Chapter 28 explores Rune and Ove’s past relationship and what led to its deterioration. Ove can’t remember how it all started but he knows that Rune buying a BMW was the last straw. Before this, the men had a series of disagreements on various neighborhood issues like snow clearing.

Rune and Anita had a son who, according to Sonja, “was born angry” (212). He moved to the United States when he turned 20 and barely visits. At some point, Rune and Anita discuss having another child, so Rune buys a Volvo 265 (Volvo being his brand of choice before BMW) to accommodate this extra expected person: “But no more children came. One evening Sonja came home and told Ove Anita had been to the doctor” (214)—implying no more children are possible.

Soon after, Rune gets a Volvo 740, which seats only two people. Ove, in a sympathetic gesture, leaves a half bottle of whiskey on Rune’s doorstep—a gesture of condolence: “Maybe their sorrow over children that never came should have brought the two men closer. But sorrow is unreliable in that way. When people don’t share it there’s a good chance that it will drive them apart instead” (215).