Spain

Spain is the destination of a trip Nic has dreamed of taking, but his departure comes at a strained moment: Elfrieda Von Riesen is still in hospital, and Nic is unsure whether he should leave. Her insistence that he go, and Yolandi Von Riesen’s help getting him to the airport, make the journey a small act of care amid uncertainty; the narrative does not establish whether he reaches Spain.

The Planned Journey

Nic tells Yolandi Von Riesen that he is going to Spain after all. She had not known he was considering the trip. He says he had been uncertain about cancelling, but has now decided to leave the next day. Spain is presented as the fulfillment of his dream, not as a journey whose outcome is reported.

The timing troubles Yolandi Von Riesen. Elfrieda will not be coming home before Nic’s departure, the doctor has made that clear, and the separation is therefore part of the immediate circumstances of the trip. Nic explains that Elfrieda told him to go and said he had to go, affirming his plans even while she remains in hospital.

The Airport Departure

Early the following morning, Nic calls Yolandi Von Riesen to ask for a ride to the airport. He is running late and still wavering; without her help, he says, he might go back to bed, smoke weed, and cry himself to sleep. Yolandi Von Riesen picks him up, turning his uncertain intention into a practical departure for the airport.

Nic asks her to take his car back to her mother for her to use. Its driver’s door does not work properly and must remain closed: to reach the driver’s seat, a person has to climb in from the passenger side and slide across the gearshift. Yolandi Von Riesen says she will have it repaired because she does not think her mother can manage that manoeuvre each time. The defective car, passed along for her mother’s use, makes the departure an exchange of responsibilities as well as a trip.

On the drive, Nic rubs his face, puts a leg on the dashboard, rests his elbow on his knee, leans his head on his hand, and closes his eyes. He asks himself aloud what he is doing. Yolandi Von Riesen encourages him, telling him indirectly that the trip will be good and that seeing his father will be worthwhile. The scene ends with them on the way to the airport; it supplies no confirmation that Nic reaches Spain.

Narrative Significance

Spain marks the pull of an individual dream against the demands of family crisis. Nic’s departure is neither presented as an uncomplicated escape nor as a choice made without Elfrieda: she urges him to go, while her continuing hospitalization makes the timing painful. Yolandi Von Riesen’s role is concrete and divided between emotional encouragement and practical care, from driving Nic to the airport to arranging for his unreliable car to serve her mother.