From Darkness

Chapter 12: Tears

Uli turned the key only to find that the door was already unlocked. How strange... he thought, since his mother was on her way to Munich and his father was working a few towns away. Father had gotten a well-paying job in the project of the Autobahn's construction. Uli had been looking forward to having his house all to himself for two weeks, with occasional visits from his mother's friends Elsa and Simone, who'd also bring him food.

"Hallo?" he stepped inside and when he reached the kitchen he saw Mother at the table. She had her face in her crossed arms, a vodka bottle open and lying next to a filled glass. She was sobbing, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Mother, what's the matter?" he urgently asked her.

Gretel looked up, her face red and covered in tears, but she didn't say anything. Uli pulled out a chair and sat next to her, grabbing both her hands in his as he said "Mother, you can talk to me you know. I'm not Father, I'll listen to whatever you have to say. Tell me what's wrong, why are you crying?"

"Uli, you are such a sweet boy. I'm afraid I don't want to trouble you with my burdens son, I couldn't do that to you."

"Please Mother, I want to know. Whatever it is, I can handle it, I'm not a child anymore."

"I know you're not a child anymore, the Reich is making sure of that," she sobbed.

"So, what is it? What is troubling you? Did somebody bother you? Did a Jew bother you?"

"No, no. If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell your father, at least for now."

"I promise I won't tell him," Uli said.

"I'm awaiting a... I'm with child. Just found out this morning."

"That's great news Mother! So why were you crying? You're a married woman!" Uli said, confused.

"Because I worry how your father will react to this." And also, I don't want to give your father another child, she thought.

"Nonsense Mother, Father will be happy and proud, I'm sure of it. You have nothing to worry about," Uli told her.

"I have lots to worry about, you know how your father is," Gretel took a deep breath and drank the vodka.

"When are you going to tell Father?"

"I don't know Uli, I don't even know if I'll keep..." she halted her sentence.
"Keep? The baby? You will keep it, right?" he asked, concerned.

"We'll see Uli, we'll see. I'm going to head out to Münich tonight, I couldn't do it this morning because the news of the pregnancy... well, they rattled me," Gretel told him.

"Mother, you must keep the baby, he or she is my brother, or my sister, it's the right thing to do. You'll be betraying the Reich, you'll betray our Führer, if you don't keep the baby," Uli said.

She poured herself another glass.

After Gretel left on the 8:00 pm train to her parents' home in the Bavarian capital, Uli went to Ivy's house. The walk to her house was lengthy, but in the warm and breezy early June air it was pleasant, even comforting. The sun was still shining bright, although it was leaning towards the horizon, preparing itself for a colorful sunset.

When he got there, Peter told him that Ivy wasn't home. She was at the beach with some friends.

Uli took the most direct path from her house to the beach, hoping that Ivy would be along that stretch of the coast. Once he passed the last house and reached the sandy, tall grass, he saw a group of people near the water. As Uli approached them, he spotted Ivy, already walking towards him.