My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Now that they know Sam has returned and is looking for his son, the boy with the syndrome and his mother move into Granny’s apartment on the top floor for safety. There is a new notice on the bulletin board above the stroller, which turns out to be a crossword puzzle. Mum sends Elsa to invite all the neighbors, including Britt-Marie, for Christmas Eve dinner. Britt-Marie declines, saying Kent’s children always come to her and Kent’s apartment for Christmas. Elsa invites the woman with the black skirt, who is uncertain because she’s “not so good at meeting people” (275) but says maybe she can come for a little while.

Elsa shows Alf a trunk containing Granny’s Santa costume. Though Elsa doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, she persuades Alf to dress up as Santa for the sake of the boy with the syndrome. Alf sees Elsa’s Spiderman costume in the trunk and asks her about it. Elsa tells Alf that she wanted to dress up as Spiderman for a school assignment but that she can’t because the people at school say girls can’t be Spiderman. Alf reminds her that a lot of people told