The Forbidden Six

April 28th, 1938

Leyna boredly sighed as she sat behind the counter in her family store. Nobody had come in all day. Normally, there would be a steady stream of customers going in and out of the door all day. She laid her head on the counter and fiddled with some coins from the tip jar. The bell rang as someone opened the door. She bolted up only to sink down in disappointment.

Mena walked in, wearing a dark purple dress with a white collar. She smiled at Leyna. It faltered and dripped off her face as soon as she studied Leyna's expression. "What's wrong?"

"We haven't had any customers all day," Leyna groaned. She picked up a coin and rolled it across the counter. It clattered to the floor. Mena bent down to pick it up.

"Maybe it's because of that new sign."

"What sign?" Leyna jumped up and ran outside. Mena followed her. "That wasn't there yesterday," she grumbled.

A big sign, marking the store as Jewish, was prominently displayed on the front of her store. Leyna mumbled obscenities under her breath and went back inside the store.

"Ja...maybe you'll get some customers. There's a lot of Jews in Germany," Mena said. "I think," she added as an afterthought.

Leyna shrugged and left her shop. She began to walk down the street, looking at the storefronts as she went.

"Where are you going?"

"To see if other places have these signs." She paused in her walking, Mena ten feet behind her. "Are you going to come?"

Mena sighed. "You're going to leave the store unattended?"

"My dad is there. It's fine."

Mena glanced back one more time before relenting and picking up her pace to match her friend's. Leyna gave her a satisfactory smile and the two ambled down the street. The bakery that they used to go to when they skipped school had a big word painted on the door. Leyna walked up to it and stood in front of it.

The door was marked with "Jüde". Leyna's nose wrinkled as she looked at it.

"I know that there was that protest of Jewish stores all those years ago... but now this? It's out of control." She shook her head. "Why do they even care if the store is owned by Jews?"

Mena remained quiet, fearing whatever she wanted to say might make her mad. They aimlessly walked around for a while. Leyna started gossiping about all the girls at their school and how she didn't like any of them. Mena nodded and pretended to listen. Then she started talking about Henry.

"He's so nice to me..." she trailed off. "Have I told you what I think about Pieter?"

This brought Mena out of her stupor. Her eyebrows shot up her forehead in interest. "Was?"

"Honestly, I find him a bit annoying. He always wants to help me with things and I told him I don't like him. I never told you this, but after you met Henry, Pieter told me that he liked me. He should just accept the fact and move on with his life."

Mena blinked. Leyna went on talking, oblivious.

"Oh. Also, Werner isn't too bad looking," Leyna thought out loud. "His personality leaves a little to be desired. Actually, it leaves a lot to be desired. His ADHS is so infuriating, though."

"You have a boyfriend," Mena cried, waving her gloved hands around. "And you shouldn't be talking about your friends like that. It isn't nice.

"Ja. That doesn't mean I don't have opinions about other boys. And who are you to say that Werner and Pieter are my friends?"