Beartown: Chapter 45 Summary & Analysis

From Zacharias’s bedroom window, Amat sees his teammates congregating outside. He knows this is no longer about what Kevin has or hasn’t done, but about the fact that the team is looking for an enemy, and that Amat is a convenient one. He goes outside.

Ann-Katrin watches the hockey team speaking to her son outside the house. Lyt is giving Bobo orders. Bobo has only ever wanted to belong to something. Now he stands there alone as the rest of the team angrily disappears. She and Hog say nothing as Bobo picks up a hoodie and scarf to match the rest of the group and leaves.

Amat knows he stands no chance against the guys, but somehow he’s no longer frightened. Pretty soon he’s being assaulted by several teammates at once, one of them holding a metal pipe. Bobo, ever slower than the rest of the group, catches up after they’ve started attacking Amat. He steps forward and starts throwing punches, sending Lyt to the ground. Eventually, though, they overpower him.

A car stops a short distance away, illuminating the boys with its headlights. They take off running. Amat and Bobo lie there in silence for a while, then slowly assess their injuries. They start joking about their first encounter on the practice ice a few weeks ago, until Amat’s broken rib makes laughter too painful.

Two men get out of the Saab that’s still parked a short distance away. It turns out that Ramona sent them. One of the men says that he still doesn’t know if he trusts Amat, but he trusts Ramona. He hands Amat five thousand-kronor notes and tells him to make sure he really does become a great hockey player.