The Day She Told The Story

The Day She Told The Story:

Summer was Andy’s favorite time of year, no school, no teachers to tell you’re parents “Andy did very badly In the History, Science, math, and home economics test….” You could play with you’re best friend Harry and the girl across the street May who you think likes you in more than a friend way. Yes, summer was the best! And now it was time to get the worst part of the summer over with. Visiting Grandma. Oh god every Christmas, Easter and thanksgiving was tainted by having to go to her old smelly house. And now she was stealing summer too!?!?? He could be playing football right now with Conner and Harry, but nooooo! His parents had to see him suffer through an entire day with the miserable old hag!

It wasn’t that he just hated missing out on all the fun, it was also because she was such a horrible person! His mother once commented that he had got a B plus on his summer test and she had said “Stupid boy! Only good at one subject! And it is the language he speaks!” then she started cursing in Russian and German. Of course his sister got out of going to see her, she used her favorite secret weapon to their dad which worked every single time, and when he had used it his dad just laughed, he didn’t see the difference between him and her? All she had to say with him to get out of anything was “I’m having some feminine problems at the moment…” he had told Harry about this, but he was as stumped about it as he was. So now he was with his dad in the small green beetle driving more and more towards Andy’s doom.

After an hour and a half of driving they finally got to the desolate cottage on the top of the mountain. As they knocked at the door Andy heard a shout of German and a smash of a bottle then after a minute of waiting the door opened “What do you want?” to be fair to Andy’s dad he smiled and said “Hello Margaret! We’re leaving Andy with you today remember?” she scowled but left the door open muttering “Andy, what a stupid name….” “Ok then son I’ll be off” and with a I’ll be back as soon as I can smile he left. Andy turned to face his grandmother who said “the boy does not even offer to clean the house for his poor old grandma? Shame on you!” she then started cursing in a        language Andy didn’t even know. Obediently get got the dust pan and brush and started to sweep up the glasses that she had smashed since his last visit.

As he swept and mopped his grandma told him stories about someone who skipped the que at Tesco’s and how she had followed him home and egged his house. She always loved to talk his grandma, that’s why he was always forced to come over, talk her out until his next visit. Suddenly while he was clearing out the old newspapers his grandmother asked him “das Wetter ist heute sehr schön, oder? “ surprised at her sudden change into German he answered “es ist“ I remember I met your grandfather on a hot day like this she said this in a wistful tone, very unlike the one she normally used. We were both young then, have you ever heard this story Andy? “Nein“ he answered, his ears picking up as no one had ever heard this story, not even his dad and she was his own mother! He never got to know who his dad was. All right I’ll tell you the story, she took a puff of her cigar and began.

We met on a summers day at the beach when I was only a girl. I was at the beach to go for a swim with my two older sisters. We were swimming when a big wave brought me down to what felt like the bottom of the sea. I was trying to get up but couldn’t get over the waves that kept me down. I felt death in my closing lungs, then i was grabbed by the collar and hoisted up by a boy. He had dove into the water to save me. I was clinging onto him shaking from the shock of being so near death. My two sisters ran over and I can still remember their two faces changing so abruptly as they say the star on his arm it startled me even in my shocked state of mind. “GET OFF HER YOU FILTHY JEW!“ and then- “Wait! You came from a family of Nazis?!?!! That's horrible grandma“ she scowled “Don’t interrupt! Where was i oh yes“ and then my sisters hauled me off him and marched me home telling each other they would rather drown than have scum touch them. They then started talking about how daddy wanted Hitler to take care of the problem. As i was only 9 i didn’t really know who the man Hitler was or why the boy who saved me was being given out too. When we got home my sisters gave me a bath and promised each other not to tell papa so he wouldn’t be even more stressed than he already was. Even thought they were 7 years older than me i was obviously a lot smarter than them, all i knew was this boy had saved my life and that in my mind he was good not bad.

Two years later i saw him again. I was sitting on a log in the forest when i heard a cough cut short by a “SHUSH!“ i looked around and saw a boy and girl covering their faces and curling themselves into small little balls. “Hello“ i said feeling confused by why they were so frighted of me. “PLEASE DON’T KILL US!“ the girl sobbed which started the boy off too. “I’m not going to kill you....“ i said surprised. I asked them about themselves and after a while convinced them to look at me and not curl up on the ground. The girl helped the boy up who still hadn’t said a word to me. I asked the girl if he was ok and she explained he was wrong in the head, and Hitler wanted to kill him so she was taking care of him in secret so he wouldn’t die. “But... i thought Hitler was a good man?“ she scoffed at me and said “what kind of world are you living in? He killed my parents!“ i stared at her feeling she was about to grin and joke about how he was a great man, but she didn’t. So i said “My papa says he is a great man and my papa is NEVER wrong.“  We scowled at each other and- “WAIT!“ i stopped mopping and looked up “You thought Hitler was good?!?!“ she frowned and said “Was not my fault Andy, i was under the influence of someone i trusted and i was young. Anyway blöde listen!“ i stopped mopping again, and said “did you just call me stupid???“ she ignored me and continued her story. We scowled at each other and she said come with me. She led me and the boy who was holding her hand tightly, deeper into the forest where papa said i wasn’t allowed to go. We reached the spot she wanted to show me but i couldn’t see anything significant about it at all. Then the girl told me they lived here. “WHAT! Why?!?“ i really could not understand why she would live here, but then she said “we live here because we have nowhere else to go.“ I beamed at them “you can live with me!“ we have a spare bedroom with two beds!“ the girl frowned and said “but about your dad?“ i sighed and said to her in an exasperated tone “Don’t worry! He’s the best man in the world! He would never not like you if you wanted to stay with us!“ she frowned and said “i’ll have to ask our brother, he should be back soon“ “ok“ i smiled then i started telling them about how we could have midnight feasts at night and swim down at the sea in the day and they became like me very excited at the prospect of them living with us. When their brother came my heart gave a bang as i remembered him. He obviously remembered me too as he said “Learn how to swim yet?“ i smiled and said “I never got to thank you properly, my sisters thought you were Jewish“ all their smiles dropped and the girl said “We are Jewish...“ i must have opened my moth as i felt the little boy put his hand under my chin and bring my mouth back up. “Well..“ i faltered “I know i can change my papas mind about you guys... i bet he didn’t know you were so nice!“ the oldest boy who saved me gave a cross look and said “your family can never know we’re here, they’ll kill us!“ “Nine! We have a spare room where you can all stay, though it might be a bit cramped with the three of you but we’ll figure something out!“ the girl spoke up and said “i think we can trust her family Henryk“ he tells her about my sisters which i say i can make them see that you’re good people. So in the end we decide to do it. I went back- “What are you doing! Don’t throw away the cheese!“ i look over at her “it’s moldy though!“ “DON’T THROW IT AWAY!“she roared, wanting her to continue i put the cheese back into the fridge. “Where was i? Oh yes“

I went back home and told them to wait in the spare bedroom where if our plan worked my papa would walk in hug them and say “Ah my daughter has explained that not all Jews are bad! Of course you can stay with us!“ they came in through the window and waited in the room while i went to find papa. He was in the drawing room reading the paper which i knew he did not like being disturbed from, but i decided this was urgent so i must. “Papa, i need to talk to you about something“ he frowned and said “I am reading the paper, go ask your mother.“ “Nine papa, i must talk to you not mama.“ He sat up and said “What troubles you little bee?“ i then told him about finding two kids in the forest and how the girl was my age and was really nice, he was smiling so i thought things were going to go very smoothly, i then told him how they didn’t have any parents. His smile dropped and turned not into to worry but into another emotion i cannot explain. I told him how they said Hitler killed their family and that they didn’t think he was any good. His face turned red and livid, but his voice was calm. “Little bee, where are theses children?“ i sensed his anger and felt suddenly scared. I didn’t answer and he shook me “ WO SIND SIE??!?“ “in the spare room but listen! They are good- wait what are you doing!!! STOP PAPA!“ but he did not stop until everyone in that room was dead except him and i. That Andy was the worst day of my life. I saw my two new friends dead on the floor. That day i ran away with Henryk, he jumped out the window before my father had come into the room. I named your aunt and father after them “Zelda and August“ your grandfather killed himself from guilt, i remember he would often say “Why did i not pull them out of the window too?“ he made me promise never to tell our children his sins, and i have not broken my word, i have told his grandchild. I stood hand on mop mouth open and so many questions flying through my head. But in the end i just gave her a hug. And as she cried i wondered when was the last time she’d ever gotten a hug? She always seemed to be such a horrible person, turns out she was grieving and hating herself for telling her papa where they were, for being so naive. I let go and went to make her a cup of tea, until i realized she was already dead.

Sometimes i wish she hadn’t told me, but it’s better someone knows so the tale doesn’t go untold, so their story's of pain can make us realize humanity's faults and not let history go unrecorded.

End: This story is in no way antisemitic, please do not hate where i’m just trying to spread a message 😊