Chapter Five
“Come on, Emilia, we’re leaving,” Frau Muller pulled me by the elbow out of the store. I got one last glimpse of a couple wearing vivid yellow stars before my mother pushed me out into the street. “What was that for?” I yelled, trying to sneak past her to slip into the store. “Emilia Muller! I will not shop in the same store that dirt shops in!” Frau Muller snapped, pulling me down the street toward our house.
“Mother!” I shouted without thinking, pulling my arm out of her reach, and scrabbling back. Frau Muller’s face turned a radish-y red. She slapped my left cheek, hard enough to leave a flaming red mark. “You call me Frau Muller, understand, miss?” she cried, before dragging me across the street to our house.
Slamming the front door behind me, she pulled me to my room, slamming the door behind me and locking it from the outside with a sharp click. I slumped onto my bed, rubbing my arm, where a pink stripe streaked across my arm. My cheek stung, and my eyes watered.
How could she say that? Tears swirled around my eyes, finally spilling over as I thought about her words: “I will not shop in the same store that dirt shops in!” she had shouted, for the whole world to hear.
William examined the worn letter, staring at the address:
Commanding Officer of the United States Military
1392 East 1874 South
Washington, US
Honestly? William didn’t know how this mysterious sender got the address of the Commander, but he needed to show this to the commander right this minute.
William was the Commander’s personal messenger, and was given orders to receive and deliver letters and messages to the Commander. And he could tell you for a fact, the Commander would not like the fact that someone from Germany had actually sent a letter to him, and it had gone through the sensors.
Nonetheless, William marched down the hall of offices and stopped at the office door that read in bold letters, Commander James White.
Bam Bam Bam. William winced as the loud knock echoed through the hall. “Come in,” a scratchy voice called. William squared his shoulders and pushed the door open.
“You mean to tell me that a letter from Germany slipped through my security?” Commander White’s voice echoed around William’s head.
“Um… yeah?”
Commander White stared hard at William. He held out his hand. “Give me the letter.” William handed it to him, his hand shaking. White opened the letter, reading it in silence.
“So,” White cleared his throat. “It seems that the Enemy has sent us a message,”
When will they reply? That was all I could think about the past few days. When will I hear from them? When can this war end?
My days were packed with rallies for the League of German Girls, squabbles with my parents, and waiting waiting waiting for the Allies to reply. My latest squabble with my parents had happened just a few hours before, where my mother had refused to help a begging Jewish woman and her baby son.
“How can you not care about them?” I had cried, looking back at the woman as my mother swept up the street, already having eyes on the next store. “How can I not care about them?” Frau Muller repeated, turning around to face me.
“Emilia, they are the reason this war was started in the first place. Without them, none of this would have happened. Do they deserve our sympathy?”
I wanted to shout in her face, Yes! Because if it wasn’t for stupid Adolf Hitler, that woman would be safe! This world would not be split into a thousand pieces, teetering on the edge of splintering!
But how could I say that?
And beside all of that, I have to be extremely careful. The Nazis are looking for me. I saw just the other day, when I was with Sophie, walking home from the latest rally.
* * *
Sophie glanced at the sky. A puff or two of black smoke rose into the sky. She turned to her friend, who was also frowning at the gray smudge. “What do you–” Sophie started to say, but as the two rounded the corner, Emilia gasped. The rough voices of Nazis shouted back and forth, as they threw books and sticks at the burning house, flickering with tendrils of golden flame.
* * *
“Oh good lord,” Emilia gasped, running toward the house. She knew it was dangerous. She couldn’t just run up behind the Nazis and expect them to offer her a look toward their success. But she couldn’t stand to let that house burn. “Excuse me sir, but what did this family do?” Emilia asked the nearest Nazi, faking a look that hopefully showed that she was quite glad that this house was burning.
The Nazi smiled, a cold twist, and replied, “Oh, the Fuhrer is looking for the fool that sent him a fake message. This family was suspicious, so we were ordered to burn it. Don’t worry, fraulein, you are no longer in any danger.” I nodded, quickly, before hurrying away. What was I to do? If they were looking for me, they would have checked my papers, but there was nothing, not a sign of any suspicion in that Nazi’s face. I had better be more careful.
Were the Nazis going to burn down my house? I lay trembling under my bed covers, staring at the clock that ticked on my nightstand. 1:51 in the morning. I turned over onto my side, facing the wall. I pulled my blankets up over my nose, shivering.
What if they hurt my family? Much as I despised Herr Muller and Frau Muller, I still loved them, and felt no need for them to come to harm.
The next day, I hurried to the rally that was hosted by the park around the block. I hurried over to the benches set up, plopping down next to Sophie.
“Wait, is Gretchen the leader today?” I whispered to Sophie, noticing that Gretchen was standing in front of the benches, holding a clipboard and looking at us in a way that said, I’m so much better than all of you, and you better understand that!
Sophie nodded, ignoring my subtle frown. “I’m so excited!” she said, bouncing up and down on her portion of the bench. “Linda said that Gretchen has a whole plan laid out for today, and that we will get served lunch after our assignment!” As she spoke, she leaned slightly toward a girl with thick dirty blond hair, and dusty blue eyes.
“Attention, girls!” Gretchen called, and everyone sat up straighter. “Today we will be handing out fliers to those around the neighborhood. After that, Frau Muller – Emilia Muller’s guardian – will be serving us lunch.”
I noted that she called my mother “guardian”, not “mother”. Of course, apparently I was Hitler’s child, but still.