Eight yards farther up, he saw plastic bags filled with groceries strewn on the ground. JW followed the trail. Farther in, he spotted a huddled-up human. Was it the Chilean? Was he alive?
JW looked around. No Yugos in sight. He called out. No answer. Got closer. The guy looked dead. JW knelt down beside him. Said Jorge’s name. Really didn’t want to find a murdered person.
Finally, he got a reaction.
With his eyes still shut, Jorge mumbled, “Get outta here.”
JW didn’t know what to say. Thought, Relief the guy’s alive. But how much help does he need? Not a good idea to get an ambulance involved.
“Hi. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do?”
“Beat it.”
“Nice to hear you’re alive. I know who you are. I recognize you. I’ve been looking for you for hours.”
Jorge opened one eye. He had a slight immigrant lilt to his speech. “And who the hell are you?”
“My name is Johan. I’ve no idea who did this to you or why. You look like shit. Probably need medical care. You’ve got to listen to me. I’ve got good news.”
“I said, beat it. You’ve got fuckin’ nothing to do with me. I’ve never even seen your face.”
“Get it together. Your name is Jorge Salinas Barrio and you escaped from Osteraker on August thirty-first. You’ve been on the run ever since. That can’t be easy. You know the cocaine business better than anyone else. You’re the king of coke in the Stockholm area. Are you listening, or what?”
Jorge lay still. Didn’t say anything. But he also didn’t say no.
“I work for an Arab-Abdulkarim Haij. Do you know who that is?”
Jorge looked up again. JW read it as: Keep talking.
“He keeps me in the C. I, like, deal to the Stureplan crowd and make a killing. You can get up to eleven hundred a gram from them. That’s not bad. But imagine if we could push the purchase price even more. That’s what we’re going to do when we expand. And we know you; you’ve got no life without our help. There are clearly others, besides the police, who’ve got it in for you. You can forget about them now. We’ll help you, get you back on your feet. Fix a passport, pesetas, whatever you need. The police don’t stand a chance. Not those Yugos, either. If you work for us, we’ll make you a rich man.”
JW caught his breath. Didn’t give a shit that Jorge seemed totally out of it. He felt how excited he was, had thought about this for days. Was hard to take it easy now.
“Listen, man, we’ve been tracking the development in Stockholm. The coke is on its way to the boroughs, to the projects. It’s the big trend, the new everyman drug. It’s going to be like weed. And the price is sinking every day. When you were put away it was, what, twelve hundred a gram? Now there are a lot of people out there selling eighty-five percent Charlie for eight hundred. That means the volume’s going to be through the roof and we, since we’ve got good contacts, can buy at lower prices. The aggregate income increases radically. This is where you come in. You’re going to help us bring in more. Above all, you’re going to deal to the boroughs. You and me, together, are going to own this town. You with me? Own it.”
Jorge, with a whimper: “ Maricon. Beat it.”
PART 2
MINUTES
Oral proceedings in the Stockholm District Court
Case number T 3245-06
COURT
Honorable District Court Judge Patrick Renback
KEEPER OF THE MINUTES
District Court Clerk Oskar Havermark
PARTIES
PLAINTIFF
Annika Sjoberg, 690217-1543
Grondalsvagen 172
117 69 STOCKHOLM
Present in person
REPRESENTATION UNDER THE LEGAL AID ACT
Goran Insulander, Esq.
Box 11244
112 21 STOCKHOLM
Present
DEFENDANT
Mrado Slovovic, 670203-9115
Katarina Bangata 35
116 39 STOCKHOLM
Present in person
REPRESENTATION
Martin Thomasson, Esq.
Box 5467
112 31 STOCKHOLM
Present
THE CASE
Custody, living arrangements, visitation rights, etc.
The judge reviews what has previously been decided in the case.
CLAIMS
Goran Insulander states that Annika Sjoberg, albeit on an interim/interlocutory basis, petitions for sole custody of the daughter, Lovisa.
Martin Thomasson states that Mrado Slovovic’s stance is as follows: He contests Annika Sjoberg’s claim. He petitions, albeit on an interim/interlocutory basis, to have visitation rights with Lovisa every week from Tuesday at six p.m. to Friday at six p.m.
Goran Insulander states that Annika Sjoberg contests Mrado Slovovic’s claim. She agrees that Mrado Slovovic should have visitation rights with Lovisa every other week from Tuesday at six p.m. to Wednesday at six p.m.
GROUNDS, ETC.
Goran Insulander states that the grounds for and the circumstances around Annika Sjoberg’s case are as follows: Annika Sjoberg and Mrado Slovovic were married around nine years ago. Together, they had a daughter, Lovisa, two years later. It is in the best interest of Lovisa not to have too much contact with Mrado Slovovic, since he has a very negative influence on his daughter, as well as the fact that it is dangerous for the daughter to spend time with him. Furthermore, he is unable to cooperate with Annika Sjoberg when it comes to picking up and dropping off the girl in connection with his visitation rights. Mrado Slovovic has threatened her on a number of occasions. Despite this, Annika Sjoberg believes that Mrado Slovovic should have limited visitation with Lovisa, since it is important for a child to have a connection with both parents. Lovisa never asks for Mrado Slovovic. In 2002, the parties’ relationship began to deteriorate. Mrado Slovovic was never home at night and slept most of the day. He became angry when Lovisa cried or made noise and didn’t take care of her. Annika Sjoberg was the one who fed Lovisa and cared for her hygiene. Mrado Slovovic moved in criminal circles and, in the spring of 2004, Annika Sjoberg decided to file for divorce. Mrado Slovovic was enraged by this and threatened, among other things, to take Lovisa with him to Serbia. On two occasions, he also said that he would break her neck if she didn’t let him live with Lovisa. Between 2004 and 2006, his visitation rights with Lovisa have been characterized by problems. Over long periods of time, four months being the longest, he has not seen Lovisa at all. On several occasions, Mrado Slovovic has failed to show up at the agreed time and instead kept Lovisa for up to three days longer without Annika Sjoberg’s permission. Lovisa is very stressed-out and sleeps poorly after she has been with him. When she is with Mrado Slovovic, she is allowed to watch movies all night and he does not prepare proper food for her. He still moves in criminal circles and has previously been convicted of several violent crimes. Acquaintances of Annika Sjoberg have reported seeing Mrado Slovovic driving at speeds far above the speed limit with Lovisa in his sports car. It has also happened on one occasion that he took her along to a combat sports club, where she had to stand outside the ring and watch Mrado Slovovic be beaten up. Lovisa was very upset after this. It is harmful for Lovisa to spend time with Mrado Slovovic. Partly because he brings her along to activities that are actually dangerous, and partly because he is involved in criminal activity. Furthermore, Mrado Slovivic is unable to work together with Annika Sjoberg.
Martin Thomasson states the grounds for and the circumstances around Mrado Slovic’s case are as follows: Lovisa needs her father. It is untrue that it is dangerous for her to spend time with him. He does not exceed the speed limit when driving with her in his car. He has given her proper food and she does not only watch TV. They do many active things together, such as go to the Skansen outdoor museum and bake. On one occasion, Lovisa accompanied Mrado Slovoic to his combat sports gym, but it is not true that she saw him being beaten. What did, in fact, happen was that he and Lovisa “shadowboxed” for fun in the ring in a completely harmless manner. The reason that Annika Sjoberg makes false claims is that she is jealous of Mrado Slovovic, since he, shortly after the termination of their marriage, had a relationship with another woman. The problems in connection with Lovisa’s pickup and drop-off are brought about by Annika Sjoberg, who is at times psychologically fragile. On such occasions, she lies apathetically in bed and is unable to take care of Lovisa. This behavior had already begun during the parties’ marriage. When Annika Sjoberg suffers such periods of depression, Mrado Slovovic does not deem it healthy for Lovisa to live with her mother. Lovisa is very happy with the time she spends with Mrado Slovovic and has on several occasions expressed a desire to spend more time with him. On Mrado Slovovic’s last occasion of visitation in January, Lovisa said that “she wanted to live with Daddy like she lives with Mommy.” She is always very sad when it is time to drop her off with Annika Sjoberg. Annika Sjoberg has refused Mrado Slovovic the right to take Lovisa to Serbia to visit the daughter’s grandfather. Mrado Slovovic has never had the intention of taking Lovisa there without Annika Sjoberg’s permission. It is in the best interest of Lovisa that the parties maintain joint custody of her and that she spend the same amount of time with her father as with her mother. Presently, Mrado Slovovic is of the mind that visitation from Tuesay to Friday is sufficient.