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“Is there anywhere to eat?”
I said nothing, just concentrated on driving.
His stomach rumbled again. This time he lifted the phone to his lips to speak into it. “Can we grab some food before hitting campus?” The sentence repeated back to me in Swedish.
I replied in Swedish, telling him no. He could feed himself when we got to the institute.
He frowned and clicked around on the app, then shoved it near my face. “Say it again.”
I looked at him like he was insane.
“Repeat?” He tried again.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him what the hell he was thinking coming all the way here when he literally knew nothing about how to communicate. But I was saved from having to speak when the phone still jammed near my face started to ring.
He pulled it back, accepting the call instantly. “Baby bro,” he greeted, his voice warm and almost indulgent.
My fingers tightened around the steering wheel, but my stare remained locked on the traffic ahead.
A low grunt. “What time is it there?” A brief pause. “Shouldn’t you be in class?” Another brief pause and then a growl that made my stomach bottom out. “Wesley. You’re going to be late. You shouldn’t have called.”
There was a beat of silence. Then another.
As if beckoned by some unseen force, my eyes slid over to where he sat and the smile blossoming over the lower half of his face.
“I miss you too, bro.” Then, “I made it safe. I’m here. The nine-hour flight was long and the coffee sucked, but I’m here, okay? Don’t worry about me.” Pause. “Is everything okay there?”
He grunted again. See? He was like a dog. A noisy, hairy dog.
Warm, low laughter filled the interior of the car. I told myself the sound affected me so much because it was a direct contrast to the storm still happening outside.
“You see the pics I just sent? It’s cool so far. I’ll send better ones. It’s raining. Probably gonna be dark soon.”
He sat up suddenly, making me jolt and ruining the way I was expertly pretending to ignore him.
He pointed to the clock on the dash. “This time right?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“I’m six hours ahead of you,” he said into the phone.
The person on the other end of the line spoke.
“The time doesn’t matter, though. Call if you need me anytime, okay?” A gruff sound. “Go to class.”
He laughed.
He was so animated. It was like watching a cartoon live and in person. It was jarring like seeing a car wreck and not being able to look away.
“Hey,” he called, and I imagined the faceless person on the other end pushing the phone back against their ear. “Love you.”
Surprise made my eyes widen. He’d just told that person he loved them. Just like that. In front of a stranger as if it wasn’t hard at all.Like he really means it.
I was back to white-knuckling the steering wheel, denying the urge to look at him again. It didn’t matter what his face looked like when he said that.
A few minutes later, the robotic voice the app used filled the air, speaking Swedish. “That was my little brother just making sure I made it okay.”
He didn’t have to tell me whom he was talking to. I didn’t want to know anyway.
