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the mug.
    ‘If it’s still morning,’ he says.
    Vanessa glances at the clock. Not even half past ten yet.
    ‘You do look tired,’ Nicke tells her.
    ‘It’s too hot to sleep.’
    He puts his mug down. Definitely sneering. Had he heard her stumble on the vacuum cleaner? And then she realises what’s up. Nicke was on night shift last night. He must have come home just a few hours ago.
    Ever since Vanessa moved back home, she and Nicke have tried to tolerate each other after a fashion. Unspoken hatred separates them like a minefield, but they step with caution,each watching out for the other’s move. Vanessa pretends to accept Mum’s rules of engagement and Nicke pretends to believe that she is sticking to the rules. But Vanessa knows that he is just waiting to catch her in the wrong. Like the cop he is.
    Melvin cries a little, as he wants to remind everyone that he exists.
    ‘What’s up with Melvin?’ Vanessa asks.
    ‘He simply won’t get dressed,’ Mum says with a sigh and fingers the tattoo on her upper arm. A snake swallowing its tail. ‘I gave up in the end. Look, I see his point. When it’s this hot I’d like to run around naked, too.’
    ‘Suits me,’ Nicke grins.
    Mum giggles. Vanessa rolls her eyes heavenwards.
    ‘What are you up to today?’ Mum asks.
    ‘Off to Dammsjön Lake. With Michelle and Evelina.’
    ‘Isn’t Wille coming?’ Nicke asks innocently.
    ‘Yes, he’s coming along as well,’ Vanessa replies with a pretty smile. And thinks, Die, die, die, you fucking loser . ‘Right. I’m going for a shower.’
    After a long, cool shower, she brushes her teeth and then slaps ice-cold water on her face. Swallows a couple of paracetamols. Back in her room, she has already started sweating again but after putting on make-up she at least looks a little more like a human being.
    She checks her mobile. Text from Wille to say they’re on their way. She puts on her turquoise bikini, then a loose top and cut-off jeans. Then packs her beach bag with a bath towel, a pillow and a book.
    She fills her water bottle in the kitchen.
    ‘I’m off now,’ she says.
    ‘What, aren’t you going to have breakfast?’ Mum asks.
    ‘No time. But Michelle will bring picnic stuff.’
    ‘Sure you don’t want me to come along? Wouldn’t it be great to bring your mother?’
    This totally naff joke has been repeated all summer but Mum never seems to tire of it. Vanessa has had enough and more. But she has no time to reply. Her beach bag falls over and the book ends up on the kitchen floor.
    ‘Oops,’ Melvin says and laughs.
    ‘What are you reading?’
    Vanessa quickly holds the book up before stuffing it back into her bag.
    ‘ The Stand ? Oh, my God, Nessa. Why read Stephen King? Isn’t there death and misery enough in this world?’
    ‘I took it from your bookshelf!’
    ‘It’s actually your book, Jannike,’ Nicke says, sounding amused.
    Mum shakes her head.
    ‘Reading that kind of book you fill your head with a lot of rubbish. It ruins your mind. I really ought to weed them out of the bookshelf. I don’t even want to have them in the house.’
    Vanessa sighs. Mum has been like this ever since she took that latest course and found the meaning of life. Again. This time, her instructor is Helena Malmgren. Elias’s mother stopped being a vicar and has turned herself into a self-help guru instead.
    ‘Every one of us is responsible for the energies that are let into our lives,’ Mum goes on. ‘It is really true that you can choose to affirm either the positive or the negative energies in the universe. Keep thinking positively and most problems will solve themselves. But if you only have negative thoughts, well, no surprise that nothing works out for you.’
    Vanessa loses her temper. She is so fed up with this crap.
    ‘Oh, come off it. If people are ill or have a hard time, is that supposed to be their fault? Is that what you’re saying?
    Are African children starving because they have negative