The Forbidden Six

August 30th, 1941

Pieter's life took a turn. This time, it was for the better. He enjoyed every day he spent with the Tisches. He got to spend every day with his friend and her family. Liese had been working diligently to find him a job. One day, she succeeded.

"Pieter, honey," she yelled.

"Ja?" he called back.

She spun into his bedroom— the basement— with a smile on her face. "I found you a job!"

He perked up, his interest piqued. "Really? What is it?"

She handed him a slip of paper and he quickly read it. He looked up at her with a strange expression. She nodded with an excited expression.

"A babysitting job?" he questioned. "Will I be allowed to do that? I thought it was a 'woman's job'."

She nodded again. "I thought that since you like children and you like being helpful and you aren't scared of germs like me that it might be a good job for you. And also my mom's friend needed help with her kids so I offered you because you need a job and I already have a job at a bookstore," she said, her hands flying around. She had developed a habit of talking with her hands when she was excited. Pieter smiled and Liese clapped her hands twice. "You start tomorrow."

Pieter thanked her and she bounced out of his room again. He smiled at her perseverance and he opened a notebook, writing the beginning of a poem. Writing poems had become his new hobby and he tried to write one every week. They weren't very good, but he was getting better as he wrote more.

The next day, Pieter got up like usual. Liese was already in the kitchen making breakfast. Her parents were already at work so it was just her and Pieter. She looked up and smiled at him. He smelled something cooking and looked over with curiosity.

"Eggs?" he queried.

"Jap. I thought we should use the rest of the powdered eggs," she answered, stirring the pot.

"They're so bad," he said. "They're rubbery and bland!"

She waved a spoon at him and a bit of egg went flying. She grimaced, knowing that they shouldn't waste food. "That's rationing for you. You should be glad we at least get eggs. Remember last winter when we were only allowed to have hot water twice a week?"

He chuckled, recalling the extremely cold winter. "It wasn't very funny back then," Pieter said.

Liese nodded as she dished the eggs onto two plates and carried them to the breakfast room. She put a slice of bread on each plate with jelly on them.

They sat at the breakfast table and began their breakfast. Liese had also made a cup of coffee. Since Liese didn't particularly enjoy coffee, it was reserved for Pieter and her parents. She drank tea instead. Tea was one of the few things that she enjoyed and that wasn't rationed.

As Pieter took a sip of his coffee, his face screwed up. He looked into the cup, frowning. Liese paused, the fork halfway to her mouth.

"What?" she questioned.

"This coffee doesn't taste like coffee."

She laughed. "Have to make do with what we have. I reused the coffee grounds from yesterday."

He nodded, fully understanding. Rationing was hard on all of them. They all had to be conscious of how many ration stamps they used because once you used all of them for the month, you couldn't buy anymore of that type of food. Every month, they got a new book full of ration stamps from the local rationing office.

Once they finished their breakfast, Pieter got ready to leave. Liese plopped herself onto her couch and opened up a magazine. Although it was full of propaganda, it was one of the few things that Liese hadn't read in her house. Her parents were already at work so she was going to be left alone. As Pieter left her house, he turned back and looked at his friend.