call white ‘chaps’ (basically, her butt fur). She had poop-brown eyes and teeth sharp enough to pop balloons with a single open-mouthed glare. Her name was Nukke, which meant ‘doll’ in Finnish.
“What’s wrong with that demon now?” I asked, trailing behind him as he dragged me into the living room.
“She’s not a demon, Eliina.” Johnas said, glaring at me over his shoulder. “She’s a mumma.”
“Your demon-dog had babies? More demon-dogs?” I gaped at the sight that met my eyes when Johnas pulled back the cover of Nukke’s dog-bed. There were four of them, all fuzzy and adorable, eyes still closed and all snuggled against Spawn-of-Satan Nukke. “I want one!”
“Take all of them!” I heard my father’s voice from the kitchen and I whipped around. “My darling!”
“Papa!” I ran to him, jumping into his arms. “Oh how I’ve missed you!”
“Who is this that you brought with you? He does not look Finnish.” He set me down gently, hand on the small of my back to let Bam know what it was he was getting himself into.
“Oh Papa, this is my boyfriend, Bam.” I said, holding out a hand to Bam. Bam looked incredibly nervous and my father chuckled, whispering quietly in my ear.
“He’s afraid I’m going to make him a eunuch.” I rolled my eyes and elbowed my father playfully in his vodka gut.
“Be nice, Papa.” I stepped forward, taking Bam’s hand in mine and pulled him towards my father. “I’m going to be your translator, Bammi. I will tell you what my dad says and I’ll tell him what you say.” I kissed Bam’s mouth gently and I felt my father’s hand tense on my back. “Papa,” I said in Lappish. “This is Brandon, my boyfriend.”
“You said his name was Bam.”
“That’s his nickname, Papa.” I smiled and kissed my father’s cheek. “Say hello, Papa.”
“Hello Brandon,” My father extended his hand to Bam as I said “he says hello Brandon.”
“Hello Mr. Kalio,” I translated this to my father.
“What are your intentions with my only daughter?” My father asked. I rolled my eyes and translated. “I have two sons, both are taller than you. They could kick your American ass.” This I translated as well.
“Jaako!” My mother shouted from the stairs. “What are you saying to your daughter?”
“Sanna, I’m not saying it to my daughter, I’m saying it to her new boyfriend!” My father shouted back, eyes directed at the ceiling overhead. “Your mother…” he whispered in my ear, shaking his head.
“Her boyfriend?” This was a voice I had never heard before. “Sanna, you did not tell us your daughter had a boyfriend.” It was a female voice and I frowned.
“Oh Anita, I didn’t know.” My mother said, trudging down the rickety stairs and into the kitchen. “My darling!” I ran to embrace my mother, hugging fiercely. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” I pressed a kiss to the side of my mother’s face and she laughed.
“Where have you been? We haven’t heard from you in months.” She looked hurt and I felt terribly guilty.
“Well, Bam took me to Pennsylvania and New York. And Maine! Oh Mumma, it was gorgeous! Maine is like the United States’ equivalent of Hämeenlinna!”
“Was it really?” She seemed intrigued and I smiled. “Who is this Bam-person?”
“Yes, who is this Bam-person?” I looked up at the sound of my older brother’s voice. “Am I going to have to kick his ass?”
“Henrik!” I dashed to my older brother, wrapping my arms around him in a bear-hug. “How have you been?”
Henrik was seven years older than me (meaning he was 30) and acted as if he was only two years older than me. He was six-six and towered over everyone in the house, except my father and Johnas. He was over a foot taller than my mother and I and only six inches taller than Johnas. My father was the same height as Henrik so they stood eye-to-eye.
“I have been well, dear sister.” He said, kissing the top of my head. “Are you going to introduce us to this lovely fellow?” Henrik gestured to Bam and I took a deep breath.
“Those who can speak English,” I said in English. “Speak it now. I hate translating for Papa, so I’m not going to do it for the rest of you. Mumma, will you translate, please?”
“Yes Elli, I will.” My mother turned to my father, explained what was going to happen in Lappish then turned back to me.
“Do I get to join the conversation as well?” Asked a voice from near the stairs. I glanced over and stared dumbstruck at the sight. A woman in her early forties was watching the spectacle with curiosity written clearly on her face. I had never seen her before in my life, but I knew who she was the moment I laid eyes on her.
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry Anita, come over here.” My mother said, smiling. She gestured for Anita to stand next to her and then looked to me. “Anita, this is my daughter Eliina, Elli, this is our dear friend Anita, she’s visiting from Helsinki.”
“Wonderful to meet you, Anita.” I said, waving. I had not pictured their friend to look as if she was only a few years older than I was. I expected her to look around my parents’ age (my mother was 50 and my father, 58). “My mother adores your cooking.”
Anita blushed and I grinned at her. “Oh, I’m not as good as my son. He’s much better than I am. Though he can only prepare one dish.”
“Sounds like Henri.” I laughed, sticking out my tongue at Henrik as he glared at me. “You know it’s true, Henri.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to broadcast it.” Henrik mumbled, rolling his eyes.
“Anyway, let’s get on with the business at hand, shall we?” Johnas said, entering the room with a grin. “I’ve been listening the whole time, and I just want to say to Bam, my dad will kill you if you hurt my big sister. So watch your step. He’s pretty good with a filet knife.” Johnas turned and left the room a minute later, casting a glance at a terrified Bam over his shoulder.
“Well. I just wanted to bring my boyfriend home to meet everyone. Henri, I didn’t know you were going to be here so I didn’t have time to warn Bammi about you. So, be nice or you’ll wake up on the lake.” I said, smiling innocently at my older brother. I waited as my mother translated for my father, watching his face as she did.
My father suddenly exclaimed in Lappish: “If you hurt her, I swear to God I’ll skin you!”
I rolled my eyes at this and grabbed Bam’s hand, pulling him closer to me. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just protective. I got hurt very badly when I was younger and he doesn’t want to see me go back into that depression again.” I kissed Bam softly and wrapped my arm around his waist. “Okay, Bammi, this is my older brother Henrik, but we all call him Henri.” I pointed to the six-six beast I called my brother. “He looks vicious, but he’s very nice.” I waited until Henrik and Bam had shaken hands and greeted one another before continuing.
“This is my mother Sanna. She’s the vicious one, so be careful. Don’t insult her cooking or she’ll throw you into the Kemijoki or into Kemijärvi Lake; it’s the one just outside the window there.” I pointed out the kitchen window to the sprawling expanse of ice that was the lake. “I used to skate on that every year until the ice became too thin.” My mother moved forward and kissed Bam’s cheek, greeting him sweetly with a small ‘hello, nice to meet you.’ My mother translated everything I had said to my father before I continued.
“This is my father, Jaako. He’s a famous Finnish actor, known for the Pekka and Pätkä films in the 1980s. I don’t know if he sees Mauri anymore, but he used to come round all the time. Very cool dude.” I said, meaning my father’s co-star in his famous movies. Bam stepped forward and offered his hand to my father who stared at it for a moment before taking it in his own and shaking vigorously.
“And this is my mother’s dear friend Anita. She’s visiting from Helsinki.” I said, laughing as my mother rolled her eyes.
“Wonderful to meet you, Bam.” Anita shook Bam’s hand before stepping back to stand next to my mother who was talking quietly with my father.
“Jaako would like to know if the two of you have had sex.” She said simply, face blank as Bam stuttered out an answer.
“Well…uh-uh. I-I-I. Uhm…Eliina?”
“Yes Papa. We have.” I said in Lappish. “He’s good to me; don’t be worried.” Bam’s hand clutched at mine like a life-line and I smiled. “I brought him home, he must be worth something.”
My father smiled at this and glanced at his watch.
“The two of you should be going if you’re going to make it back to Helsinki before the storm sets in.”
“Oh, yes. We’re going to London. We’re leaving from Sinettä. Bam wants to go to some concerts there, and he has some business to attend to as well.” I kissed the side of Bam’s face and smiled up at him. “He’s in a TV show, Papa.”
“Really? What’s it called?”
“Jackass.” I said, grinning at the look on my father’s face. “Do you see this bruise here?” I pressed my finger to a purple spot on the side of Bam’s neck. “He got it filming the show.”
“What channel is this show on?” Henrik asked, frowning.
“MTV,” Bam said, speaking for the first time in five minutes. “It just started.”
“Oh.” Henrik obviously watched the show. “So that’s where I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah…” Bam trailed off and looked to me. “Well, it was nice meeting you all, I’m sorry we couldn’t stay for longer. But we really need to be getting to the airport.”
“Oh yes, yes.” My mother said, smiling graciously. “Of course. Well, it was wonderful meeting you as well.” My mother looked to my father who stared at her for a moment before realizing it was his turn to say goodbye.
“I’ll miss you, Elli, visit again soon.” He hugged me tightly and I felt the tears forming behind my eyes.
“Bye Papa. I’ll call you soon.” I kissed his whiskered cheek and stepped backwards, eyes now watering from the emotions that were swirling through the small cabin. “I love you guys. It was lovely to have met you, Anita.”
“Oh you too, pretty girl.” Anita waved and I smiled over my shoulder as Bam and I left the cabin, heading for the rental Land Rover at the edge of my parents’ property.
* * * * *
( Chapitre un [pt 1] )
( Chapitre un [pt 2] )
( Chapitre deux )
-Rating: R
-Summary: Eliina and Ville have a past. Ville and Eliina dated when the two of them were teenagers, him living with his parents and her living at the boarding school she was attending in the city. He broke up with her, she still loved him. What she doesn't know is why he dumped her. This is the story of their doomed love.
-Author: MissSixty-Nine (me!)
-Title: When Hate Turns to Love
-Name of Ville's love interest: Eliina Kalio, daughter of famous Finnish actor Jaako Kalio.
Chapter three
“Eliina,” Bam slurred some time later. “You are wonderful.”
“I’m feeling wonderful,” I laughed from the floor of his hotel room.
“You’re looking wonderful, too.” Bam leaned over the side of his bed and stared down at my half-naked form. “You’ve got great legs.” I had taken off my jeans as soon as we had returned to Bam’s hotel room from the pub just down the street, two hours prior. “How do you stay so golden?”
I had taken them off because one of the pub-goers had decided to vomit all over my legs. I hadn’t minded that much, but rolling around in someone else’s puke was not my idea of fun. So, as soon as we had arrived back at Bam’s suite, the jeans had gone on vacation to the bathtub, leaving me wearing nothing but my lacy, hot-pink low-rise panties.
“Golden?” I repeated, laughing. “We call this brown in Kemijärvi!”
“Fine, how do you stay so brown? It’s February.”
“I go tanning. I’m very vain and I don’t like being pale like every other person in Lapland.” I smiled drunkenly at him and he grinned back. “Let’s be friends, Bam.”
“Just friends?” He asked, suddenly serious.
“You’ve just met me, Bammi.” I said, sitting up to grab the PBR off the table next to me. “You can’t want to be more than friends now.”
“Sure I can. I know I want to have sex with you.” He was being incredibly blunt and I looked up at him.
“Sex?” I repeated, frowning. “Don’t you have a girlfriend back in Pennsylvania?”
“Yeah, but we’re on the rocks and she doesn’t have a sexy Finnish accent like you.” He smiled again. “And she doesn’t say Pennsylvania like Pencil-van-ee-uh.”
“No Bammi, I can’t.” I shook my head, taking a gulp of PBR. “I can’t.”
“Eliina,” Bam slid off the bed and stretched himself out alongside me. “I like you,”
“Oh I like you too, Bammi, but I can’t break up a relationship.” I shook my head and took another gulp of beer.
“Fine, I’ll break up a relationship.” He heaved himself off the ground and staggered to the phone on the nightstand. He punched in a few numbers, waited. “Yes, I’d like to make a collect call to Jennifer Rivell in West Chester, Pennsylvania, please.”
“Put it on speaker phone, I want to hear it to make sure you’re not lying to me.” I said, pointing at him and squinting. He rolled his eyes and dramatically pushed the speakerphone button. There was a squeak followed by a woman’s voice.
“Where did you say she was at?”
“West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States.” Bam said, sitting down on the bed violently.
“And who is calling?”
“Brandon Margera.”
“One moment please.” Here the lady clicked off and there was a buzzing silence. Seconds later, there was a dial tone. It rang four times before the woman Bam was calling answered her phone.
“Bam?”
“Jenny!” Bam shouted into the phone. “Hi!”
“Hello…” She said somewhat nervously. “What time is it in Finland?”
“Oh I don’t know, well after four!” Bam laughed, sliding onto the floor, back against the bed. “Hey, listen. I just wanted to call and tell you that we’re breaking up.”
“No, I can hear you just fine.”
“No, no. I can hear you too, but, I’m breaking up with you.” Bam leaned over and ran his fingers along the inside of my ankle. I giggled and he put his finger to his lips. I pressed a hand over my mouth and watched him as he continued to move his fingers up my bare leg.
“You’re breaking up with me?” Her voice was angry.
“Yes. I am. You don’t have a sexy Finnish accent and you say Pennsylvania normally.” Bam shouted at the phone on the nightstand.
“Oh so you found a girl in Finland, is that it?”
“I might’ve. But that’s really none of your business.” Bam’s fingers moved over the sensitive skin behind my knee. I gasped quietly, hand still pressed over my mouth.
“You’re breaking up with me for some Finnish whore? While you’re drunk?” She shouted.
“I’m not drunk! I’m pleasantly buzzed.” Bam said, emphasizing the buzz in buzzed.
“You’re wasted off your Philly ass, Bam.” Jennifer shouted. “Fine, break up with me, I don’t care. I was going to break up with you when you got back from Finland anyway!”
“So you’re going to move out while I’m gone?” Bam moved himself up high enough to press his beer-flavored lips to mine.
“Yes you dick, I will!” She hung up violently and Bam smiled down at me.
“See, now we’re free to have sex.”
“I guess we are. But, how about another time, Bammi? When we’re not drunk and can remember what happened.” I pressed a friendly kiss to his mouth before rolling out from underneath him. “Tomorrow, perhaps?”
“Tomorrow.” He pressed another kiss to my calf as I stood. “It is tomorrow Eliina.”
“Then later today. I’ll call your hotel room when I’m awake, all right?” I looked down at him and grinned when he nipped at my heel, still laying on the ground.
“That’s fine. Or you could stay here.” He pressed his face into the plush carpet and closed his eyes. “Then you wouldn’t have to get dressed.”
“Or I could stay here. But, I get the bed.” My sentence was in vain since Bam was already asleep.
* * * * *
Two months later (after numerous apologies to me for his drunken rudeness to Jennifer) and Bam and I were an item. He practically moved to Finland to be with me and we were near inseparable. I flew to Pennsylvania quite a few times to meet his family and friends, falling in love with his mother the instant I met her. Bam always asked about my parents and I always told him that they lived in Kemijärvi, in Lapland. He was always wanting to meet them, but I figured that would be sort of like solidifying our relationship and taking it to the next level.
Finally, Bam convinced me to take him to meet my parents. It was May, we had been together a month, and Lapland was still frozen over.
* * * * *
Chapter four
18 May 2000.
“I’m telling you, Bam. My parents are insane.” I said to him as we pulled up in front of my childhood home, a two story cottage in the middle of the woods. “They live in Lapland, they don’t speak English.”
“They don’t?”
“My dad not very well at least. He can only ask you where the beer is.” Bam laughed as if he thought I was joking.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, babe, I’m not. My father can only ask you where the beer is in English.”
“Holy shit.” I turned to look at him, afraid of his reaction. “That’s fucking awesome!” I rolled my eyes and knocked briskly on the door of my parents’ home.
“Stop swearing, my mother speaks better English than you do.” I plastered a smile on my face as the sound of running feet signaled my brother Johnas coming to answer the door. “And my brother is ten. Watch what you say.”
“You have a brother?” Bam had barely let the question out of his mouth when the door was flung open. “Holy shit!”
My brother Johnas was six-foot at ten years old, and lanky like a flamingo. He had a mop of blonde hair that continually grew into his eyes and over his ears. He was always running into things because he was not coordinated enough to manage his feet when he ran. I smiled brightly at him and latched my arms around his midsection.
“Eliina! Wait till you see Nukke!” Johnassaid, pulling me inside. Nukke was Johnas’ Finnish Spitz, a miniature pain in the ass if you asked me. The dog was always under foot and yapping like a psycho. She was a light golden color with what I liked to call white ‘chaps’ (basically, her butt fur). She had poop-brown eyes and teeth sharp enough to pop balloons with a single open-mouthed glare. Her name was Nukke, which meant ‘doll’ in Finnish.
“What’s wrong with that demon now?” I asked, trailing behind him as he dragged me into the living room.
“She’s not a demon, Eliina.” Johnas said, glaring at me over his shoulder. “She’s a mumma.”
“Your demon-dog had babies? More demon-dogs?” I gaped at the sight that met my eyes when Johnas pulled back the cover of Nukke’s dog-bed. There were four of them, all fuzzy and adorable, eyes still closed and all snuggled against Spawn-of-Satan Nukke. “I want one!”
“Take all of them!” I heard my father’s voice from the kitchen and I whipped around. “My darling!”
“Papa!” I ran to him, jumping into his arms. “Oh how I’ve missed you!”
“Who is this that you brought with you? He does not look Finnish.” He set me down gently, hand on the small of my back to let Bam know what it was he was getting himself into.
“Oh Papa, this is my boyfriend, Bam.” I said, holding out a hand to Bam. Bam looked incredibly nervous and my father chuckled, whispering quietly in my ear.
“He’s afraid I’m going to make him a eunuch.” I rolled my eyes and elbowed my father playfully in his vodka gut.
“Be nice, Papa.” I stepped forward, taking Bam’s hand in mine and pulled him towards my father. “I’m going to be your translator, Bammi. I will tell you what my dad says and I’ll tell him what you say.” I kissed Bam’s mouth gently and I felt my father’s hand tense on my back. “Papa,” I said in Lappish. “This is Brandon, my boyfriend.”
“You said his name was Bam.”
“That’s his nickname, Papa.” I smiled and kissed my father’s cheek. “Say hello, Papa.”
“Hello Brandon,” My father extended his hand to Bam as I said “he says hello Brandon.”
“Hello Mr. Kalio,” I translated this to my father.
“What are your intentions with my only daughter?” My father asked. I rolled my eyes and translated. “I have two sons, both are taller than you. They could kick your American ass.” This I translated as well.
“Jaako!” My mother shouted from the stairs. “What are you saying to your daughter?”
“Sanna, I’m not saying it to my daughter, I’m saying it to her new boyfriend!” My father shouted back, eyes directed at the ceiling overhead. “Your mother…” he whispered in my ear, shaking his head.
“Her boyfriend?” This was a voice I had never heard before. “Sanna, you did not tell us your daughter had a boyfriend.” It was a female voice and I frowned.
“Oh Anita, I didn’t know.” My mother said, trudging down the rickety stairs and into the kitchen. “My darling!” I ran to embrace my mother, hugging fiercely. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” I pressed a kiss to the side of my mother’s face and she laughed.
“Where have you been? We haven’t heard from you in months.” She looked hurt and I felt terribly guilty.
“Well, Bam took me to Pennsylvania and New York. And Maine! Oh Mumma, it was gorgeous! Maine is like the United States’ equivalent of Hämeenlinna!”
“Was it really?” She seemed intrigued and I smiled. “Who is this Bam-person?”
“Yes, who is this Bam-person?” I looked up at the sound of my older brother’s voice. “Am I going to have to kick his ass?”
“Henrik!” I dashed to my older brother, wrapping my arms around him in a bear-hug. “How have you been?”
Henrik was seven years older than me (meaning he was 30) and acted as if he was only two years older than me. He was six-six and towered over everyone in the house, except my father and Johnas. He was over a foot taller than my mother and I and only six inches taller than Johnas. My father was the same height as Henrik so they stood eye-to-eye.
“I have been well, dear sister.” He said, kissing the top of my head. “Are you going to introduce us to this lovely fellow?” Henrik gestured to Bam and I took a deep breath.
“Those who can speak English,” I said in English. “Speak it now. I hate translating for Papa, so I’m not going to do it for the rest of you. Mumma, will you translate, please?”
“Yes Elli, I will.” My mother turned to my father, explained what was going to happen in Lappish then turned back to me.
“Do I get to join the conversation as well?” Asked a voice from near the stairs. I glanced over and stared dumbstruck at the sight. A woman in her early forties was watching the spectacle with curiosity written clearly on her face. I had never seen her before in my life, but I knew who she was the moment I laid eyes on her.
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry Anita, come over here.” My mother said, smiling. She gestured for Anita to stand next to her and then looked to me. “Anita, this is my daughter Eliina, Elli, this is our dear friend Anita, she’s visiting from Helsinki.”
“Wonderful to meet you, Anita.” I said, waving. I had not pictured their friend to look as if she was only a few years older than I was. I expected her to look around my parents’ age (my mother was 50 and my father, 58). “My mother adores your cooking.”
Anita blushed and I grinned at her. “Oh, I’m not as good as my son. He’s much better than I am. Though he can only prepare one dish.”
“Sounds like Henri.” I laughed, sticking out my tongue at Henrik as he glared at me. “You know it’s true, Henri.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to broadcast it.” Henrik mumbled, rolling his eyes.
“Anyway, let’s get on with the business at hand, shall we?” Johnas said, entering the room with a grin. “I’ve been listening the whole time, and I just want to say to Bam, my dad will kill you if you hurt my big sister. So watch your step. He’s pretty good with a filet knife.” Johnas turned and left the room a minute later, casting a glance at a terrified Bam over his shoulder.
“Well. I just wanted to bring my boyfriend home to meet everyone. Henri, I didn’t know you were going to be here so I didn’t have time to warn Bammi about you. So, be nice or you’ll wake up on the lake.” I said, smiling innocently at my older brother. I waited as my mother translated for my father, watching his face as she did.
My father suddenly exclaimed in Lappish: “If you hurt her, I swear to God I’ll skin you!”
I rolled my eyes at this and grabbed Bam’s hand, pulling him closer to me. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just protective. I got hurt very badly when I was younger and he doesn’t want to see me go back into that depression again.” I kissed Bam softly and wrapped my arm around his waist. “Okay, Bammi, this is my older brother Henrik, but we all call him Henri.” I pointed to the six-six beast I called my brother. “He looks vicious, but he’s very nice.” I waited until Henrik and Bam had shaken hands and greeted one another before continuing.
“This is my mother Sanna. She’s the vicious one, so be careful. Don’t insult her cooking or she’ll throw you into the Kemijoki or into Kemijärvi Lake; it’s the one just outside the window there.” I pointed out the kitchen window to the sprawling expanse of ice that was the lake. “I used to skate on that every year until the ice became too thin.” My mother moved forward and kissed Bam’s cheek, greeting him sweetly with a small ‘hello, nice to meet you.’ My mother translated everything I had said to my father before I continued.
“This is my father, Jaako. He’s a famous Finnish actor, known for the Pekka and Pätkä films in the 1980s. I don’t know if he sees Mauri anymore, but he used to come round all the time. Very cool dude.” I said, meaning my father’s co-star in his famous movies. Bam stepped forward and offered his hand to my father who stared at it for a moment before taking it in his own and shaking vigorously.
“And this is my mother’s dear friend Anita. She’s visiting from Helsinki.” I said, laughing as my mother rolled her eyes.
“Wonderful to meet you, Bam.” Anita shook Bam’s hand before stepping back to stand next to my mother who was talking quietly with my father.
“Jaako would like to know if the two of you have had sex.” She said simply, face blank as Bam stuttered out an answer.
“Well…uh-uh. I-I-I. Uhm…Eliina?”
“Yes Papa. We have.” I said in Lappish. “He’s good to me; don’t be worried.” Bam’s hand clutched at mine like a life-line and I smiled. “I brought him home, he must be worth something.”
My father smiled at this and glanced at his watch.
“The two of you should be going if you’re going to make it back to Helsinki before the storm sets in.”
“Oh, yes. We’re going to London. We’re leaving from Sinettä. Bam wants to go to some concerts there, and he has some business to attend to as well.” I kissed the side of Bam’s face and smiled up at him. “He’s in a TV show, Papa.”
“Really? What’s it called?”
“Jackass.” I said, grinning at the look on my father’s face. “Do you see this bruise here?” I pressed my finger to a purple spot on the side of Bam’s neck. “He got it filming the show.”
“What channel is this show on?” Henrik asked, frowning.
“MTV,” Bam said, speaking for the first time in five minutes. “It just started.”
“Oh.” Henrik obviously watched the show. “So that’s where I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah…” Bam trailed off and looked to me. “Well, it was nice meeting you all, I’m sorry we couldn’t stay for longer. But we really need to be getting to the airport.”
“Oh yes, yes.” My mother said, smiling graciously. “Of course. Well, it was wonderful meeting you as well.” My mother looked to my father who stared at her for a moment before realizing it was his turn to say goodbye.
“I’ll miss you, Elli, visit again soon.” He hugged me tightly and I felt the tears forming behind my eyes.
“Bye Papa. I’ll call you soon.” I kissed his whiskered cheek and stepped backwards, eyes now watering from the emotions that were swirling through the small cabin. “I love you guys. It was lovely to have met you, Anita.”
“Oh you too, pretty girl.” Anita waved and I smiled over my shoulder as Bam and I left the cabin, heading for the rental Land Rover at the edge of my parents’ property.
* * * * *
( Chapitre un [pt 1] )
( Chapitre un [pt 2] )
( Chapitre deux )