The Life That I Have

Chapter 31

Marilyne was driven part of the way to the prison, then cycled the rest. Everything had to appear as normal.

  Laurent was unloading the food from his cart as she arrived. When he didn't look up, Marilyne was puzzled for a moment. But then she realized that in the German's eyes, she hadn't met Laurent.

  Laurent waited until Marilyne was in the right position: just ahead of him, when he pretended to stumble, and 'clumsily' dropped the crate of loaves of bread he was carrying.

  The guards watching either laughed or swore at him as the large tidal wave of bread cascaded around Marilyne's feet. To make things seem realistic, she joined in with the Nazis and swore at him, laughing as she did so, before she turned and began to help Laurent pick up the food. When he was sure no guards were looking, he slipped another half-loaf out of the depths of his coat pocket.

  "Here's the one with the note in," he whispered. "These are the un-drugged ones for the prisoners. The drugged ones are still in the cart."

  Marilyne nodded without looking up, and gently swooped an armful of bread up, concealing the one Laurent had just passed her in with the rest.

  She 'sulkily' walked into the kitchens where Cook had all the junior cooks running around the kitchens like ants.

  It was always a race to get fifty meals for the prisoners ready, as well as the Nazis' cuisine complete, all in time for twelve o'clock.

  But Marilyne had another job.

Lt. Wachsmuth was smoking a surreptitious cigarette in a dark corner when Marilyne stepped out to see him.

  It was Wachsmuth's job to distribute the food among the prisoners. He enjoyed the feeling of power it gave him. He also enjoyed watching Marilyne with a flirty eye, and Marilyne knew it.

  Today, she needed to take advantage of his little infatuation. She moved closer to him, too close for her comfort.

  "I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" she said.

  Wachsmuth looked at her.

  "What do you want me to do?"

  "Well, it's a bit awkward," she said, blushing a little. "You know the prisoner, Rudi Hein?" Wachsmuth nodded. "You see," she continued, "I knew that rat from before. He was terrible. I want my revenge."

  Wachsmuth seemed amused.

  "He is being shot tomorrow," he pointed out.

   Marilyne was not to be deterred.

  "I know, I know, but I want it to be... something more personal."

  Wachsmuth raised his eyebrows.

  "What did you have in mind?"

  "Well, as you know, I work in the kitchens. I've prepared some bread that will be– let's say, to an acquired taste. A taste I know Mr Hein will not enjoy."

  "I see what you're getting at. You want me to serve it to him?"

  Marilyne gave a sly smile.

  "You've got it."

  Wachsmuth edged closer.

  "And what do I get out of this?" he asked.

  Marilyne looked into his eyes and winked. Wachsmuth, satisfied, took the half-loaf of bread and sniffed it.

  "Don't try to taste it," Marilyne advised quickly.

  It would have been alright, even if he had tasted it. Marilyne had figured that Wachsmuth would probably stick around to watch Rudi eat it, so she had put in an extra ounce of salt in the mixture. So Wachsmuth would leave, satisfied after watching Rudi choke on his mouthful.

During her more petty duties such as washing up and peeling carrots, it seemed to Marilyne that lunchtime would never arrive. She was totally intrigued by this mysterious Rudi, and was desperate to see him in the flesh.

   At last, it was time for the first sitting of the Nazis' lunch. Marilyne watched tensely as the food began to gradually leave the kitchen. Looking around, to her horror, she saw the chef nibbling absent mindedly on a slice of drugged bread. Choking on her own breath, she tried to tell herself that it was alright, that it would be half an hour before he would start to get drowsy.

  Luckily, a distraction soon came. Marilyne was sent out to the dining hall, where a clumsy guard had knocked over his beverage, flooding a large area of the floor.

  The Nazis continued laughing and joking among themselves, completely ignoring Marilyne as she knelt on her hands and knees, mopping the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Marilyne could see the Nazis were all eating heartily.

Lt. Wachsmuth was saving Rudi Hein's cell till last. He was looking forward to watching Rudi's last meal. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from sniggering as he passed the bread over to Rudi.

  As he locked the cell, he pressed his eye to the small peephole in the cast iron door, where he saw Rudi take a hungry bite out of the bread, and then started to cough wildly.

  Wachsmuth laughed loudly, and started off down the corridor in search of his own lunch.

  Rudi was totally bemused by this. What happened? Why did the bread taste so foul? He looked longingly down at his bread. He was so hungry. Just as he was about to look away, a small fleck of white caught his eye.

  He glanced furtively to the cell door to see if he was being watched. After reassuring himself, Rudi returned to the loaf. He could see now that a small section of the bread was hollow, and a small scrap of folded paper was concealed in it. Rudi quickly snatched up the note, one last flicker of hope burning in him.

  'RUDI, WE'RE HERE. DON'T LEAVE YOUR CELL.' Was what it read. Rudi was too tired, hungry and in pain to take it all in. He could feel tears pricking the back of his eyes. He didn't want to die without saying goodbye to Anya one last time.