Berlin blood

Things were going turbulently in the city: they were looking for the Germans who were hiding. They fled from their own country to neighboring ones and hid everywhere; local residents, under their threats, let them into their homes. Laura was incredibly worried; excitement often kept her from sleeping. She had been hiding Paul for a week, and one wrong step could reveal her secret and disgrace not only herself, but also her not so large family: her father and grandmother. There is no mother. She died when the girl was five. There was a cousin, but she lived in her homeland, in Spain. For unknown reasons, which Laura’s father never voiced, they themselves moved to Italy. Maybe it was connected with her mother, or maybe with the authorities — Laura didn’t know and could only guess. But the girl understood that she could not lie for long, so she intended to tell her father. Moreover, not today or tomorrow, the Italian communists will come to them, who were checking all the establishments in the city — an order from the authorities due to the influx of Germans — and then there will definitely be trouble. They communicated with Paul in a mixed language: half German, half Italian, sometimes they had to explain themselves with their hands. But they understood each other, as if there were no barriers between them: neither political, nor linguistic, as if there was neither black nor white in the world — there was only the Universe, which forms energy on Earth. The girl left the room to start another day; the man was still sleeping. Looking at him sleeping, the girl admired his beautiful facial features, which were clearly visible in the sun. He gave birth to something new and dangerous in the girl, something that the girl was afraid of, and her blood could, if it hit her head, bring her troubles. She stood and watched until her father’s voice came from below. — Laura! “The father, who was downstairs at that moment, called the girl. “Yes, I’m on my way,” she came down, it was quiet and unusually empty. — What did you want, father? “You haven’t forgotten that your grandmother is arriving today, have you?” She needs to be met at the port. “Yes, I remember, I don’t suffer from memory problems,” she went to the exit and opened the door to put the potty. — Well, well, of course. And who runs to their room ten times a day? He also leaves the plates there. By the way, why did you start eating there? I didn’t notice this about you before. Laura stopped. She, apparently, really got caught up in her infatuation with Paul. She was worried and at any free moment she went to check on him or bring him food. “Well… I… I just love admiring the moon and the sun: you know, I have a lot of light in my room, and it’s so nice to sit and look at the view of the sea from the window, and just spend time in the room,” the girl tried to convey I tone it as softly as possible and pretend that everything is as it should be. “I wonder since when did you become so secluded?” “The father, dissatisfied with the explanation, glanced sideways at her, but Laura assumed a calm expression and went to the city to meet her grandmother. *** Italy. Jail — Get him here, quickly! — One of the guards shouted. — Yes, we carry him, we carry him! It’s heavy, damn it,” two carried a man whose face was completely covered in blood. He didn’t speak or react in any way. Honestly, it’s like a little more and he’ll die. Rudolf felt that the life in him was fading away every minute. While conscious, he remembered everything bright that was in his life, but the blood covering his entire face disturbed him. He was taken to a cell and left there to die. Maybe he will have an interrogation, but he will most likely die sooner. And why did he surrender to the Italian communists, who were already strengthening their positions? Hugo Alonso was a seasoned communist. A middle-aged man whose gaze, which frightened not only his enemies, but also his subordinates, was his strong point. He worked hard to survive amid the chaos that was happening in the country. They got their hands on a very interesting specimen, from which they could extract a lot about what the enemy was going to do. The man understood that the Germans were losing and were gradually losing their allies. A little more, and they will end up in their own cell, where they will die. He carefully enters the cell, looks at the man, whose face cannot be seen because of the blood, stands opposite him, realizing that he won’t be able to squeeze out much information, and it’s unlikely he can say much, but he could still say something. be useful. — Who are you? — The man looks up; they are separated by some one and a half meters and a language barrier. No, Hugo knows German, but fundamentally does not want to communicate in this language. “I…” the man has difficulty pronouncing the words: he was hit hard on the jaw. — I am Rudolf Wagner… Lieutenant of the Kriegsmarine of the Greater German Reich. — We know this, you better tell me what you know about the plans of your leadership. You probably know something. Besides, you understand that we do not intend to leave you alive. Perhaps we will delay your trip to the next world, or perhaps, out of great generosity, we will not cut off your head, but simply give you poison to drink. For you Germans, this is an easy death. — But I don’t know anything! The only thing I know… My task was to transport the explosives… with which I was sunk. “But they couldn’t say nothing to you,” Hugo comes closer. “Paul knows everything.” Paul Bernstein,” he looks up at his executioner. He’s not as terrible as he could have imagined. — What kind of Paul? — Hugo asks again. — The commander of the ship, which was also recently… flooded. Hugo turns the soldier’s name in his head — something similar has already caught his eye. — We’re leaving. He doesn’t know anything anymore—in the soldiers’ eyes he sees the desire to torture, but Hugo understands that the prisoner really doesn’t know anything. This can be seen in the eyes of Rudolf, looking from under his brows. “You just let him survive!” — the translator was indignant. “He probably just lied to us so as not to say anything himself.” I’m sure of it! — No, I’m afraid he’s right. Recently I came across an article that talked about the sinking of a German submarine. I’m thinking that it seems he was talking to us about this Paul just now. It remains to find out whether he is alive or not — the men went out into the fresh air. “Then I will order a search of the neighboring cities.” He could not have escaped so quickly to a greater distance. “Yes, of course, shoot this one,” Hugo himself went to open a case and collect the first evidence. *** Paul was gradually getting used to the girl, who at the moment was his only source of food and water, as well as news. The girl was pleasant to him, and he tried many times to show her his sympathy, expressing it through looks and touches. The girl herself rarely looked into his eyes and could not read her, but Paul did not give up trying, he wanted to convey this information to her, because his sympathy was far from animal in nature: she found a place with philosophy and the desire to preserve Laura like a flower in the midst of this chaos. For the first time, the man wanted to live one more day longer and see her eyes again. Death retreated somewhere into the background, giving way to sympathy and life. He closed his eyes for only a few minutes — his head was again incredibly painful — but enough time passed for evening to come. “Paul,” the girl called him quietly. — Paul, are you awake? “No,” Paul responded just as quietly and decided not to speak louder: the girl made it clear even at the first meeting that they were not the only ones in the house. “I brought you dinner,” Laura entered the room and closed the door behind her. Having placed the tray, she slightly loosened the ropes binding Paul, and he leisurely began to eat. “Very tasty,” Paul didn’t understand well what he was saying, but he relied on intuition and long-forgotten words that sometimes popped up in his head. The rope that was now lying next to the girl reminded him that she still did not trust him and that Laura herself did not want to let him go. — Listen, Paul… Since you have already more or less recovered, can I ask you… to leave? “The girl spoke in a low voice, almost in a whisper. She was afraid that her father, standing next to her grandmother behind the wall and helping her bring in her things, would hear them or even burst into her room. — I can leave, but where? “Paul instantly became sad, and all his fantasies collapsed instantly. He knew that sooner or later she would ask him to leave: feeding another mouth to her family would be very expensive, and even secretly. She is afraid for herself and for her family. Paul understood this very well, but he did not know where to go. They are probably looking for him, and it is not known who — their own or someone else’s? It’s still good if it’s our own, but what if it’s the communists? They will probably take it with joy. And I didn’t want to leave her. He might regret it, but now is his only chance. He crawled up to Laura and, looking into her eyes, hugged her little by little. At first very lightly, barely touching, then tighter and tighter, squeezing you in your arms, inhaling the aroma of the sun and sea. She became for him the personification of freedom and life. The girl understood everything — she slowly hugged him too, and even though the air in her lungs was running out, they continued to sit like that. I wanted to stay in the moment, exactly in this. — Laura? — Her father’s voice was heard behind the door. Both shuddered and pulled away from each other. “Damn, there’s nowhere to hide you,” she ran to the door to go out to meet her father. “Laura, listen, I was thinking, maybe I should move you to the mat room…” the man didn’t have time to finish. Opening the door, he was stunned to see his daughter standing scared in the middle of the room, and a German sitting in the corner. — La-u-ra. This… — the father’s eyes opened to the limit, like five-kopeck coins. He blinked in surprise, staring at his daughter, waiting for an answer. — I’ll explain everything to you now! — the girl put on an insincere smile, trying to at least slightly hide her nervousness and somehow rectify the situation. — He just… “What do you have here…” came the grandmother, who was impatient to see her grown-up granddaughter, and also expressed her amazement. *** Half an hour later everyone was sitting at the kitchen table with Paul. — Laura, explain to me how it happened that there is a German in our cafe, and a naval sailor at that? “The man said slowly with indignation. “He’s also handsome,” the grandmother smiled, as usual trying to lighten the mood. She watched as Jose literally boiled all over. This picture amazed her and brought back memories of the past, from which they had not moved so far. Jose turned to the woman to say that she had inserted this remark inappropriately, and it would be better for her to shut up altogether. — He was lying on the threshold of our cafe. With a wound. And I just couldn’t leave him,” the girl looked guiltily at the picture hanging on the wall. — Laura, you decided to help a man just like that and brought him to our house?! “The father was furious. Control was slowly fading away. — Jose, don’t get angry, you know that Laura has the character of a mother. She, like Julia, drags home everything that needs protection. One day she brought you home too, like an abandoned kitten,” Grandma sat and drank tea, still remembering this story for the hundredth time. — What does this have to do with it? We are now talking about the fact that Laura brought a criminal into the house, and in military uniform. German! The country is already turbulent, there is war all around, and she brought the enemy home! This is what I’m talking about, if you don’t understand,” the man raised his voice, but the grandmother didn’t even move. She, like a woman who had survived one war and was going through a second, sat with the air of a person who is difficult to surprise with anything. She knew full well that Jose would be furious. — First of all, know your place. How dare you raise your voice at me? Secondly, as a person who lives through war, and more than one, by the way, I can tell you that this has absolutely nothing to do with it. You’re looking for a reason to vent your own anger, that’s all. Thirdly, the situation in the country has always been, is and will be unstable as long as people want world domination. “She will always stagger, just like in the whole world,” the grandmother answered measuredly. — And the last thing. Yes, Laura acted recklessly by accepting and giving shelter to this man. But is it just because she is young and her heart chose him, or do you have something against love? From such words, everyone sitting at the table was embarrassed, except for the grandmother herself: she looked angrily at Jose. The man gave up and looked at her guiltily. It was difficult to argue with the woman; I especially didn’t want to contradict her. — And what do you mean by this? — The father asked displeasedly. He was not going to give up his position. — And the fact that you can’t put this man out the door, Jose! You know that I believe in God and pray to him so that he will send us a protector. “Yes, I know,” he looked at the woman. “So, today I saw that Laura found her destiny, and we found someone who will protect us,” came the calm answer. “You always bring God into this,” he sighed doomedly. — Grandmother! — Laura intervened in the conversation, but stopped after her stern look. No one dared to contradict this woman: she personified power, authority and freedom. Lianora turned to Paul, looking at him and realizing what kind of person was sitting in front of her: - Your name?.. “Paul… Paul Bernstein,” the man answered quietly and briefly. — Where are you from? Paul was surprised: they spoke to him in pure German, which amazed him. — From Cologne. — It’s a wonderful city, I met my husband there. I will never forget these days… Tell me, Paul, why are you hiding and not going to your people? Paul hesitates and hesitates under her gaze, and then decides to tell it like it is. About his service and who he is, what goals he and his team pursued, why he is so valuable to his allies and to his own people, why he is hiding here in a small coastal town in Italy. He told everything without hiding anything. What’s the point? — We’re leaving you. You will work for us, Paul. I don’t see you as a threat. You, like many others, are trying to escape the war that has consumed you. However, unlike them, you do not threaten us. “Thank you,” is all that Paul manages to say before Lianora leaves the table, and with her the whole family: the conversation is over, and she does not intend to continue it. — Why did you leave him? — Jose understands that the soldier will remain in their house, and tries to persuade Lianora to make a different decision, knowing that this is doomed to failure, but he must get to the bottom of it. — Because my husband, who died in the First World War, was from those parts. I was so young when I lost the love of my life… I don’t want that to happen to Laura: they have their whole lives ahead of them. I am not biased towards him, he is not dangerous. He put on this uniform to appear formidable and strong, although he is weak, and it is clear why. Jose, he wants only one thing: to survive. My husband once told me when he was leaving for war: “When a man puts on a role or a mask just to survive, he remembers who he is and remembers that he is a man, but when a man is obsessed with fanaticism and propaganda, he becomes weapons of the state and loses itself.” This man still remembers who he is and where he comes from. There is no danger in him, Jose, calm down. He came to these parts not by chance. — Why? — The man whispered. — He was looking for his love all this time and now he has found it. He needs love, just like we all do. Jose, you and Julia loved each other the same way before she died, so wish your daughter happiness. I know it’s hard for you as a father to let her go, but believe me, she’s in good hands. You don’t have to worry,” the grandmother puts her hand on his shoulder and goes to her room, and Jose looks towards Laura and Paul, who look at each other and smile. Now they don’t need to hide and hide, now he can be with her and watch her all day long.