Lunch with Helga

Today Janelle will gain some interesting clues from Helga.

Chapter Forty-three

Janelle had not been to Fenton’s Bakery since she was a girl. Even though it was in the old part of town, the tall round tables and stools were crowded with lunch patrons, most of them businessmen. Holding her tray, she followed Helga through the noisy room to an empty table.

         “I’m hungry.” Janelle set her bowl of soup and a bag of chips on the table before perching on the stool. “Thanks for buying my lunch.”

         “Ja.” Helga lifted her sandwich plate and chips from the tray. “Sometimes it is good to eat out.” She took a seat. “I bring you here for a reason.”

         “To get away from the ghosts?” Janelle couldn’t help smiling.

         Helga didn’t seem amused. “Ja, and other reason.” She picked up her sandwich.

         Janelle looked down at her soup then up at Helga. “Would you mind if I asked a blessing on our food?”

         “Okay.” Helga set her sandwich on the plate.

         Janelle bowed her head. She had eaten lunch with Helga every day since she started working but had never asked to say grace before. As she prayed a short prayer, she hoped Helga wasn’t offended in this public place.

         Helga looked up at the amen. “That was nice, Yanelle.” She picked up her sandwich and took a bite.

         Why hadn’t Janelle said grace over their lunch before? For a moment, she felt ashamed, and determined to be more vocal in her faith. Helga seemed to need a friend, and the Lord could be her best Friend.

         They ate for a few minutes in silence.

         “I haven’t been here for a long time, Helga.” Janelle scraped up the last spoonful of soup in her bowl. “It brings back memories of my dad and sister when we ate here.”

         “Ja, memories for me, too.” Helga stared off to a corner of the room. “I think of my brother. We come to America almost forty years ago and move to Greenvale. This was first restaurant we ate at in this town.”

         “Does your brother still live around here?”

          “No, he went back to Sweden shortly after we came. I stayed.”

         “Because you got the modeling job at Thorne’s.”

         “Ja. Right here in this restaurant, Yed Thorne saw me and asked me to model for the company.”

         “So Jed did ask you.”

         “Uff! I was young headstrong girl and thought I was beautiful. Yed appealed to my vanity.” She sighed. “My brother did not want me to do it. I have often wished I had gone back with him to Sweden. Then it was too late.”

         “Too late?”

         Helga shook her head as she chewed the last bite of her sandwich. 

         “So, uh, has your brother lived in Sweden all these years?”

         “Ja, he married and has three children, all grown up. We used to send letters but now we e-mail. Sometimes he calls me.” Helga seemed sad as she reported this.

         Janelle lowered her voice. “Do you wish you had gone back to Sweden and gotten married, too?”

         Helga traced the top of her glass with her fingertip. “At first, I thought I might marry Yed. He was friendly to me and we had good times. I was happy. We seemed to be—how do you say?—kindred spirits. But he was no good.” She pressed her lips together. “One afternoon, after I was through modeling, he…he raped me.”

         Janelle drew in a sharp breath. “Oh, Helga—”

         “Ja.” She looked down. “I hated him then. He begged my forgiveness, he wanted to marry me, but no, I would not marry him. I could not forgive him. He brought me flowers and I felt guilty. I should forgive him. Then I found out how he lived. Women, drinking, gambling…” She shook her head. “He could have been a great man, yust like Ben turned out, but he did not care.”

         “That’s sad, Helga.” No wonder Ben seemed so embarrassed about his dad.

         “It tore me up to see Yed destroy himself. I loved him one moment and hated him the next. Why could he not control his behavior? I decided I would not care either.”

         “Helga, you didn’t—” Janelle bit her lip. “You didn’t murder Jed, did you?”

         “No, Corrine did that.” Helga shrugged. “How could I kill a man I once loved? And I think, in his own twisted way, he loved me. But after…” She sighed. “It was hard to work around him everyday.”

“Why didn’t you leave Thorne’s and get another job?”

         “I could not. For one thing, my brother told me I would not last in America. I wanted to prove him wrong. Then my visa ran out, and I never got green card. So I could not get other job, but I did not want to go back to Sweden.” She leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “I am still illegal immigrant, Yanelle. No citizenship, no social security number, no bank account.”

         Janelle raised her eyebrows. “But how can you live here?”

         “I cash my check each week and put it in safe at home. Yed promised I would always have a yob at Thorne’s, and that is only promise he ever kept to me.”

         “So you plan to work at Thorne’s the rest of your life?” Janelle couldn’t imagine Helga bending over her computer as a ninety-year-old woman.

           “Not rest of life. I am saving to retire, and when I have enough money, I will yust stay at home and have a good life with Spiffy.”

         “Spiffy?”

         “My cat.”

         Janelle grinned. “You have a cat, too?”

         Helga waved her hand around the room. “Does not everyone?”  

         “I don’t, but Ben’s aunt has five.”

         “Ja, Ida and her cats.” Helga shook her head. “What a mixed-up lady. Poor thing.”

* * *

         Until tomorrow, God bless!