My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Later that night, Elsa and Alf take the wurse outside. Alf reveals that Kent is his little brother. Alf tells Elsa that when he was 10, he was in love for the first time. When Elsa asks about the second time, he replies, “There was no second time” (285).

They hear a scream and rush back to the apartment. Britt-Marie is standing outside the front door, facing Sam, who is holding a knife. The wurse gets between them, its teeth bared. Elsa runs at Sam, but Alf moves in front of her, shielding her from Sam. Alf swings a hammer and calmly tells Sam that the police are on their way. Sam retreats into the darkness.

Alf tells the wurse to go hide in the house from the police. Elsa loses consciousness, and when she wakes up in Granny’s bed, the neighbors are all in the hallway. Maud asks Britt-Marie where Kent is; she says he’s at a business meeting. Mum invites her to stay for the night, thinking it will be safer if they stay together, but Britt-Marie says, “I’m sleeping at home. Kent is coming home tonight. I’m always home when Kent arrives” (288).

The green-eyed police officer (Green Eyes) comes in and assures everyone that they will find Sam. She asks Britt-Marie if she has seen the dog that Kent was complaining about. Elsa is terrified of what Britt-Marie will say, but Britt-Marie uncharacteristically protects the wurse by saying she and Kent had been mistaken about seeing it. As Britt-Marie leaves, “Elsa sees the way Alf looks at her […] And now Elsa knows who Britt-Marie is” (290).

Elsa and Alf take the wurse out to the woods. Walking back upstairs, Alf pauses at Britt-Marie’s door and “looks at it, as one does when there was a first time, but never a second, and never anything more” (292). Alf tells Elsa that Kent’s children are grown-ups now, and that although Britt-Marie invites them for Christmas every year, they never come. Elsa remembers the tale of the Princess of Miploris who was “so beloved of the two princes that they fought for her love, until they hated one another” (292).

On Christmas Eve morning, Elsa overhears Kent calling Britt-Marie’s name because he can’t find his razor in its usual drawer. Britt-Marie finds it, and they argue awhile about what time his children are arriving for Christmas dinner. Kent says he doesn’t know what time he will be home from work and not to wait up for him. Britt-Marie asks him to put his shirt in the washing machine as soon as he gets home. Elsa sees her purposefully put Kent’s razor away in the wrong drawer.

Kent leaves, and Elsa goes into their apartment to thank Britt-Marie for protecting the wurse last night. Britt-Marie scolds her for keeping “that horrible creature” (297) a secret and predicts he will bite someone. Elsa asks Britt-Marie why she put Kent’s razor in the wrong drawer, and she says, “Because I like it when he shouts my name” (298).

Elsa meets Green-eyes outside, guarding the apartment. She tells Elsa that Mum was the one who convinced her to become a policewoman, “because I was afraid of everything when I was small. And she told me I should do what I was most afraid of. I should laugh at my fears” (300). Elsa realizes that Green-eyes and Mum are the two golden knights who defeated the fears in Granny’s fairy tale. When Green-eyes says she knew Granny before Mum, Elsa understands that she is one of the children from the photos on Granny’s ceiling.

Elsa can’t find the wurse in its usual hiding places. She goes to Alf for help, who says the wurse is with him. They go up to Mum and George’s apartment, where everyone is getting ready for a potluck Christmas Eve dinner. The woman in the black skirt brings her boys’ favorite dish. Mum invites Green-eyes to join them, and they sit next to each other and laugh. The woman with the black skirt plays with the boy with the syndrome, and he falls asleep in her lap. Afterward, Maud asks Elsa if it was frightening having the police at the house, but Elsa says, “Don’t worry, Maud. This is a Christmas tale. They always have a happy ending” (306).

Elsa tells Alf it’s time to put on the Santa suit, but he insists on going out to buy a newspaper first. As they drive, Alf tells Elsa the story of Britt-Marie. When Alf was 10, Britt-Marie moved to the apartment above his with her sister and parents. Britt-Marie’s mother favored her sister because she was a talented singer. Later, a “young female medical student” (309) moved into the top flat. One day she brought home a stray dog that bit Britt-Marie when the children provoked it; the stray was ordered out of the building. Later, Britt-Marie’s mother got in a car accident in which both her daughters were badly injured. The medical student was able to save Britt-Marie but not her sister. Britt-Marie’s mother never forgave Granny, however, because she thought Granny had “saved the wrong daughter” (310).

Alf and Kent competed for Britt-Marie’s affections, and Alf won, while Kent ended up in an unhappy marriage. But Alf’s relationship with Britt-Marie ended when he had an affair. Kent divorced, returned to the apartment, and moved in with Britt-Marie.

Alf’s phone rings; Kent has had a heart attack. They rush to the hospital, where they see a young woman who is crying and “smells strongly of perfume” (316). Britt-Marie is sitting on a bench holding one of Kent’s freshly laundered shirts. She says she always asks Kent to change his shirt when he comes home, because “I don’t use perfume, but she does” (317). Britt-Marie knew Kent was having an affair but pretended to believe his lies “so brilliantly that I believed it myself” (318).

When they return from the hospital, Mum hugs Britt-Marie and takes her up to the apartment. Britt-Marie sits next to Elsa on the sofa in a “cessation of hostilities” (319).