A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Eighty-One

"Do you even know how to drive?" Jyrgen's pained voice echoed through the truck. Penny's warm touch rubbed his shoulder, trying to alleviate any tension.

A boy shot him a glare. "It is not that hard."

"So that is a definite no." He looked up at the truck ceiling, shaking his head.

"Jyrgen!" Penny snapped at him, giving him a hard glare. "He will be able to just fine."

"You do not know that. We barely survived getting out of that camp. I am not even sure how I am alive right now. Next thing we know, Pen, this kid will be getting us killed with some crazy driving. He cannot be more than ten!"

"Thirteen..." The boy's voice was barely heard over Penny's exasperation.

"We have not even moved yet, Jyrgen. Settle down!" She snapped.

Biting back a grumble, Jyrgen strained to look up at the boy. "What is your name?"

He waited, thinking back to Aldrik not mentioning the kid's name. He'd been hell-bent on finding him before they left though. Whatever link they had, he assumed it was important. Aldrik had been too distracted with Albtraum finding them to say what the connection was.

The boy looked back at him, his eyes cold. "Israel."

Shaking his head, Jyrgen let out a deep breath. "As if that is not obvious..."

"As if what is not obvious?" The boy's tone was sharp, defensive.

Pinning him with a look. "Your parents did not think they should call you something more... German? Everyone here and across the world would know you are Jewish with a name like that."

Clenching his jaw, the boy's nostrils flared. "My mother was murdered for being Jewish. I am proud of my name. I am proud of my heritage."

"So am I, but that does not mean that I have declare it to the world!" Gritting his teeth together, Jyrgen swallowed the pain shooting through him from the sudden outburst.

"I am not the one shouting it out. You asked. I answered." The boy looked back at the steering wheel.

"You do not look thirteen. You look..." Jyrgen tried to think of how old the boy looked. He looked young. Too young for this.

"My mom always said I had a baby face." The boy's voice was distant; his memories not currently on what was happening then and there.

"You are damn right you have a baby face! You look like you are only seven or eight at best." Jyrgen ignored Penny's sharp glare in his direction.

"You need to shut up, Jyrg." Her voice was less than friendly. "I wasted a lot of energy on trying to save you. I will not have you throw away my attempts by insulting this boy."

Sighing, Jyrgen still didn't feel guilty. He wanted to know more about Israel. Why was he with them? "Why was it so important for Aldrik to find you? Who are you to him?"

The boy fidgeted in his seat. He picked at some loose pieces curling on the steering wheel. "I am the product of his guilt."

"What does that even mean?" Jyrgen racked his brain for anything Aldrik might have mentioned. The painkillers were beginning to wear off. "You are too old to be his lovechild."

Silence greeted him as he muttered inconspicuously under his breath. "Assuming you are telling us the truth."

The boy shot him a glare. "I am telling you the truth. I am not lying!"