In the other house it was sauna time. Because it wasn’t big they had to make two groups. The first one was composed by Veli-Matti, Olli and Rane. They were all drunk but it was not too bad. The sauna helped them to feel a bit more sober. “I’m not used anymore to drink that much,” Vellu complained. “You’re not the only one. But I’ve to admit that with friends it’s really nice. And this sauna is a good idea,” Janne confessed. “I don’t know how I will go home. Trains are not running and taxi is too expensive,” Olli said before to throw some water on the stove. The cloud of steam caressed their skin. The sweat came immediately and the drops were running on their hot bodies. The thermometers showed 92 degrees. “Olli, you will spend the night here or at my place. You can’t go back to Lahti,” Veli-Matti said after a little break. “But I’ve to be at the hill at 10!” he reminded. “You’ll be late and have a bad hangover,” Vellu promised. “Come to my flat and I’ll wake you up at 7. Then I’ll make a cocktail that will kill your hangover in ten minutes,” Rane promised. “You are crazy. I’ve to get out of here. I feel bad,” Olli said before to exit the sauna. Vellu and Janne were smiling when they heard that he was throwing up. “Maybe he’ll be sober before than expected,” Rane said and Vellu laughed.
When they finished it was the turn of the second group. Anssi felt quite uncomfortable. Havu and Arttu were silent. “Nice evening,” he said to break the silence. “Yeah nice evening,” Arttu repeated. He felt that he drank too much. His head and his stomach were hurting. Havu threw some water. “What’s wrong guys? Are you sick?” Anssi asked while he looked at his two friends. “No, we are not sick. Not yet,” Havu answered. “Please, tell something,” Anssi requested. He was thinking of leaving this sauna. He didn’t like the atmosphere. Maybe he should let them alone and talk about their problems. After the second cloud of steam he decided to leave, saying that he needed to breathe some fresh air. He took his towel and went on the terrace. Rane was smoking his cigarette and Vellu and Olli were laughing. They seemed to have fun. The contrast was huge with the two guys in the sauna. “Already out?” Ahonen asked when he saw Anssi. “Yeah, it’s too hot and Arttu and Havu are boring,” he complained.
“Why do you ruin the evening?” Happonen asked. “I’m not. It’s you that say nothing. You are the host,” Arttu replied. “Why are you mad at me? Still because of the discussion at the restaurant?” Janne referred. “I’m not mad at you. I still just don’t get what you are doing with Nina. We were friends. What changed? What happened to our friendship?” Arttu asked. “Good question. I think that it’s because you don’t trust me.” “What? But I maybe don’t trust you because you are lying all the time. How can I trust you? Don’t you remember the discussion we had with Tami at the Ekberg Café some years ago about Harri and his wife? I’ve the feeling that you changed that day when you refused to help us to save Harri. And now he is dead,” the lawyer reminded. “He is dead because of Tami and you. You had in mind that Nina was a monster but you never talked to her. You never tried to understand the situation. Because you trusted Harri who was one of our friends. Have you ever thought that he might be wrong? I have. I talked to Nina. And I can tell you that neither Harri nor Nina is perfect. But I still can’t accept that you preferred to let Harri dies than to bring him to the hospital. Just because you thought that Nina would kill him. For me Tami is a bad guy but you are a monster. You did nothing to save him,” Havu told. He thought that it was necessary that his former friend understood his point of view. Arttu was embarrassed. Havu was not wrong. He did nothing. But he was afraid. “Did you talk about me in that Tami-Harri story to other people?” Arttu asked, worried. “No. And do you know why? Because we are friends. I also protect my friends. My colleagues asked me to make a list of our common friends. I didn’t write your name,” Janne admitted. “Really? Why did you do it?” “I told you. Because we are a family and you never betray your own family.”
After the sauna and a couple of more drinks Havu proposed to play cards or to talk about anything. But his friends had something else in mind. Olli had a big smile and took the DVD he offered. “Oh no, please. Not tonight,” the host begged but his ex-teammates insisted. “Drink that before to sing,” Rane said while he gave his a shot glass. “What’s inside?” “Shut up and drink,” he replied. Havu drank it at once. It was powerful and hot. It was certainly vodka. He felt that he couldn’t stand up. He had to sit on the sofa. Olli gave him the microphone and he selected the first song. The text appeared after ten seconds of introduction. But the text was so small and fast that he was unable to read. He did his best but most of the words were missing. All his friends were laughing. Arttu laughed so much that he was crying. The poor Havu knew that he was bad but he was too drunk to reply. Anssi saved the situation, took the microphone and sang the end of the song. But he was also drunk and was not singing right.
The friends were tired and half sleeping on the sofa. Veli-Matti Lindström didn’t have much difficulties to come back home. He just had to cross the road, to open the door and to go to his bed. But he couldn’t remember that there were so many stairs. Janne Ahonen had still some energy left and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and had a look. Could he save the end of the evening or would they just sleep in the living room? He took some ingredients that he put in the blender. The noise woke Arttu up. He didn’t realize that he was almost sleeping. He looked at his phone and saw that it was very late. “I think that I’ll go home,” he said with a broken voice. “Drink that before,” Rane said when he was back in the living room with a trail. The lawyer took it and smelled. “What the Hell is that?” he complained. “Close your eyes and drink,” the barman said. He obeyed and almost threw up. The taste was really horrible. He put his hand on his mouth and swallowed slowly. His face was reddish and he didn’t know how he survived. He breathed deeply a couple of times. “Are you okay, man?” Rane asked. “I think,” the lawyer answered, still breathless. But some minutes later he didn’t feel sober but much better. Nevertheless he couldn’t drive. He called a taxi and left the party twenty minutes later with Anssi who also drank the horrible cocktail. They preferred to ignore what were the ingredients. Rane went to the terrace once more to smoke a cigarette. When he was back inside he touched the shoulder of Olli who was sleeping on Havu. Rane smiled. They looked like an old couple. But Olli was just making some strange noises like a bear in a deep forest. Janne decided to call a taxi for himself. On the table of the kitchen he wrote a note saying that the hangover killer was in the fridge and he signed: your beloved barman. He smiled and exited the house.
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