He laughs and his fingers play nervously with his stubbly beard as he continues to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

‘So you’re not one of those who wants paying?’

She places a hand over his. Her silver rings shine like tears in the darkness between them and she hopes he can’t feel the blood pulsating through her veins.

‘No, I’m not one of those.’

There is plenty of room at the back of the cabin. He bends her over a bunk and his hands are heavy on her hips as he thrusts himself inside her. They don’t undress. Their trousers stay around their ankles, almost as if they are expecting to be discovered. She raises her eyes and sees a child smiling at her from a photograph. The child has its chubby arms wrapped around the neck of a chocolate Labrador and it looks as if they are both smiling. The girl lowers her eyes to the crumpled bedding instead. It isn’t long before he cries out and withdraws – quickly, so all the sticky fluid lands on the floor. She bends over and pulls up her knickers. All of a sudden she is dangerously close to crying and she keeps gulping to smother it.

The man seems wide awake. There is a new kind of confidence in his hands as he fastens his belt, like a teenager who’s just had his first lay. It amazes her how alike they are. The men.

They sit in the front of the cab, smoking. Beyond the massive windscreen the world is dark and damp. She feels sore but the feeling of wanting to cry has passed.

‘Where are you going now?’

‘Haparanda. And then back to Skåne again.’

His dialect sounds weird, almost like he’s singing.

‘You coming along?’ he asks.

She turns her head to blow out smoke.

‘I’m going further than Haparanda.’

His teeth gleam in the darkness. This isn’t something he has done before. She can already see the guilty conscience taking shape in him. His voice is trying to smooth out what has just happened. He nods toward the filling station.

‘I was thinking of getting myself something to eat. Do you want anything?’

‘A cinnamon bun would be good.’

‘Sure, leave it to me.’

He takes the keys from the ignition and smiles shyly at her as he opens the door and steps out. He looks slightly bow-legged as he walks and he ignores the splashes from the puddles. The girl watches him as he disappears into the shop, wondering whether to ride with him after all. She could get out at Luleå. She has heard it’s a pretty big town. And you can disappear in a town.

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