The Wooden Chair by Rayne E. Golay

to see you.” Mamma stepped aside to let the caller enter. Spotting Leini next to her, Mamma wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Say hello to Mrs. Miller.”
    As she’d been taught, Leini gave a little curtsey as she gazed at Mrs. Miller, her shiny black hair curling against her neck, brown eyes with long lashes, a kind smile on her dark red lips.
    Mrs. Miller brushed a hand against Leini’s head. “Look at you, little Leini, how tall you’ve grown.”
    Leini stared at her, wondering who she was.
    “You don’t remember me or my daughter Anne?”
    Leini shook her head.
    She bent away as Mamma’s hand gripped her shoulder, hard like a claw. “What’s with you, girl? Cat got your tongue? Answer Mrs. Miller?”
    “N-no, I don’t remember.”
    “Of course not. You were just a tiny girl when Anne and I evacuated to Sweden. I live in the apartment one floor up from you.”
    Leini followed Mamma and Mrs. Miller into the kitchen.
    While Mamma set the table with cups and plates, she kept talking. “You were lucky to get to Sweden, not like us who had to stay here.”
    Mrs. Miller crossed hands in her lap. “I would have stayed in Finland if it had saved my husband Abe from getting killed.” She brought a dainty handkerchief to her eyes.
    Puzzled, Leini took in first Mrs. Miller then Mamma. If Anne had lost her father, she didn’t quite understand why Mamma thought it was lucky to be in Sweden, even if there was no war there, as it was neu-neut…as Sweden wasn’t in the war.
    Mamma served ersatz-coffee, for Leini a mug of warm water with milk and sugar—silver tea, Mamma called it—and little pastries Mamma made from breadcrumbs, saccharine and a glob of carrot jam as decoration.
    Mrs. Miller turned to Leini. “Are you happy to have a baby brother?”
    Leini swung her legs under the table, not knowing how to respond. She wasn’t sure if she was happy about Samy—she knew that since he arrived nothing was the same and she didn’t like that.
    With a glance at Leini, Mamma lit a cigarette. “She’s so good with him, the best babysitter there is, and she’s so gentle.” Looking at Leini, she creased her forehead, a smile fixed on her lips. “I wouldn’t know how to manage without her.”
    Mrs. Miller smiled and stroked Leini’s hair. “You’re such a good girl.”
    Leini sat in stunned silence and wondered if she heard right. Did Mamma say something nice about her? Only a couple of days ago, she’d said Leini was a no-good. Now Mamma told Mrs. Miller something entirely different, that she was the best babysitter. Was there one truth for Leini alone, a different one for other people? Leini didn’t understand this. Mamma showed her little attention before Samy arrived, and now she focused entirely on him. Leini counted even less than before.
    If only she hadn’t asked God for a baby brother or sister.
    * * *
    Leini learned about Papi’s return when she heard Mamma talking on the phone. Mamma said to the person she talked to that Papi was ill. He was relieved from duty and was now in the military hospital in Helsinki.
    “Can we visit him, Mamma?” She remembered she visited the hospital when the stork brought Samy.
    Mamma shook her head. “No, we can’t. Papi has hepatitis. It’s an illness we all could catch from him. Then we’d be sick, too.”
    Plump tears fell from Leini’s eyes. “Will Papi die, Mamma?”
    “You crazy girl. What makes you think he’s going to die?”
    “Well, if he’s very sick, in hospital…”
    Leini knew about dying. The news on the radio always told who had been hurt and who had died.
    “That’s right,” Mamma said. “He’s very sick, but he’s being treated. He’ll be home as soon as he’s well and can’t make us sick. You have to be a patient.”
    Leini didn’t understand about being patient, she only wanted her Papi to hurry home.

Chapter 9
    Helsinki, Early Winter 1944
    The sun was a pale light low in the sky. It was only noon, but so dark Mamma lit