Paved with Gold

John

The line moved slowly as people began boarding the small wooden boats. Since János and Sandor were in the back of the line, they had to wait for the boats to come back for them. Sandor tried to make small talk behind János and he nodded when he remembered, as he was too mesmerized by the giant buildings. What did people do in them? Did they live there? Work there? János couldn't decide on the right answer. He couldn't believe people saw this city every day. From what he could see, there was no farm land or animals. How did they eat? Even Budapest had farms on the outskirts.
"We're up next!" Sandor exclaimed, yanking János' mind back to reality. His heart started to race.
János, Sandor, and the small group they had been walking with had reached the edge of the pier, where there was a man to hurry them into the boat. János went first and was seated at the very front tip of the little boat. It rocked heavily as the others climbed in behind him and he prayed it would not turn over. He didn't think any of the other boats had flipped on their way to the island.
The gruff man handed the men paddles and pushed them off the pier. János' heart thudded faster as they paddled on. The cold December wind nipped at his face and stung his eyes. He tried to refrain from looking down at the deep blue beneath him.
János decided that he despised the water. After being on the ship for a week, and now this, he definitely did not like the uncertainty of the depth, the creatures inside, or the unending rocking back and forth.
He focused on his breathing and paddling. They were almost there.

It wasn't long at all before they reached the pier of the brick island. One of the hefty men grabbed János' hand and pulled him up without saying a word. János let out a huge sigh, as if he had been holding his breath the entire time on the boat. He waited for Sandor, who got off last and couldn't help himself from trying to talk to the pier man. His English sounded pretty good to János, but probably horrible to the man. The burly man waved him away and Sandor chuckled as he met János.
"What did you say to him?" He asked curiously.
"All I said was that this was a beautiful city."
Sandor smiled back at him, and they began walking into the entrance of the dark brick building.

Upon entering, Sandor and János were nearly attacked by men who threw them into an inspection group led by doctors. János tried to peek around to see what they were doing. It was a very quick process, and once you passed, they put in one of probably 10 interview lines. Those moved much slower.
János' inspection came quickly and the doctor looked at his identification card, and stared at him. The doctor patted up and down his entire body. He rotated each arm and leg, and bent all his joints. The doctor nodded his head along the way. Lastly, the doctor reached up and put his fingers on János' eyes. János flinched but let him do it. The doctor peeled back his eyelids and got incredibly close to his face, looking deep into his eye sockets.
Finally he was finished, and the doctor led János to an interview line. János assumed nothing was wrong with him.
Sandor was put into the line beside János, so they were able to talk over the rope while waiting.

"You know," János started talking as they moved an inch up in line. "Those streets weren't paved with gold." He snickered.
Sandor frowned.
"I'm sure they are in the cities!" He fought back. They laughed together. János tried to enjoy it as much as he could as this was probably the last friend he's have for a while, and he was sad to leave Sandor behind.
As they got closer to the interview tables, the lump formed in János' throat again. Sandor could sense his weariness.
Soon they were next in line.
"Remember," Sandor whispered. "You've already passed the health inspection, which is the biggest piece."
János nodded at him.
"They will look at your tag, your ticket, and ask you a few questions. Remember it's perfectly fine to lie about a relation. They have no way of knowing."
He nodded again as they both stepped up to the interview table.

János stood before a middle aged blonde man and a brunette woman who was breathtakingly beautiful. Is this what American women looked like? János thought to himself quickly before his thoughts were interrupted by the man asking for his tag and ticket.
János handed him both and watched him as he studied the paper. The man asked something in English, and the woman relayed in perfect Hungarian,
"Who did you live with in Hungary?"
"I lived with my mother and my grandparents." He nodded at her and she relayed the message in English to the man.
"Why are you here?" She asked János, her chocolate eyes searing into him.
"My family bought me a ticket to escape poverty. They didn't want to see me go through what they went through."
The doctor listened to the woman with a strange look on his face, and asked another question in a low tone.
"Did you have a specific political affiliation in Hungary?"
János thought that an odd question. He didn't know much about politics at all. People like him didn't have much of a say anyway.
"No I did not. I was too busy working to ever keep up with it."
The doctor nodded when he heard the translation, like he approved.
"Where do you intend on going today? Do you have someone to stay with at your destination?"

János tried not to think too hard. He didn't want them thinking that he was lying.

"I'm going to Painesville, Ohio," he said the words almost painfully in his best English.
"And I will stay with my uncle, Gabor Becskei."
János was proud of himself for thinking to use the name of one of his elderly neighbors back home. The doctor was pleased and started scribbling something down.
The doctor and the woman talked for a few seconds amongst themselves.
"We suggest that you start going by the name John from now on," she said, handing him a piece of paper with the name scribbled on it.

JOHN FODOR

He stared at it and then back up at them confused.
"It's easier for assimilation. People are more likely to hire someone with an English sounding name." She explained with a smile. He tried to smile back although he didn't understand.

"Any questions?" She asked him quickly.
"Yes, where do I buy a train ticket to Ohio?" He asked looking around.
The woman grabbed his original ticket and gave it back to him.
"You don't need to buy a train ticket," she said, pointing at the description on the ticket.
"The price of this ticket includes the transportation upon disembarking on the island."

János felt a flutter of adrenaline.

"Take this ticket to the train station, on the other side of this building, and you will pick a train to board." She smiled at János and he thanked both of them, exiting the line and the interview table to find Sandor who was waiting for him.

"Did you get a new name?" Sandor asked excitedly.
"Yes, I'm J-" János had a hard time pronouncing the juh sound.

"John." He said finally.
"I'm Samuel!" Sandor squeaked.
János held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Samuel."