Well, yes! Karl completely fell for Tom's sister. I couldn't find any traces of what had happened on my brother's social media. I pestered him for two days until he finally confessed.
We were home alone. I made him breakfast, flattering him that way. I waited until he devoured the puff pastry down to the last crumb, then—before he could start playing Diablo—I stabbed him with the question.
No probing, straight to the point. This time I didn't beg.
"What happened between you?"
I think what loosened his tongue was that I had taken care of him in a motherly way that morning. I've used this trick before.
"It happened at a party. You won't believe it, but she seduced me. We chatted nonstop for two days, then I saw her hugging that thing on the beach," he said, agitated.
I listened. I couldn't give him advice either. He flared up and wanted more from Ilke. I murmured something—I don't even know what. I just wanted Karl to keep talking.
"Things weren't going well with her boyfriend. She could have told me… I wouldn't have gone along with it… I wouldn't be angry with her…"
Karl was shaken. Rejected love is a bad thing.
I still haven't forgotten Tom to this day. I lied to myself, convinced myself that he no longer mattered to me. All that really happened was that I accepted that I don't matter to him. Not like that. Maybe Karl needs to do the same.
Ilke broke Karl's heart.
Tom broke mine.
I couldn't talk to my brother about Tom. Maybe he did join my book club because of me, but maybe I'm stupid for hoping.
What a heartbreaker family!
Karl cursed Ilke for a long time. I know it was just the pain talking. I didn't try to comfort him, because he doesn't like that. I put another serving of puff pastry on his plate.
"You'll get over it."
That's all I said. I think that's how a buddy would behave. I wanted to give a tough answer. Not like a silly little sister.
Inside, I was screaming. Why my brother? Why Tom's sister?
Tom… maybe I should check whether he has someone.
Before I convince myself that he joined the group because of me, and that he's reading my favorite book because of me.
Before I start hoping that I matter to him.
I didn't have much else to do today. I wanted to read the book Tom recommended. I couldn't bring myself to do it. When I finally started reading, I couldn't focus on the book.
Ilke… Tom… Ilke… Karl.
I quickly gave up on reading and looked at the list my dorm roommates and I are supposed to complete by the end of summer. Half of it by the cosplay afternoon.
I haven't completed a single challenge yet.
All right, let's look at point seven:
Get a new houseplant without buying it from a flower shop!
Okay. I'll ask my aunt for a geranium cutting, buy a pot, and plant it. First I'll split the bottom of the stem in two and stick a bit of grass into the gap—roots and all, of course. My best trick for propagating geraniums.
This will be the first thing I complete from the twenty-point list.
I'll visit my aunt today.
I didn't feel like boiling under a helmet in this heat. Instead of biking, I went on foot. It was only a fifteen-minute walk.
On my way home with my precious acquisition—a white geranium cutting—I ran into Ilke.
I thought that after what had happened she'd duck into a shop, cross to the other side of the street, or force a half-smile and hurry past me.
Ilke slowed down.
I was embarrassed. How should I behave with her?
She hurt my brother.
Tom's sister.
I tried to put on a normal face. I think I succeeded.
Ilke stopped next to me. I looked at her differently now. I examined what it might have been that Karl liked so much about her. She was beautiful. Strangely beautiful. Not from the world of magazines, but with the colors of real life.
"Hi, Helga," she greeted me.
She tried to sound casual, but her voice broke.
"This girl is about to cry," I thought.
And of course I would be the one who should comfort her? She hurt my brother.
"Hi."
By returning her greeting, I wasn't betraying Karl. I didn't think she would unload everything onto me.
"Your brother won't listen to me. He blocked me everywhere, he won't say hello, he won't talk to me. I wish he would listen…"
I pressed my lips together—not out of anger, but because it will be hard to convince Karl to listen to Ilke after what she did to him. She led him on.
Didn't Ilke expect Karl to fall in love? I already know Karl's version. I don't know Ilke's yet.
Since I was still silent, Ilke pulled out her phone.
"Look at this."
She showed me a conversation. She pushed it right in front of me. I could have refused, but I was interested in the full story.
I was stunned. What I saw and read could have turned into a police case.
"I don't want to involve Karl in this. You understand, right?"
I did. I looked the girl over once more. She didn't seem like the type who would be afraid to tell her parents about this petty blackmail. Still, something didn't add up in the story. Even then, I felt she wasn't telling me everything.
"What could I tell Karl—if I can't talk about this—so that he doesn't get involved?" I asked in a shocked voice I had never produced in my life before.
"I'd like… Helga, I'd like your brother not to get involved… I'd like us to get back together. After I sort all of this out."
I understood Ilke. She made a mistake. She regretted it. Then she made an even bigger mistake. Now she's here, floundering and suffering.
"Could we talk it through tomorrow?" I asked.
I knew Karl well. He won't talk to Ilke. I'll have to think hard about what I could say to my brother to make him talk to her—especially since I can't talk about the blackmail by Ilke's "friend."
I think Ilke doesn't know what she could say to my brother either. A day to think will do both of us good.
"Tomorrow at noon, in the park next to the kindergarten?" Ilke suggested.
That works for me. Karl plays Diablo around that time. He won't even notice if I slip out of the house. I'll be talking to Ilke behind my brother's back.
Ilke tried an illegal substance. Her "friend" had proof of it. If she hadn't made up with him, her "friend" would have reported her to the police.
Karl…
I didn't know what to do.