‘There they are,’ Roland said as he zigzagged between the tables, so eager to greet his friends he left me in his wake.

They were at the very back of the room.

Harr wore a leather cowboy hat on his head. His nose was a big, hooked thing that looked like it had been burnt to a crisp in the sun, but it probably went deeper than that. He tipped his hat to me and lurking behind his curly grey beard was a moist little grin I couldn’t read.

If Harr was the man with the hat, Ensimmäinen was the man with the hair. It tumbled down his back like a hard-rocker’s and was more white than grey. It didn’t match his angular face and steel-rimmed glasses at all and definitely didn’t belong on a man his age; I thought he looked like a banker who had put on a zany wig for an office party. His long pale arms, which were resting on the table, were hairless like a woman’s. He wore no watch and, naturally, no ring.

We sat down at the table and since they didn’t say anything and seemed to be waiting for something, I forced myself to ask if they wanted beer, but they didn’t even reply, and when, in a state of growing unease, I passed the question on to Roland, he didn’t answer either. It was as if he’d suddenly gone over to their side, and it made me furious.

‘Do you want a pint or not!’ I cackled and that made him snap back in and nod with a flat look on his face.

The waitress was a tired little girl with piercings all over her face and dyed black hair; when she left, I noticed Harr was watching me and that he was doing it fairly unabashedly. As though he felt free to take the liberty of inspecting me. He and his friend had an advantage over me that no one had ever had before. That was how it was. It felt like they owned me and that made me insecure and it made me angry. My face glowed hot from time to time and I was certain the flushes were fully visible on my cheeks, which did nothing to help matters.

‘May I ask how business is going?’ Harr said. ‘Or is that intrusive?’

‘Business? You mean my shop? Well, I guess it’s going fine.’

‘Rolle tells us you have competition now.’

‘That man sells nothing but tat. He’ll go belly-up in no time.’

‘If he doesn’t,’ he said and adjusted his hat, ‘Nänne and I would always be happy to go have a chat with him.’