War Pork

The pork was the only way we survived those last few days before the soldiers from the west arrived. Momma said it was better the soldiers from the west arrived and not the bad soldiers from the east. She said they didn’t have any dignity. I don’t know what dignity is, but Inge said the soldiers from the east were raping all the women. I know what that means.

One soldier gave Momma some bread, and another gave me half a chocolate bar. They have cars called jeeps, and the grocery opened back up. They also tore down the last few Nazi flags, and I hated those spider banners! So maybe they aren’t so bad. Not that there were a lot of places to hang the banners after all of the bombings. Everything is rubble now; even my school was destroyed!

I was happy about that, but Inge said the Führer would rebuild it. She also says he doesn’t poop, how funny is that! Momma says, some people will believe anything and everything. Momma also says the Führer is dead. Nobody has seen him since he gave out the crosses. My brother Hans got a cross, and he is here now. He didn’t eat any pork, and he was mad at us for eating it. He yelled at Momma. I told Hans I liked it. It was delicious, and I was the one who found it. Mrs. Stein said I saved the day because our soup was almost gone. Every night Mr. Stein would say, “either the ladle is getting bigger or tomorrow is the last day of soup!”

I found the money too, but everyone knows the Reichsmark is worthless now. There wasn’t any food to buy anyways. Not a cracked egg for all the gold. I won’t lie and say I found the money. I stole it, but I did steal it off of a dead man! And I might only be 10, but that wasn’t the first dead man I had seen.

I saw this dead man down in the bunker during the bad bombing that destroyed my school. Momma told me to stay on the bench and sit with Mr. Stein while she and Mrs. Stein went to find Hans. Mr. Stein was already asleep. It must be nice to be deaf, and not hear the bombs! I was so hungry, I couldn’t control it. Inge might have some food so I went to see her. She told me she found a whole chocolate cake with fresh icing last time she went to the bunker! She said she ate the whole thing. Momma said I shouldn’t believe anything and everything!

I ran so fast under the wooden stairs and even faster through the dark room that separates the walkway because that is where the rats live. As soon as I got back into the light, I heard men coming down the metal stairs. I panicked, and jumped under the bench, squeezing up against the wall. I was hoping they would walk by me, but they stopped right in front of me.

It was two men, a short, soldier in uniform, and a fat man in an old suit. I hadn’t seen a man that jolly since before the war. The soldier was mad as a wasp, he grabbed the fat man by his collar, pulled out his Ruger, and he pointed it right at the fat man’s neck.

“You will send another one, or you will be the next one!”

The soldier yelled while pushing the gun hard into the fat man’s chin. The fat man clenched his face, but he didn’t say anything. I thought the soldier was going to shoot him. I was praying he wouldn’t. The fat man didn’t speak though.

“Look at you, Werner, getting fat while your countrymen starve,” the soldier poked the fat man in his belly with the end of his pistol.

“Yes, you will do as I say!”

The soldier put his gun away, but the fat man didn’t budge.

“We have a new coding system,” the soldier pulled out a small black notebook and held it out so the fat man would take it. The fat man didn’t, so the soldier picked up his arm and slammed it into his hand.

“Each page in that notebook has a number at the top with a word on the bottom. You give the number to the person and that is what they show at the butcher’s house. You wait a few hours, and then send someone with the code word to pick up. It has to be from the same page, or they might mistake the orders. Never, ever show them a number. You know what happens to the numbers so don’t ever show them a number, only the coded word, understand?”

“I am sending them to die, to die! Who am I to pick who lives or dies?”

“We all die! All of us die, Werner! Now is not the time to question, or I will go see your mother again.”

The fat man didn’t say a word. I could see a tear rolling down his chubby cheek. His head was hung, and his eyes were low. I thought he might see me, but I didn’t move a muscle.

“You send who you like, you send a stranger, it doesn’t matter. Send someone who doesn’t support the Fatherland anymore. There seems to be an abundance right now!”

“You want me to send another person to die! I am done, that is it! I’m done!” The fat man said using a louder, deeper voice now.

“No! You will use the new system with the new address in the notebook. It’s a bigger place, more in and out now.” The soldier raised his hand at the fat man, but he didn’t strike him.

“Look at you fat man, eating like a king, like the Führer, while your countrymen starve! Why don’t you send the butcher’s wife someone who is juicy and plump like you, okay?”

The fat man looked at the soldier now, but he didn’t speak.

“Remember, when you send someone for pick-up, they have the code word, otherwise, they will not leave the butcher’s house. Number or not, you never know with those savages, so make sure whoever does the pick-up has the code word! Do you understand, Werner?”

The lights flickered, and there was a large explosion. The fat man ducked down, bracing for an impact, and I clenched all my bones tight. The soldier only moved his eyes. I thought he saw me, but he was looking at the fat man.

“You give this to Ingrid too, and I mean it. That is $20,000 so you make sure she gets every penny, understand?”

The fat man still didn’t speak. He stood up and took a white envelope from the soldier.

“If she doesn’t then I will pay your mother a visit.”

And then the soldier ran up the stairs without a care, like it wasn’t raining bombs. He had battle shock for sure. Momma says it about Hans, that he is sick with war neurosis. I was happy he left. It had been so long and Momma was likely back now. The fat man didn’t leave, and he sat down right on top of me on the bench. I thought I might faint. I held my breath, and I could hear him breathing.

When I heard the gunshot, I thought it was a light bulb blowing out. The black ones always blew. It wasn’t though, and the fat man fell over slow like he was going to take a nap on the bench. I didn’t even know he had just shot himself until the blood started to slowly drip. I didn’t rush out from under the bench. I knew the man was dead, but I waited. I guess I wanted to let him have his moment. The black notebook and the envelope fell right in front of me. I heard footsteps coming down the metal steps again so I grabbed them and slid them under me.

It was an old man and his wife. The old lady screamed so loud when she saw the dead, fat man. The old man covered her mouth and they kept moving. I slithered out, put the money into my pants, and I ran. I made it back before Momma, Mr. Stein was still snoring. When Momma did come back, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to get in trouble for leaving. I fell asleep with the money in my pants.

The next morning I lied to Momma and said I found the envelope under a brick by the old bank building. Momma put the money into her pants as soon as I gave it to her. I kept one of the bills because I knew Momma might not give me any later.

Mr. Fitzner came over, and he was touching Momma. He also hit her with the back of his hand, and he told her again that Daddy was dead. Momma said he was alive, but really, she doesn’t know. Momma told me Daddy is in Stalin’s city and not dead. Mr. Fitzner had the spider on his arm now, and everyone knows it was him that sent Annie and her family to the camp. I miss her, and maybe that’s why I lied to him when he came outside.

I showed him the hundred dollar bill, and he asked where I got it. I told him all I did was take a number to a house, and he asked me which number and which house. I gave him the piece of paper from the notebook with a number on it, and I had written the address on it too. He snatched the paper, but I ran off before he could snatch the money! He was eager to investigate, as he had been investigating everything since his promotion. Momma said his investigating was code for stealing. I remembered what the fat man said about sending people to die. I didn’t know how it worked, but I wished Mr. Fitzner would die and not hurt Momma anymore. I also remembered what the soldier had said, that the fat man was eating like the Führer just for sending people with the number.

I kept the paper with the code word on it. I had memorized the address. I didn’t go right away. I went to see Inge, but she wasn’t home. I chased a skinny black cat, but it was too fast. I waited until the end of the day, and I lied to Momma and said I was meeting Inge at the Spree. Mr. Stein was telling Momma that overmorrow was near, and we would be eating the candles soon so I wasn’t scared to knock on the door. I was more scared to eat the candles!

A hazel-eyed old woman opened the door, and I handed her the piece of paper with the code word on it. She told me to wait a minute, and she shut the door. When she opened it, she was holding a bag of meat, and she handed it to me. She told me to run home before someone saw me, and I did. I ran as fast as a bullet from a Ruger! My mouth was watering the whole time, and when I gave it to Momma, she almost fainted. Momma put it in the soup instead of the candles. We ate the delicious pork, and nobody ever saw Mr. Fitzner again. I was happy for both.