Until the Sun Comes Up

“Machen Sie einen Spaziergang mit mir. (Take a walk with me.)” Lola picked up her paper sack from the ground.

“Ich denke wirklich, dass ich gehen sollte- (I really think I should be going-)” She tried to slither her way out of this.

“Es war nicht eine Frage. (It wasn’t a question.)” His tone was no longer charming, it startled her. He grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly next to him. She didn’t dare say anything back to him and just let herself follow him with her head down.

They walked through the market and though her eyes weren’t looking up, she knew people were staring. They made it to a black vehicle with a soldier standing outside of it and their walk came to an end. The soldier saluted the Major and opened the door for them.

“Nach Ihnen, (After you,)” Dieter gestured with his arm for her to enter first and held his hand out to help her in. She cautiously took it and sat herself as far away from him as possible. “Privat, setzen Sie diese in den Stamm ein. Jetzt. (Private, put these in the trunk. Now.)” He grabbed her sacks -that she had planned to use as a barrier between them- and handed them off to the soldier. She kept her gaze on her lap

“Nikolaiviertel,” Was where he told the driver to go. The car sputtered as it moved forward, then became smooth as it picked up speed.

***

“Sie leben alleine? (You live alone?)” Dieter asked. He was prying into her life and she did not like it. They were seated in a small café just a few streets over from where the market had been.

“Ja.” So she gave him curt answers in hopes that he would understand that she wished not to talk about her personal life. However, understanding wasn’t in a Nazi’s character. She should’ve known that. She played with the spoon that stirred her tea for the sake of fidgeting with something, anything that would stop her from doing something stupid.

“Sie haben nicht einen Ehemann? Ein Freund? Ein Mann in Ihrem Leben? Sie sind vollständig allein? Keine Familie? (You don’t have a husband? A boyfriend? A man in your life? You are completely alone? No family?)” She picked at the croissant that sat in front of her on a small plate. He just stared at her. She couldn’t get over how gloriously blue his eyes were. They were brilliant, but she had to keep reminding herself that she was seated in front of an SS Major. That thought alone was enough to make her see straight.

“Nein.” This was reopening old wounds for me and it took all I had to keep my composure in front of this man.

“Warum ist das? (Why is that?)” He leaned himself into the table, a conniving look on his face.

“Ich verlor meine Familie an einem jungen Alter. Ich bin am meisten von meinem Leben allein gewesen und ich würde eher allein sein, als den Verlust der Mann ich Liebe zu diesem Krieg beschäftigen müssen. (I lost my family at a young age. I have been alone most of my life and I would rather be alone than have to deal with the loss of the man I love to this war.)”

“Sie sind gegen den Krieg? (You are against the war?)” She was against it. She was against the acts of genocide, the unnecessary loss of life, Nazism altogether. If she had things her way, every gun and every bit of ammunition would be casted away and every Nazi would be put away in some deep, dark hole where they’d never see the light of day again, though, she wasn’t dumb enough to tell him that.

“Nicht bin ich gegen die Seelen, die es mit es nimmt. (No, I am against the souls it takes with it.)”

“Was würde Krieg ohne Tod sein? (What would war be without death?)”

“Es würde nicht Krieg sein, wenn der der Punkt ist, den Sie versuchen zu bilden. (It would not be war if that is the point you’re trying to make.)” His hand was quick to grab Lola’s from across the small table. His thumb rubbed the top on her hand as he leaned in closer to her.

“Ich könnte Ihren Verstand über den ändern. (I could change your mind about that,)” The smirk on his face disgusted her completely. She let out whatever she was holding back and let him have it. The glare on her face was harder than stone as she, too, leaned into the table and spoke to him in the lowest tone she could muster.

“Wenn Sie an mich als irgendein loses Mädchen denken, dann werden Sie traurig verwechselt. Gehen Sie zum Südende, wenn das ist, nach was Sie suchen. Danke für das Mittagessen, aber ich muss gehen. (If you are thinking of me as some loose girl, then you are sadly mistaken. Go to the South end if that’s what you are looking for. Thank you for lunch, but I must be going.)” She snapped at him very quietly. She didn’t want to cause a scene with the Major, especially in the Nazi heartland. Dieter’s head was spinning. Never had a woman ever spoken to him in that manner, especially when in his uniform. Lola stood up and slammed her chair into the table, making her tea slosh out of her cup and took off and out of the café before he could even get up.

She had made it a few blocks passed the café when she realized that he had her handbag with all of her identification papers, her keys to her apartment, as well as her groceries, in the trunk of his car. She turned herself around, knowing it was a bad idea, but it would be worse if she was caught without those papers. She would be accused of being a Jew and God only knows what would happen to her.

As she turned the corner to the street the café was on, she noticed that Dieter was outside, leaning against the vehicle, waiting with his arms crossed. He knew she would come back, she had to. The look on his face told her that he was livid.

She held her head high, though her gaze remained on the ground that she walked on as she made her way over to the Major.

“Sie haben viel Nerv. (You have a lot of nerve.)” His voice was cold.

“Ich wünsche gerade meine Beutel, (I just want my bags,)”

“Erhalten Sie im Auto. (Get in the car.)” His words were quick as his icy blue eyes stared her down.

“Entschuldigen Sie mich? (Excuse me?)” She furrowed her eyebrows. What on Earth could he possibly want from her? She was an average beauty, so why was he showing any bit of interest in her when she clearly didn’t want to be around him?

“Erhalten Sie im Auto, oder ich halte Sie fest. Lassen Sie mich nicht Ihnen wieder erklären. (Get in the car or I will arrest you. Do not make me tell you again,)” His teeth were now clenched together as he spoke.

“Auf welchem Boden- (On what grounds-)”

“Zeigen Sie mir Ihre Papiere. (Show me your papers.)” He simply stated. It was as easy as that. This made her anger flare. He was doing this because he could. He knew damn well that her papers were in that trunk and by the evil smirk on his face, he knew he had won this one.

She gave him one last glare before throwing herself into the vehicle. As far as she knew, he would just take her some place and shoot her for her stupid actions because every action has an equal and opposite reaction and he was about to show her that theory correct.