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Back Cold as Hell Save as PDF
Chapters (115)
  1. COLD AS HELL
  2. PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
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  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
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  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
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  60. 57
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  73. 70
  74. 71
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  78. 75
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  80. 77
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  88. 85
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  90. 87
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  92. 89
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  96. 93
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  100. 97
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  102. 99
  103. 100
  104. 101
  105. 102
  106. 103
  107. 104
  108. 105
  109. 106
  110. 107
  111. 108
  112. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  113. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  114. ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
  115. COPYRIGHT

Olga took the stairs rather than the lift up to her flat on the second floor, as Omar had suggested. ‘A little at a time makes a difference,’ he always said. ‘Older people need to strengthen their legs.’ But she hadn’t become aware of any more strength in her legs, even though she had been using the stairs for a few weeks. She felt a pain in her shins with every step and her joints hurt. It wasn’t just her hips and her knees, but also her ankle and toe joints that were increasingly painful, especially in her right foot. She had read somewhere that the reason was that she had worn narrow-toed shoes too much, but Omar said it was because she walked with her feet splayed outwards.

She paused on the landing and inspected the worn steps, wondering when the residents’ association would have enough money to pay for the stairwell to be freshened up. It could do with a coat of paint and maybe new carpets. But so many of the residents were short of money, the demands for contributions stacked up and the residents’ association didn’t have the heart to push it as far as getting lawyers involved.

She sighed as she put down her bag in the hall and hung up her coat. She couldn’t hear Omar, so he had to be either in his room or else at the gym. He had trained twice yesterday. In the morning he had lifted weights and later in the day he had used one of the running machines, as he had told her proudly, and she could only share his delight in spite of her concerns. For a moment it had occurred to her that she ought to try going to the gym with him. Next year she would be in the same position as him, with her days free and nothing to do. Although she was looking forward to retirement, she knew it could present problems. But she brushed aside any ideas about going to the gym right away, knowing that if she were to mention her thoughts to Omar, he wouldn’t leave 131her in peace until he had dragged her to the gym and made her do all kinds of weird new things. It was tough enough for her to follow his advice and take the stairs. She wasn’t going to start hammering away at those machines as well. That would make her joints so much worse.